Friday, July 18, 2025

It is the 18th of July 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Regular listeners to this show will know of my fascination with “2nd Generation” leaders. That is, a movement begins in the church and is often driven in large part by the message and charisma of its leader or leaders. But for movements to survive, they need a succession plan.

And as one of my favorite historians of the modern era once wrote, “Jrs are impatient”- that is, the “Jrs” or second generation tends to want to move at either the same pace as their forebears or faster. And they often quarrel, the Reformation sees plenty of this in and between confessional groups. This is also called the era of the “second Reformation” and “confessionalization”- that is, the Reformation was looking for continuity and legitimacy in the wake of the great 16th-century schism.

One of the more remarkable characters of this age, were it not up to him, would perhaps not be known, but as it were, he is the author of one of the most important catechisms of the era. He was Zacharias Ursinus- born Zacharias Baer on this day, the 18th of July in 1534 in Breslau, Bohemia. Breslau, Bohemia, is modern-day Wroclaw (VRAHT-swahf) in Poland. Furthermore, Zacharias “Baer” did that Early Modern Renaissance scholar trick by translating their name into Greek or Latin- and so “Baer” (like the animal for my home state) is “Ursinus” in Latin (think Ursa Major and Minor are the constellations “big bear” and “little bear”).

Breslau was a Lutheran territory by the time of Zachariah’s birth, and he was raised in the new faith by his father and then by tutors. By 16, he was off to Wittenberg- the center of the Lutheran Reformation, but by 1550, Luther had died, and the Reformers were at each other's necks as they debated how to live in the newly divided world.

At Wittenberg, Ursinus would find a compatriot in the figure of Phillip Melanchthon, even as Melanchthon was being attacked from various sides for his perceived lack of fidelity to Luther and the first generation.

Ursinus spent 7 years at Wittenberg, but the constant attacks made him consider if a life in the church was indeed one for him. He took something of a studying sabbatical in 57 and 58, traveling throughout Europe, and with his letters of introduction was able to study with scholars from across the Reformation spectrum- he met and studied with the likes of Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, and Peter Martyr Vermigli. He would begin to put together his own theology here in the late 50s- a hybrid of Reformation thought with a tip of the cap to the accommodating Melanchthon. In 1561, he was invited to teach in Heidelberg under the Elector Frederick III. Frederick and others were “reformed” (Protestant with a Calvinist twist) in an age when only Lutherans and Catholics were technically legal.  

Having seen the fury over Melanchthon in his Wittenberg days, it makes sense that Ursinus wrote that he would have preferred to have remained “hidden in a corner,” but he took the call to Heidelberg and began teaching in 1562. By 1563, his lectures and the notes taken by his students formed the basis for a landmark Reformation catechism- the “Heidelberg Catechism,” once passed off as anonymous, and then by Olevianus and Ursinus, today we understand it as Ursinus' work mediated through student notes and an editing process.  

The Catechism is notable in its “middle” position on the Lord’s Supper- it teaches that it is not a mere memorial, nor is it a Catholic transubstantiation nor a Lutheran Real Presence- question 75 affirms that “he nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured-out blood.”

Within 3 years of its publication, Ursinus swore off publishing for the headache it caused amongst the controversialists. And with the death of Frederick III, his son, a Lutheran, would take over, and Ursinus and others at Heidelberg had to leave. He ended up at Neustadt, where Frederick’s younger son, John Casimir, opened the “Casimirianum,” a university for exiled Professors.

Zacharius Ursinus would die young- having spent his last years teaching, attempting to stay out of the crosshairs- little would he know that his Heidelberg Catechism would become one of the jewels of the era- translated into over 25 languages, known for its brevity and elegance it wold become a favorite for the Reformed but also for many with general allegiances to the Reformation. Confessional documents and catechisms are rarely exciting reads- but Ursinus’- the Reluctant Polish Bear’s contribution is close- we will read the iconic first question for our reading today. Born on this day in 1534, Zacharias Ursinus, theologian and professor, died in 1583, leaving behind a wife and child- he was 48 years old.

The Last word for today comes from the Heidelberg Catechism- the first question (and any online version will give you the verses to cross-reference):

What is your only comfort
in life and in death?

That I am not my own,

but belong—
body and soul,

in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way

that not a hair can fall from my head

without the will of my Father in heaven;

in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,

Christ, by his Holy Spirit,

assures me of eternal life

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready

from now on to live for him.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 18th of July 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who was curious about the store selling Polish nails, turns out it was a manicurist… Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who is, for reals, writing this script at a coffee shop next to the “Polish Nails” manicurist, which I misread every time…  Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.