“Thanks be to God Lancaster, Pa., January, 1929.
(March, 1525)
[DE VE RA ET FALSA RELIGIONE Huldrychi Zuinglij Com- mentarius. Indicem capitum totius operis inue- nies in fine libri. TIGVRI in aedibus Christopheri Fro- schouer. Anno M. D. XXV. Mense Martio. Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis & one rati estis, & ego requiem vobis praestabo. Matt 11. 456 octavo pages, of which pages 18-452 are numbered 2-446. The numbers jump írom 320 to 331. Page 1, Title; pages 2-15, Dedication; pages 15-16, To the reader; pages 17-452, Text; pages 453-454, Errata; page 455, Index; page 456, Froschauer’s printer’s device.
Another edition was printed in 1525, entitled: DE VERA ET FALSA RELI- GIONE, HULDRYCHI Zuinglij Commentarius. Matth. XI. Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis & onerati estis, & ego requiem vobis praestabo. Then Froschouer’s printer’s device. TIGVRI EX OFFICINA FROSCHOVIANA. At the end of the dedication to Francis I. signed: Ez Tiguro, Anno M. D. XXV. 456 octavo pages, of which pages 17-453 are numbered 1-437; pages 453-454, Index; pages 455-456 blank. Printed in Opera Zwinglii, tom. II, fol. 158b-242b; Schuler and Schultess ed., vol. 3, pp. 147-325; Egli-Finsler ed., vol. 3, pp. 628-912.
A German edition, translated by Leo Jud and published by Froschauer n 1526 has the title: Von ware und falschem Glouben Commentarius, 42 ist, underrichtung, Huldyrch Zwinglins. Vertütschet durch Leonem Jud… Getruckt zü Zürich by Christoffel Froschouer, M. D. XXVI. —608 octavo pages, of which pages 29-605 are numbered by leaves. On pages 26-28 is Leo Jud’s dedication to Wilhelm von Zell. For the chapter on the Eucharist Jud used a translation by three unknown persons, of which three editions were published by Froschauer in 1525.
A partial modern German translation by Walter Kohler is in Ulrich “Zwingli: Eine Auswahl aus seinen Schriften, Zurich, 1918, pp. 484-608.
The following English translation, made by Mr. Henry Preble, was revised by the editor.]
To the most Christian King of France, Francis, the first of that name, grace and peace from the Lord. Huldreich Zwingli
WE all know, most illustrious King, what an impertinence it is for one of the crowd to venture to address one of the great leaders in the Christian world, as in these days we see not a few doing, who under color of a Christian profession persist in obtruding upon men of eminence in ways the very effrontery of which shows that they have not a particle of Christian spirit. For the Christian spirit causes no annoyance, so far is it from asserting itself in a forward or disrespectful manner. Yet we know, too, how outrageous and utterly unworthy of him it is for a prince to be so arrogant and swollen with pride as to suffer none to approach him except those few whom he has chosen out of all mankind to advise him and to attend him upon every possible occasion. For what else is this than to surround the prince with a barrier which it is unlawful to overleap, and, indeed, in the nature of a crime to imagine oneself across? Who would not call such a prince the most wretched of men, as being the slave of those very persons who to all appearance are his slaves? Not that it is not the sacred duty of a king or a prince to hear good counsel, to reverence the old, to honor the prudent, and to have a high regard for the wise; but that often —such is human life—those who are honored overmuch by princes for some unquestionably real and extraordinary merit, as soon as they see they have completely won the confidence of their prince, straightway degenerate, and take advantage of him for their own ends. This result we see at many courts.
Pardon my language. The laws and customs of the Kings of the French are so little known to me that I am wholly ignorant regarding the men by whom Your Highness is hedged about. There are, to be sure, not a few princes who are surrounded by such a crowd of greedy courtiers that, if an audience were granted, you could much more quickly get what you desire from a thousand kings than work your way through their serried ranks. They are like the sleepless dragon that, according to the tales of the poets, guarded the golden fleece. Such are in these days certain bishops in mitre and purple, who 80 encompass the most powerful kings that it would be strange how the kings can endure the continual sight of them or the bishops never leave, were it not that the latter take very great care to let no knowledge reach the kings that might betray
their artifices.
Since, however, Your Highness is proclaimed by all to be too clever to be hampered in this fashion, and too affable and kind to frighten any one away, I have put my trust in your kindness, not in my own boldness, and have determined to dedicate to you this Commentary, such as it is. This I do for many reasons:
First, you, who rule over the French, boast not without reason of the title Most Christian,” and as, in spite of all the haters of Christ, I think this Commentary most Christian, it surely ought to be dedicated to none but the Most Christian King. Second, the peoples of France have from ancient times been reputed faithful to religion; to whom,t therefore, could a “Commentary on True and False Religion” have been more appropriately dedieated. Finally, now that Germany, which has very great intercourse with France, has begun to open its eyes to the light of truth, I have thought that on neighborly prineiples France is entitled to this healing lotion, by which the light is being restored. For, alas! we were for a long time so crushed under the dark machinations of covetous men that we had to endure all things, as the people of Israel did the Egyptian bondage. But the Author of all things had regard for the affliction of our hearts as He had for their troubles, and brought forth the light of His word, whereby we can determine the identity and the character of the things that have hitherto so banefully imposed upon us. Heavenly Providence has this special attribute, that it gives early warning, rising up in the night, like the householder [ef. Lk. 13: 25], and speaking seasonably to us the things needful by the mouth of His servants the prophets [ef. Jer. 25: 4]. Yet, when we listen not to the warning, He sometimes suffers us to be vexed for a long while by those trials into which we have fallen through our disobedience. Witness the long line of ages from Adam to Christ, which hardly sufficed to allow salvation at last to shine upon man, because he had not listened to the loving warning not to eat of the forbidden fruit [cf. Gen. 2: 17]. Witness the three captivities, the Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Roman,
[Cf. vol. 1, p. 274. 1Plural.]
which last God has so prolonged to these days that the Jews have rightly given up all hope. Witness the folly of our own selves, whom Christ, the apostles, and countless others with such solicitude have warned not to believe the false prophets who would show us Christ, 4. e., the Anointed and Savior, far otherwise than he and his have done [cf. Mt. 24: 24; IT Cor. 11: 4]; but all in vain. For we have taken unto us strange gods, far more absurd than any heathen nations ever had. What heathen nation ever worshipped as God a man destined to die tomorrow, or rather today, as we worship the Roman pontiff? Nor can we deny it. We have called him “God upon earth,” and have worshipped a man with far more honorable worship than God. For when have emperors and kings prostrated themselves to the earth to adore the Most High God? It was enough to bend the knee. Except a certain few, who kissed or embraced the feet of Christ? But who is here admitted to an audience unless he has first licked the boots of this god? Because of our sins, therefore, we failed to understand this abominable idolatry, and that for a long time [ef. Rom. 1: 24f.]. And now, when at last it has pleased the Eternal Goodness to free poor mortals from such disaster by restoring His word, as I have said, who does not see how disgracefully we have been deceived about this clear light? Nay, who does not wonder that men endowed with minds and senses could have been so stupidly deceived? “Thus, I say, does the kind providence of God give early warning; but when we disobey or disregard His voice, He who was just before a Father becomes an Avenger, and pursues us with disaster that continues until in the enemy’s land we recognize our fault; and then, as soon as we have confessed our fault, He restores us to our former favor. Therefore those who are at all wise ought frequently to review their lives, and these, if very bad, ought to be changed; and unless this is done they may be sure that punishment awaits them before the bar. If, on the other hand, one fashions oneself daily upon the pattern of Christ, one should hope all things, for it is just as unlikely that
[So Pope Adrian II was addressed by a speaker at the Fifth Lateran]
[Council, Fourth Session (1512). See Mansi, Sacrorum Concilium Collectio,]
[vol. 32 (Paris, 1902), p. 762, and Williston Walker, The Reformation]
[(New York, 1900), p. 7.]
God would neglect any of the things He has made as it would be strange and unheard of for a mother to forget the child she had borne in her womb and nursed [ef. Isa. 49: 15]. Since, therefore, He never rests, never slumbers [cf. Ps. 121: 3 f.], we must never be careless or asleep, but, as soon as He speaks, instantly spring up and say with Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”
Let us, therefore, Most Illustrious King, raise our eyes for a little while and look around to see whether, in view of the foully disordered state of this order we call the world, we cannot from the very magnitude of the disease comprehend how necessary a remedy was. For if that was most clearly needed, no less clearly, as we shall see, did Divine Providence in due season provide the means of cure; for He never loiters, never fails. I will not speak here of the pontiffs, though, as they have always shamelessly arrogated the first place unto themselves, so shall they be the first to be smitten. For this reason, and because they are sufficiently exposed in my Commentary, I will pass them by, and direct attention to the kings and princes.
You see then, Most Christian King, how almost all princes rage and in their folly commit sin, just as did the Trojans and the Greeks, the former following a youth lost in the madness of his love, the later seeking to recover a harlot.t Do we not perceive the surging tide of folly of nations and kings? Do we not see the poor subjects smitten for the sins of their kings? Does not greed confound all things, bringing under its spell all that it turns its poisonous gaze upon, even though it gets it not within its hold, so that nothing is safe and secure from its power? It casts its eye upon another’s province or kingdom, puts all its forces into the field, and does not sound a retreat till it either utterly perishes itself or utterly destroys that which it covets; for no seizure of others’ possessions has ever taken p.aee without the destruction of one side or the other. But, since princes ought above all things to beware of wrong, and since wars so rashly begun cannot be carried through without wrong, and since the princes themselves are usually the originators of wars, who does not see that it is necessary for the
[Paris, the son of Priam. THelen, the wife of Menelaos, king of Sparta.]
Lord to place the lamp of His word at last in the very midst of us, that even the crowd may distinguish whether the conduct of their greedy princes is straight or crooked, just or unjust?
Now I will direct attention to the great mass of humble Christian folk. Do you see how depressed they are? And do you see that they have plenty of reason to be so? In the first place, consider, I pray you, how many and how heavy are the extortions, tributes, and taxes with which they are oppressed, that over their bodies and entire possessions greedy princes may force their way to glory and riches, and do it so lightly that even dread Hannibal seems to have held one elephant of more account than these hold companies of men. Though they destroy many thousands, that is reckoned as nothing, provided they attain what they desire. And what am I to say of the twofold oppression they endure? It is not enough that all their goods are in the power of the kings; what the kings have left them must be exposed to the cunning of the most abandoned of men. The wolf is among us—for I will not call “pastor” or “bishop” him whom not even the name of wolf can worthily characterize. The monks are among us, some so rich that they outdo the richest in arrogance and folly, some so shameless and insolent in begging that they extort through injustice what pity refused, though in accumulated wealth they are but little inferior to the richest. For whence have they the wherewithal to pay so many thousands for one red hat?t The nuns are among us likewise, tearing and mangling and treading under foot the poor people of Christ in such fashion that, as far as the body is concerned, it is better, it seems, to live under an impious king than under a Christian one who suffers the people entrusted to him by the Lord to be so impiously plucked to pieces. I cannot help speaking out freely here what I think, Most Christian King. What madness was it—for it cannot have been piety—that caused kings to allow monasteries of idle men to be created within their boundaries? If a band of robbers had built a stronghold or two, would they not have been crushed and dispersed by whole armies? Though,
[When Hannibal left Carthage in the spring of 218 B. C., he took with]
[him 37 elephants. Of these only one reached Italy. TThe “cappa magna” or Cardinal’s hat.]
for all that, their plundering would be not without risk, since they would have to fear the hand of the avenger. But now, when so many monasteries of robbers plundering unmolested have so long been flourishing everywhere, as if in a paradise of all delights and debauchery, and when it is no secret how they claim all men’s goods as their own (for both princes and kinglets have experience how their own revenues are beginning to fall off through the greed of these fellows), how is it that no one considers the people thus cruelly oppressed? It is surely because all men are given over to greed, according to the word of the prophet [Amos 9: 1]. When they ought, in some measure at least, to alleviate the evil, they cry “Peace, peace!”t but only in their own interest and not that of the people of Christ. Do we, then, imagine, that the Heavenly Father is fast asleep in the face of these troubles of His people? He sees and judges. Consider, also, that the people sometimes suffer these cruel hardships deservedly. For all are so filled with greed that no man more shamelessly cheats, deceives, and oppresses his neighbor than one Christian another. None is more hopelessly given over to fornication and adultery, and to enduring or perpetrating every form of lewdness. And our arrogance and luxury of dress are so great that all who in times past were notorious for these vices are surpassed. Our drunkenness is such that it outdoes all the tales of all the ages. Therefore doth the Lord visit so many ills upon His people, to bring them back into the way.
Since, then, to come back to the beginning, we are compelled to admit that the whole world is so corrupt, wicked, and shameless that it absolutely must be reformed, and since we know that the Heavenly Father never fails, but constantly warns or smites; and also, since we see that He has sent His word to heal this old sore and to snatch us from destruction, who will not lift up his head at the voice of the Lord? Who ean fail to see that the day of the Lord is at hand?—not that last day on which the Lord will judge the whole world, but the day on which He is to correct the present condition of things.
[Zwingli has in mind the reading of the Latin Vulgate: Avarita enim]
[in capite omnium. j1Alluding to such passages as Micah 3: 5,11; Jer. 6: 14, etc.]
“The lion will roar,” saith the prophet [Amos 3:8], “who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken; who will not prophesy?” “The Most High, I say, has put forth His voice; who, then, will not say, “1 will hear what the Lord God hath to say to me”? His Gospel, which to our loss has long been hid, even though the letter of it was not hidden, He has now brought back again, as Deuteronomy once to the Jews [cf. II Kings 22:8], to cleanse the foul of sin. He nowhere fails us, provided we do not fail ourselves. He never suffers the world to be very bad with impunity, but ever warns us to mend our ways in time, before He has prepared His rod. “They, therefore, that change their lives set free their souls; they that fail to do so are miserably destroyed, as Sodom [ecf. Gen. 19: 24f.] and Nineveh [ef. Jonah 3:4ff.] prove. Wherefore we, too, must look to this one point only, how we may transform our lives from very bad to very good. Else shall we suffer such disaster that we shall be forced to lament with the prophet [Jer. 9:1]: “Who will give my head water,” that we may be filled with weeping for the calamity that hath fallen upon us? The word of God has never been disregarded with impunity. Since, therefore, we now both see and hear that the true word of the true God is thriving, we shall by no means disregard it with impunity. Suppose some one says: “It is not the word of God that these fellows preach. Certainly, if it were the word of God, I would receive it gladly.” Let us not be moved a jot thereby, for the very wickedness of the whole world cries out for correction. When, therefore, at such a time we hear a new word, it cannot be the word of any other than God, who warns us every time we persist in our wickedness, and chastises us if we refuse to hear. From our crimes, therefore, we can infer that God is forced to send His word and rod. There is also another sure test, by which we see clearly that this word that has come forth at this particular time is the word of God. I say nothing for the moment of the imposture of certain persons who under the cover of the word study their own interest or glory. Enough has been said already of the corruption of the world, which no one denies. Since, therefore, any man can easily see that this word which we preach today is diametrically opposed to the vices in which we abound, it cannot be denied
that it is the word of God. For this reason, Illustrious King, when I, too, saw that our world is overflowing with the most iniquitous wars and the fiercest battles, and is defiled and unsettled with rapine, assault, theft, robbery, I, too, put my hand to the plough [ef. Lk. 9:62] and raised my voice so loudly that greedy Rome and the idol worshipped there did hear, even though its hide is very thick. Hence condemnations, execrations, and excommunications on the part of those theologians who prophesy for hire [cf. Mic. 3: 11] and worship the belly as their only God [ef. Phil. 3:19], which have forced me and not a few others much against our will to maintain our cause with pen as well as tongue. When, therefore, many men in Italy and more in your France, men so learned and pious that modesty almost made me refuse what they begged of mefor what can you do with a man who says, “These are the pillars [Gal. 2: 9], and you shall write out your religious views for them”?—when, I say, the best men on all sides, having caught a whisper of my name, were so insistent upon my publishing a pamphlet to bear witness to my own religious views, their high standing and importunity overcame my modesty, and I did my best to comply. May Your Illustrious Highness, therefore, Most Christian King, graciously accept this work, such as it is, dedicated to you. That most holy and learned man, Hilary,! a native of your France, once wrote to all the brethren and bishops of Germany. May it be possible for us sometime to boast of having made a suitable return! In saying this, of course, I am not referring to this crude little pamphlet of mine, but to other writings of learned and pious men in Germany. But listen, pray, Most Kindly King; you have in your kingdom that body of theologians of the Sorbonne, which no man can paint as it deserves. They know not tongues, yet
[Sc. the Pope. iHilary of Poitiers addressed his epistle De Synodis (358 A. D.) to]
[the bishops of Germany, France, and Britain. j1Though in the 15th century men from the Sorbonne had demanded a]
[reformation of the Church (Pierre d’Ailly, Nicolas de Clamengis, Jean]
[Charlier de Gerson), in the 16th century the spirit of the institution was]
[altogether different. During the years 1517-1534, the doctors of the Sor-]
[bonne condemned writings of Luther, Erasmus, and Melanchthon. Zwingli]
[probably has these in mind.]
they not only scorn but persecute us, habitually using their own tongues to curse with the sharpness of a serpent’s fangs. The things we have got from the Sacred Writings they pronounce impious, heretical, and blasphemous, though I see no kind of teaching more blasphemous against God than that which they follow. Philosophy has been forbidden in the schools of Christ [ef. Col. 2: 8], but these people have made it the arbiter of the heavenly word, and that, indeed, a philosophy which they have drawn from the last dregs of the pool; for, my life on it! they deal with not one idea—not a single one, I say—that is worthy of Aristotle. So barbarous is all that they teach, so lifeless, that you would sooner think they were telling dreams than expounding philosophy. Bid this class of men, I say, by every thing divine or human, act Har-pocrates a bit, lest, while you suffer them with impunity to blab out against Christ whatever comes into their heads, you find yourself incurring His displeasure. Then, as to myself, warn them, if they care to read and refute me, not to try to do it without the help of the truly sacred Scriptures. If they once accomplish that, they will gain a brother [cf. Mt. 18: 15]; if not, I shall not care a straw for all their croakings. You have also another class of learned men, whose skill is in heavenly, not in human, things, and who yet have everything that is of importance to the latter, namely, skill in tongues, simplicity of character, and holiness of life. This class do you cherish, and hold nothing so valuable as these men; nor only keep them about yourself, save a few to confer with you upon 1 sacred things, but assign them posts through the length and breadth of your kingdom in which to fix not upon pillars but in men’s hearts the new commands of Christ. Then you will see your kingdom, torn as it has been with long warfare, straightway blooming again; arrogance, vain show, luxury, lust, debauchery, and all sins falling away; righteousness, faith, and merey putting forth new shoots. And never suffer yourself to be drawn into the notion into which a certain man tried to draw your illustrious mother,t of opposing the teachings of
[‘The god of silence. fA reference to the war between Francis I and Charles V, 1521-1526. tLouise of Savoy. At her court and with Francis I, the French Chan-]
the Gospel on the ground that it is a disturber of the peace because in Germany everything is in confusion and no one listens to the commands of the princes and everything is altogether upset. For they that talk thus serve not God but their own bellies [cf. Phil. 3:19]. For this is how it is with the Gospel: It has come down from heaven, and cannot return thither void [ef. Isa. 55: 11], with its work unaccomplished. Therefore it cannot but be that wherever it is preached it is accepted of many. Since, therefore, the world consists of the good and just, and of the wicked and worthless, it comes to pass that the less of a hypocrite a man is the more readily he yields to the gospel, whether he be one of the good or one of the bad. For publicans and sinners often have preceded certain nice little saints in the Kingdom of God. And, indeed, those who are very bad and see that some of their own kind have gone over to Christ pretend that they, too, have gone over, with the view of getting themselves supported in idleness. For the pious vigorously assist needy brethren; indeed, unless they do so they are not pious. Where the government, therefore, obstruets the free course of the heavenly word, the best men turn away from the government and have regard to everything that ean preserve the heavenly teaching. Even though it be very hard to do this, they yet do it, because they are unwilling to lose the soul’s treasure when it has been found. It is on this account, perhaps, that in some places in Germany dangerous dissensions are taking place, the government having attempted to prohibit the preaching of the word. But believe me, Illustrious King, wherever the government does not attempt to curb the word, there the best men are on the side of the government; and then the hypocrites and gluttons, who after the fashion of the devil transform themselves into angels of light [cf. II Cor. 11:14], are easily rendered harmless. This is reckoning the gain. If it is reward that any one chooses to look for, he will find, by reading the book through, how much relief can accrue to kings and nations if we
[cellor Antoine Duprat and the Constable Anne de Montmorency worked]
[against the introduction of evangelical doctrine. Both had great influence]
[upon Francis I. A reference to the earlier stages of the Peasants’ War of 1524-1525.]
determine to correct our ways according to the word of the gospel.
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