The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-02-27
THE MELANOHTH0N ANNIVER
SARY.

On last Sunday, Feb. q, Protest
ant churches throughout Germany,
and many in other countries, includ-
ing mass meeting celebration in ST..
Louis and quiet celebrations in this
city, did honor to the memory of
Philip Melanchthon on the occasion
of the 40Oth anniversary OF the great
reformer's birth.
Philip Melanchthon, "the scholar of
the Reformation, as he has been
called, was born at Bretten, Germany,
Feb 16, 1897, and in Germany Feb.
Is, this year, the exact anniversary of
his birth, was the day on which the
German university honored one of
the greatest scholars and greatest
minds Germany has produced, while
at Bretten, his birthplace, statue
of Melanchthon was unveiled by the
Grand Duke of Baden.
This quadricentennial celebration,
following so closely upon similar
celebration in honor of Luther, has
given the P. otestant world an oppor-
tunity to take note of how these great
| men relatively stand in the perspec
tive of modern history and modern
thought. The result is that while
Luther still towers as the grand, hero
ic figure of the Reformation, that of
the man who defed all powers terres-
trial and internal in defense of what
he believed to be the truth, Philip
Melanchthon is now recognized as be-
ing the most modern in spirit, more
nearly allied in theological beliefs,
and especially in federation, to the
Professionalism of the present day.
Yet Melanchthon did heroic service
to the cause of the Reformation,
though lacking the robust strength,
indomitable purpose, and fiery zeal
of Luther. 1t was Melanchthon who
wrote the ''loci theological" the first
dogmatic treatise issued in the be-
ginnings of the Lutheran church, and
in 1880, at the grand diet presided
over at Augsburg by the Emperor
Charles V, ruler of Spain, the Neither
lands, Germany and the greater part
of America, it was Melanchthon who
presented. the first public confession
of the faitd of Protestants, the now
venerable augsburg Confession
which on its presentation created
such a stir in Christendom and is to-
day the foremost confession of faith
in Lutheran churches in all lands.
This concise old time confession
of faith marks an epoch in the history
of Christianity. 1t is a bulwark on
the pathway of religious progress, a
protest against the embracing re-
ligious tyranny of the Rome of four
centuries ago, which must remain to
be reckoaed with as long as Rome
and Professionalism remain as forces in
the world of religious thought and
belief. 1t was Melanchthon, also, but
assisted by Luther, who afterwards,
in reply to the refutation of the Augs-
burg Confession by the Roman pre-
lates, wrote the apology of the Augs-
burg Confession" work revealing
wide acquaintance with the history
of the church, and the theological
literature of the time as we'll as rare
exegetical and polemical powers, re-
markable even in an age marked by
great men.
Later in life, after the death of
Luther, the storm of theological
persecution and hatred that broke
upon the head of the mild Melanch-
thon made him esteem death itself a
happiness as deliverance. He was
not fitted, like Luther, to contend
alone, if need be, against prin-
CAPABILITIES and powers. His was
the milder and more humanita-
rian spirit of the Reformation. He
loved the classics and his fame
as an instructor in Latin and Greek
drew to him students from all over
Europe, making the little University
of Wittenberg during his stay there
the most famous of Europe. From
1900 to 1000 students at a time at
tended his lectures, and such was his
fame that other countries desired to
secure him. Henry VIII. of Eng
land made several attempts to win to
England the great renown and ser
vices of Melanchthon, as had been
done in the case of Erasmus. But