Melanchthon The Quiet Reformer

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.

In Reading Scripture with the Reformers, Timothy George takes readers through the exciting events of the sixteenth century, showing how this dynamic period was instigated by a fresh return to the Scriptures. George immerses us in the world of the Reformation, its continuities with the ancient and medieval church, and its dramatic upheavals and controversies. Most of all, he uncovers the significant way that the Bible shaped the minds and hearts of the reformers. This book shows how the key figures of the Reformation read and interpreted Scripture, and how their thought was shaped by what they read. We are invited to see what the church today can learn from the fathers of the Reformation, and how these figures offer a model of reading, praying and living out the Scriptures.

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

Until well into the nineteenth century scholars have repeated a tra ditional view of Anabaptism when they turn to Reformation history. They have regarded the Zwickau Prophets and Thomas Miintzer as the instigators of the movement. The radical disturbance caused by the Prophets and Miintzer in Wittenberg and the Saxon lands spread to Switzerland, there to plague Zwingli and his following. In both regions a radical spiritualism was the dominating element of the movement. Anabaptism reached its peak of development in the forceful establish ment of the Kingdom of Miinster. Most historians have devoted the major part of their discourse on Anabaptism to this model of fanati cism. After the rebellion was suppressed a rather pious but nonetheless harsh converted priest named Menno Simons collected the dispersed elements and attempted to direct them into more peaceful channels. Other leaders, like David J oris, continued the radical spiritualism if not the civil disorder. In this picture of the movement historians have insisted on regarding more highly the similarities rather than the differences in religious ideas of men such as Miintzer, Storch, Carlstadt, Grebel, Manz, Sattler, Denk, Marpeck, Matthys, Jan van Leyden, Joris, and Menno Simons. Even a cursory perusal of the writings of the Reformers - particularly those of Luther, Melanchthon, Menius, and Bullinger - reveals the identity of this traditional picture with that of the sixteenth-century polemicists.

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

"Supererogation" is an awkward term but a useful concept. While not a term that we use every day, the concept is very familiar to most of us. It is an act that is neither obligatory nor forbidden and that possesses moral worth. While Roman Catholics and a large number of moral philosophers affirm the possibility and value of such acts, Evangelicals from the time of the Reformation have rejected them. Yet, this is to their detriment. Relying on Gregory Mellema's insight that acts of supererogation are possible without compromising the orthodox Evangelical doctrine of justification, I argue that there is clear evidence for supererogation in the New Testament and that performing such deeds with a proper motive is essential in an Evangelical account of supererogation. It is my hope that Evangelicals will reconsider the possibility of supererogation and embrace the concept as a useful tool in counseling contexts, biblical interpretation, and homiletics.