Worship: The Swiss Reformer / Wellness: Ask the Doctor

“’The Scriptures,’ said Zwingli, ‘come from God, not from man, . . . ‘When … I began to give myself wholly up to the Holy Scriptures, philosophy and theology (scholastic) would always keep suggesting quarrels to me. At last I came to this, that I thought, `Thou must let all that lie, and learn the meaning of God purely out of His own simple word.’ Then I began to ask God for His light, and the Scriptures began to be much easier to me.’—Ibid., b. 8, ch. 6. {GC 174.1}

“The doctrine preached by Zwingli was not received from Luther. It was the doctrine of Christ. ‘If Luther preaches Christ,’ said the Swiss Reformer, ‘he does what I am doing. Those whom he has brought to Christ are more numerous than those whom I have led. But this matters not. I will bear no other name than that of Christ, whose soldier I am, and who alone is my Chief. Never has one single word been written by me to Luther, nor by Luther to me. And why? … That it might be shown how much the Spirit of God is in unison with itself, since both of us, without any collusion, teach the doctrine of Christ with such uniformity.’—D’Aubigne, b. 8, ch. 9. {GC 174.2}

“Step by step the Reformation advanced in Zurich. . . . Repeated attacks were made upon Zwingli. In the papal cantons, from time to time, disciples of the gospel were brought to the stake, but this was not enough; the teacher of heresy must be silenced. Accordingly the bishop of Constance dispatched three deputies to the Council of Zurich, accusing Zwingli of teaching the people to transgress the laws of the church, thus endangering the peace and good order of society. If the authority of the church were to be set aside, he urged, universal anarchy would result. Zwingli replied that he had been for four years teaching the gospel in Zurich, ‘which was more quiet and peaceful than any other town in the confederacy.’ ‘Is not, then,’ he said, ‘Christianity the best safeguard of the general security?’—Wylie, b. 8, ch. 11. {GC 180.3}

“The deputies had admonished the councilors to continue in the church, out of which, they declared, there was no salvation. Zwingli responded: ‘Let not this accusation move you. The foundation of the church is the same Rock, the same Christ, that gave Peter his name because he confessed Him faithfully. In every nation whosoever believes with all his heart in the Lord Jesus is accepted of God. Here, truly, is the church, out of which no one can be saved.’ —D’Aubigne, London ed., b. 8, ch. 11. As a result of the conference, one of the bishop’s deputies accepted the reformed faith. {GC 181.1}

“The council declined to take action against Zwingli, and Rome prepared for a fresh attack. The Reformer, when apprised of the plots of his enemies, exclaimed: ‘Let them come on; I fear them as the beetling cliff fears the waves that thunder at its feet.’—Wylie, b. 8, ch. 11. The efforts of the ecclesiastics only furthered the cause which they sought to overthrow. The truth continued to spread. In Germany its adherents, cast down by Luther’s disappearance, took heart again, as they saw the progress of the gospel in Switzerland. {GC 181.2}

“As the Reformation became established in Zurich, its fruits were more fully seen in the suppression of vice and the promotion of order and harmony. ‘Peace has her habitation in our town,’ wrote Zwingli; ‘no quarrel, no hypocrisy, no envy, no strife. Whence can such union come but from the Lord, and our doctrine, which fills us with the fruits of peace and piety?’”—Ibid., b. 8, ch. 15. {GC 181.3}

(This study is based on chapter 9, “The Swiss Reformer,” in the book The Great Controversy (GC), by Ellen G. White.)