The Authority of Scripture in the Early Zurich Reformation (1522-1540)
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Abstract
The decisive impulse of the Zurich Reformation was not a particular theological tenet or the religious experience of one single reformer. It was the discovery of the authority of God’s Word. This discovery was essentially a liberating experience. Scripture was experienced as the place for encountering the living God, who is intrinsically a gracious God, and who correspondingly makes his will known to people. Given the circumstances of early modernity, it was, however, consequent and inevitable that in the process of restructuring a Christian society and church according to God’s Word the Bible became the authoritative scripture.
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1
See Berndt Hamm, Zwinglis Reformation der Freiheit (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1988); for the fundamentals of Zwingli’s Theology and the beginning of the Zurich Reformation see also Gottfried Wilhelm Locher, Die Zwinglische Reformation im Rahmen der europäischen Kirchengeschichte (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979); Peter Stephens, The Theology of Huldrych Zwingli (Oxford: Clarendon, 1986).
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4
Hans Rudolf Lavater, “Die Froschauer-Bibel 1531,” in Die Zürcher Bibel von 1531: Entstehung, Verbreitung und Wirkung, ed. Christoph Sigrist (Zürich: TVZ, 2011), 64-141.
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7
Zwingli, Z II, 144-145. English translation: Huldrych Zwingli Writings: The Defense of the Reformed Faith, Volume I, trans. Edward Julius Furcha (Allison Park: Pickwick Publications, 1984), 116.
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23
See Zwingli, Z I, 365, 367; Bromiley, Zwingli, 78-80; John 1:9; John 6:68.
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26
Zwingli, Z I, 383; Bromiley, Zwingli, 93. Translation adapted by author.
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29
Zwingli, Z III, 375-469. German title, Wer Ursache gibt zur Aufruhr.
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38
See also Peter Opitz, “The Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of John Oecolampadius: Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin,” in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, Volume II, From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, eds. Magne Saebø, Michael Fishbane, and Jean Louis Ska (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2007), 106-159.
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41
See Peter Opitz, “Reformation im Dienst der Förderung der ‘bonae litterae’ am Beispiel hermeneutischer Grundentscheidungen zu Beginn der Zürcher ‘Hohen Schule,’ ” in Departure to Modern Europe—Philosophy between 1400 and 1700, eds. Hubertus Busche and Stefan Hessbrueggen-Walter (Hamburg: Meiner, 2011), 754-764.
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42
See Peter Opitz, Heinrich Bullinger als Theologe: Eine Studie zu den Dekaden (Zürich: TVZ, 2004); see also Heinrich Bullinger: Life—Thought—Influence, 2 vols., eds. Emidio Campi and Peter Opitz (Zürich: TVZ, 2007).
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43
German title, “Von der Autorität der Heiligen Schrift, ihrer Gewissheit, Zuverlässigkeit und absoluten Vollkommenheit” in Heinrich Bullinger Theologische Schriften Bd. 4: De scripturae sanctae authoritate deque episcoporum institutione et functione: (1538), eds. Emidio Campi together with Philipp Wälchli (Zürich: TVZ, 2009), (abbreviation HBTS 4). For German translation see Heinrich Bullinger: Schriften, Vol. II, eds. Emidio Campi, D. Roth, and Peter Stotz (Zürich: TVZ, 2004-2007).
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The Authority of Scripture in the Early Zurich Reformation (1522-1540)
In: Journal of Reformed TheologySearch for other papers by Peter Opitz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The decisive impulse of the Zurich Reformation was not a particular theological tenet or the religious experience of one single reformer. It was the discovery of the authority of God’s Word. This discovery was essentially a liberating experience. Scripture was experienced as the place for encountering the living God, who is intrinsically a gracious God, and who correspondingly makes his will known to people. Given the circumstances of early modernity, it was, however, consequent and inevitable that in the process of restructuring a Christian society and church according to God’s Word the Bible became the authoritative scripture.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 392 | 80 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 145 | 3 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 113 | 10 | 3 |
