Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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In 1518 Oecolampadius showed his moral severity and zeal for a reform of
the pulpit by an attack on the prevailing custom of entertaining the people
in the Easter season with all kinds of jokes. “What has,” he asks, “a
preacher of repentance to do with fun and laughter? Is it necessary for us
to yield to the impulse of nature ? If we can crush our sins by laughter,
what is the use of repenting in sackcloth and ashes? What is the use of
tears and cries of sorrow? … No one knows that Jesus laughed, but every
one knows that he wept. The Apostles sowed the seed weeping. Many as
are the symbolic acts of the prophets, no one of them lowers himself to
become an actor. Laughter and song were repugnant to them. They lived
righteously before the Lord, rejoicing and yet trembling, and saw as clear
as the sun at noonday that all is vanity under the sun. They saw the net
being drawn everywhere and the near approach of the judge of the
world.” f172
After a short residence at Weinsberg and Augsburg, Oecolampadius
surprised his friends by entering a convent in 1520, but left it in 1522 and
acted a short time as chaplain for Franz von Sickingen at Ebernburg, near
Creuznach, where he introduced the use of the German language in the
mass.
By the reading of Luther’s writings, he became more and more fixed in
evangelical convictions. He cautiously attacked transubstantiation,
Mariolatry, and the abuses of the confessional, and thereby attracted the
favorable attention of Luther, who wrote to Spalatin (June 10, 1521): “I
am surprised at his spirit, not because he fell upon the same theme as I, but
because he has shown himself so liberal, prudent, and Christian. God grant
him growth.” In June, 1523, Luther expressed to Oecolampadius much
satisfaction at his lectures on Isaiah, notwithstanding the displeasure of
Erasmus, who would probably, like Moses, die in the land of Moab. “He
has done his part,” he says, “by exposing the bad; to show the good and to
lead into the land of promise, is beyond his power.” Luther and
Oecolampadius met personally at Marburg in 1529, but as antagonists on
the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, in which the latter stood on the side of
Zwingli.
In Nov. 17, 1522, Oecolampadius settled permanently in Basel and labored
there as preacher of the Church of St. Martin and professor of theology in
the University till his death. Now began his work as reformer of the church
of Basel, which followed the model of Zürich. He sought the friendship of