Huldrych Zwingli

Zwingli's contribution to Reformation

Background

While a wealth of information related to the theology of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others exist, relatively much less, or little, is available with relation to Huldrych Zwingli. Because Zwingli's life-time coincided with that of Luther's, and because Zwingli's renunciation of the Roman Catholic priesthood came only a few years after that of Luther's, Zwingli may have been over-shadowed by Luther's and Calvin's contributions to the Reformation.

Related Topics:
Martin Luther - John Calvin

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Another reason for Zwingli's less noticeable career may have been caused by his own theological differences with respect to that of Luther's. Some believe that because of these differences, historical writers and religious zealots, who were more sympathetic to Luther's doctrinal views, may have aided in suppressing Zwingli's doctrinal views. They hold that "the side who wins in history, is the side who writes the history"; the "other side of the story" is either forgotten, or suppressed.

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Theology: sacraments and covenants (Zwingli versus Luther)

In E. Brooks Holifield's "The Covenant Sealed: The Development of Puritan Sacramental Theology in Old and New Testaments" (1570-1720, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University press, 1974, 6), Holifield states, "When Luther called the sacrament a covenental seal, he meant that baptism visibly ratified and guaranteed God's promises, as a royal seal authenticated a government document on which it was inscribed. Only secondarily was baptism a pledge of obedience by men. For Zwingli, however, the sacrament was primarily 'a covenant sign which indicates that all those who receive it are willing to amend their lives to follow Christ."

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This section on Luther and Zwingli's views of baptism is badly in error. Basically, it reverses their positions. See, for example, these two links:

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http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/catechism/web/cat-13.html

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http://faculty.occ.edu/markmoore/Zwingli.htm

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If the original author of this section does not wish to fix this, I'll be happy to take a stab at it. -CP

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