This article appears in the current issue, vol.45 no.2

Melanchthon: between Humanism, Protestantism and Catholicism

Martin Jung*

Melanchthon, a humanist and Lutheran theologian, was one of the most ecumenical reformers. He believed in the unity of the Church and fought for its restoration. As professor of Greek language and a student of Luther in Wittenberg, he integrated his humanistic influences into the Reformation. Contrary to Luther, Melanchthon remained in close contact with Erasmus. He strove to reform by means of the written word—never by force. In 1530 he wrote the Confession of Augsburg, pleading for diversity in the church. Melanchthon kept up his efforts to unify both churches and to cure the wounds in the church caused by the the wars of religion.

Melanchthon was at once a humanist, a Lutheran pastor, and the most ecumenical of the reformers. Siegfried Wiedenhofer, the German Catholic theologian, referred to him as the greatest ecumenist of the Reformation era. Melanchthon was moreover a reformer of European importance. His books were read and his opinions heeded all over Europe. His correspondents ranged over more than five hundred towns, as far as Iceland. I want to consider Melanchthon as situated somewhere in a nexus of Humanism, Protestantism and Catholicism—somewhat provocatively, since Melanchthon would not have seen himself located between Protestantism and Catholicism, but as a Protestant. Nevertheless, some of his Catholic contemporaries saw him as someone still open to the old church, to Catholicism. In contrast to Luther, he was never excommunicated. He retained personal contacts with Catholic theologians. He believed in the unity of the Church, and hoped for its restoration.

Between Humanism and Reformation

But let us begin at the beginning. As a humanist, Melanchthon belonged to that movement of European scholars who wanted to revive the culture of the ancient world of Greeks and Romans. Ad fontes, back to the roots—that was the big idea.

   Melanchthon was born in a family of artisans in South Germany. His father could afford a home tutor for his son, and the tutor was a humanist. Aged 12 Melanchthon had to leave home to attend a school some twenty miles away, in Pforzheim. The humanist credentials of the school were well known. Then at 14 he entered Heidelberg university: and once again his formation was thoroughly humanist. When he was 16 Melanchthon moved on to Tübingen university. He began to study theology, but he was not interested in the scholastic theology taught in Tübingen. His interests lay in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, as well as in rhetoric and philosophy, especially that of Aristotle.

   We come to 1517, to Luther’s theses on penance and indulgences, and the beginning of the Reformation. We do not know whether Melanchthon read the Ninety-Five Theses in Tübingen, though he may have done. But six months later, he was invited to take up the post of professor of Greek in Wittenberg, and so came into direct contact with the burgeoning reformation. The invitation came not from Luther but from the Elector of Saxony. Melanchthon began teaching in Wittenberg in September 1518; and also began to relearn his theology—protestant theology—as Luther’s student. A few months later he lent his public support to Luther, and to the Reformation. Melanchthon was now a reformer. However, in contrast to other reformers, he remained a humanist, integrating humanism with reformation.

   I wish to illustrate this under four headings: Melanchthon’s continued interest in education; in peace; his continued contact with Erasmus; and his vision of man as God’s partner, and not just as passive object.

1. Melanchthon’s commitment to education

Melanchthon began his career at Wittenberg with an address on university education, on how to improve the education of the young. Wittenberg was a new, modern, reform university. Melanchthon had been summoned there because it needed someone who capable of teaching Greek—something of a rarity, since Greek was not taught at medieval universities. Melanchthon was keen to instruct his students in Greek, Hebrew, and of course Latin, that is, Ciceronian Latin. He also wanted students instructed in mathematics and history in addition to philosophy and theology. This was the situation in 1518.

   But just a few years later, in 1521-2, with Luther far away in the seclusion of Wartburg castle, education in Wittenberg suffered a major crisis. The students, along with some professors, now wanted nothing but bible studies and theological discussions. Philosophy, rhetoric, poetry and the rest were out of favour, as were exams. Some Protestants thought that possessing the Holy Spirit was enough to enable them to understand the bible, resolve theological questions, and to equip them to work in the Church. In 1523 Melanchthon put a stop to these developments. He brought new rules and new structures into the university. Exams were back, along with the study of languages and philosophy. Melanchthon’s commitment to education lasted throughout his life. He supported the foundation of new Protestant universities and the reforming of old ones, not just in Wittenberg. He founded schools and developed a Protestant system of education.

2. Melanchthon’s commitment to peace

Humanism was a peaceful movement. Erasmus wrote a famous book against war; Melanchthon hated and feared war. As a child he had watched soldiers conquering and laying waste his home town, and his father had died—possibly because of drinking poisoned water—during the war. In later life he endured three major conflicts, in 1525, 1547 and 1552. Some reformers, such as Zwingli in Zürich, wished to further the reformation of the church by force of arms—Zwingli died in such a conflict in 1531. Melanchthon detested war and fought for reformation with words, never with arms. Throughout his life he sought to bring peace.

3. Melanchthon’s continued contact with Erasmus

Erasmus of Rotterdam, the most famous of all the humanists, had supported the early reformation. However in 1524 Luther had a major dispute with him. The following year Erasmus broke with Luther and the reformation and returned to the Catholic Church. Melanchthon’s contacts with Erasmus predated the latter’s reformed period, and lasted until Erasmus’s death in 1536. He subsequently gave two university addresses on the life and work of Erasmus, praising him as a great man.

4. Melanchthon’s view of man as God’s partner, not as merely passive object

The major dispute between Luther and Erasmus had been about free will. Does man have a free will? Is he able to do good and avoid evil? Can he make a decision to opt for faith, for God? Erasmus said yes—Luther said no. As a young reformer, under Luther’s influence, Melanchthon agreed with Luther and denied free will. Later, he modified his view. True, without God man can do nothing; he is totally dependent on the grace of God. But man is not merely passive; he has to act, to respond. The possibility of refusing God’s grace is open to him. The later Melanchthon supported a ‘collaborative’ model, not far removed from the humanist and Catholic point of view. Subsequently, this led some protestant theologians to accuse Melanchthon of betraying Reformation principles. But it should be noted that Luther himself did not condemn Melanchthon’s revised opinion.

These four aspects of Melanchthon are not without relevance today. At certain times Protestant theology, especially in Germany,  has tended to see a conflict between humanism and Protestantism, along the lines of Luther’s dispute with Erasmus. And some German Protestant theologians have seen Melanchthon as a traitor to Reformation principles. I myself remember an encounter some fifteen years ago in Tübingen when I was working on my first book, ‘Melanchthon and Prayer’. A new professor of dogmatics and ethics in the university, who shall remain nameless, asked me what I was working on. When I told him ‘Melanchthon’, he looked most surprised and said, ‘Perhaps you will be able to demonstrate that Melanchthon did not betray the Reformation’. Even in his own lifetime, from 1547 to 1552, as well as later, Melanchthon had been accused of treachery. How did this come about?

   Reformation was not always peaceful, but was often accompanied by war and violence. The reformation in Germany had enjoyed a long period of calm: but in 1546, after Luther’s death, the Emperor declared war on the Protestant towns and regions of Germany. The war was successful. Within a year Protestant Germany was defeated and Catholicism restored. Terrible times followed. Some reformers went into hiding, others fled abroad. From Strasbourg, Martin Bucer went to England and worked in Cambridge where he died a few years later. For his part, Melanchthon stayed in Wittenberg and prevented the closure of his university. He did not declare out and out resistance, but sought compromise. He was ready to accept many Catholic elements, if only Protestant preaching could be kept safe. Preaching and teaching—these were the essentials. I would even say that Melanchthon would have been prepared to accept a German ‘Church of England’, a church with a hierarchical structure and traditional ceremonial. 

   But this was not to be. In 1552 history took a different course—another war, with new victors, and Protestantism was saved in Germany. Melanchthon however had suffered a loss of authority and influence, with some former friends turning against him because he had given in and sought to compromise.

Between Protestantism and Catholicism

1. Catholics can also obtain salvation: Melanchthon’s mother

Melanchthon was born in south Germany. He lost his father as a child, but his mother was still alive when he became a reformer. She stayed in that part of Germany, which was Catholic. In 1524 Melanchthon the Protestant reformer paid a visit to his Catholic mother in his Catholic home town. She was in turmoil about what to believe and asked her son’s advice. He questioned her about her prayer life, and ended up reassuring her that everything was alright. He was not about to put his mother’s piety at risk by taking her to Wittenberg. On the contrary, he advised her that she could obtain salvation as a Catholic in a Catholic town. That was their last meeting. She died five years later, aged 52.

2. ‘We are born to understand each other.’ Melanchthon’s continuing contacts with Catholics

While on this visit to his home town in 1524, a notable visitor came to talk to Melanchthon—Frederic Nausea, secretary of Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, the papal legate. Nausea’s mission was to find out if Melanchthon might be persuaded to return to the old church. Despite offering some attractive inducements, he had no joy. Melanchthon’s response was nonetheless friendly, explaining that he was not looking for his own advancement, but wished to defend the truth, without reviling those who took a different view. His reply to Nausea was: Let us work together to cure the Church’s wounds... We have a letter from Nausea written sixteen years later in which he speaks positively about Melanchthon and their meeting. There were more offers from the old church in the years that followed. Melanchthon did not spurn the contacts, but he rejected the offers, remaining in Wittenberg as a reformer on the side of Luther.

   In 1540 and 1541 Melanchthon took part in two famous religious colloquia in the South German towns of Worms and Regensburg respectively. These meetings were the first and only attempt during the Reformation period to maintain, or rather restore Church unity. The Emperor wanted these discussions and they were serious initiatives, to which both sides were committed. After some lengthy negotiations prominent theologians from either side succeeded in reaching agreement in some crucial theological areas, such as the doctrine of justification. But in the end these were rejected by Rome and the Pope, followed by the Protestant authorities. It was the religious authorities who disagreed, not Luther and the theologians. Let me say that in this year of 1541, as far as the Protestant authorities were concerned, political control and authority over their own church in their own land mattered more than a united Christendom.

   In 1552 there was another opportunity for negotiation and mutual comprehension. The Protestants, defeated in the religious war, were forced to participate in the church assembly meeting in Trent. Melanchthon was one of only a few reformers who set out to attend the conference. Unfortunately, he did not reach Trent. A new war had begun in southern Germany and Melanchthon was prevented from completing his journey, to the disappointment of many in Trent—of those few Protestants who attended, and of those Catholic reformers who wished to maintain unity, and reform the Church.

   ‘Nati sumus ad mutuam sermonis communicationem’ [We are born to understand each other). Words spoken by Melanchthon in 1543 in a speech he gave in Wittenberg (CR 11,613); words he always put in practice.

3. Church unity does not mean uniformity. The Confession of Augsburg as a bridge between the churches

In 1530 Melanchthon wrote the Confession of Augsburg, the best known and still the most important Confession of the Reformation period.  With this Confession Melanchthon did not wish to divide the church and found a new one, but rather to maintain its unity. The Church is an assembly of saints, of Christians, where the gospel is taught and the sacraments duly administered. These two things are essential to the Church. Melanchthon also stressed a number of elements still held in common by Catholics and Protestants: the bible, the primitive Christian creeds, doctrines of God, Christ, and sin. And he stated clearly that the unity of the Church does not mean that everything has to be done in the same way. Pluralism is possible.

   This position of Melanchthon in 1530 was rejected by Catholic theologians and the Emperor alike. But history moves on. Important discussions among Catholic theologians in Germany 450 years later concluded that today Catholic theologians would have no difficulty in accepting the Augsburg Confession as an ecumenical Confession.

4. An evangelical pope? Melanchthon opposes Luther

The papacy was and is the most sensitive issue between Protestants and Catholics. From 1535 on, Luther saw the pope as the antichrist, the devil’s helper, destroying the church from within. With harsh words, Luther not only criticised the pope but spoke in violent terms about burning the papal see and hanging the pope and his cardinals. But in 1535 Protestants were surprised by a papal invitation to a church assembly, a holy council. For nearly twenty years Protestant demands for a church assembly had been rejected by the pope. Now things seemed to be changing, with the pope expressing a wish for such an assembly. How should Protestants react? In 1537 there was a meeting of Protestant theologians and political leaders in Schmalkalden, a town between Saxony and Hesse, at which Luther presented a new private confession of faith which later came to be known as the Articles of Schmalkalden. This confession spoke of the pope to condemn him. Many theologians signed Luther’s text. Melanchthon also signed, but with this addendum: Regarding the pope, I disagree with Luther. I am prepared to accept the pope, if he allows evangelical preaching, and if he declares that his power derives from human, rather than divine law. I am prepared to accept the pope, for I want to support peace in the world and the unity of the Church.

   Let me quote him verbatim, first in German, then in English:

Ich Philippus Melanthon halt dise obgestalte artikel auch fur recht und christlich. Vom Bapst aber halt ich, so ehr das Euangelium wollte zulassen, das yhm, umb fridens und gemeiner Einikeit willen der jenigen Christen so auch unter yhm sind und kunfftig sein möchten, sein superioritet uber die Bischove die ehr hatt iure humano, auch von uns zuzulassen (und zugeben) sey. (BSLK 463-464)

I, Philipp Melanthon, also consider the articles above to be right and Christian. Yet, regarding the pope, I have the opinion that if he should allow the Gospel, his supremacy over the bishops, which he has according to human law, should then also be recognized by us for the sake of peace and common unity of those Christians who are also under his rule and perhaps could be so in the future.

Melanchthon’s proposal had no effect; the Protestant leaders rejected participation in a church assembly.

   As previously mentioned, I believe that the papacy remains the crucial sticking point, now as then. Popes now are better than they were in the time of Luther and Melanchthon; but they are also more powerful. Now as then, Protestants cannot possibly accept the doctrine of infallibility. On this I would have Melanchthon’s agreement.

Melanchthon: living in the Spirit

Let me finish on a very different note, with just a few words on his spirituality. Melanchthon was a man of prayer, and prayed constantly for the unity of the Church. A few days before his death in 1560 he took some paper and wrote a few sentences under the heading: reasons who we should not fear death. He wrote that we will at last reach the light; we will see God; we will understand all those questions which we could not understand during our lives; we will understand the Trinity, and the two natures of Christ. We will understand why God made us as we are. And, wrote Melanchthon, we will be freed from the rage of theologians. During his final years, months and weeks Melanchthon had to endure many attacks from other theologians, Protestant as well as Catholic, including some of his former students. Death as liberation: the tragic, unhappy end of this great man.

Melanchthon: humanist and reformer, reformer and humanist. Luther perceived that Melanchthon embodied this conjunction. Once when he was sitting at table he took a piece of chalk, and wrote a few short Latin sentences: Res et verba Philippus, verba sine re Erasmus, res sine verbis Lutherus, nec res nec verba Carolostadius (WA TR 3619). Freely translated:

Only Philip Melanchthon understands theology and has the words to express it. Erasmus can speak and write, but he has no understanding. I, Luther, understand, but do not find the words. Karlstadt has no understanding and no words.