Abstract
Huldrych Zwingli is the father of Reformed Protestantism. Although that movement has been equated with and often restricted to “Calvinism,” especially in the English-speaking world, Reformed Protestantism undeniably owes its fundamental design to this Zürich Reformer.
BECOMING A REFORMER
Ulrich Zwingli (who would later adopt the name “Huldrych,” “rich in grace”) was born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus, in eastern Switzerland. His father belonged to the rural elite and held political office as Landammann, the chief local magistrate. Exposed to local politics from an early age, Zwingli developed a particular interest in political concerns – a trait that would be very evident in the later life of the Swiss Reformer. After grammar school, Zwingli was sent by his parents first to Bern and then to the University of Vienna. He subsequently attended the university in Basel, from 1502 to 1506, where, having completed his Master's examination, he studied theology for one semester. During these years of study, he received a scholastic education and became familiar with the philosophical tradition of the via antiqua. It is more than likely that Thomas Wyttenbach (ca. 1472–1526), who was professor in Basel and pastor in Biel, introduced Zwingli to the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard and to the commentaries on Lombard's Sentences by Duns Scotus. After leaving Basel, Zwingli worked as a pastor in Glarus, in central Switzerland, for ten years and then, from 1516 to 1518, served as a preacher at the pilgrimage site of Einsiedeln. These years were marked by diligent private study. Zwingli's remarkable education included studying the Bible in its original languages, reading the Church Fathers, and pursuing an interest in classical antiquity and poetry. During these years, Zwingli also became increasingly aware of clerical and political abuses, which were a cause of injustice and a source of grievance within the Swiss Confederation. His criticism targeted ecclesial superficiality and commercialized religiosity in particular, and he pursued a political agenda that challenged mercenary service and the associated agreements that formed alliances between the Swiss states, on the one hand, and France and the pope, on the other – agreements that Zwingli denounced more and more emphatically.
Opitz, Peter