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

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CHAPTER 3.
THE REFORMATION IN ZURICH. 1519–1526.
§ 10. ZWINGLI CALLED TO ZURICH.
The fame of Zwingli as a preacher and patriot secured him a call to the
position of chief pastor of the Great Minster (Grossmünster), the principal
church in Zurich, which was to become the Wittenberg of Switzerland.
Many of the Zurichers had heard him preach on their pilgrimages to
Einsiedeln. His enemies objected to his love of music and pleasure, and
charged him with impurity, adding slander to truth. His friend Myconius,
the teacher of the school connected with the church, exerted all his
influence in his favor. He was elected by seventeen votes out of twentyfour,
Dec. 10, 1518.
He arrived in Zurich on the 27th of the month, and received a hearty
welcome. He promised to fulfil his duties faithfully, and to begin with the
continuous exposition of the Gospel of Matthew, so as to bring the whole
life of Christ before the mind of the people. This was a departure from the
custom of following the prescribed Gospel and Epistle lessons, but justified
by the example of the ancient Fathers, as Chrysostom and Augustin, who
preached on whole books. The Reformed Churches reasserted the freedom
of selecting texts; while Luther retained the Catholic system of pericopes.
Zurich, the most flourishing city in German Switzerland, beautifully
situated in an amphitheatre of fertile hills, on the lake of the same name and
the banks of the Limmat, dates its existence from the middle of the ninth
century when King Louis the German founded there the abbey of
Frauemünster (853). The spot was known in old Roman times as a custom
station (Turicum). It became a free imperial city of considerable commerce
between Germany and Italy, and was often visited by kings and emperors.
The Great Minster was built in the twelfth century, and passed into the
Reformed communion, like the minsters of Basle, Berne, and Lausanne,
which are the finest churches in Switzerland.