Assessing Melanchthon's life from the vantage point of personal relations with friends and foes reveals how entwined his personal concerns and his personality were with his public role in church and society as well as with the development of some of his theological positions. His correspondence with Camerarius, Baumgartner, and Dietrich exposes his deep worries over friends and families as well as concerns for the welfare of colleagues, the church, and the world. His more problematic relationship with Luther, for all its turbulence, embodied not only highest respect and dedication to common efforts for reformation but also genuine fondness. Examining his relationships with Agricola, Flacius, Gallus, and Osiander illustrates Melanchthon's complicated reactions to those disciples who disagreed and opposed his positions. Camerarius's biography served to counteract criticism and form a positive image of his friend. Melanchthon's son-in-law Caspar Peucer and Peucer's colleague Christoph Pezel instrumentalized Melanchthon for their own theological and ecclesiastical purposes.

Enthalten in:
Theologische Literaturzeitung; 2010/7/8 Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (2010)

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Serie / Reihe: Theologische Literaturzeitung

Personen: Dingel, Irene

Schlagwörter: Freundschaft Melanchthon, Philipp Lebenslaufforschung Feindschaft