While some have argued recently that the Reformation was a significant cause in the secularization of western society, particularly insofar as it lead to the increasing privatization and individualization of religion, this potential consequence was neither intended nor imagined by the reformers. Even the most radical reformers, such as Austrian Anabaptist Leupold Scharnschlager (d.1563) argued…

In his exegesis of Romans 7:17, Italian reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) argues that with regard to sin, Aristotelian anthropology conflicts with the understanding of humanity found in Paul’s writings. Whereas Aristotle taught that the most important parts of the human mind innately tend to the good, Vermigli finds that Paul teaches that sin affects…

The nature of the created will was a constant point of conflict during the sixteenth century, both between the reformers and their Catholic opponents. Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) conflict with Erasmus over the bondage of the will was one of the defining debates of the early Reformation. As can be seen in his exegesis of Galatians,…

In working through the Pauline corpus, the reformers constantly wrestled with Paul’s emphasis on the nature of the fallen body, its need for redemption, and the implications of this for those living between Christ’s first and second comings. Catholic pastor Johann Wild (1495-1554) finds much to discuss as Paul speaks of offering the body as…

The opposition between God and humanity’s corruption is a common theme in Paul’s anthropology, and so it is unsurprising that it becomes central to the anthropologies of many of the reformers as well. In his commentary on Romans 8, Lutheran Johannes Brenz (1499-1570) uses the illustration of a wolf among sheep to demonstrate the enmity…

As part of our continued partnership with IVP Academic and the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series, we’re pleased to publish this interview with Reformation scholar Herman J. Selderhuis. He was the editor of both volumes on the Psalms in the series, and we are grateful to him for allowing us to wrap up our series…

Wolfgang Musculus’s (1497-1563) Christological interpretation of Psalm 114 demonstrates an interesting interpretive strategy. As the psalmist appropriates the exodus as a story of God’s deliverance within his own context, Musculus extends this hermeneutic and adopts the exodus as an illustration of God’s ultimate act of redemption through Christ. God’s People Always Have an Exit “When…

Messianic expectation is a central aspect of Jewish eschatology, and throughout Jewish history, Psalm 95 has been seen as looking toward the reign of the coming king. It is not surprising, then, that Christian interpreters of the sixteenth century read these texts as clear references to Christ. Konrad Pellikan (1478-1556) argues here in reference to…

Reformed commentators tend to find Christ in the Psalms typologically, and that approach to the text is demonstrated in John Calvin’s (1509-1564) interpretation of Psalm 41:9. While Christ applied this text to Judas, Calvin finds a broader correspondence between David and Christ. David’s words concerning his own situation, Calvin argues, are representative of Christ, and…

While Catholic and Lutheran commentators tend to find Christ more immediately in the Psalms, Reformed commentators generally prefer to use the language of typology. We can see this in Wolfgang Musculus’s (1497-1563) exegesis of Psalm 21. Reading this royal psalm, he argues that the text looks beyond its historical context and that through the lens…

When modern interpreters imagine the literal sense of Scripture, they tend to conceive it in terms of the historical, grammatical, and literary elements of the text. For sixteenth-century commentators, however, to observe this narrow definition would be to sever the letter of Scripture from the Spirit, its divine author. While Cardinal Cajetan’s (1469-1534) interpretation of…

In the prayer for deliverance in Psalm 122, Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563), a reformer in Strasbourg, Augsburg, and Bern, finds much material for reflection. Pausing on verse 22, he looks towards the future age, where all of God’s people are gathered together to worship the Lord, all kingdoms and churches in perfect union. The Unity of…