(b) The period of Symbolism—represented by the Lutheran theology of Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560), and the Reformed theology of John Calvin (1509–1564); the former connecting itself with the Analytic theology of Calixtus (1585–1656), and the latter with the Federal theology of Cocceius (1603–1669).
The Lutheran Theology.—Preachers precede theologians, and Luther (1485–1546) was preacher rather than theologian. But Melanchthon (1497–1560), “the preceptor of Germany,” as he was called, embodied the theology of the Lutheran church in his “Loci Communes” = points of doctrine common to believers (first edition Augustinian, afterwards substantially Arminian; grew out of lectures on the Epistle to the Romans). He was followed by Chemnitz (1522–1586), “clear and accurate,” the most learned of the disciples of Melanchthon. Leonhard Hutter (1563–1616), called “Lutherus redivivus,”and John Gerhard (1582–1637) followed Luther rather than Melanchthon. “Fifty years after the death of Melanchthon, Leonhard Hutter, his successor in the chair of theology at Wittenberg, on an occasion when the authority of Melanchthon was appealed to, tore down from the wall the portrait of the great Reformer, and trampled it under foot in the presence of the assemblage” (E. D. Morris, paper at the 60th Anniversary of Lane Seminary). George Calixtus (1586–1656) followed Melanchthon rather than Luther. He taught a theology which recognized the good element in both the Reformed and the Romanist doctrine and which was called “Syncretism.” He separated Ethics from Systematic Theology, and applied the analytical method of investigation to the latter, beginning with the end, or final cause, of all things, viz.: blessedness. He was followed in his analytic method by Dannhauer (1603–1666), who treated theology allegorically, Calovius (1612–1686), “the most uncompromising defender of Lutheran orthodoxy and the most drastic polemicist against Calixtus,” Quenstedt (1617–1688), whom Hovey calls “learned, comprehensive and logical,” and Hollaz († 1730). The Lutheran theology aimed to purify the existing church, maintaining that what is not against the gospel is for it. It emphasized the material principle of the Reformation, justification by faith; but it retained many Romanist customs not expressly forbidden in Scripture. Kaftan, Am. Jour. Theol., 1900:716—“Because the mediæval school-philosophy mainly held sway, the Protestant theology representing the new faith was meanwhile necessarily accommodated to forms of knowledge thereby conditioned, that is, to forms essentially Catholic.”
The Reformed Theology.—The word “Reformed” is here used in its technical sense, as designating that phase of the new theology which originated in Switzerland. Zwingle, the Swiss reformer (1484–1531), differing from Luther as to the Lord's Supper and as to Scripture, was more than Luther entitled to the name of systematic theologian. Certain writings of his may be considered the beginning of Reformed theology. But it was left to John Calvin (1509–1564), after the death of Zwingle, to arrange the principles of that theology in systematic form. Calvin dug channels for Zwingle's flood to flow in, as Melanchthon did for Luther's. His Institutes (“Institutio Religionis Christianæ”), is one of the great works in theology (superior as a systematic work to Melanchthon's “Loci”). Calvin was followed by Peter Martyr (1500–1562), Chamier (1565–1621), and Theodore Beza (1519–1605). Beza carried Calvin's doctrine of predestination to an extreme supralapsarianism, which is hyper-Calvinistic rather than Calvinistic. Cocceius (1603–1669), and after him Witsius (1626–1708), made theology centre about the idea of the covenants, and founded the Federal theology. Leydecker (1642–1721) treated theology in the order of the persons of the Trinity. Amyraldus (1596–1664) and Placeus of Saumur (1596–1632) modified the Calvinistic doctrine, the latter by his theory of mediate imputation, and the former by advocating the hypothetic universalism of divine grace. Turretin (1671–1737), a clear and strong theologian whose work is still a text-book at Princeton, and Pictet (1655–1725), both of them Federalists, showed the influence of the Cartesian philosophy. The Reformed theology aimed to build a new church, affirming that what is not derived from the Bible is against it. It emphasized the formal principle of the Reformation, the sole authority of Scripture.
In general, while the line between Catholic and Protestant in Europe runs from west to east, the line between Lutheran and Reformed runs from south to north, the Reformed theology flowing with the current of the Rhine northward from Switzerland to Holland and to England, in which latter country the Thirty-nine Articles represent the Reformed faith, while the Prayer-book of the English Church is substantially Arminian; see Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theologie, Einleit., 9. On the difference between Lutheran and Reformed doctrine, see Schaff, Germany, its Universities, Theology and Religion, 167–177. On the Reformed Churches of Europe and America, see H. B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, 87–124.
(c) The period of Criticism and Speculation—in its three divisions: the Rationalistic, represented by Semler (1725–1791); the Transitional, by Schleiermacher (1768–1834); the Evangelical, by Nitzsch, Müller, Tholuck and Dorner.
First Division. Rationalistic theologies: Though the Reformation had freed theology in great part from the bonds of scholasticism, other philosophies after a time took its place. The Leibnitz- (1646–1754) Wolffian (1679–1754) exaggeration of the powers of natural religion prepared the way for rationalistic systems of theology. Buddeus (1667–1729) combated the new principles, but Semler's (1725–1791) theology was built upon them, and represented the Scriptures as having a merely local and temporary character. Michaelis (1716–1784) and Doederlein (1714–1789) followed Semler, and the tendency toward rationalism was greatly assisted by the critical philosophy of Kant (1724–1804), to whom “revelation was problematical, and positive religion merely the medium through which the practical truths of reason are communicated” (Hagenbach, Hist. Doct., 2:397). Ammon (1766–1850) and Wegscheider (1771–1848) were representatives of this philosophy. Daub, Marheinecke and Strauss (1808–1874) were the Hegelian dogmatists. The system of Strauss resembled “Christian theology as a cemetery resembles a town.” Storr (1746–1805), Reinhard (1753–1812), and Knapp (1753–1825), in the main evangelical, endeavored to reconcile revelation with reason, but were more or less influenced by this rationalizing spirit. Bretschneider (1776–1828) and De Wette (1780–1849) may be said to have held middle ground.
Second Division. Transition to a more Scriptural theology. Herder (1744–1803) and Jacobi (1743–1819), by their more spiritual philosophy, prepared the way for Schleiermacher's (1768–1834) grounding of doctrine in the facts of Christian experience. The writings of Schleiermacher constituted an epoch, and had great influence in delivering Germany from the rationalistic toils into which it had fallen. We may now speak of a
Third Division—and in this division we may put the names of Neander and Tholuck, Twesten and Nitzsch, Müller and Luthardt, Dorner and Philippi, Ebrard and Thomasius, Lange and Kahnis, all of them exponents of a far more pure and evangelical theology than was common in Germany a century ago. Two new forms of rationalism, however, have appeared in Germany, the one based upon the philosophy of Hegel, and numbering among its adherents Strauss and Baur, Biedermann, Lipsius and Pfleiderer; the other based upon the philosophy of Kant, and advocated by Ritschl and his followers, Harnack, Hermann and Kaftan; the former emphasizing the ideal Christ, the latter emphasizing the historical Christ; but neither of the two fully recognizing the living Christ present in every believer (see Johnson's Cyclopædia, art.: Theology, by A. H. Strong).
3. Among theologians of views diverse from the prevailing Protestant faith, may be mentioned:
(a) Bellarmine (1542–1621), the Roman Catholic.
Besides Bellarmine, “the best controversial writer of his age” (Bayle), the Roman Catholic Church numbers among its noted modern theologians:—Petavius (1583–1652), whose dogmatic theology Gibbon calls “a work of incredible labor and compass”; Melchior Canus (1523–1560), an opponent of the Jesuits and their scholastic method; Bossuet (1627–1704), who idealized Catholicism in his Exposition of Doctrine, and attacked Protestantism in his History of Variations of Protestant Churches; Jansen (1585–1638), who attempted, in opposition to the Jesuits, to reproduce the theology