History of the Christian church

1. HULDRYCH ZWINGLI
Soldier for the Lord

2. General Information
 Born January 1, 1484,Toggenburg,
Switzerland.
 His parents were well-to-do peasants who
had connections within the Church as well as
the local government.
 Attended University ofVienna completing BA
in 1504; did his MA at Basel completed in
1506.
 Was instructed in the via antiqua.

3.  Ordained a priest in 1506; first parish was that of
Glarus.
 Served as chaplain to the Glarus mercenaries
during 1513 and 1515; became appalled by the
practise of mercenary trade.
 Next assigned to Einsiedeln, 1516 – 1518,
became a popular preacher; also became
proficient in NewTestament Greek.
 1518 assigned to Zurich; took up the assignment
on January 1, 1519.

4.  Decided to abandon use of the lectionary
texts choosing to preach “only the
Scriptures.”
 In 1522 he sided with those embroiled in the
“affair of the sausages.”
 1523, in response to his disputation with the
Catholics, the ZurichTown Council voted that
Scripture should be the measure of
orthodoxy.

5.  “In 1523 he set forth his 67 theses; some of them
are:
 Church is born of the Word of God and Christ alone as
its head
 The Church laws are binding only as they agree with
Scripture
 The Holy Scriptures does not teach Christ’s presence in
the bread and wine
 No biblical foundation for mediation on behalf of the
dead
 Marriage is lawful to all.”

6.  He believed in simplicity in Church services
and was iconoclastic.
 Opposed Luther on the issue of the “real
presence” at the Marburg Colloquy.
 Killed on the battle field during the Second
KappelWar in 1531.

7. Major Contributions to the Reformation:
Soteriology:
 Makes sparse use of the term “justification by faith.”
 Placed a heavy emphasis upon the “moral
consequences of the gospel.”
 Understands the concept of the gospel from a
social/community perspective rather than an
individualistic one.
 Has a more moralistic view of Christ; does not
emphasize Him as an indwelling presence. His
schooling in the via antiqua is evident in this
concept.

8.  Sees the Scripture as indicating what
believers should do in response to the Christ’s
example.
 Gives moral renewal priority over forgiveness.
 Emphasis upon predestination:
 Built upon God’s omnipotence and omniscience;
since God is both omnipotent and omniscient then
He determines all things in advance.

9.  Emphasizes Jesus’ divinity over His humanity.
 Asserts God’s absolute sovereignty.
 Salvation comes to the elect through Christ.
 Individual knowledge of Christ does not come
into focus as per election.
 There is no room for outward means as regards
salvation.This does not have anything to do
with his repudiation of salvation by merits.

10. The Scriptures:
 Has a close relationship between the Spirit of God
and theWord of God.
 Talks about the “outerWord” and the “innerWord.”
 To understand theWord one must be theodidacti.
 The one who has the Spirit as interpreter needs no
other teacher.
 The evidence of being taught by the Spirit is
faithfulness to Scripture.
 Scripture is the ultimate judge on matters
pertaining to doctrine.

11. The Sacraments:
 Sees a sacrament as “a sign of a sacred thing.”
 Likened the sacrament to an oath, thus,
individuals testified of their allegiance to the
community believers when the participated in
the sacraments.
 A sacrament by no means makes a present
reality the thing that it signifies.
 Rejected the notion of sacraments conveying
grace; a sign of grace granted but not grace.
 The sacraments are dependent upon the Spirit
and not the converse.

12.  Word of God is the source from which faith is
generated; sacraments are the avenues whereby
this faith is demonstrated.
 Reduced to two; baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
 Baptism:
 A demonstration of belonging, somewhat akin to
circumcision.
 Seen as being the “visible entry and sealing into
Christ.”
 Retained infant baptism.

13.  Eucharist:
 A memorial meal. Believers remember the
historical reality of the establishment of the
Church.
 Abandoned both the title and concept of the
Mass.
 Limited its celebration to three or four times a
year.

14.  Preaching of theWord replaced the Eucharist as
the central object of the weekly service.
 Disagreed with Luther on the meaning of the
words hoc est corpus meum.
 Completely rejected the concept of “real
presence;” for him Christ was “at the right hand of
God” and as such He could not be really present.

15. Church and State:
 Dichotomized the true Church from the
official hierarchy.
 Church constituted of theWord and Spirit of
God as well as believers who live in
accordance to both.
 Saw societal transformation as being a
concomitant of Christian living.

16.  Church needs the civil government;
disobedience to civil government is
tantamount to disobedience to God.
 Strong commitment to a state-run Church.
 Clergy subject to magistrate except as
pertains to the freedom to proclaim theWord
of God.

17. Marburg Colloquy
 Held in 1529 as an initiative of Philip of Hesse
 Religio-political nature; cuius regio, eius religio
of first Diet of Speyer (1526) was somewhat
curtailed by the second Diet of Speyer in
1529.
 Aim was to create a unity among Protestants
 Main theologians: Luther, Melanchthon,
Zwingli and Oecolampadius
 Agreed on 14 of the 15 points