In via Wittembergensi

The Forming of Pastors in the Wittenberg Reformation

Abstract

This is descriptively rich account of the reform of the university curriculum at Wittenberg under the impact of the rediscovered gospel begins by unveiling the scholarly resources of that rediscovery in the appropriation of Renaissance humanism by Luther and Melanchthon. The article describes this as a “biblical humanism” to prevent any confusion with scholarly constructs of Renaissance humanism as an anthropocentric worldview rather than a renewed scholarly methodology of going to the primary sources (ad fontes) to gain the proper sense of authoritative texts. Broad education and wide reading in ancient authors provided an ideological context for grasping the specific profile of the biblical message: not the “lazy deity” of Aristotle, but the passionate seeking of the God of the gospel to forgive, reconcile and redeem lost and dying creatures and to identify this seeking, moreover, with the contemporary proclaimed word. Reform of the university curriculum, accordingly, was at once existential and pastoral. The products of such education were to be both pious and erudite. Intellectual curiosity was redirected from speculation about the hidden God to inquiry into the material creation and the human condition. Christian doctrine, in turn, was reconceived in the topical method devised by Melanchthon to gather together scriptural testimonies in support of the narrative of salvation provided by the apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. This move “deparentified” the so-called church fathers and transformed them into the theological conversation partners.