Melanchthon’s relative obscurity in modern Christian thought is unfortunate. As will be explained here, while temperamentally Melanchthon was certainly more subdued than Luther, this does not warrant the minimization of the significant role he played in the Reformation, or his effect on the advance of the gospel since then.
For many Christians, the name Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560) is at best dimly recognized, or at worst, entirely unknown. A German Reformer who lived during the early 16th century, Melanchthon has been given such titles as the “forgotten Reformer” (reflecting his relative historical obscurity) and the “quiet Reformer” (a comparative reference to the man he is most frequently linked to, Martin Luther). While in Lutheran circles Melanchthon’s name may be more familiar, outside those circles Melanchthon’s name comes nowhere near the level of familiarity associated with Reformation stalwarts such as Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli.
Melanchthon’s relative obscurity in modern Christian thought is unfortunate. As will be explained here, while temperamentally Melanchthon was certainly more subdued than Luther, this does not warrant the minimization of the significant role he played in the Reformation, or his effect on the advance of the gospel since then.
This article briefly explores Melanchthon as a Renaissance-influenced scholar, as a Reformation-era theologian, and vis-à-vis his more well-recognized counterpart, Luther. As will be shown, far from playing a “second fiddle” role to Luther, Melanchthon was first rate in his giftedness and his contributions toward the advancement of the gospel in Germany and beyond.
Melanchthon the Scholar
From the earliest years of his upbringing in southwest Germany, Melanchthon showed himself to be hungry for and excellent in his pursuit of several different academic fields. Melanchthon rocketed through multiple academic ranks as a very young man.
He began his studies at the University of Heidelberg on October 14, 1509, at the age of twelve. He earned his master’s degree in January 1514, at the age of sixteen, and while still a teenager, he was delivering lectures and addresses while publishing on several different subjects. In fact, by the time he was 21, Melanchthon had already published 30 books! A product of the humanist, Renaissance-era thought of his day, Melanchthon wrote and lectured on many different subjects, including the Bible, theology, logic, ethics, history, politics, grammar, dialectics, and philosophy. His giftedness was not lost on other brilliant academic minds of his day, including Erasmus, who said of the young Melanchthon: “Great God! What expectations the young Philip Melanchthon arouses! He is only a boy, yet he has already achieved eminence in both Greek and Latin! What ability he displays in argument! How pure and elegant his words! What rare learning! How many books he has read! What tenderness and refinement in his extraordinary genius!”[1]
While Melanchthon could and likely would have experienced success in whichever academic field or institution he chose, in God’s perfect timing and providence, he ended up at the newly-formed University of Wittenberg, where he served as a professor of Greek, and where he first met and befriended Martin Luther, who was serving as the University’s professor of theology. It was in Wittenberg that Melanchthon went on to develop a stellar reputation as a premier scholar and instructor in Greek. In fact, one biographer notes that “he did more than anyone (even Erasmus) to spread the knowledge of the Greek language in German schools and universities.”[2] Melanchthon’s academic and scholarly pursuits were not limited to Greek, however. Rather, he would show over the course of the rest of his life a dedication to scholarship in several different fields of the humanities, the sciences, and theology.
Melanchthon the Theologian
Melanchthon was not merely the product, however, of the Renaissance-era humanism that pervaded his world and his pursuit of various academic interests. He also was an instrumental Reformer and theologian in his own right. While today he is most revered and prized by those in the Lutheran tradition, the reality is that Melanchthon’s theological insights and works fanned much further out into Christendom in general. Three of Melanchthon’s key theological contributions are discussed here.
