VIII.

The Reformation

The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century marked a return to the Bible and a more practical, ethical, and less speculative tone in theology, and therefore an attempt to reduce the role of philosophy in theological work. German theologian Martin Luther, who initiated the Reformation, was not a systematic theologian, but the new teaching was ably presented by his colleague Melanchthon in his Loci Communes Rerum Theologicarum (1521). By far the greatest Reformation theologian was John Calvin, whose Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) remains the classic of Reformed systematic theology. Calvin stressed the sovereignty of God to the point of constructing a doctrine of strict predestination, but he tried to base all his teachings on the Bible.