Ulrich Zwingli
He was born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus, Switzerland. He was the son
of a farmer and shepherd who had risen to a middle-class designation and later the village
magistrate. Zwingli hailed from a religious pedigree as his mother, Margaret Meili, was the sister of the abbot of Fischingen in Thurgau, and his uncle Bartholomäus Zwingli was a priest of Wildhaus and later dean of Wesen. His father, being a man of means, had the resources to send his son Ulrich to the finer schools at Wesen, Basel, and eventually Bern under the tutelage of the noted humanist Heinrich Woeflin where he would study Latin, dialectic, music, and the ideas and scholastic methods of the Renaissance. He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Basel in 1504 and 1506, respectively. Zwingli received Holy Orders into the Roman Catholic priesthood and returned to his boyhood church in Glarus to be installed as pastor. During this time, he also served as an army chaplain for Swiss mercenaries that were
much in demand throughout Europe. He would die years later on the battlefield in this
vocation.
It was during his last year at Glarus that Zwingli acquainted himself with Erasmus’ Greek
New Testament. This was indeed the hinge-point of his career. He consumed the work
veraciously and came to a thoroughly evangelical understanding of the Bible. It seems that
Zwingli and Martin Luther’s history were providentially converging at this time. Zwingli’s
epiphany occurred little more than a year before Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Castle Church door at Wittenberg.
Zwingli’s most significant Church assignment appears to be during his time at Gross
Münster. “By birth, training, and calling, Zwingli stepped into the most influential pulpit of the canton of Zurich and captivated its people with his powerful preaching that contained an
unmistakable Christocentric core.” At this time, the Zwingli broke with the standard practice of preaching according to the church calendar to preaching sequentially through the books of Scripture. He never left the practice and was a hallmark of his preaching methodology.
Sadly, this key Reformer is rarely spoken of despite his significant contributions. Many
see him as the most important figure coming from the Swiss Reformation and was considered its founder in the country. He was a contemporary of Luther and spoke of the hallmark tenet of Justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, before he became aware of the German’s writings. Both the Lutheran movement in Germany and the Reformed movement in Switzerland were founded on the absolute authority of Scripture, yet there were some differences to be noted.
For example, the Swiss Reformer broke much more aggressively with the Roman Church
than did their German counterpart. The former was much stricter with the interpretation and
application of the Scripture. As Lawson notes, “Luther felt that the church could practice whatever was not contrary to the Bible, allowing for a smaller departure from the practices of
Rome”, whereas Zwingli held to only that which is set forth in Scripture. 14 Another example is
more in terms of emphasis. Luther saw Justification by faith in Christ alone as the chief non-
negotiable, which Zwingli also embraced. However, Zwingli would emphasize the more all-
encompassing doctrine of God’s sovereignty. Philip Schaff relates, “The Swiss Theology
proceeds from God’s Grace to man’s needs; the Lutheran from man’s needs to God’s grace.”
Perhaps the most significant departure was over the Lord’s Supper. Luther held to the
view of consubstantiation, the body and blood of Christ being present in the physical elements,
while Zwingli held the position that the Eucharist is a memorial to Christ’s death only, purely a
symbolic one. So strong was their disagreement that Luther refused to reconcile with Zwingli
over the matter.
Kevin King relates that “the theological focus of Zwingli’s preaching can be summarized
using the following four themes: (1) sola scriptura, (2) the sovereignty of God, (3) a
Christocentric view of the goal and purpose of Scripture, and (4) the role of the Holy Spirit.”
Zwingli’s overarching emphasis was drawn from a keen desire to manifest the inerrant Scriptures as they related the sovereignty of God over all things. He held firmly to the depravity of man as well as the unconditional election of the believer. Sovereignty dictated the entire soteriological process and he articulated this throughout his religious writings and preaching. He saw original sin as a sickness inherited from Adam, and as a result, “nothing good comes from man.” It was only through the Divine initiative that man could be saved at all. Again, Lawson relates that “In short, Zwingli plainly taught that God’s election is determinative, and he boldly asserted God’s freedom to choose those who would be His people in time and eternity.” Zwingli understood the atonement of Christ to be definite and was brought about by a pre-salvation movement of the Holy Spirit. For these reasons, he held solidly to the eternal security of the believer.
Ulrich Zwingli was a precursor to much of the exposition that would later be preached by
those following his lead. He served as an example to the Protestant Church at large and
Reformed and Puritan preachers in particular. He remained jealous for the Gospel during his
ministry and preached roundly against any form of idolatry invading the Church.
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