Reformation
Wittenberg, Germany
Lutheran (Philippist)
Also: Melanchthon
⭐ He was Luther's right hand and closest co-worker — and in the first great battle over free will after Luther's death, both sides were Luther's men, and he was on one of them. González's explanation is that most of the differences between Luther's theology and Melanchthon's grew out of the influence of the humanist spirit on the younger of the two. ⚠ And the leading figure on the humanist side was none other than Erasmus, with whom Luther had fought in print — after that debate, González notes, Melanchthon still held the great Dutch humanist in the highest regard. Olson adds that while Luther was alive he could not express these views openly.
Below: first his own position, then the church’s verdict — kept separate. A rejected opinion keeps equal weight here.
His own position
Early on he agreed with Luther: philosophy affirms free will but Scripture denies it, and, as González reports his view, the doctrine of free will keeps people from seeing the grace of Christ. ⭐ But he moved further and further away. González records that as the years went by Melanchthon laid more and more stress on the freedom of the will, which, he said, is what makes a human being different from a log or a stone. He put forward a formula of three causes of conversion: the Word, the Holy Spirit and the will, all acting at the same time — the will being counted as the third cause. ⚠ This is exactly the point that Article II of the Formula of Concord of 1577 would expressly reject.
The church’s verdict
Never condemned; all his life he was one of the leaders of the Lutheran church. But his line (the Philippists) was attacked again and again by the Gnesio-Lutherans in the Synergistic Controversy, and Article II of the Formula of Concord in effect rejected his formula that the will is a third cause acting at the same time.
Threads he belongs to
Grace and Free Will
Round 2 · The Reformation Counterclaim ⚠ Luther's right hand — yet he listed the will as the third cause of conversion, and the Lutheran church later expressly rejected that sentence.
Justification
Dispute Carries on ⚠ He was present at all three quarrels: the target of the Antinomian Controversy, the source of the Majoristic Controversy, and a critic of Osiander in the Osiandrian Controversy. His careful wording was itself a position.