Ulrich Zwingli

Ulrich Zwingli. Name of a person.

Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) was born to a middle-class family in Wildhaus, Switzerland. After receiving his masters in Basel, Zwingli was offered a position as a pastor in the church of Glarus. During his pastoral ministry, he sporadically performed chaplaincy duties to young Swiss mercenaries in foreign armies.

In 1519, Zwingli’s preaching became more scriptural and Christocentric. His pastoral concerns for the spiritual well-being of his parishioners led him to present sixty-seven articles rejecting many Catholic doctrines.

Zwingli held a meticulous view on the role of God’s sovereignty and irresistible grace on election for salvation, negating any significant function to human freedom of will. His view on justification by faith is fully forensic but places emphasis on sanctification; specifically speaking about the evident “outward righteousness” of a believer. Consequently, he stressed the Christological mission of the Holy Spirit in applying the salvific work of Christ and the power of the Holy Scripture in the life of believers. Zwingli is also remembered for his symbolic remembrance of the Lord’s Supper, where Christ’s presence in the community is spiritually real, but not sacramentally in the symbols. By faith, the believers could experience a real fellowship with Christ at the eucharistic table.