Luther and Zwingli

Unity is essential among Christians, but unity does not mean uniformity, and one of the most remarkable patterns in Church history is that God uses his church and blesses his children even when, for various reasons, they sometimes disagree. History’s first missionary team, Paul and Barnabas, split up over the John Mark issue in Acts 15. Wesley and Whitefield were at odds over various points of their theologies. And the Reformers themselves, strong-willed men, crossed swords over, among other things, the nature of the Lord’s Supper.

The Swiss Reformers, led by Ulrich Zwingli, insisted that the Lord’s Supper was a memorial service, while the German Reformers, led by Martin Luther, insisted that Christ is actually present in the consecrated bread and wine, although Luther was never able to explain exactly how that happens. The conflict was so sharp that a local political leader invited the men to his beautiful castle in Marburg on this date in church history: October 1, 1529. The discussions took place in the banquet hall where a long table, covered with a velvet runner, was set in the middle of the room.

Before the proceedings began, Luther took a piece of chalk and, on the cloth in front of him, wrote the words, “This is my body.” The debate raged for three days. Zwingli insisted that the verb “is” in the phrase ‘’This is my body” should be interpreted as “represents.” Luther said, “Where in the Bible does the verb ‘is’ ever mean ‘represent’?”

Zwingli showed him several places. But Luther wouldn’t budge.

At the end of the three-day conference, the delegates had agreed on fourteen of fifteen areas of former division. But on the fifteenth-the Lord’s Supper-they failed to reach agreement and the Reformers were unable to join the German and Swiss factions into one powerful whole.

As a result, Zwingli lost the support of the German princes. The five Catholic Cantons of Switzerland sent an army against him, and he died in the battle of Kappel. But nothing could stop the Reformer’s fire, and despite the failure of the Marburg meetings, the doctrine of justification by grace through faith spread across the continent.