Zwingli’s Transformation of Medieval Theology
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Apr 1, 2024Keywords:
Scotism, Word of God, Eucharist, matter, creationMain Article Content
Abstract
As Daniel Bolliger has shown, Zwingli’s development was deeply rooted in the Scotist tradition, as represented by Thomas Brulefer in particular. This article follows up on this observation in order to draw systematic conclusions. Zwingli took up Scotus’ understanding of God as a kind of being that is far above any relationship to the finite. Zwingli framed this notion in different ways throughout his career. The first step of his development was the opposition of the infinite creator to finite creation. In a second, decisively reformational step, Zwingli highlighted the difference between the Divine Word and that of the human. This leads to the difference between spirit and matter. This is at the source of Zwingli’s difference to Luther. Both show different ways of transforming the Middle Ages, leading to different ways of Reformation.
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