Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531)
Although Zwingli was affected by what was happening in Wittenberg, the Reformation he led in Zurich was in many respects very different from the one taking place in Saxony.
Zwingli was of peasant stock, had received a sound education and was ordained priest in 1506. In 1518 he was appointed as a preacher in Zurich cathedral.
At university he had been influenced strongly by the Christian humanists, and to a much greater extent than was the case with Luther, their ideas permeated his protests against clerical abuses. In 1518, on his appointment to Zurich, he began preaching against abuses in the church and, no doubt with Luther’s example in mind, was soon attacking the supremacy of the pope and the doctrine of transubstantiation.
Zwingli’s impact on Zurich was immense. With the support of the city council, his ideas on reform were accepted by the canton. By 1525 the church was independent of papal and episcopal control, Mass had been abolished, and reforms introduced.
Although influenced by Luther, there were marked differences between the Lutheran church and that organized by Zwingli. Unlike Luther, Zwingli had little respect for traditional customs and ceremonies. He encouraged iconoclasm, and the physical appearance of the churches in Zurich was fundamentally changed. His views on the Catholic church were also far more extreme than Luther’s. Whereas Luther believed that the church had become corrupt, Zwingli saw it as essentially anti-Christian. As a result, he did not attempt to work for reconciliation with Rome.
The whole nature of worship within the church in Zurich differed from that in the Lutheran churches. Here, too, Zwinglianism marked a far more radical break with Catholicism than did Lutheranism. Fundamental to the differences between Zwingli and the Lutherans were Zwingli’s views on the Eucharist. Whereas Luther maintained the doctrine that Christ is really present in the Eucharist, Zwingli denied this. He saw Christ’s words “This is my body” to signify “This represents my body”. Zwingli argued that as Christ is in heaven, he cannot be in the sacrament. As a result, it could not convey grace to the partaker. God’s grace is assured to the believer through his faith and not through participation in the sacrament. Zwingli insisted that the sacrament is purely symbolic—no more than a memorial of the Last Supper.
Luther refused to accept Zwingli’s interpretation of the Eucharist. Despite an attempt by Philip of Hesse in 1529 to bring the two reformers together in the Colloquy of Marburg, this disagreement on one of the most fundamental issues of doctrine prevented an alliance between the German and Swiss Reformations.
Zwingli’s belief in the memorial nature of the Eucharist was fundamental to the position of the ministry in his church. A minister exercised no spiritual authority which a layman could not have exercised. The laity were therefore given an important role in the life of the church and contributed to both teaching and discipline.
Under Zwingli, the Reformation in Switzerland saw an even greater unity between the church and the state than the Lutheran in Germany. In Zurich the ecclesiastical authority of the bishop of Constance was transferred to the city council which became responsible not only for the enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline, but also for the oversight of morals.
The Zwinglian concept of the union of ecclesiastical and municipal authority was too radical to be accepted by many of the Swiss cities and cantons. The five Forest Cantons of Lucerne, Zug, Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden saw the concept as a means whereby Zurich hoped to rise to dominance in Switzerland. In 1531 they attacked Zurich and, on the 11th October, Zwingli was killed at the battle of Kappel.
Although Zwingli’s influence on the Reformation was overshadowed by that of both Luther and Calvin, his importance in laying the foundation for Calvinism must not be underestimated. His work at Zurich was continued by Henry Bullinger (1504–1575), but attempts to impose Zwinglianism on the whole of Switzerland failed. In 1531 the Peace of Kappel established coexistence in the confederation, with each canton free to choose its own religion. In 1536 the First Helvetic Confession was drawn up for Swiss Protestants. Although it was Zwinglian, it did not attract widespread support and, after 1549, it was replaced by a Calvinist Confession.
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