Huldrych Zwingli

Life

Zwingli was born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus in the Toggenburg region of Switzerland. He received a humanist education at the University of Vienna and the University of Basel. Ordained a Catholic priest in 1506, he began his ministry in Glarus and moved to Einsiedeln in 1516. During this period, under the influence of Erasmus, he studied the Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers (leaders of the early church) in depth. On January 1, 1519, he became people's priest at the Grossmünster (Great Minster) in Zurich. A people's priest was a priest charged with preaching to and providing pastoral care for the laity. In 1524 he married Anna Reinhart. Conflict with the Catholic cantons that had rejected the Reformation escalated into war, and he was killed at the Battle of Kappel on October 11, 1531, at the age of 47.

Ministry and Achievements

• Continuous expository preaching: After taking up his post, he set aside the readings prescribed by the church calendar and instead preached through the Gospel of Matthew in sequence from the beginning. This method is regarded as the root of the Reformed tradition of preaching.
• Reformation in Zurich: During Lent in 1522, when some of his acquaintances broke the fasting regulations by eating sausages, he defended them, arguing that the regulations had no basis in Scripture. At a public disputation convened by the Zurich city council on January 29, 1523, he presented the Sixty-Seven Articles, and the council permitted him to continue preaching. In 1525 he introduced a new service of the Lord's Supper to replace the Mass.
• Reform of worship: He simplified the liturgy and placed preaching at the center of worship. Choir-centered church music was eliminated from worship.
• Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: He interpreted the word "is" in "This is my body" (Matthew 26:26) as meaning "signifies." Accordingly, he regarded the Lord's Supper as a memorial of the death of Christ. At the Marburg Colloquy in 1529 he reached agreement with Martin Luther on fourteen of fifteen articles, but the two ultimately parted ways over the Lord's Supper.
• Baptism controversy: The Anabaptists maintained that only those who had professed faith should be baptized. In his disputes with them, Zwingli defended infant baptism. In January 1525 the city council declared Zwingli the winner of a public disputation, after which the Anabaptists were persecuted.

Legacy and Influence on the Korean Church

Zwingli's reform is regarded as the starting point of the Reformed tradition that continued through Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin. His memorial view is described as having later developed, through Calvin and Bullinger, into the doctrine of "spiritual presence," the view that Christ is present by the Holy Spirit in the Lord's Supper.

In Korea, Presbyterianism has long identified itself as heir to the Reformed tradition. Yet Zwingli, long overshadowed by Calvin, has been called the "forgotten reformer." Around 2019, the 500th anniversary of his arrival at the Grossmünster, Korean academic societies such as the Korea Reformed Theological Society, along with denominational newspapers, brought renewed attention to him.

Understandings of the Lord's Supper among Korean Protestant churches vary by denomination. Presbyterians confess Christ's spiritual presence in accordance with the Westminster Confession of Faith. In some denominations and churches, including the Baptists, an understanding that emphasizes the memorial meaning of the Lord's Supper is reported to be widespread.

Assessment

Within the Reformed tradition he is highly regarded as a pioneer of Scripture-centered reform and expository preaching. He is also credited with seeking to renew not only personal faith but also public life according to Scripture. At the same time, he has faced a number of criticisms.

• Lutheran perspective: Luther refused union with Zwingli, saying that he had "a different spirit." The Lutheran tradition holds that Christ is truly present in the Lord's Supper.
• Anabaptist perspective: The Anabaptist tradition criticizes the persecution that those who had been Zwingli's fellow reformers suffered at the hands of the Zurich authorities under his leadership.
• Politics and force: Historians debate whether Zwingli, who pursued reform in partnership with the city council, turned Zurich into a theocracy (a government ruled by religious leaders). He has also been criticized for seeking to subdue the Catholic regions by force.
• Catholic perspective: Catholics regard the abolition of the Mass and the removal of images as a break with the tradition of the church.