Melancthon teaches
“In 1514 he was made doctor of philosophy, and then began to teach. He was seventeen years old. The grace and charm that he imparted to his lessons formed the most striking contrast to the tasteless method which the doctors, and above all, the monks, had pursued till then.”
Melancthon goes to Wittemberg
Frederick applied to Erasmus and Reuchlin for an instructor for the University of Wittemberg. Melancthon was recommended. Reaching the university, he did not make the most favorable impression on Luther and other professors, “when they saw his youth, his shyness, and diffident manners.” After his opening address, however, Luther and others became his ardent admirers. Luther wrote: “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.”
The spirit of Christianity and of Christian education had drawn two souls together, and the success of the work from this time on depended largely upon this union. Says D’Aubigné: “Melancthon was able to respond to Luther’s affection. He soon found in him a kindness of disposition, a strength of mind, a courage, a discretion, that he had never found till then in any man.... We can not 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 from him by death, hesitated, and gave way, even where he should not have yielded.”
Should you question why I thus dwell upon the life and character of Melancthon, I reply, Because from this union of two souls flowed the great educational reform of the sixteenth century. The two did what neither could have done alone; and the study of their lives alone reveals the secret of success in Christian education to-day.
Melancthon revolutionizes Wittemberg
It was a notable day to Wittemberg when Melancthon arrived. “The barrenness that scholasticism had cast over education was at an end. A new manner of teaching and of studying began with Melancthon. ‘Thanks to him,’ says an illustrious German historian, ‘Wittemberg became the school of the nation.’”
Papal education dropped
“The zeal of the teachers [Luther and Melancthon] was soon communicated to the disciples. It was decided to reform the method of instruction. With the electors’ consent, certain courses that possessed merely scholastic importance were suppressed; and at the same time the study of the classics received a fresh impulse. [Remember, however, that this study of the classics was the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures.] The school at Wittemberg was transformed, and the contrast with other universities became daily more striking.”[125]