Dr Paul Allen

In 1518, Huldrych Zwingli, on his way to becoming the Reformer of Switzerland, was invited to become the pastor of the Great Minster in Zurich. Zwingli’s appointment was delayed, however, after a rumor circulated that he had impregnated a young woman in his previous parish. More than personal integrity was at stake in this accusation. If proven, Zwingli’s lack of chastity would be a propaganda coup for the Roman Church, who argued that the Protestant Reformation was less about doctrinal purity and more about priests throwing off the restraints of celibacy. Having been confirmed after an investigation, Zwingli began to preach the sermons that would awaken hearts to embrace the Reformation in Zurich. True Confession Some 300 years later, Johannes Schulthess (1758–1802), a renowned Zwingli scholar, was working in the archives of the Great Minster. Opening a volume, he discovered a letter written in Zwingli’s script. In the letter, Zwingli admitted to committing fornication, repent...

Coloured woodcut of the Marburg Colloquy, anonymous, 1557 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Huldrych Zwingli and the Memorial Oath Zwingli developed a different notion of the Lord’s Supper . Like his contemporary Luther, he dissented from the Roman Catholic idea of transubstantiation, offering several arguments against it.105 First, relying on Augustine, Zwingli noted that Christ ’s body is located at the right hand of God the Father: “ The body of Christ has to be in some particular place in heaven by reason of its character as a true body.  And again: Seeing that the body of Christ rose from the dead, it is necessarily in one place. The body of Christ is not in several places at one and the same time any more than our bodies are.”106 In particular, “According to its proper essence, the body of Christ is truly and naturally seated at the right hand of the Father. It cannot therefore be present in this way in the Supper.” From this line of reasoning, Zwingli concluded that the...

Church Zurich-Enge, window with Zwingli, Luther (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Zwingli , Ulrich (1484–1531). After Luther and Calvin, the most important early Protestant reformer. Zwingli was born in Wildhaus, St. Gall, Switzerland , and showed early promise. He studied at Berne and Vienna before matriculating at the University of Basel , where he was captivated by humanistic studies.  At Basel he also came under the influence of reformer Thomas Wyttenbach, who encouraged him in the directions that would eventually lead to his belief in the sole authority of Scripture and in justification by grace through faith alone. Zwingli was ordained a Catholic priest and served parishes in Glarus (1506–16) and Einsiedeln (1516–18) until called to be the people’s (or preaching) priest at the Great Minster in Zurich . Sometime around 1516, after diligent study in Erasmus’s Greek NT and after long wrestling with the moral problem of sensuality, he experienced an evangelical breakthrough, mu...

Portrait of Ulrich Zwingli after his death 1531 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Zwingli lived a tremendously full and productive life in spite of its temporal brevity. He wrote hundreds of tractates and books, many hundreds of letters, and preached thousands of sermons. He made incredible contributions to theology and his efforts on behalf of Reform laid the foundation for the work of his successor, Heinrich Bullinger , who can be rightly credited with taking the Reformed movement international. Indeed, Bullinger was more widely respected and followed around Europe in the 16th century than either Calvin or Luther . But the most remarkable contribution which Zwingli made to the Reformed movement was the contribution of a pious life piously lived.  Zwingli may be widely known as a warrior, as the man who died on the field of battle; but that is scarcely the real Zwingli. The real Zwingli will be discovered in his teaching on and practice of prayer; his firm conviction of th...

Having been struck in the head, Zwingli collapsed to the ground. Stunned, he began to pray and to recite Scripture—‘do not fear those who can kill the body but fear him who can kill the soul in hell …’. As the last word passed beyond his lips and into the hearing of the Catholic soldier standing over him, the soldier struck again and this time the blow was fatal. Zwingli’s comrade in arms, hearing his last utterance and seeing the death blow, fled. The troops from Zurich were scattered like sheep without a shepherd and Zwingli died alone on the beautiful meadow near the Monastery of Kappel-am-Albis . After the rout, the Catholic troops were looting the bodies and piling them for burning when one of them looked at Zwingli and recognized him. Announcing his find to his victorious comrades, incredible rejoicing broke out and many gathered at the place where Zwingli lie. They stripped him of his helmet and his clothing, chopped him into four pieces, threw his body in the fire, an...

Portrait of Ulrich Zwingli after his death 1531 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Huldrych Zwingli . Luther and Calvin are widely known and their works widely available in English , Zwingli has not been so fortunate. The very few works of his which have been translated into English were all translated in the 19th century and exist today only in reprints of those editions. Readers unfamiliar with the First Reformer of Switzerland have a basis from which to understand him. Zwingli wrote in Latin and Swiss German (in its sixteenth century form).  ‘ Christ our Captain’ is a phrase which Zwingli used quite frequently to describe his understanding of both who Christ is and who Christians are in relation to him. Zwingli used the phrase ‘Christ our Captain’ in sermons, in letters, and in his theological books. By it he meant to imply that it is Christ who is our commander, our leader.  He issues the orders and we follow him. The Church is his ‘army’ in the sense that a...

A rendition of Huldrych Zwingli from the 1906 edition of the ''Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The training of Zwingli for his life-work differs considerably from that of Luther . This difference affected their future work, and accounts in part for their collision when they met as antagonists in writing, and on one occasion (at Marburg) face to face, in a debate on the real presence. Comparisons are odious when partisan or sectarian feeling is involved, but necessary and useful if impartial. Both Reformers were of humble origin, but with this difference: Luther descended from the peasantry, and had a hard and rough schooling, which left its impress upon his style of polemics, and enhanced his power over the common people; while Zwingli was the son of a magistrate, the nephew of a dean and an abbot, and educated under the influence of the humanists, who favored urbanity of manners. Both were brought up by pious parents and teachers in the Catholic f...

English: German Anabaptist Balthasar Hubmaier (1485-1528); Gravure by Christoffel van Sichem Deutsch: Deutscher Täufer Balthasar Hubmaier (1485-1528); Stich von Christoffel van Sichem (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Europe's Hapsburg rulers were convinced that the Anabaptist sect was dangerous to the peace of the Empire. And with good reason: a peasant revolt, led by extreme Anabaptists , destroyed the peace of central Europe. The Hapsburgs determined to eradicate the Anabaptists from their kingdom. They drew no distinction between peaceable Anabaptists and radicals. In July, 1527, King Ferdinand's men arrested an Anabaptist leader who was halfway between the peaceable and radical factions. This was Balthasar Hubmaier. The authorities extradited him to Vienna where he was burned at the stake  on this day, March 10, 1528 . Three days later they tied a stone around his wife's neck and threw her into the Danube river to drown. But although he was dead, Balthasar's i...

Martin Luther, author of the text of Christ lag in Todes Banden, and who, with Johann Walter, also wrote the melody (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Immediately following the debate as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, Luke tells us in Luke 9:49 that John replied, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  What's going on here? Some say that John is only offering this comment as a diversion to deflect Jesus' words of rebuke that He had just given to His disciples. Others say that no, it's an earnest concern, and that John had seen somebody actually casting out demons using the name of Jesus, but he wasn't one of the twelve or one of the seventy-two in the broader company of Jesus' disciples.  A nd John was miffed at this and wanted Jesus to rebuke the fellow and stop him from carrying out this ministry that he was doing in the name of Jesus. What is it Jesus sees he...

Martin Luther, author of the text of Christ lag in Todes Banden, and who, with Johann Walter, also wrote the melody (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Immediately following the debate as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, Luke tells us in Luke  9:49  that John replied, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we forbade him because he does not follow us." What's going on here? Some say that John is only offering this comment as a diversion to deflect Jesus' words of rebuke that He had just given to His disciples. Others say that no, it's an earnest concern, and that John had seen somebody actually casting out demons using the name of Jesus, but he wasn't one of the twelve or one of the seventy-two in the broader company of Jesus' disciples. And John was miffed at this and wanted Jesus to rebuke the fellow and stop him from carrying out this ministry that he was doing in the name of Jesus. What is it Jesus sees here in J...