Gerhard The Writer
GERHARD THE WRITER
In his introduction to the first edition of On the Nature of Theology and Scripture, the first volume of Gerhard’s Theological Commonplaces, Dr. Kent Heimbigner noted:
Johann Gerhard (1582-1637) is widely held to be the third preeminent theologian of the Lutheran Reformation, after Martin Luther and Martin Chemnitz. Luther himself wrote no formal dogmatic theology comparable to John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, and with his death in 1546, the unifying mind of Lutheranism was gone. The Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555 ironically allowed Lutheran theologians, especially in Germany, to turn their energies against one another. Various theological controversies ensued. These theologians generally divided between the “pure,” or “Gnesio,” Lutheran party, centered at Jena, and the “Philippist” party, named after Philipp Melanchthon and based in Wittenberg. The threat of a permanently divided Lutheranism was largely overcome by the wide reception of the Formula of Concord and the publication of The Book of Concord in Germany in 1580. The Formula was the work of Martin Chemnitz, who also wrote numerous other important works of Lutheran dogmatic theology. Particularly important were the Examination of the Council of Trent and his own Loci Theologici [“Theological Commonplaces”]. Chemnitz’s Loci Theologici were patterned after Melanchthon’s Loci Communes [“Commonplaces”]. Neither of these works, however, approach Gerhard’s Loci Theologici, either in length or in detail.7
Gerhard was a versatile writer. In works such as the Theological Commonplaces and the Confessio Catholica8 he wrote vigorous polemic and detailed defense of each point of the Christian faith, employing arguments of every variety: from Scripture, from logic, from tradition, and from the inconsistency of his opponents. But in his sermons and devotional works such as his Sacred Meditations9 and The Daily Exercise of Piety,10 he wrote in a warm, devotional, meditative style. Finally, Gerhard’s many Bible commentaries should not be forgotten—not only his many commentaries on individual books of the Bible but also his enormous contributions to the Harmonia Evangelica of Chemnitz and Leyser11 and to the Ernestine Bible.12 It also should be remembered that in the most polemical and doctrinaire of his writings, he still includes the “practical use” of the doctrine. Theory and practice were not separated for Gerhard, though he focused more on theory in some writings and more on practice in others.
One must keep the genre of the Theological Commonplaces in mind or else risk becoming disappointed in not finding what one expected. For example, while he acknowledges and quotes “our Luther” and praises Luther’s translation of the Bible highly, Gerhard quotes the blessed reformer infrequently and never uses Luther’s views as evidence that the doctrine set forth is orthodox. Instead, Gerhard quotes the early church fathers heavily. Rather than explaining this fact by saying that Gerhard did not value Luther, one should keep in mind the scope and purpose of the Theological Commonplaces. The subtitle of this work in Latin reads: cum pro adstruenda veritate tum pro destruenda quorumvis contradicentium falsitate, that is, “both for affirming the truth and for destroying the falsehood of some who contradict it.” In the Theological Commonplaces, Gerhard is giving arguments to convince his opponents of the truth that he is setting forth and to persuade them that opposing views are false. Thus, when arguing against Roman Catholic or Reformed opponents, appeals to the authority of Luther would be out of place. Gerhard chooses instead to appeal to authorities that most of his opponents would recognize: the right-believing teachers of the ancient Church.