The Contributions of Zurich and Strasbourg

Abstract

Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Bucer both built on an Erasmian foundation in arguing against Christ’s corporeal presence, and their publications widened the gap between the Wittenbergers and the sacramentarians. Most of Zwingli’s pamphlets from 1526 were directed against Catholic opponents within Switzerland in the context of the Baden Disputation. Johannes Eck defended Christ’s true presence rather than transubstantiation more specifically, which meant that Zwingli’s responses to Eck attacked both the Catholic and the Wittenberg positions. In response to Leo Jud’s efforts to cite his authority, Erasmus published a denunciation of those saying the sacrament was only bread and wine, although he did not endorse transubstantiation. Bucer’s insertion of his own views into his translation of Luther’s postils only worsened his reputation for duplicity among the Wittenbergers. Luther’s published sermons on the sacrament prompted Zwingli’s 1527 treatises that added Christology to the disputed issues.