born Feb. 15, 1497, Bretten, Palatinate [Germany]
died April 19, 1560, probably Wittenberg, Saxony [Germany]

original name Philipp Schwartzerd (German: “Black Earth?; in Greek, Melanchthon)

German author of the Confession of Augsburg of the Lutheran Church (1530), humanist, Reformer, theologian, and educator. He was a friend of Martin Luther and defended his views. In 1521 Melanchthon published the Loci communes, the first systematic treatment of evangelical doctrine. Because of his academic expertise he was asked to help in founding schools, and he virtually reorganized the whole educational system of Germany, founding and reforming several of its universities.

Early life and education.

Melanchthon inherited from his parents, Barbara Reuter and Georg Schwartzerd, a deep sense of piety that never left him. From his Bretten surroundings (where five citizens were burned as witches in 1504) he absorbed a sense of the occult that combined later with biblical references to stars, dreams, and devils to make him a firm believer in astrology and demonology. In 1508, within a period of 11 days, both his grandfather Reuter and his father died, his father after four years of invalidism.

Humanism predominated in Melanchthon's education, his studies having been directed by a great-uncle, Johannes Reuchlin, who was a famed Hebraist and humanist. Philipp's first tutor instilled in him a lifelong love of Latin and classical literature, and, at the Pforzheim Latin school, he received further humanistic training and had his name changed from Schwartzerd to its Greek equivalent, Melanchthon.

While at the universities of Heidelberg (1509–11, B.A.) and Tübingen (1512–14, M.A.), Melanchthon explored Scholastic thought in depth, steeped himself in the rhetoric of the Dutch humanist Rudolf Agricola and the Nominalism of the English philosopher William of Ockham and the ecclesiastical reformer John of Wesel, studied Scripture, and read classical works with a fellow student. On receiving the M.A. degree, he lectured, with conspicuous success, on the classics and soon had six books to his credit, including “Rudiments of the Greek Language? (1518), a grammar that was to go through many editions. He was praised by the great Dutch humanist Erasmus, and his name became known in England. In the best tradition of the time, Melanchthon was a humanist.

In 1518 Melanchthon accepted an invitation, relayed through Reuchlin, to become the University of Wittenberg's first professor of Greek. Only four days after his arrival, he addressed the university on “The Improvement of Studies,? boldly setting forth a humanistic program and calling for a return to classical and Christian sources in order to regenerate theology and rejuvenate society.

Luther and the Reformation.

Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation, and Melanchthon (1497-1560) responded to each other enthusiastically, and their deep friendship developed. Melanchthon committed himself wholeheartedly to the new evangelical cause, initiated the previous year when Luther circulated his Ninety-five Theses.¹ By the end of 1519 he had already defended scriptural authority against Luther's opponent Johann Eck, rejected (before Luther did) transubstantiation—the doctrine that the substance of the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper is changed into the body and blood of Christ—made justification by faith the keystone of his theology, and openly broken with Reuchlin.

During this time he had also published seven more small books and had earned the Bachelor of Theology degree at Wittenberg. His energy was phenomenal. He began his day at 2:00 AM, with lectures, often to as many as 600 students, at 6:00. In addition, he found time to court Katherine Krapp, whom he married in 1520 and who bore him four children—Anna, Philipp, Georg, Magdalen.

At Luther's urging, Melanchthon lectured on Paul's Letter to the Romans and in 1521 published the Loci communes, the first systematic treatment of evangelical doctrine. Sin, law, and grace were the principal topics, with free will, vows, hope, confession, and other doctrines subsumed. Drawing on Scripture, Melanchthon argued that sin is more than an external act; it reaches beyond reason into man's will and emotions so that man cannot simply resolve to do good works and earn merit before God. Original sin is a native propensity, an inordinate self-concern tainting all man's actions. But God's grace consoles man with forgiveness, and man's works, though imperfect, are a response in joy and gratitude for divine benevolence. Three editions of the Loci appeared before the end of the year and 18 editions by 1525, in addition to printings of a German translation. The last edition in 1558 was much enlarged and changed. Luther declared that the Loci deserved a place in the canon of Scriptures; the University of Cambridge in England later made it required reading, and Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) virtually memorized it so she could converse about theology.

Despite an imperial decree of death to those who supported Luther, in 1521 Melanchthon sharply answered the Sorbonne's condemnation of 104 statements of Luther with “Against the Furious Decree of the Parisian Theologasters.? His “Passion of Christ and Antichrist,? in the same year, utilized woodcuts by Lucas Cranach (1472–1553) in a scathing criticism of the pope's life-style as diametrically opposed to Christ's. When Melanchthon hesitated to publish his lectures on Corinthians, Luther stole a copy and published them in 1521 with a preface saying, “It is I who publish these annotations of yours, and send you to yourself.? In 1523 Luther did the same with Melanchthon's notes on John.

In 1521, during Luther's confinement in the Wartburg, Melanchthon was the leader of the Reformation cause at Wittenberg. After the First Diet of Speyer (1526), where a precarious peace was patched up for the Reformed faith, Melanchthon was deputed as one of the 28 commissioners to visit the Reformed imperial states and regulate the constitution of the churches. In 1528 this resulted in the publication of Unterricht der Visitatoren (“Instructions for Visitors?), a set of instructions for the commissioners. In addition to a statement of evangelical doctrine, it contained an outline of education for the elementary grades, which was enacted into law in Saxony to establish the first real Protestant public-school system. Melanchthon's educational plan was widely copied throughout Germany, and at least 56 cities asked his advice in founding schools. Through him, his textbooks, and the teachers he trained, virtually the whole educational system in Germany was reorganized. He helped found the universities of Königsberg, Jena, and Marburg and reformed those of Greifswald, Wittenberg, Cologne, Tübingen, Leibzig, Heidelberg, Rostock, and Frankfurt an der Oder. His efforts earned him the title “Preceptor of Germany.?

The Augsburg Confession.

Melanchthon was present when the protest, from which the term Protestant originated, was lodged in the name of freedom of conscience against the Roman Catholic majority at the Second Diet of Speyer (1529). At the Diet of Augsburg (1530) Melanchthon was the leading representative of the Reformation, and it was he who prepared the Augsburg Confession, which influenced every subsequent major credal statement in Protestantism. In the Confession he sought to be as inoffensive to the Catholics as possible but forcefully stated the evangelical stance. In the ensuing negotiations over adoption of the confessional statement, he seemed to compromise, but the vigour of his Apology of the Confession of Augsburg (1531) belied any change. The Apology and Confession quickly became official Lutheran symbols (authoritative statements of faith), as did one other Melanchthon treatise, his “Appendix on the Papacy,? which was an addition to the Schmalkald Articles of 1536–37, another Lutheran confessional statement. In the “Appendix,? Melanchthon refuted historically and theologically any papal primacy by divine right but accepted papal jurisdiction as a human right for the sake of peace, if the Gospel were permitted. After the Diet of Augsburg further attempts were made to settle the Reformation controversies by compromise, and Melanchthon, from his conciliatory spirit and facility of access, appeared to the defenders of Roman Catholicism as the fittest of the Reformers with whom to deal. Despite frequent charges of collaboration with Roman Catholicism, Melanchthon staunchly upheld the evangelical doctrines of justification by faith and scriptural authority.

Later years.

The year after Luther's death, when the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) had given a seemingly crushing blow to the Protestant cause, an attempt was made to unite the evangelicals and Roman Catholics in the provisional agreements of the Augsburg Interim. Melanchthon refused to accept the Interim until justification by faith was ensured as a fundamental doctrine. Then, for the sake of order and peace, he declared that those principles which did not violate justification by faith might be observed as adiaphora, or nonessentials. He allowed the necessity of good works to salvation, but not in the old sense of meriting righteousness; and he accepted the seven sacraments, but only as rites that had no inherent efficacy to salvation. Melanchthon was bitterly criticized by fellow Protestants for his conciliatory stand on the Interim. His later years were occupied with controversies within the evangelical church and fruitless conferences with his Roman Catholic adversaries. He died in 1560 and was buried in Wittenberg beside Luther.

Doctrinal thought.

Melanchthon's literary facility, clear thought, and elegant style of expression made him the scribe of the Reformation and the representative of the evangelicals at numerous colloquies. He never attained entire independence of Luther, though he gradually modified some of his positions. These modifications centred on the Eucharist, man's part in conversion, and the place of good works.

As late as 1530 Melanchthon agreed with Luther on the Lord's Supper, but by 1529 his own views had begun to shift from Luther's, and the changes that Melanchthon introduced in 1540 in the 10th article of the Augsburg Confession indicated that his view on the Eucharist paralleled Calvin's.

Melanchthon also came to believe that man has a part in conversion. At first, following Luther's cardinal doctrine of grace, Melanchthon seemed to reject free will, and he pushed the Augustinian doctrine of irresistible grace close to fatalism. However, his Commentary on Colossians (1527) implied a rejection of predestination, and by 1532 in the Commentary on Romans he spoke of man's struggle to accept or reject the love of God. In the 1535 edition of Loci he pointed out that man must at least accept the gift of God's salvation and that man is therefore responsible for his destiny. This view is clearly expressed in De Anima (1540). “God draws, but he draws him who is willing.?

Because of his interest in ethics, Melanchthon increasingly emphasized good works as the inevitable fruits of faith. Luther was disposed to make faith itself the principle of sanctification, but Melanchthon laid more stress on law. In his “Instructions for Visitors? articles of 1528 he urged pastors to instruct people in the necessity of repentance and to bring the threat of the law to bear upon men in order to instill faith. This brought upon him the opposition of the antinomian Johann Agricola. In the Loci of 1535 Melanchthon sought to put the fact of the coexistence of justification and good works in the believer on a secure basis by declaring the latter “necessary? to eternal life. For the sake of public order Melanchthon was led to lay more and more stress upon the law and moral ideas, but his evangelical position was that man is saved by faith and that good works are the “necessary? expression of faith, for good works flow from faith.

Additional reading

C.L. Manschreck, Melanchthon: The Quiet Reformer (1958), is the most complete biography; see also R. Stupperich, Der unbekannte Melanchthon (1961; Eng. trans. by R.H. Fischer, Melanchthon, 1965). M. Rogness, Philip Melanchthon: Reformer Without Honor (1969), contains aspects of Melanchthon's thought. His basic works and letters may be found in K.G. Bretschneider and E. Bindseil (eds.), Corpus Reformatorum, 28 vol. (1834–60); W. Pauck (ed.), Melanchthon and Bucer (1969), contains the 1521 Loci; and C.L. Manschreck (ed.), Melanchthon on Christian Doctrine (1965), the 1555 Loci. For information on Lutheran symbols, see T.G. Tappert (ed.), The Book of Concord (1959); for educational endeavours, C. Hartfelder, Philipp Melanchthon als Praeceptor Germania (1889), with bibliography. W. Hammer, Die Melanchthonforschung im Wandel der Jahrhunderte, 2 vol. (1967–68), has a good bibliography to 1965; for a discussion of Melanchthon's relation to patristics, see P. Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum (1961).

Clyde L. Manschreck

Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Notes

¹Luther was long believed to have posted the theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but the historicity of this event has been questioned. The issue is discussed at length in Erwin Iserloh's Luther zwischen Reform und Reformation (1966; published in English [1968] as The Theses Were Not Posted). Iserloh indicates that the first known reference to the story was made by Philipp Melanchthon in 1546 and that Luther never mentioned the posting of his theses on the church door. He suggests that, according to the best historical evidence, Luther wrote to the bishops on Oct. 31, 1517, did not receive an answer, and then circulated the theses among friends and learned acquaintances.

Sources

• Encylopedia Britannica 2002, Expanded Edition DVD

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