McNeill. John, Ph.D.: The History and Character of Calvinism," Ch.3--Ref...

1.     Zwingli and the Reformation in Zurich, 30-52. There were concerns as Zwingli came to the Minster’s pulpit. He proposed to preach ad seriatim on Matthew’s Gospel rather than the lectionary with “beaten path of interpretation.” McNeill tells us people were electrified although some Burgomasters had reservations. Zwingli was preaching the Bible’s authority, the sovereign efficacy of Christ’s work, the dismantling the issue of indulgences, purgatory, propitiatory masses, the invocation of saints, the non-need for holy days, and clerical marriages. Samon, an indulgence seller making rounds, gets the bum’s rush out of Zurich. The Bishop of Constance is aware of developments and Zwingli gets an easier handling than Luther. Pope Adrian VI employ the self-protecting (and self-serving, our words) Erasmus to tango with Zwingli. Friends and scholars are arriving to learn from Zwingli. He marries Anna. A “First Disputation” is held in the town hall on 29 Jan 1523. 600 attended. Zwingli had crafted and published his “Sixty-seven Conclusions” (37). His antagonists were routed. Anabaptists arise, e.g., Conrad Grebel, an “undisciplined” scholar. Iconoclasm, baptism, a regenerated (pure) church, and pacificism were thrown into the mix.