Saturday, February 2, 2019

Fouth Installment - Calvin Ruined the Protestant Faith



Zwingli Is the Forerunner of Calvin


Many more people will admit to Calvinism than to following Zwingli, but the perspective is quite similar. Zwingli began the unfortunate stance of opposing Luther while pretending to be allied with the Reformation. The basic error is proclaimed with boldness in Zwingli and continued in Calvin. They did not grasp the Biblical teaching of God’s effective Word associated with earthly elements. When Zwingli ended the Biblical concept of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments conveying grace, Calvin continued this disaster and canonized for many Protestants the role of human reason judging the Scriptures.
Zwingli is not well known because he formed a military alliance to promote his reform, and the Catholic cantons opposed him. This conflict ended in a battle where Zwingli and other clergy died in their armor, 1531.
He began his reforms in 1522, which were certainly the groundwork for Calvin’s. Herman Sasse in Here I Stand wrote about the Zwingli turning the Holy Communion service into a memorial meal. People poured into church for the last presentation of the Body and Blood of Christ, and Zwingli was haunted by a dream about abandoning “the Lord’s Passover.”
One result of rationalizing Christianity was the emergence of Anabaptists in Zurich, where Zwingli preached. Although baptism was just an ordinance, the city council passed a death sentence on those who refused it for their children. Some Anabaptists were killed and the rest fled around 1527. This became part of the Radical Reformation - Mennonites, Ahmish, Hutterites – defined by their understanding of believer’s baptism.
Luther’s connection with Zwingli came at the Marburg Colloquy, where Zwingli refused to accept the Real Presence. Luther wrote in chalk, “This is My Body” in Latin on the table. The doctrinally indifferent see this argument as a matter of opinion. One Mequon senior answered the question in church history by saying, “Luther was wrong!” But the issue is the efficacy of the Word, which is not a franchise issue, but a foundational, Biblical teaching.


Calvin’s Reform in Geneva

In 1509, John Calvin was born in France and had a dual education. He was known for his intellect, perhaps aiming for the priesthood but directed toward law by his father. He had a conversion experience around 1530 and earned his law degree In 1532. He was allied with reform movements in the Church, which led to an initial stay in Geneva, Switzerland  - expulsion – and an invitation to come back in 1541. He agreed with Zwingli’s view of Holy Communion and became the figure for opposition to Luther until his death in 1564.