Sixty-Seven Articles - Creeds and Confessions

Preface
List of Articles
Postscript

Preface¹

After determining these articles and opinions below, I, Ulrich Zwingli, confess to have preached these in the worthy city of Zurich, based upon the Scriptures which are called θεόπνευστος (i.e. God-breathed), and I offer myself to defend and uphold the aforementioned articles with it, and if I do not now rightly understand the touched Scripture, to be corrected by better understanding, yet from the aforementioned Scripture.

List of Articles in the First Disputation Promulgated by Ulrich Zwingli

Whosoever says that the Gospel is nothing unless it is accompanied by the reckoning and approval of the Church are mistaken and blaspheme God.
The sum of the Gospel is that Christ, the Son of the living God, made known to us the will of the heavenly Father, and that by His innocence He redeemed us from eternal death and reconciled us to God.
Hence it follows that Christ is the only way to salvation for all who were, are, and shall be.
Whosoever seeks or shows another door, errs; indeed, he is a thief and a murderer of souls.
Whosoever therefore, either equates or prefers other doctrines to the Gospel errs, and does not understand what the Gospel is.
For Christ Jesus is the leader and ruler, promised and given by God to the entire human race:
So that He Himself may be the salvation and head of all believers, who are His body, which indeed without Him is dead and can do nothing.
From these things it follows that all who live in this head are members and children of God. And this is the church or communion of saints, the bride of Christ, the catholic church.
It then follows that the members of the body can do nothing without the control of the head, so in the body of Christ no one can do anything without its head, Christ.
When members act without the head, just as a man is mad when he tears apart or destroys himself, so too, when the members of Christ attempt something without Christ the head, they are mad, burden themselves, and are destroyed through unwise laws.
From this, we see that the traditions and laws of the so-called clergy, by which they support and defend their pride, riches, honours, titles, and laws, which are the cause of all madness; for they do not accord with Christ as the head.
Therefore, they are still mad, not for the sake of the head, (for whom all the pious strive with the greatest zeal to establish by the grace of God), but only because they are not permitted to go mad and rave [in this way]. For the pious desire to listen only to the head, Christ.
When people listen to the Word of God, they purely and sincerely learn the will of God. Then, through the Spirit of God, they are drawn into God and are, as it were, transformed.
Therefore, with the greatest zeal, let all Christians above all else take care that the Gospel of Christ is preached solely and sincerely everywhere.
Whoever believes in the Gospel will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. For in the Gospel, all truth shines forth.
In the Gospel, we learn that the doctrines and traditions of men are of no use for salvation:

Regarding the Pope²

Christ is the one and only eternal and high priest. Therefore, those who present themselves as high priests oppose the glory and power of Christ and reject Christ.

On the Mass

Christ, who offered Himself once on the cross, is both the “host”³ and sacrifice satisfying eternally for the sins of all the faithful. From this it is inferred that the Mass is not a sacrifice, but a commemoration of the sacrifice once offered on the cross and, as it were, a seal of the redemption accomplished through Christ.

Intercession of the Saints

Christ is the only Mediator between God and us.
God grants us all things through Christ and in the name of Christ. Hence, it follows that we have no need for any intercessor besides Christ outside of this [mortal] life.
When we pray here on earth for one another, we ought to do so with the confidence that all things are given to us through Christ alone.

Good Works

Christ is our foundation. Hence it follows that our works are good only insofar as they are Christ’s; truly insofar as they are our own, they are not truly good.

How the Clergy Compare to Christ

That Christ despising the wealth of this world and its pride, teaches that those who under the title of Christ seize riches for themselves, bring great disgrace upon Him, since they make Him the patron of their greed and luxury.

Forbidding Food

No Christian is bound to those works which Christ did not command. At any time, they may eat any food. It follows, therefore, that the decrees which the Pontiffs give for cheese and butter are Roman deceptions.

Of Holidays and Pilgrimages

Time and place are under the control of man, not man under their control. Therefore, those who bind time and place deceive and rob the pious of Christian liberty.

Robes, Clothing, Insignia, etc

Nothing displeases God more than hypocrisy. From this, we learn that hypocrisy is a serious and shameless audacity, [and is] whatever pretends to be holy before men. Here falls the vestment, the insignia, the tonsure, etc.

Orders and Sects

All Christians are brothers of Christ, and brothers among themselves. Therefore, they ought not to call anyone father on earth. Here fall orders and sects⁴.

Marriage of Clergy

Whatever God does not forbid but permits is rightfully done. From this we learn that marriage is equally suitable for all.

Unchaste Clergy Taking Wives

Those commonly called Clergy or “Spirituals”⁵ sin when, after they have realised that chastity has been denied to them by God, they neither take wives nor marry.

Vows of Chastity

Those who vow chastity are held by foolish presumption and childish arrogance. Therefore, those who either seek such vows from them, or accept them when offered, do them injury, and exercise tyranny over the simple.

On Excommunication

Excommunication cannot be imposed by an individual, but by the church in which the person to be excommunicated resides, together with the bishop.
No one can or should be excommunicated except one who publicly offends by his crimes.

On Unrighteous Gain

Things unrighteously taken away are not to be given to temples, monasteries, monks, or priests⁶; but to the poor, if it is not possible to conveniently restore them to those from whom they were taken.

On Authority

The so-called spiritual authority that the Pope, and Bishops, and others claim for themselves, and the pride with which they swell, has no foundation in the Holy Scriptures and the doctrine of Christ.⁷

Secular Authority from God

The public magistrate is established by the word and deed of Christ.
The jurisdiction or administration of justice that these so-called spiritual authorities claim for themselves is entirely the domain of the secular magistrate, provided he wishes to be a Christian.
All Christians ought to obey the public magistrate without exception.
Provided the public magistrate commands nothing against God!
The laws of magistrates must be conformed to the rule of divine will, so that the oppressed and those who have suffered violence may be defended and protected from injury, even if no one complains.
Magistrates have the right to kill only those who offend publicly, and that too without offending God, unless God commands otherwise.
When the public magistrate administers advice and assistance those to whom he is to give an account, they then ought to provide material assistance to the magistrates.
However, when the magistrates act treacherously and outside the standard of Christ, they can by God’s authority be deposed.
The best and strongest kingdom is that which from God and with God reigns; but the worst and weakest is that which reigns according to its own desire.

On Prayer

True worshipers invoke God in spirit and truth, praying with the heart, not with clamour before men.
Hypocrites do all their works to be seen by men; therefore they receive their reward here.
Therefore, songs, or more accurately, shouting, which are made for reward in temples without devotion, seek either praise or profit from men.

On Offences

A man ought to choose death rather than offend or shame a Christian.
He who, out of weakness or ignorance, wishes to be offended without cause, let us not allow him to remain weak and ignorant; rather, let us strive that, properly taught, he may finally become strong, and that he may not consider sin to be sin when it is not.
I do not consider a greater and more serious scandal than that priests are forbidden from legitimate marriage; [and] yet he is permitted to take concubines and hire prostitutes for money!

On Forgiveness of Sin

Only God forgives sins, and He does so through Christ Jesus our Lord alone.
He who grants the forgiveness of sins to a creature robs God of His glory and is an idolater.
Therefore, a confession made to a priest or to a neighbour should be regarded not for the forgiveness of sins, but for counsel.
The works of penance (except for excommunication) imposed by the priest are of human tradition; they do not remove sin but are imposed on others as a terror.

Christ’s Suffering Atones for Sin

Christ bore our pains and all our labours; but whoever attributes them to penitential works, which belong solely to Christ, errs and blasphemes God.

Retaining Sins

He who denies the penitent the forgiveness of even a single sin does not hold the place of God or Peter, but of the Devil.
Those who forgive certain sins only in exchange for a reward or money are associates of Simon and Balaam, and true deputies of Satan.

On Purgatory

Holy Scripture knows of no purgatory after this life.
The judgment of the dead is known only to God.
The less God reveals to us about these matters, the less we are to investigate them.
If anyone, concerned for the dead, seeks grace for them from God or prays for them, it is not harmful; but to set a fixed time for this (seven years for a mortal sin), and to lie for the sake of gain, is not human but diabolical.

On the Priesthood and their Consecration

Divine Scripture knows nothing of the “character”⁸ that priests have devised in these last times.⁹
Scripture recognizes no other elders or priests than those who proclaim the word of God.
As for those elders, about whom we have spoken, who preach the Word of God, the divine Scripture commands that they be provided with what is necessary.

On the Ceasing of Abuses

Those who acknowledge their error should suffer no harm; rather, they should be supported until they depart in peace, and thereafter the goods of the priesthood should be distributed according to Christian charity.
Those who do not acknowledge or abandon their error are to be left to God, and no force should be inflicted upon their bodies unless they behave so outrageously and tumultuously that the magistrate cannot spare them without endangering public peace.
Immediately let all those who are leaders in the Church humble themselves, and let them raise the cross of Christ (not a coffer¹⁰); otherwise, their ruin is at hand, for the axe is laid to the root of the tree.
If anyone wishes to discuss with me about tithes, revenues, unbaptized infants, or confirmation, I will not refuse the conversation.

Postscript¹¹

Here no one undertakes to contend with sophistry or human trifles, but rather let us come to have Scripture as the judge (Scripture breathes the Spirit of God), so that one may either find the truth, or, if it has been found, as I hope, retain it.

Amen. May God prevail!

Footnotes

^1. This preface is only present in the German text.
^2. This and subsequent headings are only present in the German text.
^3. Latin hostia (lit. sacrificial victim), a reference the Roman Catholic “host”, denoting the bread for Eucharist.
^4. The German texts adds “and gangs”, referring to unsanctioned groups.
^5. Referring to ascetic or monastic priests.
^6. The German text adds “or nuns”.
^7. The German text of this article reads “The so-called spiritual authority derives its splendour not from the teachings of Christ.”
^8. The German text adds “(the consecration)”.
^9. This article refers to the indelible quality which ordination is held to imprint on the soul in Roman Catholic sacramental theology. As this character is indelible, even the gravest sins, such as apostasy, do not remove it.
^10. Referring to the sale of indulgences.
^11. This postscript is only present in the German text.

English Translation of the Sixty-Seven Articles by Peter Chapman, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Contents

Preface1