SOURCE: "Zwingli: Theologian and Reformer," in Zwingli: An Introduction to His Thought, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1992, pp. 138–48.

In the following excerpt, Stephens offers an introduction to Zwingli's thinking as a theologian and reformer.

Zwingli's theology has many characteristic marks, of which the two most notable are that it is biblical and centred in God. They are not separate, but are intimately related, for the Bible is God's word and not man's and it points to faith in God and not in man.

A Biblical Theologian

The statue of Zwingli by the Wasserkirche in Zurich portrays him with the sword held by the left hand but with the Bible held above it in the right hand. The statue rightly emphasizes the central role of the Bible in Zwingli's reforming ministry. He began his ministry in Zurich on Saturday 1 January 1519, his 35th birthday. He announced that he would begin...