Loci communes
Loci communes or Loci communes rerum theologicarum seu hypotyposes theologicae (Latin for Common Places in Theology or Fundamental Doctrinal Themes) was a work by the Lutheran theologian Philipp Melanchthon published in 1521[1] (other, modified editions were produced during the life of the author in 1535, 1543 and 1559). Martin Luther said of it, "Next to Holy Scripture, there is no better book,"[2] and its existence is often given as a reason that Luther never wrote a systematic theology of his own. In an overture to the English king, Henry VIII, to gain the English crown as converts to Lutheran protestantism, Melanchthon provided a dedication to the king in one of his printed editions.[3]
The book lays out Christian doctrine by discussing the "leading thoughts" from the Epistle to the Romans, and they were intended to guide the reader to a proper understanding of the Bible in general.
References
- ^ Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, Penguin Books, 2005, p. 140.
- ^ WA, TR 5511. ("non est melior liber post scripturam sanctum".)
- ^ Donald K. McKim: Melanchthon and the English Reformation Church History, June 1, 2007.
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