George Major was a Lutheran  theologian of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. He was born in Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 and died at Wittenberg

Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....

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Life

At the age of nine Major was sent to Wittenberg, and in 1521 entered the university there. When Cruciger returned to Wittenberg in 1529, Major was appointed rector of the Johannisschule in Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

, but in 1537 he became court preacher at Wittenberg and was ordained by Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

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In 1545 he was made professor in the theological faculty, in which his authority increased to such an extent that in the following year the elector sent him to the Conference of Regensburg

Conference of Regensburg

The Colloquy of Regensburg, historically called the Colloquy of Ratisbon, was a conference held at Regensburg in 1541, during the Protestant Reformation, which marks the culmination of attempts to restore religious unity in the Holy Roman Empire by means of theological debate.-Background:Delegates...

, where he was soon captivated by the personality of Butzer. Like Philipp Melanchthon

Philipp Melanchthon

Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...

, he fled before the disastrous close of the Schmalkald war, and found refuge in Magdeburg. In the summer of 1547, he returned to Wittenberg, and in the same year became cathedral superintendent at Merseburg

Merseburg

Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....

, although he resumed his activity at the university in the following year.

In the negotiations of the Augsburg Interim

Augsburg Interim

The Augsburg Interim is the general term given to an imperial decree ordered on May 15, 1548, at the 1548 Diet of Augsburg, after Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, had defeated the forces of the Schmalkaldic League in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47...

, he took the part of Melanchthon in first opposing it and then making concessions. This attitude incurred the enmity of the opponents of the Interim, especially after he cancelled a number of passages in the second edition of his Psalterium in which he had violently attacked the position of Maurice, Elector of Saxony

Maurice, Elector of Saxony

Maurice was Duke and later Elector of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity....

, whom he now requested to prohibit all polemical treatises proceeding from Magdeburg, while he condemned the preachers of Torgau who were imprisoned in Wittenberg on account of their opposition to the Interim. He was even accused of accepting bribes from Maurice.

In 1552, Count Hans Georg, who favored the Interim, appointed him superintendent of Eisleben

Eisleben

Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther, hence its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. As of 2005, Eisleben had a population of 24,552...

, on the recommendation of Melchior Kling. The orthodox clergy of the County of Mansfeld

Mansfeld

Mansfeld is a town in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Wipper, 10 km northwest of Eisleben....

, however, immediately suspected him of being an interimist and adiaphorist, and he tried to defend his position in public, but his apology resulted in the so-called Majoristic Controversy.

At Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

, 1552, Count Albrecht expelled him without trial and he fled to Wittenberg, where he resumed his activity as professor and member of the consistory. Thence forth he was an important and active member in the circle of the Wittenberg Philippists

Philippists

The Philippists formed a party in early Lutheranism. Their opponents were called Gnesio-Lutherans.-Before Luther's Death:Philippists was the designation usually applied in the latter half of the sixteenth century to the followers of Philipp Melanchthon...

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From 1558 to 1574 he was dean of the theological faculty and repeatedly held the rectorate of the university. He lived long enough to experience the first over throw of Crypto-Calvinism

Crypto-Calvinism

Crypto-Calvinism is a term for Calvinist influence in the Lutheran Church during the decades just after the death of Martin Luther . It denotes what was seen as a hidden...

 in electoral Saxony, and Paul Crell, his son-in-law, signed for him at Torgau in May 1574 the articles which repudiated Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

and acknowledged the unity of Luther and Melanchthon.

Works

Among his writings, special mention may be made of the following:

• A text edition of Justini ex Trogo Pompejo historia (Hagenau, 1526);
• an edition of Luther's smaller catechism in Latin and Low German (Magdeburg, 1531);
• Sententiae veterum poetarum (1534);
• Quaestiones rhetoricae (1535);
• Vita Patrum (Wittenberg, 1544);
• Psalterium Davidis juxta translationem veterem repurgatum (1547);
• De origine et auctoritate verbi Dei (1550);
• Commonefactio ad ecclesiam catholicam, orthodoxam, de fugiendis . . . blasphemiis Samosatenicis (1569);

as well as commentaries on the Pauline epistles and homilies on the pericopes.