Ulrich Zwingli

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Introduction

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Ulrich Zwingli was from the Swiss city of Zurich. He was born in 1484 and died in 1531. Zwingli became the people's priest at the the Great Minister Church in Zurich. He was a priest and reformer who preached faith as the way to heaven, rather than good works. He was a disciple of Erasmus (whose influence led to Zwingli's studies of the New Testament) and the chief pastor at Zurich, where he taught on Swiss simplicity. He sought an alternative to the idea of Transubstantiation, which is the transformation of bread and wine taken during Communion into Christ's body and blood. He believed that Communion was merely a commemoration of the Last Supper. This quest for simplicity applied to pictures, statues, music, and reading of Scripture. This view came to be viewed as Puritanism by the English. He viewed the Bible as the key to divine law and will. He fought for the strict obedience of the literal interpretations of scripture Zwingli led the Reformation in Switzerland from 1521 to 1523.

Unlike Luther though, he did not dramatize his teachings, but rather taught simply and as was fashion then and now: from the pulpit. Also, more so, he was more stringent to the Bible, meaning closer adherence to the Laws and Word rather than possible circumvention: "Zwingli rejected whatever the Bible did not prescribe...the reformation in Zurich tended to strip away more traditional symbols of the Roman church." This later came to be called Puritanism. (Church History)

References

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Church History: In Plain Language (Third Edition) by Bruce L. Shelley