May 26, 2017
Devotions: Personalities of the Reformation: Johannes Oecolampadius

As a German humanist, preacher, and patristic scholar, Oecolampadius would become a close friend of the Swiss Reformer Zwingli, and would be a leader in the Reformation movement in Basel, Switzerland. As a student at Heidelberg, Oecolampadius left his studies to become tutor to the sons of the Palatinate’s elector and in 1510 became preacher at Weinsberg. He was a student of Greek, Latin and Hebrew. In 1515 Oecolampadius moved to Basel, where he assisted the Humanist scholar Erasmus in preparing his famous edition of the Greek New Testament.

But his interest would extend far beyond the scriptures. He would go on to translate works by some of the Greek Fathers of the church like Gregory of Nazianzus, John of Damascus, and Chrysostom. By 1518 he was a preacher in the town of Augsburg. He would enter a monastery in 1520, but his growing disillusionment with the Catholic church and in particular with Transubstantiation would push him away from the Catholic faith and toward Martin Luther. He would return to Basel in 1523 and would become a professor at the university. As a professor he would gain wide notoriety for lecturing in three languages. He would go on to debate against the Catholic church for the Protestant movement. His time with Zwingli would stick with him, as he would go on to write “On the Correct Interpretation of the Words of the Lord” supporting the view that the Eucharist was only a remembrance and not a reenactment of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. He also was a prominent figure at the “Colloquy of Marburg” where he defended Zwingli’s position against Luther.

Zwingli would go on to be killed in the Battle of Kappel, and Oecolampadius would die soon afterward, some believing it was from the shock of the death of his friend. (adapted from the website article Johann Oecolampadius: German Humanist, britannica.com)

Battle of Kappel: an armed conflict in 1531 between the Protestant and the Catholic cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy during the Reformation movement in Switzerland.

Although many of the same names keep coming up, like Zwingli, and Huss, and Luther, names like Oecolampadius and Laski are not common household names in our conversation about the Reformation. And yet, they were there at some of the most notable debates and would write some of the most influential tracts in favor of certain aspects of the Reformation. Not everyone agreed with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, yet they would be giants for the churches in Scotland, Poland, and Switzerland, and in movements that would become Presbyterianism, and even the Anabaptists. So many eyes focused on the abuses of the Catholic church, yet the eyes of faith were not always ready to see their points of view.

Pastor Dave

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May 25, 2017
Devotions: Personalities of the Reformation: Philipp Melanchthon

Philipp Melanchthon was born Philipp Schwartzerd on February 15, 1497 in Bretten, Palatinate (Germany) and died on April 19, 1560, about fourteen years after Luther (1546). Melanchthon was a giant in the protestant movement, and in the Lutheran development of theology. He would go on to write the Augsburg Confession in 1530. He was a humanist, theologian, reformer and educator. In 1521 Melanchthon published the Loci communes, the first systematic treatment of the new Wittenberg theology developed by Luther. Because of his academic expertise, he was asked to help in founding schools, and he played an important role in reforming public schools in Germany.

Luther and Melanchthon would become close friends, and in 1518 Melanchthon would commit himself to the Reformation causes following Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses in Wittenberg. By the end of 1519 he had already defended scriptural authority against Luther’s opponent Johann Eck, would have rejected the teaching of Transubstantiation (the doctrine adopted by the Catholic church explaining how the substance of the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper is changed into the body and blood of Christ) and would make Justification by Grace through Faith the keystone of his theology. He would go on to write and publish many small books and earn a bachelor of theology degree at Wittenberg. His energy was phenomenal. It is reported he would begin his day at 2:00 AM and he would give lectures to as many as 600 students at 6:00. He married Katherine Krapp in 1520 and they would have four children. In 1521, during Luther’s stay on the church castle in Wartburg (following the Diet of Worms), Melanchthon would become the leader of the Reformation cause at Wittenberg, while Luther would hide out in Wartburg and begin translating the scriptures into the German language.

Melanchthon and Luther would not only spark the reformation of the Roman church, they would also be instrumental in the reformation of society as well.
After the First Diet of Speyer (1526), a precarious peace was patched up for the Reform movement. In 1528 he published Unterricht der Visitatoren (“Instructions for Visitors”) which was a statement of Evangelical doctrine, but it also contained an outline of education for the elementary grades, which was enacted into law in Saxony to establish the first public school system. Melanchthon’s educational plan was widely copied throughout Germany and at least 56 cities asked his advice in founding schools. It is not hyperbole to say that Melanchthon’s influence in Protestant Germany is hard to capture in just a short devotion. He, together with Luther and Martin Chemnitz (see May 15 devotion), would write some of the most influential documents for the Lutheran faith. He helped found the universities of Königsberg, Jena, and Marburg and reformed those of Greifswald, Wittenberg, Cologne, Tübingen, Leipzig, Heidelberg, and Rostock. His efforts earned him the title “Preceptor of Germany.” (adapted from Philipp Melanchthon: GERMAN THEOLOGIAN, by Clyde L. Manschreck, britannica.com)

Loci communes: written by Melanchthon in 1521, this book lays out Christian doctrine by discussing the “leading thoughts” from the Epistle to the Romans, and these thoughts were intended to guide the reader to a proper understanding of the Bible in general. Luther said of it that “Next to Holy Scripture, there is no better book”.

First Diet of Speyer (1526): in short was an Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the Imperial City of Speyer (in present day Germany). The diet’s edict resulted in a temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms and aided the expansion of Protestantism.

Pastor Dave

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