Philipp Melanchthon (1497 – 1560)
“The Truth might fare better at a lower temperature.” (spoken 1519)
Quiet, scholarly Melanchthon was the perfect foil for Martin Luther.
Nearly two years have passed since Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These have generated great interest, have been widely printed, and have fomented argument all over Europe. A principle point of Luther’s theses is that “preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope’s indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved.” People take sides. A peaceful young professor named Melanchthon believes that Luther is closer to the truth than his opponents and sides with him. However, while the debate rages, he is almost always seen arrayed with those who seek peaceable reconciliation—if only it embodies the essential truths of the faith. His moderate approach will not prevail. Within a few years, religious differences will erupt into war.
So keen is interest in religious matters, and so golden the opportunity for publicity, that Johann Eck invites Andreas Karlstadt, a Luther supporters, to a debate in Leipzig, Germany, on some issues that separate the Lutherans and Rome. A born showman, Eck parades around Leipzig with a bodyguard of 76 men, fifes playing and drums pounding.
On June 24, Karlstadt, Luther, and Melanchthon arrive to defend the Lutheran position. Debate begins on the 27th. It will last 18 days. Thousands gather to watch and listen. After attending mass at six o’clock in the morning, the participants gather in Duke George’s castle auditorium, where his secretary gives a two hour speech setting the rules of engagement.
That afternoon the parties haggle over additional conditions for the debate. Will there be stenographers? Will there be judges? When may the two sides publish the results?
Eck is opposed to stenographers. It might hamper the spontaneous heat of the debate, he says. The peaceable Melanchthon, aware that too much has already been said in passion on both sides, replies with dry sarcasm: “The truth might fare better at a lower temperature.” The contestants agree to stenographers.
The debate will prove a disaster for Rome. Eck’s flamboyance and the special treatment given him by the city fill Luther with resentment. Far from finding common ground, the two sides widen the gap. Eck’s taunt that Luther is a follower of John Hus drives the reformer to investigate Hus and to discover how much he has in agreement with him. In the end, both sides claim victory and both break their agreement on publication. The differences between Lutherans and Romanists become irreparable.
Eventually, having failed in a lifetime of efforts to bring peace between quarrelling factions—Rome vs. Lutherans, Protestants vs. Lutherans, and Lutherans vs. Lutherans—Melanchthon will reach a point where he writes that he only longs to die and escape the “frenzy of theologians.”
—Dan Graves
Dig a Little Deeper
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- “Philipp Melanchthon 500th Anniversary Exhibit.” chi.lcms.org/melanchthon/
