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

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The Council was not prepared to order the immediate abolition of the mass
and the images. It punished Hottinger and other “idol-stormers” by
banishment, and appointed a commission of ministers and laymen,
including Zwingli, Schmidt and Judae, who should enlighten the people on
the subject by preaching and writing. . Zwingli prepared his “Short and
Christian Introduction,” which was sent by the Council of Two Hundred to
all the ministers of the canton, the bishops of Constance, Basle, and Coire,
the University of Basle, and to the twelve other cantons (Nov. 17,
1523). f100 It may be compared to the instruction of Melanchthon for the
visitation of the churches of Saxony (1528).
A third disputation, of a more private character, was held Jan. 20, 1524.
The advocates of the mass were refuted and ordered not to resist any
longer the decisions of the magistracy, though they might adhere to their
faith.
During the last disputation, Zwingli preached a sermon on the corrupt state
of the clergy, which he published by request in March, 1524, under the title
“The Shepherd.” f101 He represents Christ as the good Shepherd in contrast
with the selfish hirelings, according to the parable in the tenth chapter of
the Gospel of John. Among the false shepherds he counts the bishops who
do not preach at all; those priests who teach their own dreams instead of
the Word of God; those who preach the Word but for the glorification of
popery; those who deny their preaching by their conduct; those who preach
for filthy lucre; and, finally, all who mislead men away from the Creator to
the creature. Zwingli treats the papists as refined idolaters, and repeatedly
denounces idolatry as the root of the errors and abuses of the Church.
During the summer of 1524 the answers of the bishops and the Diet
appeared, both in opposition to any innovations. The bishop of Constance,
in a letter to Zurich, said that he had consulted several universities; that the
mass and the images were sufficiently warranted by the Scriptures, and had
always been in use. The canton appointed a commission of clergymen and
laymen to answer the episcopal document. f102 The Swiss Diet, by a
deputation, March 21, 1524, expressed regret that Zurich sympathized
with the new, unchristian Lutheran religion, and prayed the canton to
remain faithful to old treaties and customs, in which case the confederates
would cheerfully aid in rooting out real abuses, such as the shameful trade
in benefices, the selling of indulgences, and the scandalous lives of the
clergy.