The Church
Th e Works of Huldreich Zwing li 1 76 h as bolted the door with the bolt of Hi s word, which no force,
n o Skill , can break, so that however these Keys turn they can not get into the consciences or the strong boxes of them that trust in God .
Although , therefore , the subject of Confession is closely related to the discussion of the Keys, I will first speak of the Church and afterwards of its Sacraments .
TH E CHURCH
Human presumption has distorted the name Church as well as the thing itself so as to make it apply to some few per sons only, just as if you should say that the whole body, the entire assemblage , the entire people or congregation , meant some few .
For the Church is a congregation , an assemblage , the whole people, the whole multitude gathered together . He , therefore, who says that the Church means some few is just as wrong as he who says that the peoplemeans , or is , the king ; or wh o says that the general assembly , the assemblage or congre g ati on , of the citizens is or means the Council .
I have , there fore , Often written * of the Church , with the hope that men otherwise learned would be turned from the error of conceding that the Popes are the Church .
But these men ar e partly unbe li ev ers, partly arrogant persons .
The unbelievi ng are so averse to the word that they study it in vain ; for in their hearts they are wholly disinclined towards it .
And the arrogant persons so utterly refuse to accept anything but their own teachings that you see clearly that they suffer from the disease of wish ing to appear to have taught everything and to have taught it correctly .
Hence the writings of some of them are so con tami n ated, as far as the truth , is concerned , though the out ward show is very fair, that you do not know but it would have been better never to have taken up the pen than to have wrapped the truth in such shameless allurements .
Yet they are so pleased with themselves that, unless you walk in their footsteps and show yourself, in a way repugnant to the feelings
Of a Christian heart, either a shameless flatterer or a fawning coxcomb , even at the expense of the truth , they shrink from your works as a dog does from being washed .
Things that are "In hi s suppl ementa ry statement to the Second Zu rich Di sputati on a nd i n hi s D er Hi r t.
1 78 Th e Works of Huldreich Zwing li as possible, but let them n ot mix up Christ with these practices , since it is clearer than day (such a revealer of the heart is speech) that they seek not the honor of God , but mountains
of gold or the speedily vanishing smoke of vainglory .
Let them , therefore, call things by their right names, and suffer Church to mean "assemblage, and say that the Church of Christ is simply the people, the assemblage , the company of Christ, especially as they nowhere in all Holy Writ find the Church of Christ or of God taken to mean a few bishops , or rather mumblers .
Many things are to be tolerated , as I myself
n ot only assert, but daily put in practice ; but they are to be tolerated in such fashion as to fall away by and by .
Those who are jealous for Caesar 's fame say in his praise that when he saw that he must fall in death he gathered his garments and limbs together so as to fall decently . * Christ could have overwhelmed all His enemies with one word [cf. J11 . but to give an example of peace He tolerated the worst class of men with a tolerance of which you will nowhere find the equal recorded , and did it to abolish the Synagogue in the suitable way . SO, too , these men will show themselves well -mannered when they teach that they must fall , and that therefore everything must be arranged so that they may fall with decent dignity and no crash . In this matter they should n ot imitate physicians , who bid you hope even when no hope i s left, but rather peacemakers , who vigorously reprove the errors of both sides in order that Obduracy may be broken down with the least friction .
I come back to the word
"Church .
And since last year in the month of August I wrote upon this same subject in reply to that thoroughly impious and corrupt person , Jerome Emser, and since on all sides such a flood of tasks besets me that I can employ here only what little time I can steal from things not absolutely meces sary , I have directed that what I there said about the Church be here incorporated verbatim ; although we shall n ow hear some few things that we have just been hearing, but written for another purpose and not without result .
TH E CHURCH (
"R EPLY T o E M SER
[For this section , taken entire from the Reply to Emser ,
"S uetoni u s De vi ta Ca esam m, I : 82 .