Iohannes Oecolampadius. An Exposition of Genesis. [D. Io. Oecolampadii in Genesim Enarratio, (Basel: Bebel, 1536)].Translated and with an Introduction, by Mickey L. Mattox. ISBN-13: 9780874627138. ©2013. Latin on facing page. Paperbound. Notes. Bibliography. Index. 207 pp. $22. Reformation Texts With Translation, #13. Biblical Series, #4.

The success of the Protestant Reformation depended vitally upon the industry, piety, and learning of the first generation of Reformers. Among them, none worked or prayed or studied harder than Iohannes Oecolampadius, the great Reformer of Basel, Switzerland. This volume presents his lectures on Genesis 1-3, translated for the first time into English. These lectures take us back to the heady early days of the Reformation, where we find Oecolampadius skillfully negotiating the dense thicket of perplexing questions that had long surrounded the story of Creation and Fall, boldly reforming the ancient traditions of Christian exegesis by the application of the Reformed conviction that sinners are justified before God by faith alone. He also did what only a learned humanist scholar like him could do, bringing to his aid the insights he had gained through his study of the Hebrew text of Scripture as interpreted in rabbinic Judaism and through his wide reading in the sermons and commentaries of the eastern Church Fathers. In these lectures, delivered only months before his untimely death, Oecolampadius poured out his very life for the sake of the Reformation in Basel and the formation of the city’s first generation of Reformed pastors.

About the Translator

Mickey L. Mattox is Associate Professor of Theology at Marquette University, where he leads the graduate program known as “Luther Studies in a Catholic Context.” He earned the PhD Degree at Duke University, and has written broadly in Luther studies, the history of exegesis, and ecumenical theology.