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ABSTRACT
Although Pentecostalism as a renewal movement shares many basic values of the Reformation the question arises as to whether there are particular points that Pentecostals owe to that tradition? Is it possible to claim a reception given the diverse cultural contexts and ecclesial expressions of Pentecostalism? By focusing on the Upper German and Swiss Reformation attention will be paid to the understanding of the Lord’s Supper, the model of congregationalism and the hermeneutics that Ulrich Zwingli employed. Perhaps one should not take reception for granted.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributor
J. D. Plüss received a PhD in Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, focusing on the interpretation of narratives in worship. He is chair of the European Pentecostal Charismatic Research Association. J.D. Plüss is part of the Pentecostal delegation at the International Dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and Pentecostals as well as co-chair of the International Dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and Pentecostals.
Notes
* This is an updated version of a presentation given at a conference of the Verein für Kirchenforschung on October 23, 2010 at Château de Liebfrauenberg, Alsace.
1 It would be just as audacious to argue that former President Barack Obama has adopted democratic ideals of the Swiss Lake District of Berne and Fribourg, since he apparently has ancestry dating back to the 18th century from that region. Cf. http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/politik_schweiz/Barack_Obamas_Schweizer_Wurzeln.html?cid=15353222. Such a theory of reception would not be factual unless one could provide a credible chain of argumentation that would back such a claim.
2 If one compares the beginnings of the Pentecostal movement in the United States of America with those in India, South America and Europe one discovers theological and phenomenological similarities, which, however, developed independently.
3 See for instance the writings of Lera Boroditsky, University of California San Diego, on language and cognitive psychology.
4 ‘That the Sacraments are not in and of themselves effective and conferring grace, but that God, through the Holy Spirit, acts through them as means; that the internal effect appears only in the elect; that the good of the Sacraments consists in leading us to Christ, and being instruments of the grace of God, which is sincerely offered to all; that in baptism we receive the remission of sins, although this proceeds primarily not from baptism, but from the blood of Christ; that in the Lord’s Supper we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ, not, however, by means of a carnal presence of Christ’s human nature, which is in heaven, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and the devout elevation of our soul to heaven.’ Quoted in Philip Schaff, The Consensus of Zurich, in Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical Notes, Harper, 1877, 355. http://www.800howtrue.com/CREEDS1.pdf accessed June 25, 2017.
5 6. (b) Holy Communion The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements – bread and the fruit of the vine – is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4); a memorial of His suffering and death (1 Corinthians 11:26); and a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26); and is enjoined on all believers ‘till He come!’ http://ministers.ag.org/pdf/16Fundamentals.pdf, accessed October 8, 2010.
6 Worsfold, The Origins of the Apostolic Church in Great Britain, 98f. This denomination is trinitarian in its theology and attempts to live by the apostolic example of the early church. In more recent times it changed its name to the Apostolic Church in the United Kingdom and still refers in its tenets to the Lord’s Supper as a sacrament, https://apostolic-church.org/about-us/tenets/ accessed June 26, 2017.
7 On the understanding of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: http://www.muehlheimer-verband.de/index.php?id=127 accessed on August 13, 2010. Cf. also Krust, Was wir glauben lehren und bekennen, 135–41.
8 Emphasis added by J. D. Plüss http://www.foursquare.org/landing_pages/4,3.html Complete Foursquare Declaration of Faith drafted by Aimee Semple McPherson, accessed August 13, 2010.
9 That more is at stake than acrobatic wording is evident when Bucer intervenes in the dispute on the Lord’s Supper in his Apologia by critically remarking that in the Aramaic original the word ‘est’ is missing. Thus argues Friedrich, “Ein Streit um Worte?,”, 50.
10 Friedrich, “Ein Streit um Worte,” 52, in connection with M. Bucer’s Commentary on Zephanaia of 1528.
11 Friedrich, “Ein Streit um Worte,” 62f. See also Rechtschaffenheit über den Glauben in Zwinglis Schriften, Band IV, 113.
12 Article VII, 1 of the Book of Concord, http://bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article7 accessed June 26, 2017.
13 Zwingli, Fidei Ratio, in Zwingli, Hauptschriften, vol. 2, 267–9.
14 Similarly, also Heinrich Bullinger and the upper German Reformation, e.g. Johannes Brenz, Evangelien Predigten, vol. 1, Cottbus, Verlag der Gotthold Expedition, 1877, 454, on the sanctification of God’s name.
15 The Church of God (Cleveland, TN), for instance, emphasizes sanctification after justification and that holiness is God’s standard of living for His people, http://www.churchofgod.org/beliefs/declaration-of-faith accessed June 26, 2017.
16 The latter half of the Second Helvetic Confession stresses many aspects of religious life in relation to the nature of the church, http://www.ccel.org/creeds/helvetic.htm accessed June 26, 2017.
17 Alan P. F. Sell, Saints, Visible, Orderly & Catholic, 6.
18 Widmer, 1484 Zwingli 1984, Zürich, Theologischer Verlang Zürich, 1984, S. 40. See also: http://www.zh.ref.ch/content/e3/e1939/e10912/e11111/index_ger.html with regard to Zwingli’s Auslegung und Begründung der Artikel, 1523, in Zwinglis Schriften vol. 2, p. 146f., accessed August 16, 2010.
19 Widmer, 1484 Zwingli 1984, 41.
20 With regard to the birth of denominationalism see: Richey, Denominationalism, summarized in Urs Schmid, Amerikanische Heiligungsbewegung und Gemeinschaftsbewegung in Deutschland, PhD dissertation at the University of Basle, 2000, 54ff.
21 http://theway21stcentury.worldpress.com/2012/11/23how-many-christian-denominations-worldwide/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denomination, accessed June 16, 2017 and Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia.
22 The Bible speaks of the people of God, the household of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ, all being metaphors emphasizing unity.
23 The first printed version of the Qur’an in Latin was published 1543 in Zurich/Basel by Theodore Bibliander based on the medieval translations of Robert of Ketton, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Bibliander accessed June 26, 2017.
24 Fausel, D. Martin Luther: Sein Leben und Werk, 77.
25 Künzli ed. Huldrych Zwingli Auswahl seiner Schriften, 55 (translation mine).
26 The prophetic mandate of the Reformation was the interpretation of Scripture through those who understood its languages. In those days, it was common to interpret this pericope in that way. Today however, the charismatic reading of the text is given preference.
27 See for instance the three disputations of Zurich between 1523 and 1524.
28 Fausel, D. Martin Luther sein Leben und Werk, 178, 223, 288.
29 This claim was made by Walter Hollenweger in his article for the commemoration of Zwingli’s 500th birthday, Das Erbe Zwinglis in Tagesanzeiger, December 31, 1983, 45.
30 It is because man is made in the image of God that he can hear and understand the Word of God. Christ, “Das Schriftverständnis von Zwingli und Erasmus im Jahre 1522,” 116.
31 ‘To begin with, we want prove clarity through sundry stories of the Old Testament, after that from the New one.’ Künzli ed. Huldrych Zwingli Auswahl, 56 (translation mine).
32 ‘Secondly I know for certain that God teaches me, for I have experience thereof.’ Künzli ed. Huldrych Zwingli Auswahl, 58 (translation mine).
33 Künzli ed. Huldrych Zwingli Auswahl, 59 (translation mine).
34 Künzli ed. Huldrych Zwingli Auswahl, 60 (translation mine).
35 Also Erasmus used the pneumatological argument towards a humble reception of the Word of God, but he was careful in judging how deeply the faithful were able to respond to the work of the Spirit. Zwingli was more categorical. See for instance Christ, Das Schriftverständnis von Zwingli und Erasmus, 111–25. zwingliana.ch/index.php/zwa/article/download/725/636 accessed July 13, 2017.
36 Dayton, Theological Roots of the Pentecostal Movement.
37 Gottfried W. Locher, Zwinglis Einfluss in England und Schottland – Daten und Probleme in Zwingliana 1975/2, 166 (translation mine).
38 «Adam ist zum ersten frys willens geschaffen, also, das er sich mocht gottes halten und seins gebottes oder nit, wie er wolt.» Leppin, “Adams Wille und Gottes Providenz,” 40.
39 This is the reason for proclamation, teaching and political engagement. Zwingli came from a family of free farmers with highly developed political interests. Luther on the other hand left questions of political nature to the princes because they also protected his theological convictions. There can be no doubt, Zwingli was from the beginning also a politician; Sigmund Widmer, 1484 Zwingli 1984, Theologischer Verlag, Zürich, 1984, 26f.
40 ‘Bucer says, “If by meriting the holy fathers and others mean nothing but to do in faith, by the grace of God, good works, which the Lord has promised to reward, in this sense” (which Scotus, Baxter, and Mr. Wesley fix to merit) “we shall in no wise condemn that word.”’ Fletcher, Checks to Antinomianism, Vol. 1, 174.
41 de Kroon, Martin Bucer und Johannes Calvin, 55, quoting Marginalie Quid libertas arbitrii in Bucers commentary to Romans.
42 de Kroon, Martin Bucer und Johannes Calvin, 34.