190 THE GuRMAN REFORMATION. A.D. 1517 To 1530.
German. ‘The former, by his co-operation, secured accuracy to the German Bible; the latter, idiomatic force and poetic beauty.
In the year 1519 Melanchthon graduated as Bachelor of Divinity ; the degree of Doctor he modestly declined. From that time on, he was a member of the theological faculty, and delivered also theological lectures, especially on exegesis. He taught two or three hours every day a variety of topics, including ethics, logic, Greek and Hebrew grammar; he explained Homer, Plato, Plutarch, Titus, Matthew, Romans, the Psalms. In the latter period of his life he devoted himself exclusively to sacred learning. He was never ordained, and never ascended the pulpit; but for the benefit of foreign students who were ignorant of German, he delivered every Sunday in his lecture-room a Latin sermon on the Gospels. He became ᾿ at once, and continued to be, the most popular teacher at Wittenberg. He drew up the statutes of the University, which are regarded as a model. By his advice and example the higher education in Germany was regulated.
His fame attracted students from all parts of Christendom, including princes, counts, and barons. His lecture-room was crowded to overflowing, and he heard occasionally as many as eleven languages at his frugal but hospitable table. He received calls to Tiibingen, Niirnberg, and Heidelberg, and was also invited to Denmark, France, and England; but he preferred remaining in Wittenberg till his death.
At the urgent request of Luther, who wished to hold him fast, and to promote his health and comfort, he married (having no vow of celibacy to prevent him) as early as August, 1520, Catharina Krapp, the worthy daughter of the burgomaster of Wittenberg, who faithfully shared with him the joys and trials of domestic life. He had from her four children, and was often seen rocking the cradle with one hand, while holding a book in the other. He used to repeat the Apostles’ Creed in his family three timesa day. He esteemed |
ὃ 41. LUTHER AND MELANCHTHON. 191
his wife higher than himself. She died in 1557 while he was on a journey to the colloquy at Worms: when he heard the sad news at Heidelberg, he looked up to heaven, and exclaimed, “ Farewell! I shall soon follow thee.”
Next to the “ Lutherhaus ” with the “ Luthermuseum,” the most interesting dwelling in the quaint old town of Wittenberg on the banks of the Elbe is the house of Melanchthon in the Collegienstrasse. It is a three-story building, and belongs to the Prussian government, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. having bought it from its former owner. Melanchthon’s study is on the first story; there he died. Behind the house is a little garden which was connected with Luther’s garden. Here, under the shade of the tree, the two Reformers may often have exchanged views on the stirring events of the times, and encouraged each other in the great conflict. The house bears in German the inscription on the outer
wall: — “Here lived, taught, and died
PHILIPP MELANCHTHON.”’
§ 41. Luther and Melanchthon.
P. ScuaFF: Luther und Melanchthon, in his ‘‘ Der Deutsche Kirchenfreund,”’ Mercersburg, Pa., vol. III. (1850), pp. 58-64. E. L. HENKE: Das Verhdltniss Luthers und Melanchthons zu einander. Festrede am 19 April, 1860. Marburg (28 pages). Compare also DOLLINGER: Die Reformation, vol. i. 349 sqq.
‘Wo sich das Strenge mit dem Zarten, Wo Starkes sich und Mildes paarten, Da giebt es einen guten Klang.’”’? (Schiller.)
In great creative epochs of the Church, God associates congenial leaders for mutual help and comfort. In the Reformation of the sixteenth century, we find Luther and Melanchthon in Germany, Zwingli and CEcolampadius, Farel and Viret, Calvin and Beza in Switzerland, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley in England, Knox and Melville in Scotland, work-
102. ΠῊΒ GERMAN REFORMATION. A.D. 1517 To 1530.
ing together with different gifts, but in the same spirit and for the same end. The Methodist revival of the eighteenth century was carried on by the co-operation of the two Wesleys and Whitefield; and the Anglo-Catholic movement of the nineteenth, by the association of Pusey, Newman, and Keble.
Immediately after his arrival at the Saxon University, on the Elbe, Melanchthon entered into an intimate relation with Luther, and became his most useful and influential co-laborer. He looked up to his elder colleague with the veneration of a son, and was carried away and controlled (sometimes against his better judgment) by the fiery genius of the Protestant Elijah ; while Luther regarded him as his superior in learning, and was not ashamed to sit humbly at his feet. He attended his exegetical lectures, and published them, without — the author’s wish and knowledge, for the benefit of the Church. Melanchthon declared in April, 1520, that “he would rather die than be separated from Luther;” and in November of the same year, “ Martin’s welfare is dearer to me than my own life.” Luther was captivated by Melanchthon’s first lecture; he admired his scholarship, loved his character, and wrote most enthusiastically about him in confidential letters to Spalatin, Reuchlin, Lange, Scheurl, and others, lauding him as a prodigy of learning and piety.
The friendship of these two great and good men is one of the most delightful chapters in the religious drama of the sixteenth century. It rested on mutual personal esteem and
1 Lutherus ad Reuchlinum, Dec. 14, 1518: ““ Philippus noster Melanchthon, homo admirabilis, imo pene nihil habens, quod non supra hominem sit, familiarissimus tamen et amicissimus mihi.’? To Billikan he wrote in 1523 (De Wette, II. 407): ‘‘ Den Philippus achte ich nicht anders als mich selbst, ausgenommen in Hinsicht auf seine Gelehrsamkeit und die Unbescholtenheit seines Lebens, wodurch er mich, dass ich nicht blos sage, tibertrifft.”” In his humoroys way he once invited him (Oct. 18, 1518) to supper under the address: “ Philippo Melanchthoni, Schwarzerd, Greco, Latino, Hebreo, Germano, nunquam Barbaro.”? The testimonies of Luther on Mel. are collected in the first and last vols. of the ‘‘ Corp. Reform.’ (especially xxviii>. 9 and 10).