Johann Eck

Johann Eck (November 13, 1486 – February 13, 1543) was a 16th century theologian and defender of Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. It was Eck who argued that the beliefs of Martin Luther and John Huss were similar.

Peace Overtures

While still at Ingolstadt Eck drafted for the use of the emperor a list of 404 heretical propositions from the writings of the Reformers, and collaborated with more than twenty Catholic theologians in writing the confutatio pontificia, in which the Catholic refutation of the Protestants was embodied. His efforts at peace, in which his readiness to meet the Reformers half-way shows him to have been sincere, failed, however, on account of the hatred and contempt with which he was regarded by the Protestant theologians.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He renewed his efforts at Worms in January 1541, and succeeded in impressing Melanchthon as being quite prepared to give his assent to the main principles of Protestantism. After the meeting at Regensburg in the spring and summer of the same year, on the other hand, he exerted himself to prevent any compromise between the two theologies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The last important phase of his activity was his conflict with Butzer, whom he attacked on account of the attitude assumed by the latter in his edition of the transactions of the Conference of Regensburg.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Special mention should be made, among Eck's many writings, of his German translation of the Bible (the New Testament a revision of H. Emser's rendering) which was first published at Ingolstadt in 1537.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~