Johannes Eck, Enchiridion locorum communium adversus Lutherum

Description

During his third stay in Rome in 1523, Johannes Eck (1486-1543) wrote memoranda in which he criticised ecclesiastical abuses such as the trade in indulgences. Eck not only fought the reformers, but also attempted to divest the Reformation of its foundations by means of internal church reforms. He also called for the creation of a new bull against Luther which would argue more strongly on the basis of the Bible and would take into account those of Luther's mistakes made in the meantime. There was no new bull, but Eck's work "Enchiridion locorum communium adversus Lutteranos" (i.e. Handbook of Commonplaces against Lutherans, 1525) provided a comprehensive refutation of Reformation theology. It is considered a counterpart to Philip Melanchthon's (1497-1560) work "Loci communes rerum theologicarum" (Commonplaces of Theological Matters) from 1521, which is often referred to as the first reformed dogmatic theology. In the "Enchiridion" Eck distinguishes single old-church foundations, first on the basis of Holy Scripture and then on the Council teachings and the Church Fathers. Subsequently, reformatory objections are raised and refuted. Eck's work provided material for the argumentation against the new doctrine which he regards as heretical and it intends to appeal to laypeople. Eck supplemented his work, first published in Landshut in 1525, as a result of his controversy with the reformers with further chapters, for example on baptism and on the Lord's Supper. The text appeared in several editions and translations; it is probably the most widespread Catholic publication of the sixteenth century. Datum: 2016