The following is an essay I wrote for Theologies of the Reformations, a fourth year course at CMU that I took last term.
The Schleitheim Confession:
From the Eyes of Zwingli and Calvin
The “Brotherly Union of a Number of
Children of God Concerning Seven Articles” or more commonly called the
Schleitheim Confession was a document composed by Michael Sattler and ratified
on February 24, 1527 by an assembly of Swiss Anabaptists gathered in Schleitheim
to help discern who they were. It is comprised of seven articles, each focusing
on a specific part of the faith that the Anabaptists felt was important. It was
immediately very popular with the Anabaptists, and some of its positions have
since become the norm for descendants of the Anabaptist movement like the
Mennonites.[1]
Because of its prominence, both
Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin responded to it. The Second part of Zwingli’s
“In Catabapistarum Strophus Elenchus” or “Refutation of the Tricks of the
Baptists” is a response to the seven articles in the Schleitheim Confession. It
was written in July 1527 for four reasons, as a justification for his
persecution of the Anabaptists, to answer internal struggles within himself, to
respond to the growing presence of second generation Anabaptists (the original
sex having died previous to its writing), and finally as the basis of a joint
policy among the Reformed cantons, which would mark the beginning of even more
persecution of the Anabaptists movement.[2] John Calvin also explored
the seven articles in his “Brief Instruction for Arming All the Good Faithful
Against The Errors of the Common Sect of the Anabaptists.” He wrote it
following a request of William Farel in 1544 for help in refuting the Anabaptists’
claims.[3] While much of Calvin’s and
especially Zwingli’s writings are quite vile towards the Anabaptists, this
Essay extracts the major arguments of all three documents so as to inform our
understanding of the theological debate in the Sixteenth Century about the
Anabaptists.
Sattler on Baptism
Baptism,
the first article of the Schleitheim Confessions, was a key definer of the
Anabaptist movement, hence the movement's name. Baptism is reserved for
believers, who have been "been taught repentance and the amendment of
life" and who believe that Jesus has saved them from their sins. Baptism
represented dying and rising in Christ. Infant baptism was not considered
valid, and in fact a papal abomination, because you had to be able to make the
decision and ask for it yourself. Their sources for it were "the writings
and the practice of the apostles" citing passages Mt. 28:19; Mk. 16:[1]6;[4] Acts 2:38; 8:36; 16:31-33;
19:4.[5]
Zwingli's Response
Zwingli agrees that baptism
"should be administered to all in Christ, both penitents and those
confessing that remission of sins is found" but he argues that the
confession is thinly veiled justification by works, because while remission of
sins is through Christ, it requires the person's elevated free will to walk in
the resurrection of Christ in order for us to be saved. Zwingli sees this as
being contrary to Jesus' words that no one comes to him unless the father sends
them.[6]
Zwingli also notes an apparent
contradiction between this first article and the seventh concerning oaths.
Anabaptists refuse to swear oaths. However, they only baptize those who "walk according to the resurrection of
Christ" since this requires a promise that the person will try to do this,
and yet will fail, making them liars why do you make them promise to something
they cannot keep, while refuse them from
doing something that they can, like swear an oath? [7]
In terms of infant baptism, Zwingli
has similar thoughts to Calvin (see below), connecting the practice to
circumcision, arguing that the demand for a confession of faith before baptism
was non biblical since those who were circumcised were generally unable to make
said confession. Zwingli acknowledges that Anabaptists probably would not
accept this since they ignore the old testament, even though Christ didn't,
citing 1 Corinthian 10 and Colossians 3.[8]
Calvin's Response
Calvin's
response to the first article begins first with refuting the claim that infant
baptism is a papal heresy. Instead, he says that there is not a single Doctor
of the church who does not claim that the practice traces itself to the days of
the apostles. While this wasn't a major claim for him, Calvin mentions it
because one of his goals in the process was "informing the simple."[9] Even though the Catholic
Church has been the ones preserving the practice, Calvin notes that its
authority is not derived from tradition, and that it does not depend on humans
to continue to continue its saving work.[10]
Calvin
notes that the Schleitheim Confession’s understanding comes from a combination
of Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit" and Mark 16:16 "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,"
however, they are taking the portions about baptism out of context since
baptism only comes secondary to the preaching and receiving of the Gospel.[11]
Furthermore
the salvation given to the one who believes in the good news is given to their
children. As long they do not believe, then they are strangers to the church,
but when salvation leads them into repentance and faith, their whole family
becomes part of the church.[12] Instead of each person
needing to understand the gospel in order to be baptized, as according to
Schleitheim, the children are baptised based on the parent’s confession of
faith. [13]
Therefore
the passages in Matthew and Mark only apply to people who are both able to be
taught and outside the Christian church.[14] This is similar to how
Abraham, who was an adult and was brought into God's "Church" thereby
accepting God's covenant of circumcision which he passed down to future
generations who received it while they were still infants.[15] St Paul shows
this in action when he writes "For the unbelieving husband has been
sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified
through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as
it is, they are holy".[16] Calvin defends this use
of the Old Testament covenant, by citing Paul again in Ephesians 2 where it
says that Jesus came to earth to eliminate any difference between Jew and
gentile so that both may be children of God.[17]
Calvin also
refutes the argument that since there is no evidence of the apostles baptizing
infants then we should not do it, by arguing that there is no evidence that
they gave the Lord's Supper to any women either, and yet we do not exclude them
from God's grace, so why should we exclude infants from participating in
baptism if God considers them God's servants?.[18]
Sattler on the Ban
The second article of the
Schleitheim confession was about the Ban, or excommunication. An issue, which
according to Kenneth R. Davis may actually rival baptism as one of the key
concerns of the Anabaptists, for while Baptism determined membership into God's
kingdom, it was church discipline that kept the kingdom pure. In fact, in their
institution of the community, awareness of the need to restore the ban may have
had priority.[19]
The ban followed the rule of Christ in Matthew 18, if a brother or sister was
sinning, then they should be warned twice privately, before being brought
before the church for admonishment. Only after this third attempt was someone
removed from the community. But this has to happen before communion because it
is important that the holy body of Christ be united as they eat the one bread
and drink from one cup.[20]
Zwingli's Response
Zwingli
makes an interesting mistake. Based on his reading of his own Latin translation
of the Schleitheim confession, he accuses the Anabaptists of twisting the words
around and saying that the third offense should result in the church's
"correction" while the bible says "admonition" which would
be an issue if this were the case, correction just means moving from a wrong
position to a right position, while admonition includes a threat.[21] However, the original
German used the term for admonition, a fact that Yoder preserves in his
translation,[22]
even though Yoder often preferred Zwingli's Latin for translating over German
manuscripts.[23]
It is surprising Zwingli would make such a mistake and in the process ruin his
argument.[24],[25]
However, he
does raise a valid concern about the use of the Lord’s Supper as part of
discipline. For Anabaptists, at the beginning of the observance, they had to
“declare that they were willing to take the ban upon themselves when and if it
would be pronounced” which could happen immediately thereafter.[26] Instead reminding them
about concepts like the “wheat and tares”, which Calvin also uses (see below),
saying that some Churches are too lax, while others are too hard.[27] He also accuses the
Anabaptists of not being consistent with their use of the Ban. Pointing to the
practice of the apostles where people who committed major crimes like homicide
or adultery were excommunicated, and yet within the Anabaptists there was a
member who had killed another Anabaptist, but was not excommunicated.[28]
Calvin's Response
Calvin had
to be careful in this section because Church Discipline was important to his
work in Geneva. He began by affirming that the ban "is a sound and holy
order, not only useful but also necessary".[29] However he thinks that
the Anabaptists have stolen this idea from him (which is preposterous since he
was still a roman catholic and only 16 years old when the Anabaptists wrote the
Schleitheim confession in 1527)[30], however that they did so
imperfectly, while the Calvinists teach the pure doctrine concerning the ban.[31]
Calvin
argues that while Anabaptists will not celebrate the Lord's supper in a
congregation that does not practice the ban since that congregation is not a
true church, and that those present who should be excommunicated pollute it;
the Calvinists, believe that while it is unfortunate and imperfect when a
church doesn't have the ban that does not stop it from being a true church.
Calvinists also believe that it is wrong to separate from said church. Calvin
notes that even though Paul is disappointed and admonishes the church at
Corinth for not using the ban, he still called them a Christian church.[32]
Calvin,
then goes on to note that the church itself is corrupted for two reasons:
first, that every member of the church is going to sin at some point and fall
from perfection, so we always need God's amazing grace. And second, that even
in a church with the ban, diligently working to enforce it, there are always
going to be "evil hypocrites who infect the fellowship with their
filthiness." Therefore, Calvin admonishes the reader to listen to the Lord
who said that "it is necessary to tolerate many bad weeds for fear that if
we should pull them all up we might lose the good grain in the process"
(based on Matt 13:25-29).[33] Therefore it is important
to not condemn a church for not practicing the ban, or else you would injure
good Christians along with the bad.[34]
When considering whether or not one should remove themselves
from a church for fear of being polluted by sinners, Calvin points to the Old
Testament prophets who even though were surrounded by a sinful people never
stopped assembling the people to worship God through sacrifice and observing
the law. Neither did they move away and build a new altar. Even Jesus went to
the temple in Jerusalem who worshipped along with the "depraved" Pharisees
and scribes.[35]
Throughout this section Calvin highlights the fact that God
gives grace to those who are "overcome by their conumpisences[sic]"
and understand their depravity. He says that if we do not allow God to be God
and save sinners, then we condemn them.[36]
Sattler on the Lord’s Supper
For Sattler, only those who were
joined with the body of Christ through baptism could participate in communion.
Citing Paul, he writes that those who follow “the devil and the world” cannot
participate in communion.[37]
Zwingli’s Response
First, he focuses on the fact that
the baptism they speak of is their own baptism, while the Anabaptists thought
infant baptisms (which everyone else practiced) did not count as a true
baptism, and so their believer’s baptism was not a rebaptism but rather a first
baptism,[38]
Zwingli called it a pseudo- or
catabaptism. Zwingli, quick to defend his own baptism argues that by being
baptised again, an act of dying and being risen in Christ, they are crucifying
Christ for a second time.
He also
notes that while the Anabaptists require that they who willingly sin should be
excluded from the table, but charges that their excommunication immediately
before (mentioned above), is itself a sin, and therefore they are hypocrites.[39]
Finally, he attacks the Anabaptists
for their condemnation of feasts and rituals. He says that this is unbiblical
because Jesus and his disciples went to weddings and to Jerusalem, and that
Israel celebrated festivals three times a year. Therefore they are condemning
things that Christ himself did not hate and yet they “think of themselves so
finely.”[40]
Calvin’s Response
Calvin barely mentions the third
article because he agrees with it; nobody should come to the communion table
unless they are truly a part of the body of Christ.[41]
Sattler on Separation from Evil
As has been stated previously, it
was important for the Anabaptists to stay pure; as such the fourth article of
the Schleitheim Confession was about separation from evil. Since all who have
not entered into the body of Christ are “a great abomination before God”
nothing good can come from them. Therefore everything is either good or evil
and we need to pick good. Therefore, all “popish and repopish works and
idolatry” (read: catholic and protestant practices and theology), winehouses,
promises of unbelief, and anything else that that the world thinks is important
is all vanity before God. Therefore, the Anabaptists also need to put away
weapons of violence both for protected themselves and friends or vanquishing
enemies because Christ told them “You shall not resist evil.”[42]
Zwingli’s Response
Again Zwingli seems confused; he has
combined the titles of the fourth and fifth articles (avoiding abomination and
pastors) so that it comes to read avoiding abominable pastors. Zwingli seems
rather paranoid, for him is seems obvious that the thing the Anabaptists are
trying to avoid is him.[43] This is why he writes
“you would hardly divine if they had not said in the title that they dealt with
the avoidance of abominable pastors in the church”[44]
In his response, he is careful to
avoid condemning separation from the church, because his own movement would
face the same criticism, so the question becomes what constitutes valid
separation.[45]
Separation for Zwingli is about separation from those who malign, not those who
are weak. Christ teaching that the wicked should be shunned when they no longer
respect the church.[46]
At this point he challenges the
Anabaptists’ conversion techniques. Saying that new converts are not allowed to
attend other churches for at least a month so that they can be properly
brainwashed, and instead have to attend church in the dark or at the house of a
member because this works better than if they actually tried to debate their
position within the church.[47]
Finally Zwingli critiques the
Anabaptists’ rejection of the sword, saying that if they hate murder, then they
need to avoid anything that could kill, like choking on a grape seed, or
getting stung by a bee (Zwingli 192).[48] Zwingli contends that the
magistrates are immune to the commands of Christ to not resist evil or to not
rule because those commands were only given to the apostles and bishops, while
the authority for magistrates come from God. The Anabaptist fears authority
because they seek to create confusion.[49]
Zwingli ends by stating that he too
encourages the laying down of arms, but that the sword should be used for
legitimate defence of those suffering.[50]
Calvin’s Response
Calvin applauds the Anabaptists for
condemning Catholic superstitions and prohibiting Christians from practicing
them, but then he takes exception to the Anabaptists’ conclusion that the use
of the sword is not allowed. He notes that the Christian’s primary weapons are
prayer and gentleness and that they “conquer evil by doing good” so the threatened
Christian suffers evil. But the magistrate is called by God to use the sword
for “restraining and preventing the violence of the wicked” (Calvin71-72).[51]
For Calvin, the prophets’
proclamation of the turning swords and spears into farm implements (Isaiah 2:4
and Mic 4:3) as being something that will occur only within the church, that
Christians should not fight wars against other Christians, but that outside the
church evil reigns, so it is necessary to use the sword. Princes are therefore
ordained by god to protect their countries, but they need to do everything
possible to avoid the use of violence.[52] Justification for
including the magistrates as instruments of God is given to the fact that John
the Baptist baptized soldiers and Peter baptized Cornelius and neither baptizer
is reported of saying anything about
their jobs.[53]
Sattler on Pastors
In a growing movement like the
Anabaptists were, leadership is very important. For those gathered at
Schleitheim, it was important that pastors should be above reproach, “read and
exhort and teach, warn admonish, or ban in the congregation,” as well as lead
in prayer, communion and anything else the congregation needed. These pastors
should be supported, by the congregation so they have time to properly prepare
for church. They also provide a way to reprimand the pastor, with two or three
witnesses, and in public so even as they face discipline, they are also
teaching fear to others. If something happens to the pastor, a new pastor is to
be ordained immediately so that the flock has leadership.[54]
Zwingli’s Response
Zwingli sees the providing of
support for a pastor as being hypocritical since they “deny to the bishop of
the Christian church” the same. Zwingli argues that the pastor should support
themselves some other way than burdening the congregation since they have so
many other taxes that they have to pay.[55]
Calvin’s Response
Calvin
begins by noting that over time the Anabaptists have changed from having
pastors running around to various congregations to now being called to a
certain place. Calvin’s explanation for why this occurred initially was so that
“they could spread their poison everywhere”. However, he agrees that churches
need ministers to keep them intact. However, he takes exception to the way that
the Anabaptists will not listen to a sermon from a Calvinist preacher, and how
they view other churches as ravishing wolves, this view causing discord within
the church, and setts one group against another.[56]
Sattler on the Sword
For Sattler, the sword is “an
ordering of God outside the perfection of Christ,” It protects that which is
good, and punishes the wicked. The Secular rulers are given authority to use
it. But within the perfection of Christ, the only form of punishment is the
ban. Christ teaches that within the church, we are to admonish people not to
sin. Christians are not supposed to be judges because Jesus refused to judge
inheritance, and that Christians should not be magistrates because government
is something reserved for the flesh, while Christians live by the spirit.[57]
Zwingli’s Response
For Zwingli, he notes how when the
Anabaptists say that members of Christ who do not meet the perfection of Christ
might need the sword, and yet they are refusing it, therefore the Anabaptists
are claiming to be within the perfection of Christ.[58]
Zwingli also cites a well-known
story about someone who had been an Anabaptist but returned from it, who said
“if we had been as superior to you as you were to us, you would have seen
whether we had swords and oaths or not”.[59] The weak twist morality
in order that their position is the just one, even though if they had the power
they would not be so quick to take that position.
According to Zwingli, Jesus never
forbade a Christian from political office. Where Jesus says “who would follow
me must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” does not mean that
Christians could not follow Jesus and rule, since many “kings have despised
themselves and followed him, though retaining royal authority until the end.”
(Zwingli 202). Zwingli also notes that Peter baptized Cornelius, and Philip
baptized the eunuch both without forbidding them to rule, as well as how Paul
allowed Christians to be masters as long as they are faithful.[60]
Zwingli
also notes that Christians would make the best judges since they would be the
most just because they would be “rightly affected to all, and unwavering,
giving no decision in partiality or hatred or fear or violence. (Zwingli 204).
And yet, supposedly Christians can’t be magistrates because that is a worldly
job. But if that is the case, then nobody could be a Christian since everyone
is in the world. But if being in the spirit refers to prayer and contemplation,
and then a magistrate could pray and contemplate and then do their job while being
in the spirit.[61]
Calvin’s Response
Calvin disagrees with the
Anabaptists; there are many judges, kings and prophets in the Old Testament who
made use of the sword for God’s work. While the Anabaptists might claim that
God requires more perfection from the church than the Jewish people, this is
not the case. In Matthew 5 when it looks like Jesus is giving a new law, really
Jesus is just restoring the original intention of the law.[62]
Calvin
notes the inconsistency that Anabaptists maintain that the magistrates’ use of
the sword is ordained by God, but somehow if you do that you are sinning.
(Calvin 81). He also notes that if it were wrong for a person to rule, than it
would be wrong for a people to rule, and yet, Paul says it is okay for Christians
to own slaves, though they treat them differently than the secular masters
would.[63]
He also
argues that just because Jesus did not govern does not mean that his followers
cannot. Luke 9:58 says that Jesus had no place to rest his head, if we applied
the same logic, then Christians could not own property.[64] Instead, Christians are
allowed to govern, and they must do so in a way that makes God’s name exalted
above all others. They need to understand that they are servants of God.
Anabaptists are therefore enemies of God because they try to fight against
something that God has put in place[65]
Sattler on the Oath
The final section of the Schleitheim
Confession is on the Oath. They define it as “a confirmation among those
quarreling or making promises. In the law it should only be done in the name of
God.” But then Jesus tells his disciples to not swear. And while some might
argue that since God swore to Abraham that we should be able to as well, God
has the power to do what he commands mere mortals to. The Schleitheim
confession also delineates between swearing and testifying about what is
present. Concluding that our words should just be a simple yes or no.[66]
Zwingli’s Response
Zwingli’s response is that if the
Anabaptists did away with oaths and magistrates, then there would be total
chaos.[67] Oaths are for Zwingli
also a good thing. Oaths are “an appeal to God in deciding or vouching for
something.” They have their roots in exodus, and are calling on God’s wrath if
the person making the oath disobeys it.[68] Oaths are therefore an “anchor” to the truth.[69]
Zwingli then turns to Matthew 5:33
and argues that Christ would not forbid the use of swearing, just the use of swearing
lightly. Christians are supposed to not swear falsehoods.[70]
Calvin’s Response
Calvin again notes that he agrees
largely with the Anabaptist’s sentiment. There was too much swearing happening
at the time, and that God’s name was much cheapened. [71]And yet he wants to
maintain the oath.
The oath,
for Calvin, is a good thing, it is ordained by God for “confirming and
ratifying truth”, and that God is honoured by it when his people use it.
(Calvin 93). He says that the Anabaptists need to discern whether there is a
difference between bad oaths and good ones.[72] In the law, it is the
taking of God’s law in vain that is prohibited, not the act of using it itself.[73]
Calvin then tries to discern what
exactly Jesus was trying to prohibit in Matthew five. Calvin claims that the
scribes and Pharisees had taught the people that it was okay to break the law
as long as they didn’t use the Tetragrammatons’.[74] Instead, Calvin says that
God is the only thing that is okay to be sworn by.[75]
Calvin’s doctrine of human depravity
shines again when he argues that oaths would be superfluous if humans were
actually loyal and firm. However, since there are so many lies in the world,
the only way to trust each other is through the use of oaths.
Calvin then says that the
Anabaptists themselves admit to the Apostles’ use of testimony and say that
oaths are okay if they are a verification of the truth, and are only wrong when
it is a promise. But then, that would make Israel's use of oaths of loyalty to
God a misuse of the law even though God commanded it (Calvin 104-5).[76]
Conclusion
While both Zwingli and Calvin’s writings are adversarial to
the Anabaptists, and appear to have mistaken, it is important however to note
that there are flaws in the Schleitheim confession as well and many of Zwingli
and Calvin’s arguments make a lot of sense. This serves as an awakener that our
ancestors might not have been the heroes that we thought they were. That being
said, it is a testimony to the Schleitheim Confession’s witness that even
though it initially was passed on handwritten copies, and was restricted, that
it still survives to today. While the Schleitheim confession is not the
confession of faith used specifically by Mennonite Church Canada, it is still
an important part of our history, and is still a key touchstone in our
theology.
References
Calvin, John. “Brief
Instruction for Arming All the Good Faithful Against the Errors of the
Common
Sect of the Anabaptists.” In Treatises
Against the Anabaptists and Against
the Libertines,
edited and translated by Benjamin Wirt Farley, 11-158. Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House, 1982.
Davis, Kenneth R., “No
Discipline, No Church: An Anabaptist Contribution to the Reformed
Tradition,”
The Sixteenth Century Journal, 13,
no. 4 (1982):43-58.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2540009.
Farley, Benjamin Wirt.
“Editor’s Introduction” In Treatises
Against the Anabaptists and Against
the Libertines,
13-35. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982.
Harder, Leland.
“Zwingli’s Reaction to the Schleitheim Confession of Faith of the Anabaptists,”
The Sixteenth Century Journal, 11,
no. 4 (1980): 51-66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539975.
Sattler, Michael. The
Schleitheim Confession,. Translated by John H. Yoder. Kitchener: Harold
Press,
1977.
Wenger, John C. and C.
Arnold Snyder. “Schleitheim Confession.” Global Anabaptist
Mennonite
Encyclopedia Online. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schleitheim_Confession.
Zwingli, Ulrich. “Refutation of the
Tricks of the Catabaptists, 1527” in Selected
Works, translated
and edited by
Samuel Macaulet Jackson, 123-258. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1972.
[1]
John C. Wenger and C. Arnold Snyder. “Schleitheim Confession.” Global
Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schleitheim_Confession.
[2]
Leland Harder, “Zwingli’s Reaction to the Schleitheim Confession of Faith of
the Anabaptists,” The Sixteen Century
Journal, 11, no. 2 (1980), 52,53,66.
[3]
Benjamin Wirt Farley, “Editor’s Introduction” in Treatises Against the Anabaptists and the Libertines, (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982),19.
[4]
The text says Mark 16:6, but that doesn’t have anything to do with baptism,
while Mark 6:16 does.
[5]
Michael Sattler, The Schleitheim
Confession, trans, John H. Yoder (Kitchener: Herald Press, 1977), 10.
[6]
Ulrich Zwingli “Refutation of the Tricks of the Catabaptists, 1527,” in Selected Works, ed. Samuel Macauley
Jackson (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972), 179.
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Ibid.
[9]
John Calvin, “Brief Instruction for Arming All the Good Faithful Against the
Errors of the Common Sect of the Anabaptists” in Treatises Against the Anabaptists and Against the Libertines, ed.& trans.
Benjamin Wirt Farley, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), 45.
[10]
Ibid.
[11]
Ibid.
[12]
Ibid., 46-7.
[13]
Ibid., 47.
[14]
Ibid.
[15]
Ibid.
[16] 1
Corinthians 7:14, New International Version.
[17]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 51.
[18]
Ibid., 55.
[19]
Kenneth R. Davis “No Discipline, No Church: An Anabaptist Contribution to the
Reformed Tradition,” The Sixteenth
Century Journal, 13, no. 4 (1982), 45.
[20]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 10-11.
[21]
Zwingli, Refutation, 181.
[22]
Sattler, 10.
[23]
Harder, “Zwingli’s Reaction,” 55.
[24]
Ibid., 57
[25] I
noticed the inconsistency, but Harder explained the significance to me.
[26]
Harder, “Zwingli’s Reaction,” 57.
[27]
Ibid.. 58.
[28]
Zwingli, Refutation, 182.
[29]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 56.
[30]
Davis, “No Discipline,” 57.
[31]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 56.
[32]
Ibid., 57.
[33]
Ibid., 59.
[34]
Ibid., 60.
[35]
Ibid., 62.
[36]
Ibid., 70.
[37]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 11.
[38]
Davis, “No Discipline,” 43.
[39]
Zwingli, Refutation, 186-7.
[40]
Ibid., 187.
[41]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 71.
[42]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 11-13.
[43]
Harder, “Zwingli’s Reaction,” 59.
[44]
Zwingli, Refutation, 187.
[45]
Harder, “Zwingli’s Reaction,” 58.
[46]
Zwingli, Refutation, 190.
[47]
Ibid., 191.
[48]
Ibid,. 192.
[49]
Ibid., 193.
[50]
Ibid.
[51]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 71-2.
[52]
Ibid., 73.
[53]
Ibid.
[54]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 13-14.
[55]
Zwingli, Refutation, 194-5.
[56]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 74-5.
[57]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 14-16.
[58]
Zwingli, Refutation, 197.
[59]
Ibid., 198.
[60]
Ibid,. 202-4.
[61]
Ibid., 205.
[62]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 77-8.
[63]
Ibid, 89.
[64]
Ibid.
[65]
Ibid., 91.
[66]
Sattler, The Schleitheim Confession, 16-18.
[67]
Zwingli, Refutation, 208.
[68]
Ibid,. 209.
[69]
Ibid, 210.
[70]
Ibid., 211.
[71]
Calvin, “Brief Instruction,” 92.
[72]
Ibid,. 95.
[73]
Ibid., 97.
[74]
Ibid.
[75]
Ibid., 98.
[76]
Ibid., 104-105.