In honor of the 450th anniversary of Philip Melanchthon s death in 1560, a second edition of his Loci Communes ( Commonplaces or Common Topics ) has been issued. Melanchthon's Loci praecipui theologici is one of the several most significant and influential compendia of theology written during the Reformation. This translation, which presents the final stage of its textual development, had an enormous impact on developing Lutheran and Reformed theology, whether in its content or its method.