Loci communes

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Title page of the Loci praecipui theologici from 1552

The Loci communes rerum theologicarum (dt: general basic concepts of theology) are a writing by Philipp Melanchthon from the year 1521. They represent the first dogmatics of the Protestant Church. They were revised in the years 1535, 1543 and 1559, whereby the title of the text also partially changed (later versions are called: Loci praecipui theologici , in German for example: The essential basic concepts of theology). The loci shaped the development of the Lutheran creed.

The loci were originally written in Latin ; In 1538 a German version was published by Justus Jonas and in 1553 one by Melanchthon himself.

Creation and revisions

In 1519 and 1520 Melanchthon dealt extensively with the Epistle to the Romans of the Apostle Paul , which he also dealt with in lectures. His studies grew into a systematic presentation of the basic theological doctrinal terms. His preliminary studies and lecture transcripts appeared in several unauthorized reprints in 1520/21, which encouraged Melanchthon to revise the material properly and completely himself. The first edition of Loci appeared in December 1521 and was immediately received as a comprehensive and fundamentally new dogmatics of the Lutheran Reformation . For the Protestant theologians, the loci replace the "speculative sums and commentary on sentences of scholasticism". They differ from these in two essential points: they are an interpretation of the biblical message based solely on the Bible , and they have an empirical theological approach.

The second edition from 1535 was considerably expanded. In it, Melanchthon's humanistic character comes to the fore more clearly, “by trying to convey Christian truth with insights from ancient philosophy.” In addition, the arrangement of the chapters according to Christian salvation history, which was deliberately not followed in the first edition of 1521, returned as a principle of order.

With the third edition from 1544, the Loci reached their final form as a model text of the old Protestant orthodoxy . Clear shifts in content can be seen particularly in the doctrine of free will, which has been softened here compared to the harsh rejection in earlier editions.

The last edition of the Loci appeared in 1559, shortly before Melanchthon's death.

content

Title page of the first edition, Library of the Spiritual Ministry Greifswald

Loci communes 1521

  1. De hominibus viribus adeoque de libero arbitrio ( Free will )
  2. De peccato (The Sin )
  3. De lege (the law )
  4. De evangelio (The Gospel )
  5. De gratia ( grace )
  6. De iustificatione et fide (Justification and Faith )
  7. De discrimine veteris ac novi testamenti item de abrogatione legis (The difference between the Old and New Testaments and the repeal of the law )
  8. De signis (The signs)
  9. De caritate ( love )
  10. De magistratibus (The authorities )
  11. De scandalo (The Nuisance )

literature

Text output

  • Philipp Melanchthon: Loci communes 1521 . Latin-German translated by Horst-Georg Pöhlmann. 2nd edition, Gütersloh 1997. ISBN 3-579-00256-2
  • Stefan Grotefeld, Matthias Neugebauer, Jean-Daniel Strub, Johannes Fischer (eds.): Source texts of theological ethics from the old church to the present . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006. ISBN 978-3-17-018747-4 . (contains excerpts from the versions from 1521, 1535, 1544 in German translation).
  • Secunda aetas locorum theologicorum (= 2nd edition from 1533). In: Heinrich Ernst Bindseil (ed.): Philippi Melanthonis Opera quae supersunt omnia . Vol. 21 (= Corpus Reformatorum . Vol. 21). Schwetschke, Braunschweig 1854, Sp. 331-560. ( online )
  • Tertia aetas locorum theologicorum (= 3rd edition from 1543). In: Heinrich Ernst Bindseil (ed.): Philippi Melanthonis Opera quae supersunt omnia . Vol. 21 (= Corpus Reformatorum . Vol. 21). Schwetschke, Braunschweig 1854, Sp. 601-1106. ( online )
  • Heubtartikel Christian Lere : Melanchthon's German version of his Loci theologici based on the autograph and the original print from 1553. Berlin 2002. ISBN 978-3374019502
  • Melanchthon's works (German), Volume II: Loci communes from 1521 - Loci praecipui theologici from 1559 , ed. by Hans Engelland, Gütersloh 1952–53 (both versions in the original language Latin).
  • Loci praecipui theologici nunc denuo cura et diligentia summa recogniti multisque in locis copiose illustrati 1559. Latin-German . Vol. 1. Edited and translated by Peter Litwan and Sven Grosse with the collaboration of Florence Becher-Häusermann. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2018. ISBN 3-374-05296-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pöhlmann: Introduction, in: Melanchthon: Loci communes 1521, p. 9.
  2. ↑ Grotefeld u. a .: Source texts, p. 142
  3. ↑ Grotefeld u. a .: Source texts, p. 144