In his influence on the Reformed theological tradition, Girolamo Zanchi was a giant. Zanchi was born in Alzano, in northern Italy, in 1516, one year before Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg. He received a first-rate Renaissance education first from private tutors and then as a member of a religious order. In 1541, he came under the authority of a new prior, Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499–1562), who opened up the Scriptures to Zanchi and pointed him toward the Reformation. After a decade of ministering under the radar in Roman Catholic Italy, Zanchi fled to the Protestant north, where he taught first at Strasbourg, then Heidelberg, and finally at Neustadt, with a very challenging stint as a pastor of an Italian congregation in the Swiss Alps mixed in.
Throughout the course of his life, Zanchi was a generous teacher to future pastors, preparing men to preach the gospel of Christ. He was a great defender of orthodox Christianity, bringing the Reformed into deeper conversation with the church’s long reflection upon Scripture. He was a faithful churchman, devoting years to the pastorate and serving Italian refugee congregations in Protestant Europe. He was also the author of an astonishingly rich collection of theological treatises, biblical commentaries, and polemical works that totaled more than six million words.
To date, the vast majority of Zanchi’s theological works are available only in Latin, but we are working on that! His Commentary on the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians is now available, the first of his exegetical works ever translated into English. In this commentary, Zanchi establishes the biblical text of Paul’s letter, unfolds its meaning, and integrates it into the Bible’s larger theological context, drawing out each passage’s pastoral use and implications. He reflects wisely upon pastors and their relationship with their flocks, the role of affliction in the Christian life, love, humility, the fear of the Lord, Christian joy, and much more.
Although less than half the length of Zanchi’s massive commentaries on Ephesians and Hosea, his exegesis of Philippians amounts to 700 pages and more than 330,000 words in translation. This work vividly displays the author’s exegetical skill, breadth of learning, and theological precision, especially in his long and careful assessment of the Christological significance of Philippians 2:5–11.
In short, the Commentary on the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians demonstrates the fact that Reformed theology is not a set of doctrinal or confessional claims in search of a prooftext, but an exegetical tradition rooted in and founded upon the Word of God.
Hardback copies of the commentary can be ordered here. Paperback or Kindle versions can be found on Amazon.
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Patrick J. O’Banion
Patrick J. O’Banion graduated from Westminster Seminary California (MA, Historical Theology) and earned his PhD in history at St Louis University. He was professor of History at Lindenwood University (St. Charles, MO) 2009–19. He has also published three books on early Modern Spain and numerous articles in academic journals. He is the translator of Girolamo Zanchi, The Spiritual Marriage between Christ and His Church and Every One of the Faithful. Patrick was ordained as a ruling elder in the PCA in 2008 and he is now licensed to preach by the Siouxlands Presbytery, PCA.
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