Dr Paul Allen

Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) is regarded as the most influential second-generation Reformer. As the heir to Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich, Switzerland , he consolidated and continued the Swiss Reformation that his predecessor had started. Philip Schaff writes that Bullinger was "a man of firm faith, courage, moderation, patience, and endurance . . . [who was] providentially equipped" to preserve and advance the truth in a difficult time in history (Philip Schaff,  History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII: Modern Christianity: The Swiss Reformation  [1910; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984], 205). During his forty-four years as the chief minister in Zurich, Bullinger's literary output exceeded that of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Zwingli combined. He was of monumental importance in the spread of Reformed teaching throughout the Reformation. So far-reaching was Bullinger's influence throughout conti...

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...