菲利普·梅兰希通（Philipp Melanchthon，或译作墨兰顿1497年2月16日－1560年4月19日）墨兰顿受父母的熏陶，终生敬虔。在十岁时，父亲去世。他自幼颖慧过人，受著名人文学者的舅公罗可林(Johannes Reuchlin)教导，酷爱拉丁文及古典文学，经精通希腊文，希伯来文。罗可林照当时的风尚，把他的原名Schwartzerd(黑土)，改为希腊文的同义字"墨兰顿"(Melanchthon)。他十二岁入大学；十七岁，获硕士(M.A.)学位。在二十岁以前，他已经有六本著作，包括受普遍采用的希腊文文法。是德国语言学家、哲学家、人类学家、神学家、教科书作家和新拉丁语诗人，被誉为“德国的老师”（Praeceptor Germaniae），他是德国和欧洲宗教改革中除马丁·路德外的另一个代表人物。

Philip Melanchthon (Philippus Melanchthon) (/məˈlæŋkθən/; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560), born Philipp Schwartzerdt (German:[ˈʃvaɐ̯ts.eːɐt]), 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 stands next to Luther and Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. Along with Luther, he is the primary founder of Lutheranism. They both denounced what they believed was the exaggerated cult of the saints, asserted justification by faith, and denounced the coercion of the conscience in the sacrament of penance by the Catholic Church, that they believed could not offer certainty of salvation. In unison they rejected transubstantiation, the belief that the bread from the Lord's Supper becomes Christ's body when consecrated. Melanchthon made the distinction between law and gospel the central formula for Lutheran evangelical insight. By the "law", he meant God's requirements both in Old and New Testament; the "gospel" meant the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.