Ulrich Zwingli (1484 – 1531) founded the Swiss Reformed Church and was an important figure in the broader Reformed tradition. Like Martin Luther, he accepted the supreme authority of the Scriptures, but he applied it more rigorously and comprehensively to all doctrines and practices. History remembers him as “the first Reformed theologian.” Though Calvin would later surpass Zwingli as a theologian, he would stand squarely on Zwingli’s broad shoulders.
Switzerland’s government was uniquely structured for reform
Switzerland was a nation comprised of self-governing republics known as cantons. Unlike France or England, it possessed no monarchy. The cantons joined together in 1291 for their common defense against the Austrians through a treaty they signed.
This unique relationship between cantons enabled each one to be autonomous. Every canton was governed by its own city council. It could choose its own religion. So, each one could choose between following the Roman Catholic Church or the teaching of the Reformers. Therefore, the influence of the religious leader of each canton could hold great sway over which religious direction they would choose.
Ulrich Zwingli’s early life and education
Ulrich Zwingli was a Swiss Reformation leader born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus, Switzerland. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther and John Calvin and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. His father, Ulrich Sr., was a successful farmer and shepherd, who became a man of means. He recognized his son’s intellectual ability and arranged for him to receive a humanistic education before studying theology at the University of Vienna in 1498.
At Vienna, Zwingli studied philosophy, astronomy, physics, and ancient classics. In 1502, he enrolled at the University of Basel and received a humanistic education. Under the influence of Thomas Wytenbach, a professor of theology, he began to be aware of the abuses in the church. Zwingli also taught Latin, while pursuing further classical studies. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1504 and his master’s degree in 1506.
Zwingli begins his pastorate at Glarus
Zwingli was ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, but he never became a monk. He then purchased a pastorate position at Glarus, his boyhood church. He served in Glarus over the next ten years, from 1506 to 1516.
Through his time preaching, teaching, and pastoring, Zwingli taught himself Greek and studying the Church Fathers and ancient classics. He also began reading the humanist writings of Erasmus. He was so impressed with his work and life of piety, he began corresponding with him.
Zwingli also served as a chaplain to two young Swiss mercenaries. There was a great demand across Europe for Swiss soldiers, and it became a major source of income for Swiss cantons. Zwingli came to deplore the evils of this system, which cost the lives of many of the best Swiss young men.
In his final year at Glarus, Zwingli came to an evangelical understanding of Scripture. It was the year that Erasmus published his Greek New Testament, and Zwingli devoured it. He then started preaching the gospel before he had even heard Luther’s name. It was a year before Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the Wittenburg Castle Church door.
Popular preacher at Einsiedeln
Zwingli was forced to leave Glarus in 1516 due to political pressures and his sermons against mercenary fighting. For the next two years, Zwingli served as a priest at the Benedictine monastery of Einsiedeln. This was a resort city, known for its shrine to the Virgin Mary, that attracted large numbers of people from Switzerland and beyond. Consequently, Zwingli’s reputation and influence grew as the crowds heard him preach.
Since Einsiedeln was smaller than Glarus, Zwingli’s duties were lighter and he had more time to study Scripture and the Church Fathers. As his popularity grew, he also began attacking some of the abuses of the church, especially the sale of indulgences. However, he wasn’t ready at this point to separate from the church. He didn’t yet see the need for changes in what the church believed.
The peoples’ priest at the Great Cathedral in Zurich
A new kind of preaching
In 1518, Zwingly was appointed as a priest at the Great Cathedral Church in Zurich. It was here that Zwingli began to preach the ideas of the Reformation. As soon as he began, he broke from the normal practice of preaching according to the church calendar. Instead, he began to preach sequentially through whole books of the Bible. It took Zwingli six years to preach through the entire New Testament, and it prepared him for the reform that would follow.
Self-sacrificial service through the plague
Later that same year, the plague broke out in Zurich. Two thousand of its seven thousand citizens died from it. Zwingli chose to stay so he could minister to the sick and dying. He also contracted the disease, and it took three months for him to recover from it. His personal sacrifice also increased his popularity with the people.
The Bible’s authority and rejection of Catholic practices
Zwingli’s preaching focused on the authority of the Bible as the sole source of religious truth, the priesthood of all believers, and the rejection of traditional Catholic practices such as the veneration of saints and the use of images in worship. He believed that the Church needed to be reformed and that the clergy should be subject to the same moral and ethical standards as laypeople.
The violation of a dietary rule that was the catalyst for reform
It all came to head in 1522, when some of his parishioners defied the church’s rule about eating meat during Lent. Zwingli supported them by preaching on the biblical principle of Christian liberty. The Bishop of Constance was outraged by the sermon and demanded Zwingli be removed as the people’s priest, but the city council, instead, allowed him to present his arguments and arranged a debate between him and a Catholic delegation. The result was the First Disputation of 1523 during which Zwingli’s 67 Articles were delivered, establishing his Reformed platform while charging the Church with corruption and anti-Christian policies unsupported by scripture. After the Second Disputation that same year, Zwingli was firmly established as the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Zürich.
That year, he also composed the first of many Reformation writings, which circulated throughout Switzerland.
Zwingli held strong political views and believed that the Church and the state should be closely aligned. He played a key role in the Swiss Confederation’s political and military affairs, and his support for the Confederation’s sovereignty led him to challenge the authority of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1522, Zwingli publicly declared his support for the Reformation, and he began to work towards reforming the Church in Zurich. He collaborated with other Swiss Reformers, including Heinrich Bullinger, and the city council to develop a new theology and church structure that was based on the principles of the Bible.
By 1525, the Reformation movement had gained considerable traction. The Mass was officially abolished and Protestant worship services began on April 14, 1525. Three years later, Zwingli won another debate at Berne. As a result, Berne became the second canton to officially become Protestant, and four others would also join the reform movement.
Controversy with the Anabaptists
The new group known as the Anabaptists didn’t believe Zwingli had gone far enough in making changes. They believed that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. They also wanted a complete separation from the Roman Catholic Church and rejected the city council’s authority over church affairs. Zwingly advocated making changes slowly. He urged moderation and patience in the transition from Rome. However, his approach only widened the conflict with the Anabaptists.
When the magistrates of Zurich ordered all infants to be baptised, it proved too much for the Anabaptists and they protested loudly in the streets. Rather than baptising their infants, they baptized each other in 1525. So, they were arrested and charged with revolutionary teaching. Some were put to death by drowning. It’s not clear if Zwingly consented to their death sentences, but he did not oppose them.
Seeking unity with Luther at Marburg
A controvery also arose over the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. For Luther, his view was much closer to that of the Roman Catholic belief. Luther believed that the Jesus Christ coexists with the bread and wine during communion, a view known as consubstantiation. (Rome believes that the bread and wine miraculously becomes Christ’s body and blood even though the outer appearance of the elements does not change. This view is known as transubstantiation.) However, Zwingly held to the memorial view. This is the view that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s death.
In an attempt to bring unity to the Reform movement, the Marburg Colloquy was convened in October 1529. Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli sat down at the table to discuss a variety of items. There was agreement in principle over fourteen of the fifteen items discussed. But no agreement could be found over the matter of the Lord’s Supper. Luther said the Zwingli was a very good man, yet of a different spirit. So, he refused to accept the hand of fellowship offered to him with tears.
The irony of Zwingli’s death
Though Zwingli was opposed to the practice of using mercenaries in war, he died in the battlefield in 1531. Catholic and Protestant cantons went to war against each other. The city of Zurich went into battle to defend itself against five invading Catholic cantons. Zwingli went with Zurich’s soldiers as a field chaplain and was severely wounded on October 11, 1531. Enemy soldiers killed him when they found him lying wounded. Zwingly was hacked into pieces and then burned. His ashes were mixed with dung and scattered.
Although Zwingli’s life was cut short, he accomplished much. Through his heroic stand for the truth, he reformed the church in Zurich and led the way for other Reformers to follow.
Zwingli’s Legacy
It was a major achievement of Ulrich Zwingli that his death did not destroy the legacy of his work of reform. Zwingli’s spiritual heritage was gathered up by Bullinger, then by Bucer, and finally by Calvin, who owed more to him than they realized.
As a humanist, priest and pastor Ulrich Zwingli was instrumental in bringing the Reformation to Zurich and Switzerland, and instituting urban theocracies that contributed to the Reformation and European society. Zwingli’s contribution to the Reformation was influenced by his Swiss heritage, familiarity with Erasmus and Lutheran programs of ecclesiastical and social reform, his denunciation of Anabaptism, and his staunch reliance on the city of Zurich as a unit of reform.
Zwingli’s break with Rome in 1522 resulted in the Swiss Reformation and contributed significantly to the European Reformation. This was achieved by rejecting the Catholic focus on tradition, replacing the Catholic mass in 1525 with the first Reformed communion service in the Zurich Great Cathedral Church, and spreading the Swiss Reformation to other cantons of Switzerland.
Reflections on Ulrich Zwingli’s life
Believers in Christ may experience conversion to Christ in different ways
While some coversion experiences have a distinct time and place associated with them, others may have a gradual and somewhat unremarkable character to them.
There is very little said about Zwingli’s conversion experience, though the evidence of it is clear by the character and impact of his life. His strong desire to know and follow God’s Word, and to lead others to do the same, reveal the character of his faith.
Some people can point to the day and hour that they were converted. Some are also able to relate the particular circumstance that led up to their conversion. However, other Christians can only point to the assurance they have that they belong to Christ, not knowing what brought them to that point. For some, their conversion was a very emotional experience. But for others, their experience may rest in a sense of peace, or warmth of spirit, that comes by knowing and loving the truth.
For the Christian, all the phases of life serve an important role in our development
There is a purpose for each stage of our Christian life. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He intercedes with the Father on our behalf. God’s purpose is to conform us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)
After receiving a fine humanistic and theological education, Zwingli was given three distinct ministry assignements. Each assignment gave him what he needed at the time to prepare him for the role of Reformer that God had chosen for him.
In Glarus, he was building his skill as a preacher and pastor, learned Greek (the orginal language of the New Testament), and came to an evangelical understanding of the Bible. In Einsiedeln, he was becoming more popular among the people who heard him preach, and he had more time to further study the Bible. He also started to see how the church had departed from Scripture and to preach against that abuse. And in Zurich, Zwingli was able to push for reform and eventually separate from the Catholic Church, while working cooperatively with the city council.
Suffering generates dependency upon God
When a Christian suffers for doing what’s right, he prays and depends on God to sustain him through it.
When the plague struck Zurich, the natural thing for Zwingli to do would be to leave the city to keep from contracting it. However, Zwingli chose to stay and take care of the sick and dying. This selfless act resulted in him getting the deadly disease too. Fortunately, he was able to survive through a three-month recovery period.
During this time, Zwingli learned how to depend on God for saving his life. This not only prepared him for greater service later in life, it also fostered a strong bond between him and the people of Zurich. He would need their support as he encouraged his people to accept the reforms that he thought were important.
All believers have a unique place and time assigned to them in the Kingdom of God
God works strategically in His church through the unfolding succession of godly people. One plants and another waters. But it is God that causes the growth.
Steven Lawson writes, “From a human perspective, Zwingly suffered what may seem to be a premature death. But in the economy of God, he passed from the scene precisely at the appointed hour. Likewise, Bullinger and Calvin appeared at the time ordained by God to carry on the work Zwingli had begun. So it is that each man performs his God-given task within his God-given time.”1Steve J. Lawson. Pillars of Grace. Ligonier Ministries, Sanford, FL. 2011. p. 380-381.
Finding your place in God’s kingdom
Where is your role in the kingdom of God? Do you know what God is calling you to do? Will you start a new work for God, or will you build upon the work of others? Each one of His children has been given a divinely appointed place to serve God. You have been give your own time in history to carry out His assigment. Will you be faithful to do what God has entrusted you to do?
Serving God begins with first having a relationship with God. This relationship is built on trusting God’s promise that His Son, Jesus Christ, has done for you everything you need for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life with Him. You add nothing to what He has done for you. In that way, you glorify your Lord and your God. If you need to know more about Him, first read the Gospel of John. I suggest you make a commitment to read one chapter of the New Testament each weekday. If you do, you will complete reading through the New Testament in a year.
Also, read my blog How to Begin Your Life Over Again. This will help you understand who God is and reasons for believing in Jesus. You should also click here to view some excellent YouTube presentations of the Gospel, which has the power to save you.
Sources, references, and related posts
Sources
Steven J. Lawson. Pillars of Grace: AD 100 – 1564, A long line of godly men. Ligonier Ministries. Sanford, FL. 2011, pp. 362-381.
J. Kenneth Curtis, J. Stephen Land, Randy Petersen. The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History (paperback ed. 1998). Fleming H. Revell (Baker Book House). Grand Rapids, MI. pp. 98-100.
Tim Dowley, Organizing Editor. Eerdmans’ Handbook To The History of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI. 1977. p. 379.
Roger Porter. “What did Huldrych Zwingli achieve for the Swiss Reformation?”, Retrieved from https://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/PorterR01.pdf
References
- 1Steve J. Lawson. Pillars of Grace. Ligonier Ministries, Sanford, FL. 2011. p. 380-381.
