(Exam Questions and Answers, PART II)

Although Zwingli's views on the meaning and function of the sacraments led to initial difficulties in justifying the practice of infant baptism, by 1525 he was able to resolve these difficulties by developing the notion of baptism as a "sign" of the covenant (God's covenant with his people), thereby linking the Old Testament rite of circumcision to the New Testament practice of baptism.

Note: Zwingli had doubts about the legitimacy of infant baptism in the 1510's and early 1520's. 

I. Zwingli's General View of the Sacraments

A. Negative View: Sacraments are not something mysterious or sacred, capable of generating salvation, faith, or communicating grace.

(1) There is a sharp distinction between the physical and spiritual in Zwingli's thought. This is probably rooted in his neo-Platonism. Soul cannot be affected by what is bodily. Two-worlds metaphysics.

(2) God is sovereign and the Spirit of God does not need a created means to give assurance or the certainty of faith.

B. Positive View: Sacrament means "pledge" or "oath."

(1) The sacrament is God's pledge of faithfulness to us--a divine pledge to humans (1523)

(2) The sacrament is our pledge to other believers--human pledge to other humans, much like a white cross, sewn on the clothing, was a public demonstration of allegiance in the Swiss Confederacy. (1525)

II. Early Justification of Baptism: Diversity of the covenants, which are connected by analogy. Strong N.T. basis. A descending vertical view of the pledge.

NOTE: Zwingli could not employ the historical argument for infant baptism (as a means of cleansing original guilt) because he denied original guilt. Moreover, he did not believe that the sacraments generated faith (ala Luther). Hence, another justification should be sought.

A. Grounds adduced in the Strasburg Letter (1524), first defense of infant baptism

(1) The identity of John's Baptism and Christian Baptism. John the Baptist baptized people into Christ who was yet to come and whom those baptized did not yet know. Baptism thus preceded knowledge of Christ. So baptism is hereby given to those who were yet to believe at some later time, and they are to be baptized that "they might learn Christ afterwards."

(2) Baptism as a sign of the new covenant replaced circumcision as a sign of the old covenant. Since circumcision was a sign preceding faith (Rom. 4:11), baptism is also a pre-faith sign and should be administered to children. TWO COVENANTS BASIS

(3) Children are bidden to come to Christ (Matt. 19:13-14). To forbid baptism to children is to forbid them to come to Christ.

B. Pledge concept: Zwingli assumes that baptism is our pledge to live the Christian life, but for infants

(1) Baptism involves the parents' pledging of the child (within the Christian community and to God), and an obligation is placed on the parents to teach the child about Christ.

(2) Baptism involves the child's being pledged to the law, and an obligation is placed on the child to learn about Christ.

III. Later Justification of Infant Baptism: Unity of the testaments stressed. Strong O.T. basis. A horizontal view of pledge.

A. Continues earlier arguments, especially identity of John's baptism and Christian baptism.

B. Pledge Concept modified (Reply to Hubmaier, 1525; A Refutation, 1527): Baptism is now seen as God's covenant sign with us, rather than a sign of our covenant.

(1) God's pledge or promise to his people.

(2) Baptism is a sign of the (one) covenant made with Abraham. Children of Christians are no less sons of God than their parents, just like in the O.T.

The basic issue in the disagreement between Luther and Zwingli over the Eucharist was the real presence of Christ in the elements, with Luther affirming the real bodily presence of Christ and Zwingli denying it. The dispute may be explicated in relation to their diverging views on the meaning and function of the sacraments.

I. Luther on the Sacrament

A. Meaning and function of the sacrament: The sacrament is a visible physical sign of the redemptive purposes of God, and as such they give the believer an assurance of his union with Christ. Baptism, for instance, is seen as a mode of strengthening and generating faith.

B. Criticism of transubstantiation.

(1) Fourth Lateran Council (1215): Where "substance" is understood as a thing's essential nature and "accidents" are taken to be its inessential properties, the doctrine of transubstantiation asserts that during consecration the accidents of the bread and wine (color, taste, smell, etc.) do not change, the substance of the bread and wine do change into the body and blood of Christ.

(2) Luther did not deny the real presence of Christ as asserted in the doctrine of transubstantiation, but rather he denied the explanation of how Christ is present, and he did this because of its Aristotelian basis.

C. Affirmation of real presence: Luther urged that in the phrase "Hoc est corpus meum" (Matt. 26:26), the word "est" must mean "is identical with." This bread, Christ was saying, is identical with my body.

II. Zwingli on the Eucharist Sacrament

A. Meaning of sacrament: A sacrament is an "oath", a token of either God's faithfulness to us (pre 1525) or a sign of believers' faithfulness to each other (1525 and after).

B. Swiss Confederacy influence on Zwingli's views

(1) "Sacrament" as a "demonstration of allegiance". In the Swiss Confederacy (where Zwingli served as a chaplain) the wearing of a white cross was a demonstration of soldier's allegiance to the Confederacy. Similarly, in baptism and in the eucharist the Christian demonstrates his allegiance to the Christian church.

(2) The Eucharist is viewed as a commemoration or memorial of Christ's death, not a re-enactment. In this way the death of Christ is to the Christian like the battle of Nahenfels is to a soldier--a foundational event that is the basis for a group's unity and identification. The eucharist is a commemoration and no more requires Christ's death to be repeated or for him to be present than for the battle of Nahenfels to be re-enacted to be commemorated. Hence, Christ is physically absent (not present) at the eucharist. The historical event which brought the Confederacy into being is commemorated as a token of allegiance to that same Confederacy. So, the Christian commemorates the historical event which brought the church into existence (passiones Christi) as a token of allegiance that church.

C. Influence of Cornelius Hoen on Zwingli

(1) Commemoration principle: "This is my body" tied to "this do in remembrance of me." Christ is absent.

(2) "Est" in "hoc est corpus meum" means "signifies" not "is identical with."

(3) Eucharist is like a pledge made by the giving of a ring between a groom and his bride.

III. Real Presence: the Real Debate

A. Real Presence debate: For Luther Christ is really physically present in the eucharist (and hence ubiquitous), whereas for Zwingli Christ is really physically absent (and so not ubiquitous).

B. The Biblical Crux-Argument

(1) According to Zwingli, Scripture teaches that Christ is at literally seated at the right hand of God. But, if the real presence doctrine is true, then Christ will have to be at two places at the same time. He will be in the elements and in heaven. But this is absurd. So either Scripture is true or real presence is false. (cf. "est" in "hoc est corpus meum" is not to be taken literally).

(2) According to Luther, Scripture teaches that Christ is at the right hand of God only figuratively, referring to God's rule or sphere of influence. So, Christ can be present in the elements and the Scripture is true (correctly interpreted). The dilemma is avoided. (cf. "est" in "hoc est corpus meum" is to be taken literally).

C. General Considerations: function of sacrament is closely tied to the real presence debate.

(1) If the sacrament is capable of generating faith, then there is good reason to affirm the real presence; for there can be a transference of spiritual life from the sacrament to the person only if Christ is in some way actually present. Luther links the word of God with the sacraments.

(2) If the sacrament is not capable of generating faith, there is good reason to hold to the real absence of Christ; for it is faith possessed which makes Christ spiritually present.

Huldrych Zwingli was heavily influenced by humanism in general and Erasmus's humanism in particular. This influence would leave its indelible marks on Zwingli's biblical theology such that, even after he publicly broke with humanism, his own theological method and approach to Scripture remained indebted to many humanist principles. Even where Zwingli's thought is best characterized as a mixture of humanist and reformed elements, it is appropriate to see him as a "biblical humanist."

NOTE: Zwingli met Erasmus at Basle in 1516.

I. General Influences of Humanism on Zwingli

A. Humanist vision of Christianismus renascens: Considerable importance is placed on moral and ethical regeneration as the nature of reform, and hence the need to regenerate both individual and society. The means to such a reform is viewed as pedagogical or educational and is basically a human process. That is, reform is a solely human process initiated and upheld through educational reform. By 1520, however, this view is dropped. In 1519 Zwingli nearly died of the plague, and the incident instilled him an overwhelming sense that reform is a divine work, to be initiated and upheld by the sovereign power of God.

B. Post 1520 Humanist Tendencies: these influences may be seen both substantial and formal considerations in Zwingli's theological works.

(1) De Providentia Dei (1530) is a heavily philosophical work in the Stoic tradition, drawing heavily on Seneca. The style is also often humanist in character. Not also the pessimism about human nature.

(2) Commentarius de vera et falsa religione (1525) borrows heavily from classical sources. The introduction begins with a definition of religio taken from Cicero. The account of the knowledge of God is also indebted to Cicero (and anticipated the treatment the topic will receive in Calvin, 1559 Institutes I. 1-5.). Zwingli emphasizes the nature knowledge of God, but its inadequacy and the need for revelation to assist us in the pure knowledge of God.

(3) Reform is, though conceived of as a driven work, primarily viewed as the revitalization of the church (rather than doctrine), or more precisely, inner reform of the soul extending itself to a reform of the practices or lifestyle of the community of faith.

II. Zwingli's "Biblical" Humanism

A. Sola Scriptura: The Reformed principle prescribed the basic authority for Zwingli. Scripture is the revelation of God, and is the foundation of our discourse about God.

B. Ad Fontes: Zwingli, like all the reformers, is driven by a basic concern for "texts" in their original language, and this is apparent in the slogan sola Scriptura, which was not merely a commitment to Scripture, but to Scripture as an historical text, the language of which must be learned if we are to correctly interpret it and participate in the experiences of first century Christians. Consequently, this is an emphasis on an historical and philological approach to Scripture. Zwingli is often parasitic on Erasmus's philological observations.

C. Biblical interpretation is guided by the a priori assumption that religion is something internal and spiritual, and so the internal and spiritual sense of Scripture is given pre-eminence. So, for instance, Abraham and Isaac are types of God and Christ.

D. Because of C., biblical interpretation is also governed by the Erasmian imitatio Christi which views the primarily relevance of Christ as a (the!) moral example. Cf. Erasmus in his Enchiridion. This is typical of the moralism of the Swiss Reformation, and the stress on the notion of inner renewal.

E. The input from church fathers Origen and Jerome in Zwingli is another indication of humanist influence, as these were the main fathers of the humanists (cf. Erasmus). They further reinforce considerations such as found in C. and D.

III. Zwingli's criticisms of humanism

A. Reform as a solely human process and anthropocentric (beginning in 1520), and heavily emphasized in the commentarius (1525).

B. Free will is attacked (Erasmus singled out in 1525) and divine sovereignty and human inability is stressed.

C. Authority of Scripture grounded not in its antiquity (humanist position), but in that it is a revelation from God--the Word of God.

I. Exegetical influences: Ad fontes principle and its implications for textual interpretation.

A. The general influence of humanism is evident in Calvin in his appeal to ad fontes, the goal of treating texts directly in their original language (bypassing glosses and commentaries, and translations). While studying law at Orleans, Calvin learned the French custom of treating Roman law by a direct engagement with classical sources (the so-called mos gallicus) as opposed to the Italian custom (mos italicus) which treated the text via glosses and commentaries. Calvin's appeal to sola scriptura was shaped by the ad fontes principle, for by Scripture he understood the text in its original language.

B. The consequences of (1) are evident in Calvin's first work, de Clementia (1532), in which he exhibits the methods and treatment of the humanists--a concentration on historical and philological observations as essential to exposition. De clementia contains lengthy philological discussion (as prolegomenon), notes on grammar and rhetoric, and draws on his knowledge of antiquity to collect parallel quotations in Seneca and others. This shows a strong affinity with Bude and Erasmus, as they did the same. This humanist orientation would be evident throughout Calvin's theological works, especially in his commentaries, in which exposition of Scripture is governed heavily by historical and grammatical considerations.

II. Use of Classical Sources for Theology

A. Throughout the Institutes of the Christian Religion (as well as in his other theological works), Calvin displays a solid acquaintance with a wide range of classical thinkers--Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca. The Institutes (in its later editions), for instance, is packed with references to non-biblical ancient authors, especially in book I, chapters 1-5. Calvin utilizes such sources to achieve a delicate balance between discontinuities and continuities between the Christian tradition with the classical tradition, and in that sense achieves something on the order of Augustine's early attempt at the Christian philosophy.

B. Cicero's influence: The opening statement of the 1559 edition of the Institutes is taken from Cicero's de natura Deorum, and Calvin's treatment of the knowledge of God is also borrowed from Cicero (as is clear from Calvin's talk of the sensus divinitatis). However, rather than merely reproduce such sources (and achieve an eclectic theology based on the classics), he puts Cicero to his own use. Calvin establishes the existence and yet "confused" natural knowledge of God in accordance with Cicero, but whereas the latter had derived skepticism from the confused nature of man's natural of God Calvin takes the same premise to establish the need for a special revelation. He may even be viewed as employing Cicero's skepticism to yield the conclusion more directly. "Calvin exploits the inadequacy of natural revelation by pointing to the inherently more reliable statements concerning God made by Scripture" (McGrath).

III. Miscellaneous

A. The word "institutio" in the title of the Institutes of the Christian Religion would have been understood as "education" or "instruction" by 16th century readers, striking an importance parallel to Erasmus's Institutio principis Christiani (1516) and Bude's Institution du Prince.

B. Calvin's own writing style displays a greater affinity with humanism than scholasticism. He relies more on rhetoric than carefully set forth syllogisms. For examples, many of his arguments are enythemematic (omitting conclusion or one of the premises), thereby having a jarring effect on the reader. Also, his style has greater literary form than the stilted language of the medievals. This is especially clear in Calvin's French versions of the Institutes, marked by elegance, clarity, and simplicity--all the virtue of the humanist writer. In this way Calvin was able to achieve systematic arrangement with a fluidity of literary style.

I. March 1536 (first edition) - Latin

A. 1 volume (516 pages of small format) in 6 chapters

(1) First Four chapters follow Luther's Catechism: Law, Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Sacraments (Baptism and Lord's Supper).

(2) Last two chapters are polemic in nature: false sacraments (contra Roman) and liberty of the Christian (contra anabaptists).

B. Intention: (1) compendium of theology and (2) confession to the persecuting King of France (Francis I) and plead for mercy on the Protestants.

II. August 1539 (second edition) - Latin

A. Greatly expanded in content (nearly 3 times as much material). 11 additional chapters are added bringing the total to 17.

B. Important additions

(1) Beings with two new chapter on the knowledge of God and on the knowledge of man (which were merely outlined in the 1536 edition as a prolegomenon to discourse on law).

(2) Inclusion of many patristic (Augustine), medieval (Peter Lombard), and classical (Plato) sources by way of quotation.

(3) Citation of Scripture multiplied

(4) Whole chapter on Old and New Testament relations (contra anabaptists.

(5) Penitence and justification now treated in detail.

(6) Providence and predestination expanded, inspired by Martin Bucer's 1536 Romans Commentary. Part to be played by predestination in dogmatics emphasized contra melanchthon 1535 loci communes.

(7) General content given more systematic and coherent treatment.

C. Intention: Textbook to be used in "the preparation of candidates in theology for the reading of the divine word."

III. 1541 "French" edition (1st French edition from 1539 Latin)

A. Style: elegant and highly personal (gained popular reading). Earliest work in which the French language was used as a medium of expression of sustained and serious thought.

B. Intention: "To help those who desire to be instructed in the doctrines of salvation." [popularized intention]

IV. 1543 edition (3rd edition) - Latin

A. Alterations less than in the 1539 edition: chapters increased by 4, yielding 21 total chapters.

(1) 2 chapters on vows and human traditions

(2) old chapter on the Creed was distributed over 4 chapters

(3) last of (2) was incorporated in the older chapter on ecclesiastical power.

B. Form: the four chapters of the 1543 edition based on the Credo were to serve as the more or less rigid framework of the whole work as it was recast in 1559.

V. 1550 edition (4th edition, Latin), 1551 French version (2nd)

A. Content: Additions made on

(1) Holy Scripture and its authority

(2) worship of saints and images discussed

(3) exposition of the human conscience

B. Form: Chapters are subdivided into paragraphs to assist with the reading of the increasingly voluminous text.

C. 2nd French Version (1551): 3 supplementary sections on the resurrection of the body, not in the Latin versions until the final 1559 edition.

VI. 1559 edition (Final Latin edition), 1560 French version

A. Calvin claims that this edition is the definitive theological statement of all his work.

B. 80% larger than the 4th edition.

C. Content: Addition made on the basis of Calvin's 1555 correspondence with Laelius Socinus (Book II 17.1-5)

D. Form: Providence and predestination are divided, with providence being treated in book 1 and predestination retaining its traditional place in book 3 (21-24).

E. It was written (and translated into French) under great physical suffering: "He build his last Institutes of the Christian Religion under the worst stress of that illness and, what is more, translated it into french from beginning to end" -Beza.

Sudduth, 1994