Philip Melanchthon, Speaker of the Reformation: Wittenberg's Other Reformer (review)

The studies in this volume explore the life and work of Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Luther's colleague at the University of Wittenberg and one of the most influential Lutheran theologians and educators of the Reformation era. The author, Timothy Wengert, is professor of Reformation history at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and was coeditor, with Robert Kolb, of The Book of Concord (Minneapolis, 2000).Wengert is one of the foremost Melanchthon scholars in North America and author of several books on the Reformer. This collection of thirteen previously published articles was printed in commemoration of the 450th anniversary of Melanchthon's death in 2010.

In his introduction to the collection, Wengert suggests that, "if Martin Luther was preacher and pastor of the Reformation, Melanchthon was its orator and logician" (p. vii). Initially engaged in the reform of the university's arts curriculum, Melanchthon soon became fully involved in the broader movement of evangelical reform, assuming to a large degree the role of spokesman for the Wittenbergers. Focusing on the rhetorical themes and structure of St. Paul's argument on justification in Romans, Melanchthon's Loci communes replaced Peter Lombard's Sentences as a theological textbook at the university and became the first evangelical dogmatics book. A master of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric in the finest humanistic tradition, Melanchthon brought greater clarity and definition to the teachings of the Lutheran Reformation, effectively dialoguing with his contemporaries across a spectrum of theological viewpoints. He was the chief drafter of the Augsburg Confession and author of its Apology, and continued to work toward concord in doctrine and practice, across the Reformation landscape, throughout his career. Melanchthon made significant contributions in a wide variety of academic fields, publishing works in history, biblical commentary, patristics, theology, and politics. His textbooks in theology, philosophy, grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, and natural science embraced the most advanced humanistic learning and pedagogical methods of the time. Melanchthon's work in promoting education and developing curricula for German schools earned him the title Praeceptor Germaniae and affected the course of the Reformation itself, helping to ensure the survival of the Lutheran movement.

Drawn from thirty years of research and writing on Melanchthon, Wengert's essays survey the Reformer's fascinating career and offer profound insights into his impact on the Reformation. The essays are arranged in two categories—the first nine examine Melanchthon's life and theological influence, whereas the remaining four analyze his relationships with Reformation figures such as Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.

An important contribution of Wengert's essays is his analysis of two leading aspects of Melanchthon's theological work: the relationship between Bible and ecclesiastical tradition, and the role of Christians in the church and world. Exploring topics such as Melanchthon's approaches to biblical interpretation, Wengert demonstrates how Melanchthon analyzed texts with humanist rhetorical techniques that brought new insights to bear on contemporary theological debates. This combination of humanist method and evangelical theology was a catalyst in the development of a Reformation hermeneutics. Wengert demonstrates how Melanchthon creatively appropriated humanist learning, both its linguistic tools and its method, in service of communicating and inculcating the message of evangelical reform. Taking the Reformation movement from an academic enterprise to one that impacted theology and church—as well as society and culture—Wengert reveals Melanchthon as a speaker of the practical exercise of the Christian faith and life that has much to offer hearers of our own time.