Philip Melanchthon was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and influential designer of educational systems.
Martin Bucer was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled. He then began to work for the Reformation, with the support of Franz von Sickingen.
Caspar Peucer was a German reformer, physician, and scholar of Sorbian origin.
The Marburg Colloquy was a meeting at Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany, which attempted to solve a disputation between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli over the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It took place between 1 October and 4 October 1529. The leading Protestant reformers of the time attended at the behest of Philip I of Hessen. Philip's primary motivation for this conference was political; he wished to unite the Protestant states in political alliance, and to this end, religious harmony was an important consideration.
Martin Chemnitz was an eminent second-generation German, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theologian, and a Protestant reformer, churchman, and confessor. In the Evangelical Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset goes a common saying concerning him. He is listed and remembered in the Calendar of Saints and Commemorations in the Liturgical Church Year as a pastor and confessor by both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
The Smalcald Articles or Schmalkald Articles are a summary of Lutheran doctrine, written by Martin Luther in 1537 for a meeting of the Schmalkaldic League in preparation for an intended ecumenical Council of the Church.
The Ubiquitarians, also called Ubiquists, were a Protestant sect that held that the body of Christ was everywhere, including the Eucharist. The sect was started at the Lutheran synod of Stuttgart, 19 December 1559, by Johannes Brenz (1499–1570), a Swabian. Its profession, made under the name of Duke Christopher of Württemberg and entitled the "Württemberg Confession," was sent to the Council of Trent in 1552, but had not been formally accepted as the Ubiquitarian creed until the synod at Stuttgart.
Nikolaus Krell, chancellor of the elector of Saxony, was born at Leipzig, and educated at the university of his native town.
Sacramental union is the Lutheran theological doctrine of the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Christian Eucharist.
Wittenberg Concord, is a religious concordat signed by Reformed and Lutheran theologians and churchmen on 29 May 1536 as an attempted resolution of their differences with respect to the Real Presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist. It is considered a foundational document for Lutheranism but was later rejected by the Reformed.
Lutheranism as a religious movement originated in the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church. The movement originated with the call for a public debate regarding several issues within the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, then a professor of Bible at the young University of Wittenberg. Lutheranism soon became a wider religious and political movement within the Holy Roman Empire owing to support from key electors and the widespread adoption of the printing press. This movement soon spread throughout northern Europe and became the driving force behind the wider Protestant Reformation. Today, Lutheranism has spread from Europe to all six populated continents.
Manducatio impiorum refers to those who eat the Lord’s Supper but do not believe all Christian doctrine including the rejection of the real presence in the Lord’s Supper. Martin Luther and the Gnesio Lutherans held to this view, which is codified in the Epitome of the Formula of Concord VII found in the Book of Concord. Philipp Melanchthon and his followers, the Philippists, with the Reformed denied this teaching including Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin Calvin believed that Christ's body is given to all communicants, but only received by those who have faith. Lutherans refer to this as the receptionist error. It relates to doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and, in particular, to the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:27–29:
The Philippists formed a party in early Lutheranism. Their opponents were called Gnesio-Lutherans.
Joachim Westphal was a German "Gnesio-Lutheran" theologian and Protestant reformer.
Calvinism originated with the Reformation in Switzerland when Huldrych Zwingli began preaching what would become the first form of the Reformed doctrine in Zürich in 1519.
Gnesio-Lutherans is a modern name for a theological party in the Lutheran churches, in opposition to the Philippists after the death of Martin Luther and before the Formula of Concord. In their own day they were called Flacians by their opponents and simply Lutherans by themselves. Later Flacian became to mean an adherent of Matthias Flacius' view of original sin, rejected by the Formula of Concord. In a broader meaning, the term Gnesio-Lutheran is associated mostly with the defence of the doctrine of Real Presence.
Joachim Mörlin was an Evangelical Lutheran theologian and an important figure in the controversies following Martin Luther's (1483-1546) death. He was the older brother of Maximilian Mörlin, another Lutheran theologian and Reformer.
Christoph Pezel was an influential Reformed Theologian who introduced the Reformed confession to Nassau-Dillenburg and Bremen.
Maximilian Mörlin was a Lutheran theologian, court preacher, Superintendent in Coburg, and Reformer.
Johannes Saliger was a sixteenth century radical Lutheran theologian and controversialist. He was a leading protagonist in "the Saliger Controversy" which bears his name.
