Who Is Your Favorite Lesser-Known Reformer?

Behind Luther, Calvin, and other well-known figures of the Reformation stands an army of men and women whom God used mightily in the 16th century. Today, Stephen Nichols introduces us to one of his favorites, a scholar from the city of Basel.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: This week, we’re joined on the Ligonier campus by the president of Reformation Bible College, Dr. Stephen Nichols. Dr. Nichols, who is your favorite lesser-known Christian from the Reformation and why?

DR. STEPHEN NICHOLS: Oh, I love this question. Not only is he the lesser-known Christian, he’s also from one of the lesser-known cities. So I’m going to go with, are you ready? Johannes Oecolampadius. And first of all, I love the name. The name means “house lamp” in Latin. And of course, Johannes is “John,” so we can call him John House Lamp.

But Oecolampadius is from Basel. He was working on the Greek text that Erasmus put out. He was working as an editor behind the scenes on that. He was a significant Hebrew scholar, Greek scholar. Early on, this is even before Luther posts the Ninety-Five Theses. Then once the Reformation gets taken up in earnest, he’s right there theologically, and he ends up being the leader of the Reformation in Basel.

But Basel was a very important city. It was a very important city for the study of Greek and Hebrew. This was the heavy lifting that the Reformers could come along and rely upon. Oecolampadius, for instance, wrote a significant commentary on Isaiah that Luther loved. Luther thought of Oecolampadius as his favorite Hebrew scholar. And not only were the languages taught there at Basel, but also the printers were great printers. So you think about the power of the printed page and how God used that in the Reformation, well, I think we need to pay attention not only to the Luthers and the Calvins and the Wittenbergs and the Genevas, but also to Oecolampadius, the Reformer at Basel.