Recovering the theology of the Swiss Reformation
Zürich, Geneva, Basel & beyond
Latest Entry
In the closing days of January, the priests and councilmen of Zürich gathered in the town hall to hear a case argued not with the sword but with the printed word. Huldrych Zwingli had prepared sixty-seven propositions, each a small blade aimed at the scaffolding of inherited practice — the mass, the invocation of saints, the authority claimed by Rome over matters he believed Scripture alone should settle.
What makes the First Zürich Disputation worth returning to is not simply its outcome, but its method: doctrine tested in open civic debate, with the town council itself as arbiter. It set a pattern the Swiss Reformation would follow again and again, from Bern to Geneva — reform argued for, not merely decreed.
Read the Full Entry →The Timeline
Highlights of the Reformation
Ulrich Zwingli arrives in Zurich having been ordained the head minister of the Grossmunster cathedral in late Dec 1518, on Jan 1,1519 he begins to preach the gospel of Matthew Lectio Continua, breaking with tradition.
Zwingli gathers with friends at a printer's house where the Lenten fast is broken. What many regard as the start of the Reformation in Switzerland.
Like Luther a few years prior, Zwingli lists his theses and boldly debates his detractors
Zwingli and Luther meet, find much common ground, but ultimately fail to agree on the Lord's Supper.
A full vernacular translation, produced in committee, years before Luther's was complete.
The tragic and ignominous end of Zwingli's life, for a brief moment the Reformation in Switzerland looked finished.