Hello, I'm Robert Jones.
Today we are going to continue with our course on the top 25 Protestant Reformers
of the 16th century.
We have reached number 3, which is Ulrich Zwingli.
Born January 1st, 1484 in Wildhaus, Switzerland.
1498 he enrolls in the University of Vienna.
It's possible he may have been expelled from that institute.
1500 to 1502 he does indeed attend the University of Vienna.
1506 he receives a Master of Arts at the University of Basel.
He is ordained as a priest in Constance on the German-Swiss border on September 29th,
1506.
From 1506 to 1518 he operates as a priest in Glarus, Switzerland.
1513 he is a chaplain on the Roman Catholic side in the Battle of Novara in
Italy.
Between August 1514 and May 1516 he has several meetings with Erasmus in Basel.
December 11th, 1518 appointed preacher at the Grossmünster Cathedral in Zurich.
And through his influence he leads Zurich to withdraw from the alliance with
Catholic France, which would have been a big step.
January 1st, 1519 he preaches his first sermon at the Grossmünster on the Gospel
of Matthew.
In his sermons he questions veneration of the saints, the idea that unbaptized
children go to hell, the sale of indulgences, and the idea that tithing is
a divine institution.
August 1519, bubonic plague hits Zurich and Zwingli stays at his post ministering
to his flock.
September 1519 Zwingli catches the plague and almost dies.
April 29th, 1521 Zwingli is elected as a full canon and becomes a citizen of
Zurich.
April 1522, in the Affair of the Sausages, Zwingli probably eats sausage during Lent
and points out that there was no discussion of Lent or food restrictions in
the New Testament.
Some people view this as the beginning of the Reformed Church in Zurich.
July 2nd, 1522 he campaigns with a local bishop to remove the requirement for
priestly celibacy.
January 29th, 1523 he writes the first Zurich, or is involved in the first Zurich
Disputation where he presents his concluding statements, also known as the
67 Articles.
October 26th, 1523 the second Zurich Disputation covers images, the nature of
the Eucharist, as well as ecclesiastical versus city council power or governmental
power.
Conrad Grebel, an early Anabaptist, calls for the elimination of infant
baptism.
November 1523 Zwingli writes his short Christian introduction on the duties of
pastors.
April 2nd, 1524 a priest, Ulrich Zwingli, secretly marries Anna Reinhard.
April 8th, 1524 the cantons of Luzern, Schweiz, Unterwalden, Uri and Zug create
an alliance against the Swiss Reformation.
August 15th, 1524 the city council affirms the necessity of infant baptism and
therefore says to the budding Anabaptist movement, 1525 first parts of Zwingli's
New Testament are printed.
January 17th, 1525 a public debate between Zwingli and a nascent Anabaptist.
The result is the latter are required to leave the city.
January 21st, 1525 Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz and George Blayrock illegally
re-baptize each other at the house of Felix Manz.
February 2nd, 1525 Manz and Blayrock are arrested.
April 13th, 1525 Zwingli creates a new communion liturgy replacing the Mast,
it's called the Act or the Custom of the Supper.
June 19th, 1525 he opens a Latin school at the Grossmunster to re-educate the clergy.
November 6th to 8th, 1525 final debate on infant baptism before the Zurich council.
March 7th, 1526 re-baptizing is made punishable by death.
May 19th, 1526 the Diet and Baden votes to ban all of Zwingli's writings.
Bern, Basel, Schaffhausen and Zurich all voted in favor of Zwingli.
Zwingli did not attend this Diet.
January 5th, 1527 Felix Manz is executed by drowning in the Lamont River.
January 5th and 6th, 1528 Zwingli forms the Christian Civic Union.
Initially it would include Bern, Constance and Zurich.
Eventually Basel, Biel, Molhausen, Schaffhausen and St. Gallen will join.
January 6th, 1528 the Council of Bern begins and includes reformers Zwingli,
Busset and Wolfgang Capito with Zwingli in the lead.
February 7th, 1528 the City Council of Bern officially declares in favor of the
Reformation.
April 22nd, 1529 the five Catholic states form an alliance with Ferdinand of Austria
and it's called the Christian Alliance.
June 8th, 1529 Zurich raises 30,000 men against the five states who are quickly
abandoned by Ferdinand of Austria.
It's sometimes referred to as the First Battle of Kappel.
The conflict was averted at the last moment by an intermediary.
And by the way, the five states only had 9,000 men against the 30,000 of the
Protestants.
June 24th, 1529 Land Peace of Kappel officially ends the conflict.
October 1st to 4th, 1529 Zwingli and Luther meet at the Marburg Colloquy at
Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany.
They agree on all points except for one.
And guess which one it is?
The Real Presence during the Communion.
14 of 15 points were agreed on.
1530 Zwingli publishes his account of faith to coincide with the Augsburg
Confession.
November 1530 Zurich, Basel, and Strasbourg sign a defense treaty with
Philip of Hesse in Germany.
Philip would later pull out because of Zwingli's opposition to the Tetrapolitan
Confession of Martin Busset and Wolfgang Capito.
May 1531 Zwingli's alliance in Switzerland to reform cities tries an unsuccessful
food blockade on the Catholic cities.
Zwingli had argued for war, not a blockade.
July 26, 1531 Zwingli resigns as Minister of the Großmunster, but the city council
refuses to accept it.
October 9, 1531 the five Catholic states declare war on Zurich.
October 11, 1531 Ulrich Zwingli dies fighting in the Catholic-Protestant Second
War of Kappel.
December 1531 the Zurich city council selects Heinrich Bollinger, who we have
already discussed, as Zwingli's successor.
Zwingli is a contemporary, not a follower of Luther, and he laid the foundation for
the Reformed Church, which would in time include the Presbyterian Church,
the Huguenots, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, etc.
As Luther, he believed that mankind is unregenerate and is saved only through the
intercession of Christ.
Also as Luther, he believed in the supreme authority of the Bible.
Zwingli believed in predestination, and he took it to some interesting
conclusions.
He felt that it would be impossible for God to be omnipotent and omnipresent if he
did not control and dispose all events.
As Zwingli believed that we are predestined to salvation or damnation
before birth, also known as double election, this meant that there may be
members of the elect among the heathen.
Luther is utterly horrified by such an idea.
He also believed that infants that died before being baptized might be saved.
Why?
Well, they might have been predestined to salvation.
In terms of baptism, Zwingli believed that baptism by water can take place without
baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that baptism by the Holy Spirit can take place
without baptism of water.
In the latter case, the believer is still saved, so therefore it is not absolutely
positively necessary that one receives a water baptism to be saved.
Zwingli believed in infant baptism, a point that he violently disagreed with
his students, the Anabaptists.
To Zwingli, an important element of infant baptism is a profession of faith by the
parents and a pledge to bring the child up as a Christian.
On the Eucharist, Luther believed that Christ's body and blood were present
during the sacrament.
This is known as the real presence.
Zwingli felt that the bread and wine signify the body and blood of Christ,
but don't actually turn into that.
He further believed that the sacrament was a commemoration, not a repetition as in
the Catholic faith.
Faith of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
To Zwingli, communion was a visible sign of an invisible grace.
On the Eucharist, Zwingli had the following to say, I believe that in the
Holy Eucharist, i.e., the Supper of Thanksgiving, the true body of Christ is
present by the contemplation of faith.
This means that they who thank the Lord for the benefits bestowed on us in His Son
acknowledge that He assumed true flesh, in it truly suffered, truly washed away
our sins by His blood.
And thus everything done by Christ becomes as it were present to them by the
contemplation of faith.
But that the body of Christ in essence and really, i.e., the natural body itself,
is either present in the Supper or masticated with our mouth and teeth,
as the Papists or some, i.e., the Lutherans who look back to the flesh pots
of Egypt assert, we not only deny, but constantly maintain to be in error,
contrary to the Word of God.
In view of these passages, we are compelled to confess that the words,
this is my body, should not be understood naturally, but figuratively, just as the
words, this is Jehovah's Passover.
During the first Zurich Disputation, Zwingli represented the views of the Roman
Church in Switzerland.
He was also involved in the second Zurich Disputation, the Council of Bern in 1528
and the Marburg, colloquially, in 1529.
And I think we can say that during all of these, Zwingli never changed his
viewpoints one inch.
The first Zurich Disputation includes some of the following.
All who say that the Gospel is invalid with the confirmation of the Church err
and cast reproach upon God.
Christ is the only way to salvation for all who ever were, who are, and who shall
be.
Whoever seeks or shows another error's, yea, is the murderer of souls and a
robber.
Christ is the head of all believers.
All who live in this head are his members and children of God.
And this is the true Catholic or Universal Church, the communion of saints.
Who believes the Gospel shall be saved, who believe it not shall be damned,
for in the Gospel the whole truth is clearly contained.
From the Gospel we learn that the doctrines and traditions of men are of no
use to salvation.
The Mass is no sacrifice but a commemoration of the sacrifice of the
cross and a seal of redemption through Christ.
Christ is the only mediator between God and us.
Christ is righteous.
From this it follows that our works are good so far as they are Christ's,
but not good as far as they are our own.
The power of the Pope and the bishops has no foundation in the Holy Scriptures and
in the doctrine of Christ.
God alone forgives sins through Jesus Christ our Lord alone.
And the Holy Scripture knows nothing of a purgatory after this life.
During the Second Battle of Capelle, he dies on the battlefield fighting
against the Catholics.
You can see that wonderful engraving there showing the death of Zwingli, being killed
by the Catholic forces.
Here's a description...
On the battlefield not far from the line of attack, Mr. Ulrich Zwingli lay under
the dead and wounded.
While men were looting, he was still alive, lying on his back with his hands
together as if he were praying, and his eyes looking upwards to heaven.
So some approached him, who did not know him, and asked him, since he was so weak
and close to death, for he had fallen in combat and was stricken with a mortal
wound, whether a priest should be fetched to hear his confession.
At this the Catholics grew impatient, cursed him, and said that he was one of
the obstinate, cantankerous heretics and should get what he deserved.
Then Captain Fuchinger of the Unterwalden appeared in an exasperation, drew his
sword, and gave Zwingli a thrust from which he at once died.
So the renowned Mr. Ulrich Zwingli, true minister and servant of the churches
of Zurich, was found wounded on the battlefield along with his flock,
with whom he remained until his death.
There, because of his confession of the true faith in Christ our only Savior,
the mediator and advocate of all believers, he was killed by a captain who
was a pensioner, one of those against whom he had always preached so eloquently.
And this is from Heinrich Bollinger.
His impact and legacy he initiated the practice of sermon-centric churches as
opposed to mass-centric services.
He defined the views of the Reformed Church regarding the Eucharist and the
abolished Mass.
He created one of the primary movements that came out of the Protestant
Reformation, the Reformed Faith.
As founder of the Reformed Faith, Zwingli is the spiritual founder of
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Puritans, the Reformed Church in Europe,
Anabaptists, and Huguenots.
And that concludes our discussion of Ulrich Zwingli.
Thank you.