Martin Chemnitz

Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) was an eminent Lutheran theologian, reformer, churchman, and confessor, born in Treuenbrietzen, Brandenburg on November 9, 1522, the day before Martin Luther had been born in 1483. In the Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset ("If Martin had not come along, Martin would hardly have survived") goes a common saying concerning him.

His Vocation as Refomer, Churchman, and Theologian

In January 1554 he joined the Wittenberg University faculty. He lectured on Melanchthon's Loci Communes from which lectures he compiled his own Loci Theologici, a system of theology. He was ordained into the office of the holy ministry on November 25, 1554 by Johannes Bugenhagen, and became co-adjutor of Joachim Mörlin, who was ecclesiastical superintendent in Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. When Mörlin resigned in 1567, Martin Chemnitz became his successor in a post he held for the rest of his life.

Related Topics:
Melanchthon - Bugenhagen

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Through his leadership Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was won to Lutheranism. There he helped his prince, Duke Julius, establish the University of Helmstedt (1575-1576). With Jakob Andreä, David Chytraeus, Nicholas Selnecker, Andrew Musculus, et. al. Chemnitz took part in a centrist movement that brought about concord among the German Lutherans in the writing and publication of the Formula of Concord (1577), of which Chemnitz is one of the primary authors. He was instrumental in the publication of the definitive Book of Concord in 1580, the doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church. Other major works are Examen Concilii Tridentini and De Duabis Naturis in Christo . These works demonstrate Martin Chemnitz's genius as a biblical, doctrinal, and historical theologian. His Examination remains unrefuted to this day in the view of many scholars, Lutheran as well as those of other Christian denominations. He died April 8, 1586.

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