Celebrating Philip Melanchthon's Eldritch Forehead

 

 

 

By Rev. Dan Greg

Today we celebrate the commemoration and birthday of Philip Melanchthon (16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560).  

 

I go out of my way to commemorate him with the Church today to celebrate his faithfulness to Christ and duty to the Communion of the Saints.

 

Part of what is so interesting about Melanchthon is that he is so different in personality from Luther. They were both highly intelligent and dedicated to the reading and tender use of God’s Word in the original languages.

 

But he was not brash, he was not outgoing. He was polite.

 

Thanks to him, the Church has something very precious; the most perfect ecumenical document outside of the three Creeds: the Augsburg Confession, delivered in 1530 to the Holy Roman Emperor. 

 

Ever since, it has been clear as day how one might better amend his or her heart to a more faithful understanding and interpretation of the scriptures. Ever since, Church fellowship has been far less shrouded in mystery and "talking past one another." 

 

For this, we give all glory to God, yet we also gives thanks to Melanchthon.

 

The easiest way to think of Luther and Melanchthon for an American might be to think of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: 

 

They were close friends, though one was much younger than the other. 

 

Luther, like Adams, needed a younger, kinder, yet just as smart man to compile their thoughts to present; Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence, Melanchthon writing the Augsburg Confession. 

 

(But no. . . the two documents are not related 😂).

 

But above all else, Philip Melanchthon had a legendary sized forehead.

 

Yes you read that correctly.

 

Philip Melanchthon is in part remembered for his large forehead. 

 

It was big!

 

So much so that it entered the American public consciousness, take it from Herman Melville in his classic work Moby Dick:

 

“Few are the foreheads which like Shakespeare’s or Melanchthon's rise so high, and descend so low, that the eyes themselves seem clear, eternal, tideless mountain lakes; and above them in the forehead’s wrinkles, you seem to track the antlered thoughts descending there to drink, as the Highland hunters track the snow prints of the deer. 

But in the great Sperm Whale, this high and mighty god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified, that gazing on it, in that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in beholding any other object in living nature.”

In this spectacular passage, Melville gazes at Melanchthon's protuberance in primitive wonder and amazement, quite like Job's Chapter 40, or Isaiah seeing the Seraphim in YHWH’s presence (Isaiah 6:1-8), or Jacob realizing he just wrestled with God (Genesis 32:30).

 

When Melville basks in the immensity of Melanchthon's forehead, it’s gleaming polished light blinding him through the very paint of the canvas of old; he can do no other but be reminded of his own tiny creatureliness before an all powerful and creating God, the Lord Jesus Christ, YHWH, the Ancient of Days (Revelation 1).

 

This kind of fear is “eldritch,” defined as, “strange or unnatural, especially in a way that inspires fear.”

 

In the same way that the Behemoth or Leviathan inspire immense eldritch fear and the feeling of creatureliness in humanity throughout the scriptures. .  .

 

In the same way that visions of angels inspire eldritch fear because they are so unlike humans. . . 

 

In this same way, blessed Confessor Philip Melanchthon’s eldritch forehead inspires in me the desire to repent of my wicked vanity and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His promises.

 

And what is creation there for, but to glorify God the Creator and point to His divine nature and eternal power (Romans 1:20). 

 

Rev. Dan Greg is an LCMS pastor in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. 

 

UPDATE: 2-21-22

 My buddy made some art of "Whaleachthon"

Thanks, Rev. Nils Niemeier 

 

 

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Angels instilling eldritch fear: 

Daniel 10:8-19; Luke 1:11-13
Genesis 21:1-21

Genesis 32:22-32
Luke 2:1-12
Matthew 28:1-10
Acts 27:1-26
Genesis 19:1-13, 24-28
Isaiah 37:21-38
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Revelation 19:11 – 20:3 just to name a few

 

Definition Reference:
  “Eldritch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eldritch. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.