Commemoration of Philip Melanchthon, Confessor
Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was a brilliant student of the classics and a humanist scholar. In 1518 he was appointedto teach along with Martin Luther at the University of Wittenberg. At Luther’s urging, Melanchthon began teaching theology and Scripture in addition to his courses in classical studies. In April of 1530, Emperor Charles V called an official meeting between the representative of Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, hoping to effect a meeting of minds between two opposing groups. Since Luther was at that time under papal excommunication and an imperial ban, Melanchthon was assigned the duty of being the chief Lutheran representative at this meeting. He is especially remembered and honored as the author of the Augsburg Confession, which was officially presented by the German princes to the emperor on June 25, 1530, as the defining document of Lutheranism within Christendom.
Unfortunately, Melanchthon’s legacy is tarnished by his relative failure to lead the Reformation in Luther’s absence and his changes to the AC in order to foster a more ecumenical spirit.
Master Philip is well worth remembering, despite his shortcomings. In fact his shortcomings, in my opinion, provide us with an opportunity to forgive and to learn lest we make the same mistakes. And that is a great gift of God not to be missed.
Thankfully, the Formula of Concord utterly rejected Melancthon’s grave errors.
Not only did Melancthon author the AC, he also authored The Apology to it.
Is their any record of Luther, himself, having rejected or repudiated any one or more of Melancthon’s theological or doctrinal writings, even including the Variata to the AC (1540)? I’ve never heard of it.
I know that after Luther’s death, some Lutherans rejected Melancthon. But, did Luther ever do so?
Yes, Luther did express grave reservations about Philip’s resolve, and of course, keep in mind that some of Melanchthon’s worst statements in his LOCI were produced after Luther’s death. There is no possibility of trying to claim Luther as an ally for, or supportive of, Melanchthon’s errors.
There were 3 editions of Melancthon’s Loci…(1521, 1535, and 1543), the last of which was 3 years prior to Luther’s death in 1546. In 1545, Luther decribed Melancthon as “a divine instrument which has achieved the very best in the department of theology, to the great rage of the devil and his scabby tribe.” I believe Flacius et al. disagreed with Melancthon much more than Luther did.
ZY3R
Jonathan, you are simply ignoring reality. The Formula of Concord, written in large parts by students of Melanchthon, resoundingly refuted their former teachers dangerous and fundamental errors. This is simply fact.
And yet following Concord (1570), Germany’s Lutheran seminaries still taught their students out of the Loci until well into the 17th century. My point is only that, within Lutheranism, many of those who gained influence following Luther’s death were much more critics of Melancthon than was Luther himself.
It’s interesting that the LCMS commemorates Melancthon on his birthday, and the ELCA commemorates him on June 25th, the day of the Presentation of the AC in 1530.
Briefly, what were Melanchthon’s errors?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+were+Melanchthon%27s+errors%3F