1 of 3

The Reformation of Ulrich Zwingli was scripturally based, one in which the Bible was understood to lie at the basis of the changes being instituted. In the dramatic challenge to the established church which came forth from Zwingli the basis of the reform was self-consciously scriptural.

To the nuns at the Oetenbach cloister in 1522 Zwingli had affirmed most strongly the scriptural principle of authority and asserted that the Bible was basically easy to understand if one but trusted God and depended on his Spirit for enlightenment. He affirmed that the Word of God is “certain and cannot fail.” Furthermore it was clear and could be understood by any who truly remained open to the message contained therein. Thereby Zwingli opened the door to the interpretation of Scripture to the whole church. It was not necessary to depend on the ecclesiastical authorities for truth. It would come directly from God through his Word.

It was this foundation on which the Reformed Church had been formed at the First Zurich Disputation in January, 1523. Preaching in Zurich was to be according to the Word of God. Zwingli himself had concluded in his fourteenth article before the disputation: “Every Christian should use the greatest diligence so that the Gospel of Christ alone is preached everywhere.”

The Reformation in Zurich was not of a monolithic whole. There were some nominal followers of Zwingli who were “evangelical” merely because they opposed the Catholic Church, and a few others because they wanted to be free of the moral restraints that the church sought to maintain. Zwingli had little sympathy with these weak followers.

One group of Zwingli’s devoted early followers was to cause him serious problems. The early leader of this cadre of rigorist Christians was Conrad Grebel, the son of an aristocratic Zurich family. Like Zwingli, Grebel was trained as a humanist, having studied in Basel, Vienna and Paris. He became an early ardent supporter of Zwingli, penning a short poem of appreciation to the end of one of Zwingli’s treatises in 1522, the Archeteles. He was clearly persuaded by Zwingli’s vision of true biblical Christianity.

During these early years of the Reformation, Grebel became friends with another follower of Zwingli, Felix Manz. Together the two were committed to the restoration of primitive biblical Christianity and believed that Zwingli was likewise committed.

In the early years of the Reformation in Zurich, as elsewhere, there was considerable unrest lying just beneath the surface. Not all of the issues were religious, although they had religious overtones at times. Some radicals were attacking the payment of rents, tithes, and interest. At the same time there were occurring sporadic outbreaks of iconoclasm in churches in Zurich and outside, much of it intensified by the preaching of Zwingli and his colleague at St. Peter’s, Leo Jud.

During the course of 1523 a serious question was being raised in Zurich about the speed of the Reformation. In an effort to maintain the control of the fast-moving events, the City Council called for a second disputation, which took place in October, 1523. In this disputation it was decided that images should eventually be taken out of the churches and that the Mass was not to be considered a sacrifice. It was decided that the changes would take place only gradually—after the people and their pastors had been thoroughly educated in the reasons for the changes. Only thus could one be certain that changes would be thorough and heartfelt.

next page... |  1 of 3

share this page

RSS Feed   RSS Help