Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) ***
An
early Protestant reformer. Zwingli was born in Wildhaus, St. Gall, Switzerland,
and showed early promise in education. 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 Minister 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, much like Luther was experiencing at about the same time. This
turned him even more wholeheartedly to the Scriptures, and it also made him
hostile to the medieval system of penance and relics, which he attacked in
1518. One of the great moments of the Reformation occurred early in 1519 when
Zwingli began his service in Zurich by announcing his intention to preach
exegetical sermons beginning with the Gospel of Matthew. In the final decade of
his life he shepherded Zurich to its declaration for reform (1523). He wrote
numerous tracts and aided in the composition of confessions to promote the
course of the Reformation (e.g., the Ten Theses of Berne, 1528); he established
solid relationships with other Swiss reformers, including Oecolampadius in
Basel; he inspired and then broke with the rising Anabaptist movement; and he
had a momentous disagreement with Luther over the Lord's Supper (expressed most
sharply at the Colloquy of Marburg in 1529). Zwingli lost his life while
serving as a chaplain to Zurich troops engaged in warfare with other Swiss
cantons.
Zwingli's
Protestantism was a more rationalistic and biblicistic variation of Luther's
theology. His discussions with German Protestants about the Lord's Supper led
him to doubt Luther's belief in a sacramental real presence of Christ in
Communion, and even Martin Bucer's belief in a real spiritual presence, in
favor of a nearly memorialistic view. To Zwingli the Lord's Supper was
primarily an occasion to remember the benefits purchased by Christ's death. In
his approach to theology and practice Zwingli looked for strict and specific
scriptural warrant, even through this led him into embarrassment when early
Anabaptists demanded proof texts for the practice of infant baptism. Zwingli's
strict adherence to the Bible led him in 1527 to remove the organ from the
Great Minister, since Scripture nowhere mandated its use in worship (and this
in spite of the fact that Zwingli was an accomplished musician who otherwise
encouraged musical expression). Zwingli had no qualms in seeking reform through
the authority of the Zurich council. Even after his death the Zurich city
government under his successor, Heinrich Bullinger, exercised a dominant role
in church affairs. This model of churchstate relations eventually appealed to
England's Queen Elizabeth, even as reformers Calvin and John Knox fought for
the autonomy of the church over its own affairs.
Zwingli's
noble character, his firm commitment to scriptural authority, and his diligent
propagation of evangelical reform, even more than his writings, marked him as
one of the Reformation's most appealing leaders.
Another
View of Ulrich Zwingli
Ulrich
Zwingli was educated at schools in Basel and Bern, Switzerland, and Vienna,
Austria. He had a happy boyhood with no great sense of sin. He became a parish
priest in the Roman Catholic Church with little moral earnestness. On becoming
pastor of the "Great Minster Church" in Zurich, Zwingli saw himself
in the role of an Old Testament prophet and began to preach against the
unscriptural practices in the Catholic Church.
He
made an open break with Rome in 1522 after studying the works of Martin Luther.
The break was completed in 1525 when he replaced the Roman Mass with the first
Reformed Communion service at his church. Later he removed images, relics and
organs from the church and centered the service around the sermon.
Zwingli
differed with Luther in his views on Communion, maintaining that the Lord's
Supper is only a memorial ordinance. The civil government supported Zwingli.
The Reformation spread throughout Swiss centers because of his influence.
Zwingli participated in armed warfare against the Catholic states around him
and died in battle, sword in hand, defending the Bible over tradition.