MELANCTHON arrived at Wittemberg on August 25th, 1518, two days after Leo X. had signed the brief, charging Cardinal Cajetan to summon Luther before him, "to prosecute and constrain without any delay." And two days later the pope signed a letter to Frederick, in which he sought to detach him from Luther's cause. It was just at the time when the Reformer most needed a friend into whose bosom he could pour out his sorrows and whose faithful affection should comfort him in his hours of dejection, that God gave him such a friend in Philip Melancthon.
The reception accorded to Melancthon by the Wittemberg professors was less favorable than by those of Leipsic. The first impression he created was somewhat disappointing to their expectations. They saw a young man, looking, even younger than his age, small of stature, with feeble and timid air. Could this be the illustrious doctor who had been so warmly recommended to them by Reuchlin and Erasmus? Neither Luther nor his colleagues entertained any great hopes of his success, when they saw his youth, his shyness, and his diffident manner.
But, four days later, when his inaugural address was delivered, he spoke in such elegant Latin, and showed so much learning, an understanding so cultivated, and a judgment so sound, that all who heard him were struck with admiration. Fears departed, and those who had been inclined to condemn were now loud in praise.
When the speech was finished, all crowded round the young professor with congratulations, but no one felt more joy than Luther, and he hastened to assure the diffident youth of his admiration and affection. Writing to Spalatin, chaplain to the Elector Frederick, on August 31st, he says: "Melancthon delivered four days after his arrival so learned and so beautiful a discourse that every one listened with astonishment and admiration. We soon recovered from the prejudices excited by his stature and appearance; we now praise and admire his eloquence. We return oar thanks to you and to the prince for the service you have done us. I ask for no other Greek master. But I fear that his delicate frame will be unable to support our mode of living, and that we shall be unable to keep him long on account of the smallness of his salary. I hear that the Leipsic people are already boasting of their power to take him from us. O my dear Spalatin, beware of despising his age and his personal appearance. He is a man worthy of every honor.”
Enthusiastic in the work he had undertaken, Melancthon began immediately to lecture on Homer and St. Paul's Epistle to Titus. "I will make every effort," wrote he to Spalatin, "to conciliate the favor of all those in Wittemberg who love learning and virtue." On September 2nd Luther again wrote to the elector's chaplain, saying: "I most particularly recommend to you the very learned and very amiable Grecian, Philip. His lecture-room is always full. All the theologians in particular go to hear him. He is making every class, upper, lower, and middle, begin to read Greek.”
Melancthon fully responded to Luther's affection, and found in him a kindness of disposition, strength of mind, courage, and discretion, that he had never before found in any man. "If there is any one," said he, "whom I dearly love, and whom I embrace with my whole heart, it is Martin Luther.”
Referring to the meeting of these two eminent men, and its influence, upon the Reformation, Dr. Merle D'Aubigne states: “Thus did Luther and Melancthon meet; they were friends until death. We cannot too much admire the goodness and wisdom of God in bringing together two men so different, and yet so necessary to one another. Luther possessed warmth, vigor, and strength; Melancthon clearness, discretion, and mildness. Luther gave energy to Melancthon, Melancthon moderated Luther. They were like substances in a state of positive and negative electricity which mutually act upon each other. If Luther had been without Melancthon, perhaps the torrent would have overflowed its banks; Melancthon, when Luther was taken away from him by death, hesitated and gave way, even where he should not have yielded. Luther did much by power; Melancthon perhaps did no less by following a gentler and more tranquil method. Both were upright, open-hearted, generous; both ardently loved the Word of eternal life, and obeyed it with a fidelity and devotion that governed their whole lives.”
The arrival of Melancthon at Wittemberg effected a complete change in the methods of study, not only at that university, but throughout Germany and the learned world. No longer was there the barrenness which scholasticism had cast over education, but a professor who knew how to clothe the driest subjects with grace and beauty, and the mildness of whose spirit and clearness and precision of ideas captivated all hearers. "Thanks to him," said the German historian Plank, "Wittemberg became the school of the nation.”
It was of the greatest importance at this time that a man who knew Greek thoroughly should teach in the university at Wittemberg. The new developments of theology impelled both masters and pupils to study the sacred writings in their original languages. Luther immediately applied himself to the task, and in doing so found that the meaning of a Greek word could often make clear important theological ideas. As, for instance, the word which according to the Roman Church meant penance, or human expiation or satisfaction required by the Church, really meant in Greek true conversion of heart and newness of life. With this discovery, a thick mist rolled away from his eyes.
And as Luther benefited by the study of Greek under Melancthon, so he, on his part, derived much good through his acquaintance with the new theology. The doctrine of Justification by Faith filled him with wonder and joy. Yet he independently examined the system expounded by Luther, and molded it according to the peculiar form of his own mind; for although he was but twenty-one years of age, he was one of those geniuses whose mind seemed fully developed, and who think for themselves from their earliest years.
The zeal of the teachers was speedily communicated to the disciples, and the method of instruction was, with the elector's consent, reformed. Those courses that possessed merely scholastic importance were suppressed, but the study of the classics received a fresh impulse. The University of Wittemberg was transformed, and the contrast between it and other universities became daily more striking. Yet all was done within the limits of the Church, and none suspected that they were on the eve of a great contest with the pope.
The end of the year 1518 saw the memorable conference between Cardinal Cajetan and Luther at Augsburg, at which, without his errors having been refuted, the Reformer was required to retract. It also witnessed his heroic stand on behalf of the truth, and the hour when, feeling that the elector could no longer afford to protect him, he realized the necessity of quitting Germany to seek a refuge in France.
Amid these trying and perilous circumstances his heart turned to his friend. Thus we find him writing to Melancthon from Augsburg on the eve of his first appearance before the cardinal as follows: "Show yourself a man as you do at all times. Teach our beloved youths what is upright and acceptable to God. As for me, I am going to be sacrificed for you and for them, if such is the Lord's will. I would rather die, and even, which would be my greatest misfortune, be deprived of your sweet society, than retract what I felt it my duty to teach, and thus ruin perhaps by my own fault the excellent studies to which we are now devoting ourselves. Italy, like Egypt in times of old, is plunged in darkness so thick that it may be felt. No one in that country knows anything of Christ, or of what belongs to Him; and yet they are our lords and masters in faith and morals. Thus the wrath of God is fulfilled among us, as the prophet saith, I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.' Do your duty to God, my dear Philip, and avert His anger by pure and fervent prayer.”
While these important events were happening at Augsburg, Melancthon continued his teaching at Wittemberg. His efforts at this time were directed to the revival and purification of the Aristotelian or Peripatetic philosophy, as opposed to the scholastic systems that had been founded upon it, and which had made of theology a mass of confused subtleties utterly obscuring all true conceptions of religion. Luther, perceiving the support which the scholastic philosophy afforded to the errors of the Romish Church, utterly rejected it, and at first Melancthon was inclined to agree with him; but perceiving that it was not so much the philosophy of Aristotle that was responsible for these results as the perverted interpretation of it by the schoolmen, he gave it a qualified support. Thus, while thoroughly condemning scholasticism, as generating dissension rather than promoting truth, he took Aristotle for his guide in philosophical inquiries, and accepted his principles so far as they were connected with utility. But he brought his penetrating mind to bear upon this subject, and always paid a superior deference to the Word of God.
In the German schools Melancthon was looked upon as a common or general preceptor. Uniting the study of the Aristotelian philosophy with ancient learning in general, he extracted from Aristotle all that was essentially good, and illustrated it by the aids of literature and general criticism, adapting all to the principles of true religion. At the same time whatever was valuable in the writings or doctrines of the Stoics and Platonists he adopted for his use, and whatever his genius suggested he incorporated into his system.
This system, which from its founder was called the Philippic method, was pursued in most of the German academies, under the sanction of both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. In all the Lutheran schools abridgments of the various branches of philosophy by Melancthon, composed in a familiar style, were constantly and for a long period taught; of this nature were his Logic, Ethics, Physics, and his Treatise on the Soul. Nor did he confine his attention to a few subjects only, but reduced almost every art and science, then known, into a form and arrangement which greatly abbreviated the labor of the student. Several learned men from Italy and Great Britain, who became tutors in the German schools, materially assisted him in these efforts.
After the failure of Cardinal Cajetan to procure Luther's recantation, the Reformer appealed on November 28th, 1518, from the pope to a general council of the Church. This he did anticipating that the papal thunder of excommunication would be launched against him. It was a bold stroke, and brought him under the ban of the Church's greater excommunication, and necessitated more than ever his departure from Germany.
But when all was in readiness for leaving Wittemberg, and the courtiers of Leo X. were urging that pontiff to measures of severity, he entered upon a course of conciliation and apparent mildness. A fresh legate was dispatched from Italy, bearing as a present to the elector the Golden Rose—emblem of the sovereign pontiff's special regard. This legate was the pope's chamberlain, a Saxon noble named Charles Miltitz, and he was commissioned to proceed to Germany, there to examine the state of affairs, and to seek to gain over the elector's councilors, so that Rome might secure possession of her powerful antagonist.
On January 12th, 1519, Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, died, and the Elector Frederick became administrator of the empire. The meetings between Luther and Miltitz took place in the house of Spalatin at Altenburg. The result was a kind of truce, stated in Luther's report to the elector as follows:—“Both parties are forbidden to preach, write, or do anything further in the discussion that has been raised.
Miltitz will immediately inform the holy Father of the state of affairs. His holiness will empower an enlightened bishop to investigate the matter, and to point out the erroneous articles I should retract. If they prove me to be in error I shall willingly recant, and will do nothing derogatory to the honor and authority of the holy Roman Church.”
Luther was as desirous of peace as the papal legate, but a more powerful hand than Luther's was at work. "God does not guide me," he said, "He pushes me forward. I am not master of myself. I desire to live in repose; but I am thrown into the midst of tumults and convulsions.”
The Reformation could not be stayed. At the very moment when the Roman pontiff thought to stifle the work in Germany, Luther's writings and opinions were being scattered far beyond the frontiers of the empire, and the Reformation began in France, the Low Countries, Italy, Spain, England, and Switzerland.