My colleague, Rev. Ed Engelbrecht, posted this on his blog site: CPH has just released a second edition of Melanchthon’s classic work: Commentary on Romans. We made corrections to the text and added a persons index and a Scripture index to make the volume more useful to preachers, Bible Study leaders, and researchers. It is available now for purchase. You can take a look at a sample as well.

Dr. Robert Kolb kindly wrote a new foreword, which characterizes Melanchthon’s important contribution to biblical interpretation. Here is one of his observations:

“Among the most significant contributions Melanchthon made to the life of the church were his biblical commentaries. As a part of the movement called “Biblical Humanism,” a program for reforming education at the end of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Melanchthon had a burning interest in rhetoric, the discipline devoted to cultivating good communication skills, and he used these principles of communication, which he regarded as gifts of God, for interpreting Scripture and applying its insights. He made best use of the dictionaries and other aids to biblical study that other humanists of his time had developed. But he subjected the work of Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples, Johannes Reuchlin, his own patron, and Erasmus to the service of conveying the Wittenberg understanding of justification by grace through faith in Christ.”

Here are two other commendations:

The year 2010 is a Melanchthon Year as the 450th anniversary of his death in April 1560 is being commemorated. Fittingly, one of his most famous works is reissued in English, translated from Latin by Fred Kramer: the Commentary on Romans of 1540. Martin Luther had left the lectures on the New Testament primarily to his younger colleague Melanchthon, the lay theologian and Grecian. As a result we have this commentary by the “theological secretary” of the Wittenberg theology: it is a significant milestone in the history of Bible interpretation. It is a classic work of humanist Scripture interpretation.
Franz Posset, PhD, associate editor of Luther Digest

It is rare when a student outshines his teacher, especially when the teacher is Martin Luther. However, the final form of Philip Melanchthon’s lecture notes on Romans may well outdo Luther’s Romans lecture notes of 1515/1516. Melanchthon’s rhetorical and dialectical approach clearly distinguishes Law and Gospel, articulating the latter with great clarity. His extensive review of the Church Fathers on the authority of Scripture is an extraordinary bonus!
Michael Middendorf, PhD, Professor of Theology
Concordia University, Irvine, CA

We hope you’ll enjoy the new edition!