The appreciation of literature in Philip Melanchthon’s theological humanism

Philipp Melanchthon is one of the leading figures in German Reformation and Renaissance Humanism, although this second characteristic is largely unknown in Brazil. His work as a whole has a theological basis used to foster academic studies, especially in the Humanities, albeit not exclusively. This paper shows how he used the theological distinction between law and gospel in order to configure the space for the then called arts in the later pre-modern German university. We focus on literary and linguistic studies and the ethical approach to them, which he favored.

Keywords:
Melanchthon; Humanism; Renaissance