Outlines of Ecclesiastical History

by B. H. Roberts

14. What caused the multiplication of sects among the Protestants?

15. What makes the Bible an insufficient guide in matters of faith and worship?

16. What was the great error of the Reformers?

SECTION IV.

1. The Reformation in Switzerland.—So far we have considered this sixteenth century revolution as it affected the German empire alone. It was not confined, however, to that country. As a matter of fact, the so-called Reformation began in Switzerland before it did in Germany. Ulrich Zwingle, born in Wildhausen, Canton of St. Gall, Switzerland 1484, attacked many of the errors of the Catholic Church, before Luther began his opposition.

2. In 1516, Zwingle openly declaimed against many Catholic abuses, such as monastic vows, pilgrimages, worship of relics, and indulgences. He also taught that the Bible was the only standard of religious truth. In 1518, one Samson came into Switzerland to sell indulgences. The year following Zwingle opposed him and drove him from Zurich. Four years later the Swiss Reformer was accused of heresy by adherents of the Roman pontiff, and brought before the council of Zurich. He presented sixty-seven doctrinal propositions before the council which he agreed to defend by the scriptures against all opposers. The council before which his cause was tried decided that the controversy must be settled by an appeal to the Bible, and Zwingle triumphed. At the conclusion of the hearing the council decreed that the Reformer should be allowed to teach as he had formerly done unmolested; and that no preacher in the canton should teach any doctrine he could not prove by the Bible. The year following—1524—the council reformed the public worship, that is, they adopted the principles and methods of worship proposed by Zwingle.

3. In 1531, the Catholics in the surrounding cantons attacked Zurich, and early in the battle, Zwingle, while leading the Protestant forces, was slain, his body hacked to pieces and afterwards burned. [See note 1, end of section.]

4. John Calvin.—Zwingle was succeeded in the leadership of the Swiss Reformers by John Calvin, a talented but austere man, a native of Noyon, France. [See note 2, end of section.] He more than any other man—Luther excepted—influenced the character of the Protestant churches. He held many views that were at variance with those of Zwingle. The latter taught that civil rulers possessed absolute power in religious matters, and subjected the ministers altogether to their authority. Calvin held that the church should be free and independent of the state; that it should govern itself by its own officers whom the church and not the state should appoint; he limited the power of the state over the church to giving it external protection. Zwingle recognized a gradation of officers in the Christian church; Calvin held that all were equal. Suitable persons appointed and ordained with the consent of the members of the church, constituted, in his theory of church government, a legitimate ministry to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. But for the government of the church a number of men were chosen by the people from among the most venerable and respectable of the congregation. These men were called presbyters or elders. They were all equal in authority, and even the preaching minister was in no sense superior to them in office.

5. The elders of a single church or congregation convened in council constituted the church session; councils composed of representatives from the several churches in a province, constituted synods or consistories; while a general council composed of elders from all the churches was known as the general assembly. The elders in these several councils were all regarded as equal in authority and had full power to enact laws relating to religious matters and to establish the discipline of the church. Such is the order of church government founded by Calvin, and known as Presbyterianism.