Calvin and Zwingli - Great Pretenders

 

Calvin and Zwingli – Great Pretenders

Huldrich Zwingli was a Swiss contemporary of Luther, an ordained priest but not highly educated. He echoed the Reformation in Germany, but he wanted to have his own version while associating with Luther. The obvious break came when they met at Marburg and Zwingli rejected the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, 1530. Rather than being cautious about changes in the Church, Zwingli made up his own mind and simply declared the Sacraments to be mere symbols.

The problem was much greater and deeper than the issue of Sacraments. Zwingli fell into the habit of accepting what was reasonable in the Bible to him, rejecting what was not. The Sacraments are mysteries, the revelation of God to man about guiding and strengthening people in the Faith. This problem for Zwingli not only concerned the misuse of human reason but also the rejection of the efficacy of the Word.

Zwingli died fighting Roman Catholics on the battlefield, soon after the Marburg statement, 1531. His style and shortcomings were soon manifested in John Calvin, who was trained as a lawyer but adopted as a Swiss leader fighting Catholicism. His first attempt to lead Geneva failed, and he was expelled. He was invited back to Geneva in 1541.

Calvinist Problems with Reason and the Efficacy of the Word

Zwingli and Calvin established a Christianity opposed to Roman Catholicism but also alienated from the German Reformation. The two categories are human reason and the efficacy of the Word.

Reason, Magisterial and Ministerial

Sig Becker, The Foolishness of God, distinguished between the use of magisterial reason and ministerial reason in Luther. The question is not how bright or educated an individual is, but how that person treats the Scriptures. Magisterial reason places human reason above the Bible and judges its content. For example, if the Feeding of the Five Thousand seems impossible, then someone can make up a reason why it happened. The explanation is – everyone was ashamed that the boy was willing to give up his food, so they brought out the food they had hidden in their clothes, which is why they had leftovers. “It was a miracle of sharing,” as many rationalists have said.

This kind of reasoning was used against the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, the Lord being present in both natures, human and divine, conferring forgiveness upon the believing participant.

Zwingli rejected the Sacraments, saying the Holy Spirit did not need a vehicle, like a horse cart, to work. Likewise, Calvin made fun of the Real Presence in his Institutes.

The ministerial use of reason means that man puts aside his opinions and subordinates them to the plain teaching of the Word of God. In this way, man uses his education, studies, and abilities to learn the truths revealed by the Scriptures. This is in harmony with the efficacy of the Word, which is taught throughout the Bible.

Efficacy of the Word

Denying the efficacy of the Word is the key to the errors of Zwingli, Calvin, and all Enthusiasts – those who separate the Spirit from the Word. Efficacy is foundational throughout the Bible, starting with Genesis 1. Basic to Zwingli and Calvin is denial of this divine energy always working with the Word and never apart from the Word. They consider the Bible itself as “dead letter” - unless the interpreter makes it come alive, or germane and appealing. One example from Calvinist lore is – the Word is like an iron statue in a garden, pointing the way but not providing the energy.

 

 

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A New Walther Emerges - The Actual Leader, Not the Mythical

Walther is the little dog pretending he brought over 700 people over to start the Missouri Synod. The big dog is Stephan, who developed and executed the Saxon migration to America.

The Walther episodes I am posting are the very first draft as I work on how to present the doctrinal material. 

The biographical first part is done, but needs editing and dates.

Next will a discussion of Calvinism, Pietism, and Rationalism. This is important for understanding the current debacle, where the Missouri Synod and its little sisters pretend to be Lutheran while embracing Calvinism and Rationalism.

Finally, Walther's entirely false doctrine is exposed in two areas:

1. Objective Justification

2. Election without Faith

The next book is Attempted Murder, about the wholesale rejection of the traditional text and the translation of the week devised to sow confusion.
 

Historical Photo - Titanic, 1912