Some of the men in Zwingli’s group did not think that he was reforming fast enough. In January of 1523 in the first disputation, the council of Zurich had made the decision to take the city out from under papacy authority, which Zwingli and others applauded; however he felt that reform could only go as fast as the council allowed it, while the other radicals believed they must force more reform thinking the council would fall in line after them. For 10 months, nothing happened, and they grew restless. In October the second disputation occurred in which the question of the mass came up for debate. The council concluded that the mass (in it’s repeated sacrifice of Christ) was contrary to God’s Word, but offered no alternative as to how the Lord’s Supper should be administered. This led to Conrad Grebel standing up in front of the council and demanding that they give instruction. Zwingli answered that the council would make the decision, but others felt it should not be left solely in the council’s hands, and that they should look to the Word for final authority. After this incident, many of the radicals from Zwingli’s original study group, broke away and began meeting for their own Bible study. A preacher by the name of William Reublin had already been speaking against the practice of infant baptism (an issue that had become controversial throughout the Reforming countries) in the villages surrounding the city, and the doctrine became a focus point for many within this new group, as it was also influenced by men like Balthasar Hubmaier (we will return to him later on). The Zurich council ordered Zwingli to meet with the radicals each week until the issue of baptism “could be resolved.” After 2 meetings, Ulrich stopped them, and Felix Manz petitioned the council to find a solution.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:16:08 +0000
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