Melanchthon, Philip (1497–1560)

German theologian who helped Martin Luther prepare a German translation of the New Testament. In 1521 he issued the first systematic formulation of Protestant theology, reiterated in the Confession of Augsburg (1530).

He adopted the name Melanchthon as the Greek form of his family name, meaning ‘black earth’. He was a humanist, and was professor of Greek at Wittenberg from 1518. There he came under Luther's influence and became an evangelical theologian. He also translated and wrote commentaries on the Bible.