History of the Christian Church, Volume VIII: Modern Christianity. The Swiss
Reformation.
§ 3. The Genius of the Swiss Reformation compared with the German.
On the difference between the Lutheran and the Reformed Confessions see Göbel,
Hundeshagen, Schnekenburger, Schweizer, etc., quoted in Schaff, Creeds of
Christendom, vol. I. 211.
Protestantism gives larger scope to individual and national freedom and variety of
development than Romanism, which demands uniformity in doctrine, discipline,
and worship. It has no visible centre or headship, and consists of a number of
separate and independent organizations under the invisible headship of Christ. It is
one flock, but in many folds.
Variety in unity and unity in variety are the law of God in nature and history.
Protestantism so far has fully developed variety, but not yet realized unity.
The two original branches of evangelical Christendom are the Lutheran and the
Reformed Confessions. They are as much alike and as much distinct as the Greek
and the Roman branches of Catholicism, which rest on the national bases of
philosophical Greece and political Rome. They are equally evangelical, and admit of
an organic union, which has actually been effected in Prussia and other parts of
Germany since the third anniversary of the Reformation in 1817. Their differences
are theological rather than religious; they affect the intellectual conception, but not
the heart and soul of piety. The only serious doctrinal difference which divided
Luther and Zwingli at Marburg was the mode of the real presence in the eucharist;
as the double procession of the Holy Spirit was for centuries the only doctrinal
difference between the Greek and Roman Churches. But other differences of
government, discipline, worship, and practice developed themselves in the course
of time, and overshadowed the theological lines of separation.
The Lutheran family embraces the churches which bear the name of Luther and
accept the Augsburg Confession; the Reformed family (using the term Reformed in
its historic and general sense) comprehends the churches which trace their origin
directly or indirectly to the labors of Zwingli and Calvin.1515 On the Continent and in
works of church history the designation Reformed includes Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and other non-Lutheran Protestants. Calvinism
and Puritanism are not church terms, but denote schools and parties within the
Reformed churches. The Anglican Reformed Church stands by itself as a
communion which was reformed under Lutheran and Calvinistic influences, but
occupies a position between Catholicism and Protestantism. In modern English
and American usage, the term Reformed has assumed a restricted sectional
sense in connection with other terms, as Reformed Dutch, Reformed German,
Reformed Presbyterian, Reformed Episcopalian. In England the second or Puritan
Reformation gave birth to a number of. new denominations, which, after the
Toleration Act of 1689, were organized into distinct Churches. In the eighteenth
century arose the Wesleyan revival movement, which grew into one of the largest
and most active churches in the English-speaking world.
Thus the Reformation of the sixteenth century is the mother or grandmother of at
least half a dozen families of evangelical denominations, not counting the sub-
divisions. Lutheranism has its strength in Germany and Scandinavia; the Reformed
Church, in Great Britain and North America.
The Reformed Confession has developed different types. Travelling westward with
the course of Christianity and civilization, it became more powerful in Holland,
England, and Scotland than in Switzerland; but the chief characteristics which
distinguish it from the Lutheran Confession were already developed by Zwingli and
Calvin.
The Swiss and the German Reformers agreed in opposition to Romanism, but the
Swiss departed further from it. The former were zealous for the sovereign glory of
God, and, in strict interpretation of the first and second commandments, abolished
the heathen elements of creature worship; while Luther, in the interest of free grace
and the peace of conscience, aimed his strongest blows at the Jewish element of
monkish legalism and self-righteousness. The Swiss theology proceeds from
God's grace to man's needs; the Lutheran, from man's needs to God's grace.
Reformation.
§ 3. The Genius of the Swiss Reformation compared with the German.
On the difference between the Lutheran and the Reformed Confessions see Göbel,
Hundeshagen, Schnekenburger, Schweizer, etc., quoted in Schaff, Creeds of
Christendom, vol. I. 211.
Protestantism gives larger scope to individual and national freedom and variety of
development than Romanism, which demands uniformity in doctrine, discipline,
and worship. It has no visible centre or headship, and consists of a number of
separate and independent organizations under the invisible headship of Christ. It is
one flock, but in many folds.
Variety in unity and unity in variety are the law of God in nature and history.
Protestantism so far has fully developed variety, but not yet realized unity.
The two original branches of evangelical Christendom are the Lutheran and the
Reformed Confessions. They are as much alike and as much distinct as the Greek
and the Roman branches of Catholicism, which rest on the national bases of
philosophical Greece and political Rome. They are equally evangelical, and admit of
an organic union, which has actually been effected in Prussia and other parts of
Germany since the third anniversary of the Reformation in 1817. Their differences
are theological rather than religious; they affect the intellectual conception, but not
the heart and soul of piety. The only serious doctrinal difference which divided
Luther and Zwingli at Marburg was the mode of the real presence in the eucharist;
as the double procession of the Holy Spirit was for centuries the only doctrinal
difference between the Greek and Roman Churches. But other differences of
government, discipline, worship, and practice developed themselves in the course
of time, and overshadowed the theological lines of separation.
The Lutheran family embraces the churches which bear the name of Luther and
accept the Augsburg Confession; the Reformed family (using the term Reformed in
its historic and general sense) comprehends the churches which trace their origin
directly or indirectly to the labors of Zwingli and Calvin.1515 On the Continent and in
works of church history the designation Reformed includes Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and other non-Lutheran Protestants. Calvinism
and Puritanism are not church terms, but denote schools and parties within the
Reformed churches. The Anglican Reformed Church stands by itself as a
communion which was reformed under Lutheran and Calvinistic influences, but
occupies a position between Catholicism and Protestantism. In modern English
and American usage, the term Reformed has assumed a restricted sectional
sense in connection with other terms, as Reformed Dutch, Reformed German,
Reformed Presbyterian, Reformed Episcopalian. In England the second or Puritan
Reformation gave birth to a number of. new denominations, which, after the
Toleration Act of 1689, were organized into distinct Churches. In the eighteenth
century arose the Wesleyan revival movement, which grew into one of the largest
and most active churches in the English-speaking world.
Thus the Reformation of the sixteenth century is the mother or grandmother of at
least half a dozen families of evangelical denominations, not counting the sub-
divisions. Lutheranism has its strength in Germany and Scandinavia; the Reformed
Church, in Great Britain and North America.
The Reformed Confession has developed different types. Travelling westward with
the course of Christianity and civilization, it became more powerful in Holland,
England, and Scotland than in Switzerland; but the chief characteristics which
distinguish it from the Lutheran Confession were already developed by Zwingli and
Calvin.
The Swiss and the German Reformers agreed in opposition to Romanism, but the
Swiss departed further from it. The former were zealous for the sovereign glory of
God, and, in strict interpretation of the first and second commandments, abolished
the heathen elements of creature worship; while Luther, in the interest of free grace
and the peace of conscience, aimed his strongest blows at the Jewish element of
monkish legalism and self-righteousness. The Swiss theology proceeds from
God's grace to man's needs; the Lutheran, from man's needs to God's grace.
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Both agree in the three fundamental principles of Protestantism: the absolute
supremacy of the Divine Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice; justification by free
grace through faith; the general priesthood of the laity. But as regards the first
principle, the Reformed Church is more radical in carrying it out against human
traditions, abolishing all those which have no root in the Bible; while Luther retained
those which are not contrary to the Bible. As regards justification by faith, Luther
made it the article of the standing or falling Church; while Zwingli and Calvin
subordinated it to the ulterior truth of eternal foreordination by free grace, and laid
greater stress on good works and strict discipline. Both opposed the idea of a
special priesthood and hierarchical rule; but the Swiss Reformers gave larger
scope to the popular lay element, and set in motion the principle of congregational
and synodical self-government and self-support.
Both brought the new Church into Close contact with the State; but the Swiss
Reformers controlled the State in the spirit of republican independence, which
ultimately led to a separation of the secular and spiritual powers, or to a free Church
in a free State (as in the free churches of French Switzerland, and in all the churches
of the United States); while Luther and Melanchthon, with their native reverence for
monarchical institutions and the German Empire, taught passive obedience in
politics, and brought the Church under bondage to the civil authority.
All the evangelical divines and rulers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
were inconsistently intolerant in theory and practice; but the Reformation, which was
a revolt against papal tyranny and a mighty act of emancipation, led ultimately to the
triumph of religious freedom as its legitimate fruit.
The Reformed Church does not bear the name of any man, and is not controlled by
a towering personality, but assumed different types under the moulding influence of
Zwingli and Bullinger in Zurich, of Oecolampadius in Basle, of Haller in Berne, of
Calvin and Beza in Geneva, of Ursinus and Olevianus in the Palatinate, of Cranmer,
Latimer, and Ridley in England, of Knox in Scotland. The Lutheran Church, as the
very name indicates, has the stamp of Luther indelibly impressed upon it; although
the milder and more liberal Melanchthonian tendency has in it a legitimate place of
honor and power, and manifests itself in all progressive and unionistic movements
as those of Calixtus, of Spener, and of the moderate Lutheran schools of our age.
Calvinism has made a stronger impression on the Latin and Anglo-Saxon races
than on the German; while Lutheranism is essentially German, and undergoes
more or less change in other countries. Calvin aimed at a reformation of discipline
as well as theology, and established a model theocracy in Geneva, which lasted for
several generations. Luther contented himself with a reformation of faith and
doctrine, leaving the practical consequences to time, but bitterly lamented the
Antinomian disorder and abuse which for a time threatened to neutralize his labors
in Saxony.
The Swiss Reformers reduced worship to the utmost simplicity and naked
spirituality, and made its effect for kindling or chilling-devotion to depend upon the
personal piety and intellectual effort of the minister and the merits of his sermons
and prayers. Luther, who was a poet and a musician, left larger scope for the
esthetic and artistic element; and his Church developed a rich liturgical and
hymnological literature.
Congregational singing, however, flourishes in both denominations; and the
Anglican Church produced the best liturgy, which has kept its place to this day, with
increasing popularity.
The Reformed Church excels in self-discipline, liberality, energy, and enterprise; it
carries the gospel to all heathen lands and new colonies; it builds up a God-fearing,
manly, independent, heroic type of character, such as we find among the French
Huguenots, the English Puritans, the Scotch Covenanters, the Waldenses in
Piedmont; and sent in times of persecution a noble army of martyrs to the prison
and the stake. The Lutheran Church cultivates a hearty, trustful, inward, mystic style
of piety, the science of theology, biblical and historical research, and wrestles with
the deepest problems of philosophy and religion.
God has wisely distributed his gifts, with abundant opportunities for
their exercise in the building up of his kingdom.
supremacy of the Divine Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice; justification by free
grace through faith; the general priesthood of the laity. But as regards the first
principle, the Reformed Church is more radical in carrying it out against human
traditions, abolishing all those which have no root in the Bible; while Luther retained
those which are not contrary to the Bible. As regards justification by faith, Luther
made it the article of the standing or falling Church; while Zwingli and Calvin
subordinated it to the ulterior truth of eternal foreordination by free grace, and laid
greater stress on good works and strict discipline. Both opposed the idea of a
special priesthood and hierarchical rule; but the Swiss Reformers gave larger
scope to the popular lay element, and set in motion the principle of congregational
and synodical self-government and self-support.
Both brought the new Church into Close contact with the State; but the Swiss
Reformers controlled the State in the spirit of republican independence, which
ultimately led to a separation of the secular and spiritual powers, or to a free Church
in a free State (as in the free churches of French Switzerland, and in all the churches
of the United States); while Luther and Melanchthon, with their native reverence for
monarchical institutions and the German Empire, taught passive obedience in
politics, and brought the Church under bondage to the civil authority.
All the evangelical divines and rulers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
were inconsistently intolerant in theory and practice; but the Reformation, which was
a revolt against papal tyranny and a mighty act of emancipation, led ultimately to the
triumph of religious freedom as its legitimate fruit.
The Reformed Church does not bear the name of any man, and is not controlled by
a towering personality, but assumed different types under the moulding influence of
Zwingli and Bullinger in Zurich, of Oecolampadius in Basle, of Haller in Berne, of
Calvin and Beza in Geneva, of Ursinus and Olevianus in the Palatinate, of Cranmer,
Latimer, and Ridley in England, of Knox in Scotland. The Lutheran Church, as the
very name indicates, has the stamp of Luther indelibly impressed upon it; although
the milder and more liberal Melanchthonian tendency has in it a legitimate place of
honor and power, and manifests itself in all progressive and unionistic movements
as those of Calixtus, of Spener, and of the moderate Lutheran schools of our age.
Calvinism has made a stronger impression on the Latin and Anglo-Saxon races
than on the German; while Lutheranism is essentially German, and undergoes
more or less change in other countries. Calvin aimed at a reformation of discipline
as well as theology, and established a model theocracy in Geneva, which lasted for
several generations. Luther contented himself with a reformation of faith and
doctrine, leaving the practical consequences to time, but bitterly lamented the
Antinomian disorder and abuse which for a time threatened to neutralize his labors
in Saxony.
The Swiss Reformers reduced worship to the utmost simplicity and naked
spirituality, and made its effect for kindling or chilling-devotion to depend upon the
personal piety and intellectual effort of the minister and the merits of his sermons
and prayers. Luther, who was a poet and a musician, left larger scope for the
esthetic and artistic element; and his Church developed a rich liturgical and
hymnological literature.
Congregational singing, however, flourishes in both denominations; and the
Anglican Church produced the best liturgy, which has kept its place to this day, with
increasing popularity.
The Reformed Church excels in self-discipline, liberality, energy, and enterprise; it
carries the gospel to all heathen lands and new colonies; it builds up a God-fearing,
manly, independent, heroic type of character, such as we find among the French
Huguenots, the English Puritans, the Scotch Covenanters, the Waldenses in
Piedmont; and sent in times of persecution a noble army of martyrs to the prison
and the stake. The Lutheran Church cultivates a hearty, trustful, inward, mystic style
of piety, the science of theology, biblical and historical research, and wrestles with
the deepest problems of philosophy and religion.
God has wisely distributed his gifts, with abundant opportunities for
their exercise in the building up of his kingdom.