Transcript The Swiss Reformation Zwingli in Zurich Calvin in Geneva Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)  Born in Wildhaus, Switzerland.  Studied under leading renaissance scholars in Basel and Vienna,

The Swiss Reformation
Zwingli in Zurich
Calvin in Geneva
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

Born in Wildhaus, Switzerland.

Studied under leading renaissance
scholars in Basel and Vienna, he
earned an M.A. in 1506 and began the
study of theology. He was ordained a
priest in 1506.

He became the parish priest of a
country church at Glarus (1506-516).
He studied Hebrew and Greek. He
also acted as chaplain for Swiss
mercenary armies in Italy (Milan).

In 1516 he became the priest of
Einsiedeln where the famous “Black
Virgin” attracted floods of pilgrims.
Visited Erasmus in 1516.
Moving Toward Reformation

He was a great admirer of
Erasmus and was overjoyed
with the appearance of the
printed Greek text. Read the
patristic literature, especially
Chrysostom.

During his stay in Einsiedeln,
he began to question (though
not oppose) the sale of
indulgences and questioned
the value of pilgrimages.

January 1, 1519 he was
elected to the main pulpit in
Zurich (population 6,000 with
200 clergy and monks).
Zurich Reformation

Zwingli began preaching from the
Greek text out of Matthew.

Zwingli endeared himself to the
Zurich church by ministering to
them during the plague of 1519
(in which Zwingli’s own brother
died) and he almost died himself.

In 1522 Zwingli preached that it
was permissible to eat all foods at
all times. On Ash Wednesday, he
watched some of his members eat
two fried sausages. Some were
imprisoned. Zwingli defended
them from his pulpit and
published Concerning Freedom
and the Choice of Food
Pestleid (Plague Song)

Help me, O Lord,
My strength and rock;
Lo, at the door
I hear death’s knock.

Yet, if your voice,
In life’s mid-day
Recalls my soul,
Then I obey.

Uplift your arm,
Once pierced for me,
That conquered
death,
And set me free.

In faith and hope,
Earth I resign,
Secure of heaven,
For I am Yours.
Zurich Disputations

First (January 1523): Zwingli presented 67 articles of belief that questioned
human ceremonies and requirements (10% of town present).
– Had previously published On the Certainty of the Word of God defending sola
Scriptura
– In 1522 Zwingli had secretly married (which he made public in 1524).

Second (October 1523): Convinces the council to proceed with reform
based on scripture alone (15% of town present).
– Images removed from the churches
– Monasteries were dissolved

Third Disputation (January 1525): Council fully supports reform.
– Easter, 1525 is the first fully Protestant worship in Zurich.
– Zurich is officially a “Reformed church.”
– This disputation also concluded in favor of infant baptism and the exclusion of
those who opposed it.
Nature of Zwingli’s Reformation

He opposed the use of icons and stripped churches in
Zurich of their religious art.

He opposed the use of instrumental music and the organ
was silenced in 1524 and destroyed in 1527.

The Reformed principle was to include in the worship
only that which was clearly authorized in the New
Testament.

He opposed the Catholic Mass and simplified the liturgy.
Preaching became the primary focus of liturgy.
Johannes Oecolampadius
from Basel (1482-1531)
Studied at University of Tubingen where he met
Melancthon; he was appointed Cathedral preacher in
Basel (1515)
 Was a proof-reader for Erasmus; corresponded with
Luther; entered monastery in Augsburg for two years
(1520-1522).
 Returned to Basel in 1522 as lecturer in theology at the
University.
 Leads the reformation of the church in Basel and
became Zwingli’s supporter in Switzerland.

– Wrote first major OT commentary of the Reformation
– Master of Patristics
– Defended Zwingli’s position on the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.
Oecolampadius’ Four Theses (1523)

Sola Scriptura
Our righteousness is unclean; therefore
justified by sola fidei
 Opposed the use of saints and the need
for intermediaries.
 Proclaimed that believers have freedom in
Christ and are not bound by human
traditions and innovations.

The Conclusions at Berne
1. The holy Christian Church, whose only Head is Christ,
is born of the Word of God, and abides in the same,
and listens not to the voice of a stranger.
2. The Church of Christ makes no laws or commandments
apart from the Word of God; hence all human
traditions are not binding upon us except so far as
they are grounded upon or prescribed in the Word of
God.
3. Christ is the only wisdom, righteousness, redemption,
and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. For
this reason it is a denial of Christ to confess any other
means of salvation or satisfaction for sin.
Conclusions at Berne
4.
It cannot be shown from Holy Scripture that the body and blood
of Christ are substantially and corporeally received in the bread of
the Eucharist.
5.
The mass, as it is now celebrated, in which Christ is offered to God
the Father for the sins of the living and the dead is contrary to
Scripture, a blasphemy against the most holy sacrifice, passion,
and death of Christ and on account of its abuse, an abomination
to God.
6.
As Christ alone died for us, so he is also to be adored as the only
Mediator and Advocate between God the Father and us. For this
reason it is contrary to the basis of the Word of God to direct
worship to be offered to other mediators beyond the present life.
Conclusions at Berne
7.
Scripture does not tell us there is a place beyond this life in which souls
are purged. Therefore all services for the dead, vigils, masses,
processions, anniversaries, lights, candles, and other such things are
vain.
8.
It is contrary to the Word of God, contained in the books of the Old and
New Testaments, to make images for use in worship. For this reason they
are to be abolished, if they are set up as objects of worship.
9.
Marriage is not forbidden in Scripture to any class of men, but is
commanded and permitted to all in order to avoid fornication and
unchastity.
10.
Since according to Scripture an open fornicator must be
excommunicated, it follows that fornication or impure celibacy are more
pernicious to the clergy than to any other class on account of the
scandal.
Three Positions on the Supper

Transubstantiation – the bread and wine are transformed
into real body and blood of Jesus (Roman Catholic)
– The substance changes (bread to body)
– The accidents remain (still looks like bread)


Consubstantiation – the body and blood of Christ are
added to the presence of the bread and wine (Luther)
Symbolism – the bread and wine symbolically represent
the body and blood of Christ; it is a memorial of Christ’s
sacrifice. The body and blood are not substantially or
literally present (Zwingli).
“The Supper Strife”

Luther believed in consubstantiation:
– Elements in Lord’s Supper are literal body &
blood of Christ
Zwingli believed that Lord’s Supper is
entirely symbolic, a memorial feast
 Two denounced each other as heretics
 Martin Bucer sought unity among
Christians
 Arranged discussion at Marburg, 1529

The Marburg Colloquy
 Philip
of Hesse
(also wanting
unity) offered his
castle at Marburg
for the
discussion
Castle of Philip of Hesse at
Marburg
The Discussion
Luther refused to consider Zwingli’s
arguments
 Told Bucer that he had a different spirit
 Wrote on table: Hoc est corpus meum

– “This is my body”

Bucer continued to work toward a
statement with which both parties would
agree
Room at castle where discussion took place (as it appears today)
Painting showing Zwingli (to right), Luther (pointing to table), Bucer and Melancthon
seated at the table. (Bucer on right). Other key leaders in Reformation present.
Marburg Agreement
Fifteenth, we all believe and hold concerning the Supper of our dear
Lord Jesus Christ that both kinds should be used according to the
institution by Christ; [also that the mass is not a work with which
one can secure grace for someone else, whether he is dead or
alive;] also that the Sacrament of the Altar is a sacrament of the
true body and blood of Jesus Christ and that the spiritual partaking
of the same body and blood is especially necessary for every
Christian. Similarly, that the use of the sacrament, like the word, has
been given and ordained by God Almighty in order that weak
consciences may thereby be excited to faith by the Holy Spirit. And
although at this time, we have not reached an agreement as to
whether the true body and blood of Christ are bodily present in the
bread and wine, nevertheless, each side should show Christian love
to the other side insofar as conscience will permit, and both sides
should diligently pray to Almighty God that through his Spirit he
might confirm us in the right understanding.
Luther and Zwingli
Topic
Luther
 Key Question Where can I find the
merciful God?
 Experience
Experience of Mercy
 Education
Doctor of Theology
 Language
Northern German
 Training
Via Moderna (Occamist)
 Beginning
95 Theses on Penance
 Politics
Regional/State
 Theology
Faith as Key
 Emphasis
Word as Means
 Law
Condemn and Convict
 Church
Adiaphora
 Sacraments
Means
 Function
Assurance and Means
 Church/State Separation
Zwingli
Where can I find the true church?
Experience of Election
Master of Humanities
Southern German (Swiss)
Via Antiqua (Thomist)
67 Articles on Church
City
Election as Key
Spirit Without the Word
Guide Church in Obedience
Primitivism
Signs
Ecclesial
Integration
Reformation: A Divided Movement

Luther
– Liturgical worship: permission to use tradition as long as it does
not violate the gospel
– Substantial presence of Christ in the supper
– Valued the role of bishops (supervisors).
– Separation of Church and State: Two Kingdom Theory
– Influential in northern Germany

Zwingli
– Simple worship: only do what is authorized in the New
Testament.
– Symbolic presence of Christ in the supper.
– Valued local pastors and independent congregations
– Theocratic understanding of City Council and local jurisdictions.
– Influential in Switzerland and southern Germany.
Zwingli, 1525-1531
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Sought to unite the Swiss Cantons through disputations.
Zwingli also submitted a confession to Emperor Charles
V at Augsburg: Fidei Ratio.
Bern and Basel both followed Zwingli, but other Cantons
did.
– Bern Disputation in May 1528.

By 1531, five Cantons were Protestant and five were
Roman Catholic.
– Successive military conflicts broke out between Protestants and
Catholics beginning in 1528.
– On October 11, 1531 Zwingli died in a battle between Catholics
and Protestants at Kappel near Zurich.
– Switzerland was permanently divided into Protestant and
Catholic Cantons.
Zwingli’s Theology
The ground of redemption is election—God’s sovereign
initiative is primary.
 Faith is the sign of God’s electing grace—is the certain
assurance by which humanity relies on the merit of
Christ alone. They are elect before they believe.
 Faith comes only by the Spirit of God—usually in
conjunction with the preached the word of God. The
preached word brings an “internal word”—a persuasion
and insistence of the Spirit by which we believe. The
Father draws us into faith because we are part of the
elect.
 While Zwingli taught the unity of Spirit and Word, he
also insisted that no external means are necessary for
faith—God acts through the immediacy of his Spirit.

Sacramental Theology
There are only two sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s
Supper.
 Zwingli rejects any instrumental or causative meaning for
the sacraments. Rather, sacraments are symbolic in
meaning—they are not means by which God works.
 They are communal acts by which humans pledge and
testify their allegiance to God and the church. The
congregation is the actor rather than God.
 Here Luther and Zwingli are opposites—Luther believed
in the instrumental character of the sacraments. They
are genuine means of grace and necessary for salvation.

Sacramental Theology

Zwingli: “We cannot accept that view…which holds that the
sacraments are signs of such nature that when they are
administered then they simultaneously accomplish inwardly
that which they signify outwardly. For this would bind the
freedom of the Spirit of God, who divides to men severally as
he will, that is, to whom and when and where he will.”

Luther: “Therefore state it most simply thus, that the power,
work, profit, fruit, and end of Baptism is this, namely, to save.
For no one is baptized in order that he may become a prince,
but, as the words declare, that he be saved. But to be saved.
we know. is nothing else than to be delivered from sin, death,
and the devil, and to enter into the kingdom of Christ, and to
live with Him forever.”
Luther on Baptism
But as our would-be wise, new spirits assert that faith
alone saves, and that works and external things avail
nothing, we answer: It is true, indeed, that nothing in us
is of any avail but faith, as we shall hear still further. But
these blind guides are unwilling to see this, namely, that
faith must have something which it believes, that is, of
which it takes hold, and upon which it stands and rests.
Thus faith clings to the water, and believes that it is
Baptism, in which there is pure salvation and life; not
through the water (as we have sufficiently stated), but
through the fact that it is embodied in the Word and
institution of God, and the name of God inheres in it.
Luther on Baptism

But if they say, as they are accustomed: Still
Baptism is itself a work, and you say works are
of no avail for salvation; what then, becomes of
faith? Answer: Yes, our works, indeed, avail
nothing for salvation; Baptism, however, is not
our work, but God's (for, as was stated, you
must put Christ-baptism far away from a bathkeeper's baptism). God's works, however, are
saving and necessary for salvation, and do not
exclude, but demand, faith; for without faith
they could not be apprehended.
Luther and Zwingli
Topic
Luther
 Key Question Where can I find the
merciful God?
 Experience
Experience of Mercy
 Education
Doctor of Theology
 Language
Northern German
 Training
Via Moderna (Occamist)
 Beginning
95 Theses on Penance
 Politics
Regional/State
 Theology
Faith as Key
 Emphasis
Word as Means
 Law
Condemn and Convict
 Church
Adiaphora
 Sacraments
Means
 Function
Assurance and Means
 Church/State Separation
Zwingli
Where can I find the true church?
Experience of Election
Master of Humanities
Southern German (Swiss)
Via Antiqua (Thomist)
67 Articles on Church
City
Election as Key
Spirit Without the Word
Guide Church in Obedience
Primitivism
Signs
Ecclesial
Integration
Martin Bucer (1491-1551)
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Born at Schlettstadt in
Alsace
Attended excellent
humanistic school
Joined Dominican order
to further studies
Sent to Heidelberg
chapter because better
educational opportunities
there
Met Luther there
Humanist school in Schlettstadt that Bucer attended while Jacob
Gebwiler was headmaster
From Erasmus to Martin Luther
Bucer deeply committed to Erasmian
humanist reform agenda
 Luther came to Heidelberg to defend his
theology
 University refused to allow Luther to speak
 Dominicans opened their chapel to him
 Bucer & two friends deeply convicted
 Justification by faith alone

Bucer meets Luther
Bucer stayed after lecture to ask Luther
questions
 Luther invited him to have lunch with him
 Shared with him his new commentary on
Romans
 “I came an Erasmian; I left a Martinian!”

Heidelberg to Strasbourg
Bucer married Elizabeth Silberreisen
 Convinced forced clerical celibacy
produced immorality
 Soon in trouble with church
 Protected by sympathetic nobles
 Church excommunicated him
 Fled to his parents in Strasbourg for help

What would Strasbourg do?
Parents pled for their son before council
 As son of citizens, he should be protected
 Strasbourg already had reformed pastors:
Matthew Zell of St. Thomas
 Zell allowed him to speak on a wooden
pulpit on alternate days
 Asked by poor gardeners of St. Auriole to
be their pastor

St. Thomas
Matthew Zell getting older
 Council became supportive
 Voted to approve reformation for city
 Bucer appointed chief pastor of St.
Thomas
 Aided in city by Wolfgang Capito and
others
 Support from John Oecolampadius at
Basel

Relief medallion of Bucer from his memorial in St. Thomas
Church in Strasbourg
Strasbourg Cathedral where
Bucer first preached under Zell
St. Thomas Church where Bucer was pastor
In hopes of unity….
Bucer defined a platform of unity
 Theologians should determine what was
essential for all Christians to believe
 These doctrines would be taught as nonnegotiable matters of faith
 Non-essentials (adiaphora) would be areas
where different interpretations would be
respected & over which they would not
divide

An Advocate of Unity
Tolerant policy to Anabaptists – disagreed
yet tried to learn from their piety
 Worked tirelessly to try to communicate
and reunite with Catholics
 Tried to keep Protestants from dividing

The Doctrine of the Presence
Bucer convinced Luther & Zwingli both saying
same things in different ways
 Produced a midway synthesis:

–
–
–
–
–
–
Elements not literal body & blood
But taken under form of bread & wine
Christ present with us in Lord’s Supper
Accepted by Calvin & Cranmer
Melancthon agreed with Bucer by the 1540s.
Incorporated into Reformed & Anglican theology
Bucer as Protestant Diplomat
Sent representatives to court of King
Francis I of France to persuade him
 Also attempted to reach King Henry VIII
 Negotiated with Catholic Cardinals
 Tried to work with emperor Charles V
 Worked closely with Prince Philip of Hesse

Religious Discussions
Continually scheduled debates or
colloquies
 Regensburg, Wittenberg, Augsburg,
Cologne, Marburg, Worms,
 Wrote continually to answer critics
 But his efforts were largely unsuccessful.

The Interim
Charles imposed Interim that restored
mass in Strasbourg and restricted
Protestants
 New city council did not support Bucer
 He went into exile
 Thomas Cranmer urged them to come to
England and help him
 Bucer sick, discouraged, tired

English Reformation
Bucer taught at Cambridge
 Helped write Book of Common Prayer
 English ordinal
 Encouraged Cranmer concerning doctrines
like predestination, justification,
communion
 Wrote De Regno Christi to King Edward VI

– Described true Christian community
Bucer’s Death
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Never well after went to England
Died in 1551 after two years there
His second wife, Wibrandis Rosenblatt Bucer
with him
Buried at Cambridge
Bones exhumed and disgraced by Mary I
Restored to honor by Elizabeth
Same rector of Cambridge presided over both
Jean Calvin (1509-1564)

After studying law in Paris and
Orleans, he emerged in 1534
as a leading Reformer in
France.

Francis I of France issued an
edict suppressing Protestants
in 1535.

In 1536 Calvin produced a
brief, systematic summary of
the Protestant faith. Through
26 editions and many
translations, it became the
classic statement of
Protestantism—Institutes of
the Christian Religion.
The Education of Jean Calvin

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Born of humble ancestry
– Yet maintained manners of nobility; father was a
notary
– Born at Noyon, Picardy, 60 miles northeast of Paris
26 years younger than Luther
– Belonged to second generation of reformers
Father wanted him to be a priest but Calvin studied law
and pursued humanist studies (in Orleans 1528).
After his father’s death, he returns to Paris in 1531
– Receives the Doctor of Laws (1532)
– His first book was a commentary on Seneca (1533)
Calvin Museum constructed at location of
his house
Noyon Cathedral
Calvin and Protestantism
Testifies to some mysterious experience in 1532.
–
–
–
–
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Very secret about it
Other students came to him to learn what he believed
Convinced of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence
Felt himself the chosen instrument of God
Wrote a sermon for Nicholas Cop that was
preached on Nov 1, 1533.
– It quoted Luther and was Protestant in tone.
– Cop and Calvin had to flee Paris in 1534 because the
persecution of Protestants had begun.
Calvin’s
Institutes of the Christian Religion
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First published in 1536 in Basel and dedicated to
Francis I, King of France.
First edition was only 6 chapters, but the last
edition was 80 chapters.
Total of 10 editions (1536 to 1560), published in
Latin and French.
The structure was originally based on the
Apostle’s Creed—systematic, clear and orderly
with strong rooting in Scripture and Augustine
(and other church fathers).
The most influential book of the Reformation.
Geneva

Geneva was the focus of concern as Swiss Cantons were dividing
between Protestant and Catholic, and French Catholic Savoy wanted
to retain Geneva within its territory.

Protestant cities, like Bern, rescued Geneva from Savoy’s attack in
1530.
– Farel (1489-1565), a reformer in Basel, came to Geneva in 1532 and
persuaded magistrates to favor Reform by 1534 through several
disputations.
– By 1535, the city council gave Catholic clergy the choice to convert or
leave the city.

Calvin, traveling through the city in July 1536, was convinced to
remain as a leader of the Reformation there.
Guillaume Farel, First reformer of Geneva
Geneva Reformation

The initial movements (1536-1538) did not go
well and after a stay in Strasbourg (1538-1541),
Calvin returned to the city triumphantly.
– The source of the conflict was the relationship
between the Council and the church.
– Calvin favored ecclesiastical control of church
discipline and regulating church ordinances while the
Council wanted to control discipline.
– Calvin was inexperienced, and the Council drove the
Reformers out of the city in 1538.
Calvin’s Beliefs
Wanted to restore purity of Christianity
before corrupted by Roman Catholicism
 Saw God as creator, preserver, governor of
universe
 Creation, Fall, Redemption as the story of
Scripture.
 God worked out one consistent scheme of
redemption through a covenant of grace.

Calvin and Grace

Humanity sinful and incapable of good work
– Cannot save itself
– Dependent entirely on God’s grace
God’s justice satisfied by death of Christ
 Believers justified when they trust in Christ
 Christ takes humanity’s sin; believers are clothed
with the perfect righteousness of Christ
 Faith itself is a gift of God’s grace (like Zwingli)

Election & Preservation
 Calvin
believed in God’s eternal
election: God has chosen who will be
saved by his own grace.
 Thus God will preserve his elect to
eternal life
 Humanity has the responsibility to
respond to God’s grace in holiness,
good works, and faithful obedience
The Church to Calvin
The one Church of Christ was the sum of
God’s elect, invisible, members known to
God
 Believers in one community become visible
church
 Exists wherever word faithfully preached
and heard & sacraments (baptism and the
Lord’s Supper) faithfully administered
 Published Ecclesiastical Ordinances 1541

Organization of Church
 Ministers
(Venerable Company) or
pastors—the administrators of the
sacraments.
 Elders (Consistory)—a council of
laymen.
 Teaching Pastors—charged with
educating the church and preaching.
 Deacons—to minister to the needs of
the church.
Sacraments
Accepted Bucer’s doctrine of the spiritual
(not substantial but neither merely
symbolic) presence in communion
 Wanted communion in all churches at
least once weekly
 Council denied his request
 Held high view of importance and
necessity of baptism: baptism is an
instrumental means of grace through
which God ordinarily works.

The Scriptures
 Held
high view of Scripture
 One book, Old & New Testament
 Revealing one plan of human
redemption
 His people truly a “People of the
Book”
 Believed that we should not act
without Scriptural authority
Strasbourg, 1538-1541
Took refuge with Bucer in Strasbourg
 Learned theology and how to organize a
Christian Community
 Preached at church for French Protestant
exiles
 Taught at John Sturm’s Academy
 Wrote
 Married Idelette de Bure
 Very happy experience!

Calvin’s wife, Idelette
de Bure
Calvin returning to Geneva in 1541
Second Call to Geneva

Political shift in Geneva
– People wanted preachers back
– Catholic Church had sought to return and
Calvin opposed through his Letter to Sadoleto
Farel persuaded him to return with him
 Left Strasbourg in tears
 Stayed in Geneva the rest of his life

– Next 28 years
Geneva 1541-1564
Very successful reformer there
 Preached, supervised church, encouraged
commerce & trade, advised council
 Founded University of Geneva
 Public morality successfully enforced
 Geneva became city of refuge for
Protestants in exile from all over Europe

Geneva: The Reformed City

From 1541-1564, Geneva was the heartbeat of
the “Reformed” Protestant faith (e.g.,
“Calvinism”).
– It sent missionaries into France and southern France
was significantly influenced (by 1561 2150 Protestant
churches).
– It became a refugee city for persecuted French,
Dutch, Scottish and English Protestants.
– Through this influence, the Netherlands became the
locus of the “Dutch Reformed Church,” the Scottish
Kirk became Presbyterian, the Puritans sought reform
in England and the Huguenots were a religious and
political force in France.
The Reformation in 1541
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Martin Bucer is working for unity between Reformed,
Lutheran and Catholic—as is Melanchton. The last major
attempt was at a conference in Regensburg (1541).
Lutherans are growing in Northern Germany and
Scandinavia, but Luther is uninterested in the unity
efforts.
The Swiss (and the French Reformed Church) are united
in a “Reformed” understanding of the faith, though there
are sacramental and ecclesiological differences between
Zurich and Geneva.
– Zurich is symbolic; Geneva is instrumental.
– Church discipline is conducted by the magistrates in Zurich but
determined by the Council of Pastors in Geneva.