Philip Melanchthon, Speaker of the Reformation

Book excerpt: The studies in this volume illuminate the thought and life of Philip Melanchthon, one of the most neglected major figures in Reformation history and theology. Melanchthon was one of the most widely published and respected thinkers in his own day, who authored some of the sixteenth-century's most important books on Latin and Greek grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, and history, to say nothing of his theological output, which included the first overview of Protestant theology, the first Protestant commentaries on Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and John. He was also the chief drafter of the Augsburg Confession and wrote its defense, the Apology. These essays, written over the past twenty years, commemorate the 450th anniversary of Melanchthon's death in 2010. The articles provide a wide-ranging picture of Melanchthon's thought and life with topics including his view of free will, approaches to biblical interpretation, his perspective on the church fathers and world history, and comparisons to other important figures of the age, including Calvin, Luther and Erasmus.