Introduction-Chapter 1-Wittenberg's New Professor-Chapter 2-The Devil, Latin, and Philosophy-Chapter 3-The Idle Spectator-Chapter 4-IN the Wake of Leipzig-Chapter 5-Without Elijah-Chapter 6-The Loci and the Passional-Chapter 7-The Great Defection-Chapter 8-Stars, Dreams, and Omens-Chapter 9-Attack, Tumult and Gossip-Chapter 10-Golden Fruit, Silver Bowl-Chapter 11-That They May Know the Word-Chapter 12-From Protest-Chapter 13-To Confession-Chapter 14-A Cause Committed to God-Chapter 15-Delivered From Hell-Chapter 16-Defending the Confession-Chapter 17-Intrigue of Kings-Chapter 18-Sign of the Bread-Chapter 19-An Unending Web-Chapter 20-Bigamy!-Chapter 21-The Important Nonessentials-Chapter 22-The /Word, The Holy Spirit, and the Will-Chapter 23-Reformer at Home-Notes--Index.

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.

The first survey to utilise the approaches of the new cultural history in analysing how Reformation Europe came about.

This book explores the hitherto neglected relationship between the English Reformation and the Lutheran scholar Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). It looks at how Henry, following his break with Rome, flirted with Lutheranism as a doctrine to replace Catholicism, before the eventual collapse of the policy and its replacement with a more moderate reform programme under Cranmer. It then goes on to investigate how Melanchthon, as the leading proponent of Lutheranism influenced successive royal governments, both positively and negatively, as they struggled to impose their own brand of doctrinal conformity on the English church. By refracting the well known narrative of the English Reformation through the lens of Melanchthon, new light is shed on many events that have puzzled historians. The study provides fascinating new perspectives on such questions as why Henry suddenly abandoned his Lutheran policy, why Cromwell fell from power in 1540 and even insights into Elizabeth's personal beliefs. By tying events in England into the context of the wider European Reformation, through the work of Philip Melanchthon, this book offers fresh insights into the nature and development of early evangelical Protestantism.

In The Reformation of Historical Thought, Mark Lotito re-examines the development of Western historiography by concentrating on Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560) and his universal history, Carion’s Chronicle (1532). With the Chronicle, Melanchthon overturned the medieval papal view of history, and he offered a distinctly Wittenberg perspective on the foundations of the “modern” European world. Through its immense popularity, the Chronicle assumed extraordinary significance across the divides of language, geography and confession. Indeed, Melanchthon’s intervention would become the point of departure for theologians, historians and jurists to debate the past, present and future of the Holy Roman Empire. Through the Chronicle, the Wittenberg reformation of historical thought became an integral aspect of European intellectual culture for the centuries that followed.

This book proposes that Philip Melanchthon was responsible for transforming traditional university natural philosophy into a specifically Lutheran one. Motivated by desire to check civil disobedience and promote a Lutheran orthodoxy, he created a natural philosophy based on Aristotle, Galen and Plato, incorporating contemporary findings of Copernicus and Vesalius. The fields of astrology, anatomy, botany and mathematics all constituted a natural philosophy in which Melanchthon wished to demonstrate God's Providential design in the physical world. Rather than dichotomizing or synthesizing the two distinct areas of 'science' and 'religion', Kusukawa advocates the need to look at 'Natural philosophy' as a discipline quite different from either 'modern science' or 'religion': a contextual assessment of the implication of the Lutheran Reformation on university education, particularly on natural philosophy.

Timothy George reveals how the sixteenth century?s revolution in theological thinking was fueled by a fresh return to the Scriptures. He underlines several Reformers' unique engagement with the Bible and suggests what their legacy might mean for reading, praying and living out the Scriptures today.

This book offers portraits of twenty of the secondary theologians of the Reformation period. In addition to describing a particular theologian, each portrait explores one problem in 16th-century Christian thought. Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, and Radical thinkers are all represented in this volume, which serves as both an introduction to the field and a handy reference for scholars.

For nearly thirty years, James M. KittelsonÕs Luther the Reformer has been the standard biography of Martin Luther. Like Roland BaintonÕs biography of the generation before, KittelsonÕs volume is the one known by thousands of students, pastors, and interested readers as the biography that gave them the details of this dramatic man and his history. Ê The accolades were well deserved. Fair, insightful, and detailed without being overwhelming, Kittelson was able to negotiate a Òmiddle wayÓ between the many directions of historical research and present a more complete chronological picture of Luther than many had yet portrayed. Ê For this revised edition, Hans H. Wiersma has made an outstanding text even better. The research is updated, and the text is revised throughout, with an emphasis on retaining the tone and pace of the original. Additionally, the volume has an entirely new map and image program, updated bibliographies, improved timelines, and other features to enhance the reading experience. Ê ItÕs a great volume, greatly improved.Ê

This volume, first published in 1999, presents a translated and wide-ranging selection of Melanchthon's influential academic orations.