Huldyrch Zwingli, the first Swiss reformer in Zurich, made significant contributions to the 16th-century Reformation, yet he remains relatively unknown, if not forgotten. He is generally overshadowed by other reformers, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. This article attempts to bring Zwingli to the surface by examining some of his contributions in Zurich which impacted the Reformation at large. This is especially significant because 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of Zwingli. The aim of the article is to provide an overview of Zwingli’s contributions to the Reformation and point out how his works, in given areas such as faith and society, theology and sacraments, have stimulated further developments and dialogues during the Reformation and beyond.
The year 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of Huldyrch Zwingli who was one of the pioneering leaders in the 16th-century Reformation. Unfortunately, not much is known about him or celebrated as, for example, that of Martin Luther or John Calvin. The reformer’s shade is found behind the Wasserkirche on the Limmat River, largely ignored except by a few tourists and the occasional pigeon (Gordon
What is known about Zwingli is often a negative impression. For example, he is repeatedly blamed for having inflicted upon the city a dreadful ‘Puritanismus’ that is anathema to modern creeds of diversity and acceptance. For contemporary citizens of Zurich, Zwingli has become the poster boy for all that is wrong with organised religion: narrow mindedness, intolerance and sexual repression (Du Magazine
Peter Opitz of the University of Zürich, an expert on Zwingli and the Swiss Reformations, says that “not Calvin but Zwingli is both historically and theologically the Father of the Reformed Protestant faith” (Opitz ‘Ulrich Zwingli’
Gottfried W. Locher (
Stephens (
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The aim of this article is to show Zwingli as a valid and essential contributor to the 16th-century Reformation and, in some senses to, reclaim his position among the reformers. To achieve this, we will seek to explore Zwingli’s contributions to the Reformation by (1) placing the Swiss Reformation in its historical context, (2) explaining how Zwingli’s biography influenced the development of his thought and faith, (3) showing how the Swiss Reformation which began in Zürich contributed to the wider Reformation and (4) demonstrating how Zwingli’s theological thinking contrasted with Luther’s views, serving as a basis for Zwingli’s contribution to the 16th-century Reformation in general.
McGrath (
This is important in understanding how the Swiss Reformation caught fire and spread.
At the beginning of the 16th century, there was a power struggle going on between France and the Holy Roman Empire with its Habsburg emperor in Austria and the pope in Rome. These powers were fighting for important trade routes through the Alps and strategic territories. They made deals with the councilmen in Swiss regions for the right to recruit mercenaries or foot soldiers for their wars.
Bribes and trade alliances were offered. So young boys and men of the Swiss Confederacy were exported to foreign armies and ended up having to fight against each other. The church was heavily involved in the mercenary system and was making money from it. The wars were brutal. Whole villages were massacred.
The men came back traumatised. They drank and gambled. Domestic violence was prevalent. At the same time, the plague kept sweeping through, wiping out a fourth of the population each time. Life expectancy was low. Death was ever-present.
The church became susceptible to the influences of the Holy Roman Empire and wanted to cement its own power and keep the status quo (McGrath
Ulrich Zwingli was born on New Year’s Day, 1484, in the Toggenburg valley in the canton of St Gallen, in the eastern part of modern-day Switzerland. It was not until he became an adult that he changed his name to Huldrych, which means ‘rich in grace’. He was the son of a well-off farmer who was also the mayor of a mountainous area in East Switzerland. Zwingli grew up with a feel for public responsibility, with an eye for the real-life struggles and needs of the people. He was very intelligent, curious and musical. He played more than 10 instruments, and he composed.
Zwingli’s early development was shaped by three factors that continued to influence his thought throughout his career: Swiss patriotism, Erasmian humanism and scholasticism (Stephens
Renaissance humanism was a method of learning based on an intellectual investment in ancient sources.
The goal of humanist pedagogy was not to see the writings from antiquity as a treasure chest preserving ancient truth, but as an access point to ideas, learning and argumentation that could direct both the thought and actions of people in their contemporary 16th-century world (Baschera, Gordon & Moser
Plague besieged Zurich in 1519 just as Zwingli began serving in his new post as
Help, Lord God, help in this trouble!
I think death is at the door.
Stand before me, Christ, for you have overcome him
To you I cry: If it is your will, take out the dart that wounds me,
Nor lets me have an hour’s rest or repose.
Will you, however, that death take me in the midst of my days, so let it be.
Do what you will, nothing shall be too much for me.
Your vessel am I, to make or break altogether. (pp. 183–184)
There is no doubt that Zwingli’s near-death experience was to shape his thoughts, development and theology. For example, this can be seen in his evolving sense of a merciful God which he greatly emphasised.
Born in a small Swiss village in the Toggenburg Mountains, Zwingli was exposed to the small village church which served as the centre of society and its cultural reach permeated all aspects of life. Therefore, Zwingli consumed a steady diet of Roman Catholic dogma alongside all the trappings of Rome’s ceremony. This was all he knew and it would greatly shape his early years (Eccher
At the end of 1518, Zwingli was accorded the honour of serving as ‘people’s priest’ in Zurich. Once he began his work at Zurich on 01 January 1519, things were decidedly different; his priestly programme deviated from the standard clerical norm. It was this that unwittingly helped to propel Zurich towards the Reformation.
Perhaps, Zwingli’s greatest contribution to the Reformation was the impact of faith in the transformation of society. His humanistic views became the link between church, society and theology.
According to Locher (
Zwingli firmly believed that the Word has to renew the church and society; it has to be explicated and applied. Primarily for this reason, he preached his first sermon on 01 January 1519, his 35th birthday, disregarding texts prescribed by the church, and began with his
For Erasmus of Rotterdam, who taught in Basel, a humanist approach meant studying the Bible in its original languages. Influenced by Erasmus, Zwingli published a New Testament in Greek in 1515, based on his comparison of different original manuscripts. His New Testament was the basis for the Bible translations into the vernacular during the Reformation. For Zwingli, the Bible became the primary source of Christian faith and measure of sound Theology – no longer tradition, dogma, decisions of councils and popes. He was convinced that hearing the Gospel in its own language instead of Latin would change people’s hearts and reform the church and society from the inside out. For him the Gospel was the life and work of Christ, and Christ calling and drawing us into joyful communion with God and with the community, showing us how to serve God. Not the doctrine of justification but Christ’s call to reconciliation was central. The Gospel encompassed the individual, church and society.
Locher (
All of these ideas radically cast aside the traditions of Roman Catholicism and generated a sense of excitement and religious renewal, stirring the Reformation in Zurich.
It was on the basis of Scripture Zwingli attacked a number of beliefs and practices of the medieval church, such as indulgences, tithes and the invocation of the saints – needless to say this provoked opposition to him (Stephens
Zwingli’s preaching of the Gospel embraced both his turning to Christ and his turning to Scripture. In his
For centuries, Zwingli’s preaching has caused foreign mercenary service to be a pressing question of conscience, and particularly the ‘pension system’ linked to it that creates a financial interest in militarism (Locher
Zwingli underlined his attack on the mercenary activities of the Confederates with the statement that ‘God punishes evil men with evil’ – wars are always a divine punishment. ‘There is no nation or kingdom which has risen through war, which has not later fallen through war’ (Locher
Getting back to his attack on the mercenary system, Zwingli saw it as the root cause of poverty. Whole valleys were reduced to poverty because the women, children and old people could not cope with the work, while the men were wasting their energy in some war or other, and, as Zwingl put it, ‘were killing people for money’ (Locher1981:34). Zwingli was also concerned about the mental, emotional and physical injuries on the men when they returned from battle. He accused the church of placing additional burdens on people, rather than lifting their burdens. Zwingli called out legalism, corruption, greed and hypocrisy in the name of the Gospel of Christ.
As part of his care for the poor and needy, Zwingli set up a soup kitchen – called the
The commission that organised everything and kept the lists was made up of representatives of the city council and two advisory ministers of the church. The first reformed state welfare system in Zurich became a model for many similar institutions in Europe. This inevitably became the guiding factor of the Reformation because Zwingli believed that you could not engage religious reform without at the same time seeking political, economic and social reform and transformation as well. The 16th-century Reformation was to extend beyond the church and theology into transforming society, economics and politics as well; this is clearly seen in the contributions of Zwingli as shown above. This, inevitably, also had a bearing on the rights of women which we will now explore.
On the subject of women’s rights, Zwingli and the city council established the first civil status office where weddings could be officially registered. Also, divorces were legalised under certain circumstances. This protected above all the rights of women. Arranged or forced marriages were made illegal. The legal marriage age for women was raised to 19.
Zwingli was definitely not a feminist, but he was at least concerned about the welfare of women. Besides that, girls were taught to read like boys. He believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible and participate. For this reason, perhaps, public schools were one of the fruits of the Reformation that has affected modern life and improved many lives and afforded more equal opportunity. The Swiss Reformation was an education movement and a movement of social reform in as much as it was religious from the outset.
Zwingli tried to convince the Bishop in Constance, who was his boss, that nothing in the Bible says that priests cannot marry. To the contrary, they should be good husbands. It was to no avail. Priests were allowed to keep a woman and children, as long as they paid a yearly fine to the Bishop in Constance.
The Bishop was not interested in cutting off this steady source of income. But the women who were kept were considered prostitutes. Their children were illegitimate. They had no rights or social standing. Zwingli saw the hypocrisy and injustice of this practice. Thus, after 2 years of living secretly with Anna Reinhart, they got married publicly in the Great Minster. In his own way, Zwingli affirmed the rights of women. The debate on the ministry and ordination of women in the church, also in Protestant and Reformed churches, continues even today, but Zwingli, at least, opened the door for conversation on this subject in the Roman Catholic Church during his time.
Zwingli’s rise to fame from being a relatively unknown cleric came through a debate over eating sausages during Lent in 1522. Several of his friends, including the printer Christoph Froschauer, broke the Lenten fast by consuming meat. Although Zwingli did not participate in this act, he quickly took to print and disputation to defend the freedom of a Christian and denounced the church’s decree on fasting. He subsequently defended the act from the pulpit by preaching and publishing a sermon to defend the act of disobedience, biblically. It was a manifest of Christian freedom with the title: ‘Regarding the Choice and Freedom of Food’.
After that, the Bishop wanted Zwingli handed over for trial. It was the time of inquisitions, beheadings and burnings at the stake for heretics.
The city council protected Zwingli. Then they organised a public debate – the Bishop’s representatives against Zwingli. Whoever had the best biblical arguments would win. Six hundred people came to witness the disputation in the town hall of Zürich on 05 January 1523. Zwingli prepared and delivered 67 theses. The Council proclaimed Zwingli the winner.
The revolutionary thing about this is that a political authority gave a verdict on religious matters in the city.
The Council, representing the people, had taken things concerning the church into their own hands, based on the model of local councils in the Acts of the Apostles. The Council took on the role of bishop. This practice of public disputation was copied all over Europe as a means of introducing the Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire. So the Council ordered in 1523 that Zwingli continue preaching the Bible. This provided a path towards formally establishing the Reformation in Zurich. The Word of God would be the guiding light for the community and Zwingli would carry the lamp (Eccher
The first Anabaptists (the word means re-baptisers) as they were called were Zwingli’s friends from the beginning. Anabaptism seems to have first arisen around Zurich, in the aftermath of Zwingli’s reforms within the city in the early 1520s (McGrath
Although Zwingli had sympathised with their position on baptism at the beginning, he found a way to legitimise the baptism of infants by interpreting the New Testament against the background of the Old Testament. Zwingli taught that the sacrament of baptism replaced the rite of circumcision in the Old Testament. It made a child part of the Covenant People.
That was the beginning of the Covenant Theology that has been so predominant in Reformed thinking. Zwingli not only further nuanced this premise to combat the radicals over time, but also established it as the foundation upon which Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin would later build their Reformed Covenantal theology.
Added to his response to the Anabaptism, Zwingli deliberated on the idea of the visible and invisible church. He was against the Anabaptists’ claiming to know who was a true Christian.
He said that the
So he was also against refusing admission to the Lord’s Table on moral or theological grounds. Christ calls, therefore the invitation is open. Because the Lord’s Supper is a celebration of reconciliation, it could also be a place where impenitent sinners may return and repent.
The Anabaptist views on the link between church and magistracy and the Christian participation in warfare put Zwingli in a very tough place. He was against war, too, but not against defending the city from enemies. Different to the Zurich Anabaptists, Zwingli always accepted the existing political order and the decisions of the legitimate political authorities.
He did not want anarchy to break out. At that time the complete separation of church and state was unthinkable. They were highly interdependent. Baptism and the regular oath made one a citizen.
In 1526, Zwingli worked closely with the city council to make rebaptism a crime punishable by death, based, in large part, on a historic link between rebaptism and the Donatist heresy. On 05 January 1527, Zwingli had the unfortunate experience to oversee the drowning of Felix Manz, his former student and friend who had betrayed his teacher by playing a key role in the re-baptisms of 1525 (Eccher
Official apologies were made by the City of Zürich and the Reformed Church of Zürich in 2004. Since then, the Mennonites and the Reformed are friends and work together, which is something Zwingli would be happy to know. Today there are far more tolerance on these matters than what was prevalent in the 16th century; however, the issues surrounding baptism are still with us.
For Zwingli, the Bible was at the heart of worship. A service was basically hearing God’s word and responding – with prayer and with a pious life all throughout the week. And doing one’s job on a weekday was also a way of worshipping and glorifying God. It was being active and creative as images of God, the Creator. This idea developed into the work ethic and spirit of ingenuity that Protestants are famous for. The concept of
The Word of God thus played the central role in worship. The liturgical elements are not intended to provide a ‘frame’ for the sermon nor does it have the task of containing and balancing the subjectivity of preaching. The congregational service or response (prayers, lessons, creeds, etc.) is simply the congregation’s way to the Word, and then the way back from the Word, and out into life with the Word (Locher
The theme of idolatry remains important for the Reformed faith today. Many Reformed confessions of Faith, like the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934) and the Belhar Confession (1982) in South Africa, call people of faith to stand up against idolatry in all forms – the idolatry of racism, of apartheid or of worshipping a Fascist leader. The Confession of Accra (2004) spoke out against unbridled capitalism and our responsibility for God’s creation, in covenanting for justice and peace.
On another note, Zwingli considered church art, relics of saints and artefacts as a waste of money and a burden on the poor, who were heavily taxed to pay for these things. Moreover, they encourage superstition.
The money saved by doing away with sanctuary art and relics was used to help the poor. For Zwingli, the poor are the true images of God.
Zwingli did not stop at this; he went further to call the celebration of mass
For Zwingli, communion was about reconciliation with God and with others in the community of faith – through Christ. The bread was passed around so that one could be reconciled with one’s brother or sister as the bread was shared. At the table sinners were gathered, invited directly by Christ himself, as in the parable of the beggars invited to the great banquet in Luke 14. Christians are gathered to be reconciled and strengthened for service in the world and for the mission of reconciliation. Thus, for Zwingli, the Mass became a simple meal of remembrance and fellowship (we will discuss this later). In ecumenical circles, it is no longer acknowledged that the Mass actually represents the norm of Christian worship. It would be true to say that Zwingli’s contributions to this understanding were essential.
All of the above shows some ways in which Zwingli attempted to reform Zurich; it also serves as an indicator to outline his pioneering work that ultimately contributed to the Protestant Reformation. It is clear that Zürich was a city becoming more autonomous, more democratic, more self-governing, under the influence of new values, discovered in the Bible. Zwingli is not usually recognised for his steering work because he is often overshadowed by another reformer, Martin Luther. In the next section, we will continue to refer to Zwingli’s contribution to the16th-Century Reformation by contrasting his theological views with that of Luther. The intention is not to get engrossed in theological debate, but to show Zwingli’s unique contributions to Reformation theology.
Zwingli’s sudden death in 1531 meant that he did not have sufficient time to fully develop his theology like Luther or Calvin; yet his contributions were enormous. Eccher (
Though, deceased, Zwingli’s theology continued to give life, direction and inspiration to the Zurich Church for generations. Several of Zwingli’s key theological beliefs are presently found in certain modern day Presbyterian and Baptist traditions, demonstrating his importance to the Protestant heritage. (p. 50)
Embedded in his context, Zwingli’s theological views were influenced and shaped in the encounters in Zurich. It is in this sense that his theological views differed from that of Luther and other reformers. We shall now briefly show this as we look at the contrast of theological views between Zwingli and Luther.
Zwingli, like Luther, came to the Reformation faith through a deep and profound fear of God (Gordon
These two great reformers were born hardly seven weeks apart – yet they are separated by the space of an entire epoch. In short, Luther was experiencing the End of Time; Zwingli lived in modern times. (p. 195)
He communicated a clear sense of a godly Christian community, arguing that the kingdom of God is visible in the here and now, that society could be transformed through the Word. For this reason, Zwingli has been often praised for his ‘modernity’ and is perceived by liberal theologians of the 19th century as a precursor of their own vision of a cultural Protestantism (Opitz
According to Locher, Zwingli’s doctrine of God and his Pneumatology are deeply connected with his Christology. In comparison with Luther’s ‘Christology of Christmas’, Zwingli’s, however, can be characterised as a ‘Christology of Easter and Ascension of Christ’ (Locher
For Zwingli, ‘theocentricity’ and ‘christocentricity’ are no alternatives (Stephens
It is this view that also informed Zwingli’s understanding of the relationship between state and church. For Zwingli, church and state are not two separate communities, but one and the same community under the sovereign rule of God (Stephens
Zwingli shared Luther’s distinction between the spiritual and the political spheres. However, while Luther emphasised the difference of the two spheres (referred to as the two ‘kingdoms’), Zwingli emphasised their interrelatedness. Zwingli was convinced of the duty of a Christian community to orient its laws towards God’s will while accepting the necessary limitations and imperfection of human justice. He was, after all, a realist. If politics, economics and social relationships were not at least informed by the standards of divine justice, the strong would always dominate and the weak would be oppressed (Zwingli
In the modern age, Zwingli’s directions concerning the state are no longer tenable (Locher
The sharpest difference between Zwingli and Luther is to be found in their understanding of the sacraments.
His conflict with Luther over the Lord’s Supper was not just mere semantics. The German and Swiss reformers held profoundly different interpretations of the nature of Jesus Christ, of how God is present in the world and of the relationship between the material and spiritual worlds.
Amidst his efforts to reform the Zurich Church in the early 1520s, Zwingli initially retained the Roman Catholic notion that God acted in the sacraments, even as he jettisoned the idea that this activity was salvific (Eccher
Eccher (
Zwingli’s theological views were picked up and taken further by his successor, Heinrich Bullinger. And though Bullinger had the unenviable task of mediating his mentor’s theology and legacy to an ever-changing early modern world, the young preacher was up to the task. Not only Bullinger, but John Calvin also embraced and took Zwingli’s theological contributions further. Although deceased, Zwingli’s theology continued to give life, direction and inspiration to the Zurich Church for generations. Several of Zwingli’s key theological beliefs are presently found in certain modern-day Presbyterian and Baptist traditions, demonstrating his importance to the Protestant heritage.
In celebrating the 500th anniversary of Huldrych Zwingli in 2019, this article has set out to explore the contributions of this reformer to the Reformation in Zurich and to the 16th-century Reformation in general. Zwingli is often not recognised or≈accorded his rightful place in his contributions to the Reformation because he is hugely overshadowed by reformers such as Luther and Calvin. The article has selected certain themes and events to explore, examine and unpack some of Zwingli’s contributions to help set him apart as a giant reformer and theologian in his time rather than simply one who lives in the shadow of other reformers. Zwingli’s Reformation in Zurich and his theological views continue to impact Christians and the world at large even today. We believe that this article would increase the appreciation and recognition of this great reformer in his own right and context.
The author would like to thank the Rev Catherine McMillan for her assistance in conducting this research.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
All authors contributed equally to this work.
This article followed all ethical standards for a research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.