Ulrich Zwingli

“ My lord Brendlin bore witness that he had not used that expression, though the whole Senate still bears witness that he used it. So persistently do these people fancy that they are free to say off-hand whatever they please and to deny off-hand what they have said, almost at the moment of saying it. He said (5) that they had eaten meat in Lent to the scandal of the whole republic of Christ; though (6) this was evidently not permitted by the gospels, they yet ventured to declare that they might do it in accordance with the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles ”

“ He made his acolytes shout to the multitude that pressed around his stalls: “Hinder not each other. Let those come first who have money; we will try afterwards to content those who have none.”
Ulrich Zwinglius, from that time, attacked the power of the pope, the penitential sacrament, the merit of ceremonial works, the sacrifice of the Mass, abstinence from flesh, the celibacy of priests; gradually growing more firm and more decided as the public voice answered his with increasing energy. ”

“ At the age of twenty-two Zwingli was ordained by the bishop of Constance (1506) , preached his first sermon at Rapperswyl, and said his first mass among his own people at Wildhaus. In the same year he was elected parish priest of Glarus, in spite of the pope's nomination of Heinrich Goldli, an influential pluralist of Zürich, whom Zwingli found it necessary to buy off at an expense of more than a hundred gulden. The Holy See, much dependent at that time on its Swiss mercenaries in the pursuit of its secular ends, expressed no resentment on this occasion. ”

“ But now, with this last act, the ministerial labors of the Reformer in Einsiedeln must be brought to a close. Erhard Battman, people's priest at Zurich, was elected a member of the monastery of that place and resigned his post as preacher. The choice of a successor lay with the canons. A majority of the most influential of them, together with several officers of state urgently desired that Zwingli should be chosen. Oswald Myconius, properly Geisshausler, who is since known as the biographer and friend of Zwingli, became an agent in the matter. ”

“ Every man is by temperament and training a radical or a conservative, and a party on the whole agreed in policy has always its Left and its Right wing. Zwingli had the experience common to all leaders: whatever he did or left undone, some were certain to accuse him of going too fast, while others would assert that he was going far too slow; to one he would seem to be destroying the very foundations of the faith, while another would complain of him as only a half-hearted reformer after all. ”

“ Have no fear of way-laying, our government will provide for your safe-conduct. Believe me, many call for you. But others prophesy that my Lords will not make much out of the disputation, and the last disappointment will be greater than the first. Stand by me, or rather undertake it thyself. I have written to Œcolampadius, but do not know whether he will come; he has answered that he would like Zwingli to support us. Summa; He has bathed, (gebadet) , thou shouldst lead the bear-dance."10
Zurich had heard the resolution of the Bernese with great joy. ”

“ For Zurich more than any other of the Swiss cantons is in peace and quiet, and this all good citizens put down to the credit of the gospel.
2. As to the reproach, in the next place, that it is taught that no human prescriptions nor ceremonials ought to be kept, I will acknowledge frankly that I desire to see a fair portion of the ceremonials and prescriptions done away with, because the things prescribed are in great part such as also Peter in the Acts says can not be endured. ”

“ Church property paid its share of the communal taxes, and religious houses were subject to civil inspection. Zwingli looked rather to the City Fathers than to the pope, and as long as he had them with him he moved confidently and laboured for reforms which were as much political and moral in character as religious. He had none of Luther's distrust of "the common man" and fear of popular government, and this fact won for his teaching the favour of the towns of South Germany not less than of Switzerland. ”

“ An attempt was now made to have the chapter of canons appointed as umpire and mediator, but Zwingli instantly opposed it with all his might: "I"--said he--"am bishop and pastor in Zurich; to me the care of souls is committed, and I have given my oath thereon, the monks not. They should hear me, not I them. Indeed, if they ever again preach lies, I will mount the pulpit and rebuke them publicly." Only in the conviction of his own strength durst he venture to use such language. Only their felt weakness struck his opponents dumb. Dr. Engelhart and the Commander Schmied also sided with Zwingli. ”

“ Rouse Linden; rouse your neighbors to action. He is a fool who builds upon the friendship of a tyrant. Long ago Demosthenes observed, that nothing is so hated by such a despot, as the freedom of the cities." Ever since the Marburg Conference, his connection with the Landgrave Philip was very intimate. Their correspondence, relating more to politics than to articles of faith, was carried on partly by signs mutually agreed upon, the name Pharoah being used for that of the Emperor. Indeed Zwingli went a step further than the German prince himself. ”

“ Then I showed that the simple-minded people could be led to the recognition of the truth by other means than ceremonials, to wit, by those by which Christ and the Apostles had led them without any ceremonials as far as I had been able to learn through the sacred writings, and that there was no danger that the people were not capable of receiving the gospel, which he who believes can understand. They can believe, therefore they can also understand. ”

“ The proceeding of Zurich against the abbot and the monastery was carried on mainly by Zwingli; and that with increased zeal since his return to the fatherland. More and more, after the Marburg Conference, did he display the character of a politician--sometimes daring in the choice of his means. Thus he was to show himself to be only a man; and, as the most influential statesmen are very often obliged to do, as a vehement man ”

“ The Gospel will now be everywhere brought to light. Away with taxes! Away with the sword! No Christian will wish to be a ruler! We are all brethren. Sell your goods, lay all together on one heap. Let there be no poor any longer and no rich!" A second conference before a select assembly had now but little influence. The matter must be decided before the people, and Zwingli began to arm himself for the work. Meanwhile, he grappled with the subject in his sermons. ”

“ He was made pastor of Bremgarten in 1529, and married Anna Adlischweiler, a nun, by whom he had eleven children. After the battle of Cappel (11th of October 1531) , in which Zwingli fell, he left Bremgarten. On the 9th of December 1531 he was chosen to succeed Zwingli as chief pastor of Zürich. A strong writer and thinker, his spirit was essentially unifying and sympathetic, in an age when these qualities won little sympathy. ”

“ The Swiss Diets were besieged by agents of the Powers. A French party was to be found in every town, and a papalist anti-French party was created by Matthäus Schinner, Cardinal of Sion, in the service of Julius II. Zwingli's interest in politics was great; politics and patriotism* inspired his earliest German poems,—the Labyrinth, and the Fahle of the Ox and the Beasts; his position in Glarus made him a valuable ally for the papal party in a parish where the French were strong ”

“ An enthusiastic scholar, a gifted preacher, a zealous patriot, and a remarkably able politician, he devoted his life to the work of rescuing his people and country from their moral decline. This he proposed to effect by the working of the Divine Word. Luther left the knotty skein of politics to his princely friends to unravel, but Zwingli, on the contrary, shrank from no political difficulties, encumbrances, or complications. To his clear and far-seeing mind social and political reform was inseparably bound up with religious change and progress. ”

“ Every man of unbiased feeling was obliged to confess, that he was inspired by religion, and had the welfare of the state as well as the church truly at heart. Moreover, it could not escape any one, familiar with history, that only the most decided measures can eradicate deep-seated corruption. The universal abhorrence of the traffic of indulgences came to his aid. The miserable Samson, after filling his pockets at Bern, had ventured to approach Zurich. Both the spiritual and secular authorities approved of the attacks, which Zwingli made against him. ”

“ He was a scholarly man, bluff and kindly in his ways, and an impressive orator. The Swiss were corrupted by their employment as mercenary soldiers, hired by France, by the Pope, or by the emperor. Of the demoralizing influence of this practice, Zwingli became deeply convinced; and his exertions as a Church reformer were mingled with a patriotic zeal for the moral and political regeneration of Switzerland. Mainly by his influence, Zurich separated from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Constance, and became Protestant in 1524. ”

“ More and more did he accustom himself to look beyond the boundaries of the fatherland, and gradually induced a portion of the Zurich statesmen to do the same. In Marburg already, the fundamental features of a close alliance, to check the growing preponderance of the Emperor, was agreed upon. The Landgrave undertook to advocate the cause among his own princes; Zwingli among the Free Cities in Southern Germany, by means of influential clergymen and councillors, of whom he counted a considerable number among his correspondents. Through Switzerland a bridge was sought to Italy. ”

“ To us, ears and access are completely closed; we are crippled in all our members. From an appeal in person, or from thy servants here, whom thou couldst entrust with the Gospel, there is nothing to hope; should circumstances meanwhile take a more favorable turn, I will send you word." And yet the Landgrave of Hesse, in a special conference with the Emperor, had fearlessly defended himself and his friends, without however giving among them the name of Zwingli, a confession of faith from whose hand had just then reached Augsburg, and was viewed with the greatest displeasure. ”

“ There is a very fine Post Office, and all the modern appliances and conveniences for the acceleration of information. It is a very ancient town, indeed, it was, as history tells us, at one time a Roman city. Zwingli, the great Swiss reformer, played an important part in the history of Zurich. It was then the centre of the reformation in Switzerland, and Zwingli was leader. He was a contemporary with Martin Luther. He had studied at Basle and Bern, and was made parish priest in 1506. ”

“ With this resolve, under this shield, Zwingli began the practice of his calling, not at all anxious about the judgments of men, nor troubled at the remarks of the multitude. In him ruled the ardent spirit of vigorous youth, averse to every thing that smacked of devotional hypocrisy, full of life and mirth, sometimes verging even on wantonness, and yet so earnest, where the affairs of science, so profound, where those of faith, and so conscientious, where those of the congregation entrusted to his care, were concerned, or those of his country, in whose welfare and honor his heart was bound up. ”

“ Nay, in every nation and place, every one who confesses the Lord Jesus with his tongue and believes in his heart that God ra'ised him from the dead shall be saved, whether he be among the Indians or the Scythians, and it is fixed beyond controversy that outside of that Church none is saved, within which we all believe ourselves to be the more firmly as we glory the more certainly in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. ”

“ Œcolampadius, who, sent by his government, had appeared there with unflinching courage, wrote to him from Baden: "Elsewhere than here, on the field of battle, we cannot meet these our opponents with befitting energy. Mere writing is not sufficient. Thou wilt expose thyself to danger, as is the case with us all. Yet perhaps thou knowest more than I. Do as thou thinkest best for the Gospel of Christ, to whom our life, as much or as little of it as still remains, alone belongs."
Not for one moment did Zwingli falter in the path, which he had marked out for himself. ”

“ Lavater, seizing a lance, marched to the thickest of the fight. "Remember" cried he, "the honor of God and Zurich; quit yourselves like men." The banneret Schweizer did the same, and Zwingli, requested by Bernhart Spruengleir to encourage the soldiers, spoke with a loud voice: "Fear not; if we suffer, it is for God's sake. Call on Him. He will strengthen us and ours." ”

“ I have always felt myself bound to hope, unless I am mistaken (but perhaps I am mistaken) , that if any one ever came forward to contradict the truth and teachings of the gospel, it would come to pass that the High Prelate of Constance would rush to its aid before all others and hear- the whole case, and this by your help especially, whom he has event now employed as delegates because of your preeminent learning^ For what would ye do if I wanted to go to him without your knowledge? ”

“ The Zwinglians thought that free preaching extended to the Five Cantons as well as to the Common Lands; and on the other hand the Five Cantons naturally held themselves free to act as they pleased in their own territory. Thus the peace which placed Zurich at the height of her power contained in itself the seeds of future war. As a politician, if not as a theologian, Zwingli was justified in his preference for force. ”