Page 73 - History of Christianity - Student Textbook

Study Section 14: The Great Reformers - continued

14.1 Connect

One of the greatest contributions of the early reformers was their willingness to painstakingly
translate the Bible into the language of the common men. Martin Luther translated the Bible into
German and John Calvin into Swiss. It took enormous efforts for these men to do this and many
years of their lives. Before their day, a common person had absolutely NO access to able to read the
Bible. They were all written in Latin and the church services were held in Latin. The common people
had no idea what was going on in the church and certainly did not know how to be saved from their
sin. By this time, the church was telling them that salvation was granted from the church as a result of their
good works. People were ignorant of even the basic stories in the Bible. As we continue studying, we will see
that God raised up key men and women who paid the price to bring God’s Word to the people.

14.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to state Phillip Melanchthon’s contribution to the Reformation.

2. The student should be able to identify with Heinrich Bullinger in his quest to make Jesus Christ know to the
people of Germany.

3. The student should understand and be able to describe how John Calvin influenced the
understanding of major doctrines in the Bible which even today are a source of contention in the
Church.

14.3 Phillip Melanchthon 1497-1560

Melanchthon distinguished himself from his contemporaries not only through
his works as a humanist and his extraordinary gift for Greek, Latin, and Hebrew,
but also through his outstanding achievements as a reformer, politician, and
educator

Melanchthon played an important role during the Reformation, not only as Luther's friend
and confidant, but also as the negotiator for the Protestant side during Congresses and
Religious Talks. Moreover, he contributed to the systematization of Reformation thought with his "Loci
Communes." Melanchthon provided Luther with the decisive impulse for translating the Bible.

Sebastian Franck, c. 1499-c.1543 –

Franck was a German Protestant Reformer and theologian who converted
from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism but departed from Martin Luther’s views,
emphasizing a mystical attitude in place of dogmatic belief.

Franck combined the humanist’s passion for freedom with the mystic’s devotion to
a religion based on the inner illumination of the spirit. He believed the Bible was full
of contradictions in which true and eternal messages could be unveiled only by the
spirit, and he considered dogmatic controversy meaningless. He asserted the extremely anti-dogmatic notion
that Christians need know only the doctrines found in the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. In the

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