Wolfgang Musculus (born Müslin or Mauslein; 10 September 1497 – 30 August 1563) was a Reformed theologian of the Protestant Reformation.
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Life
editMusculus was a native of Alsace, along the French/German border.[1] He was born in the village of Duss (Moselle), in a German-speaking area (French-speaking, from the Thirty Years War). Musculus was a lover of song and of knowledge, of languages, Humanism and religion. The oral tradition of his songs is still found in the churches of the Reformation.
In 1527, he left the Benedictine monastery at Lixheim (now in the area of Moselle), to serve as deacon of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg) while studying under Bucer and Capito.[2] He also served as preaching assistant to Matthäus Zell. He left for Augsburg in 1531, and started publishing treatises regarding Anabaptists, Roman Catholicism and the Lord’s Supper, as well as translating works by John Chrysostom and Basil the Great.[1]
After 17 years of service, he left the town as a protest against the introduction of the Augsburg Interim, and came to Switzerland, where he was the primary professor of theology at Bern from 1549.[2] At Bern, he wrote several biblical commentaries and Loci communes sacrae theologiae (Common Places of the Christian Religion), a major systematic theology.[3]
J. S. Bach used Musculus' 1530 hymn, a paraphrase of Psalm 23, as the text for his chorale cantata Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, BWV 112, which he first performed in Leipzig in 1731.[4][5]
He also published a book on usury entitled De usuris ex verbo dei, in which he criticized the practice of the triple contract,[6] and a German version of which appeared in Strasbourg in 1593.
Publications
editMusculus' books included;
- Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, 1544 [2]
- Commentary on the Gospel of John, 1545 [1]
- Loci communes sacrae theologiae (Common places of Christian religion), 1563 [2]
- Dissertatio de Icuncula Quondam Regis Aelfredi... [7]
- On Righteousness Oaths and Usury [7]
- Topicos Comuns da Religiao Crista [7][8]
He also published several Bible commentaries including commentaries on Psalms (1551), Decalogue (1553), Genesis (1554), Romans (1555), Isaiah (1557), 1 and 2 Corinthians (1559), Galatians and Ephesians (1561), Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Timothy (1565). [1]
Notes and references
edit- 1 2 3 4 Ballor, Jordan J. (19 November 2024). "Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563)". Oxford University Press. The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Wolfgang Musculus". Lux et Umbra. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
- ↑ Douglas, J. James Dixon; Comfort, Philip Wesley Comfort; Mitchell, Donald R. (1992). Who's Who in Christian History. Tyndale House Publishing. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-8423-1014-7.
- ↑ Dürr, Alfred (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
- ↑ "Wolfgang Meuslin". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ↑ Decock, Wim (2019). "L'esprit catholique du capitalisme.Éthique et investissement selon Musculus et Lessius". In L. Brunori and al. (ed.). Le Droit face à l'économie sans travail. Tome I. Sources intellectuelles, acteurs, résolution des conflits (in French). Garnier. pp. 61–84.
- 1 2 3 "Wolfgang Musculus". Thrift Books. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
- ↑ "Wolfgang Musculus, "Common Topics of the Christian Religion"". Amazon. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
Bibliography
edit- Ballor, Jordan (2012). Covenant, Causality, and Law: A Study in the Theology of Wolfgang Musculus. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 270. ISBN 978-3-525-55036-6.
- Farmer, Craig (1997). The Gospel of John in the Sixteenth Century: The Johannine Exegesis of Wolfgang Musculus. Oxford University Press. p. 250. ISBN 0-19-509903-6.
- McKim, Donald Keith; Wright, David Frederick (1992). Encyclopedia of the Reformed faith. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-664-21882-9.
- Musculus, Common places, Pædocommunion. The Validity of Children at the Lord's Table in the Words of an Early Reformed Theologian.
- Musculus, Wolfgang (2008) [1551]. "Commentary on Psalm 15". Journal of Markets & Morality. 11 (2). Introduction by Jordan J. Ballor, Translation by Todd M. Rester. Includes appendices on oaths and usury.
- Musculus, Wolfgang (2013). On Righteousness, Oaths, and Usury: A Commentary on Psalm 15. CLP Academic. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-938-94872-5. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2016..
External links
edit- Works by Wolfgang Musculus at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
