Chief Ideas of Zwinglianism, Anabaptism, and Lutheranism, Essay Example

Zwinglianism, Anabaptism and Lutheranism are all part of Protestant faith, most notably for their anti-Catholic tenets. These were all faiths that rebelled from the Catholic church and formed their own beliefs outside of the Church of Rome (Levack et al., 2011, pp. 426-430). This point in history saw the separation of the Catholic church and the rise of Protestant faiths. All fall under the general notions of Protestantism, but also have specific and important differences.

Zwinglianism’s came out of the Swiss Reformation from the Catholic Church in the early 16^th century, and its main ideas were that of the physical body of Jesus is not in the Eucarist and and that it is just a symbolic ceremony upon the death of Jesus (Levack et al., 2011, pp. 440). This particular aspect of Zwinglianism is what separated it from Lutheranism, and therefore the two faiths clashed (Levack et al., 2011, p. 440).

Anabaptism was a radical group of Protestants that rejected the act of baptizing infants (Levack et al., 2011, p.447-448). They believed that infants were not able to choose for themselves, therefore only adults could decide whether they believed in the faith (Levack et al., 2011, p. 447-448). Anabaptists also rejected society as establishment, such as established religion and government. They saw the bible as a living text and society laws should reflect the words of the bible. Anabaptists were also persecuted by other Protestant groups at the time (Levack et al., 2011, p. 447-448).

Both Zwinglianists and Anabaptists were in opposition of the Catholic church and believed that ritual and mass should not be a part of religion. Lutherans believed this as well, and were two of its main tenets (Levack et al., 2011, p. 431-435). Lutherans also believed that priests should be allowed to marry, and that religious ceremony should focus on preaching instead of ritual (Levack et al., 2011, pp. 431-435). These are all aspects of Protestantism that can be found in these three groups, however as indicated, they each had their specific differences.

References

Levack, B., Muir, E., & Veldman, M. (2011). Chapter 14: The Medieval West in Crisis In The west: Encounters & transformations, vol I (Rev: 3). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Longman.