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Zwingli: Ancestor of The Salvation
Army?
by
Lieut.-Colonel Richard Munn
Introduction
Does the sacramental theology of The Salvation
Army find its roots in Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli
(1484-1531)? Implausible though it may seem, there does seem
to be a strong historical and theological connection between
Zwingli’s belief that physical objects cannot mediate
spiritual occurrences and the Salvationist’s “experience of
mediation of divine grace without symbol or sacrament.”
While most surveys of sacramental theology
begin their discussion of sacramental controversies with
Zwingli, this turbulent man is also part of my personal
spiritual journey. I have always had a special regard for
Zwingli, from my first discovery of his life and work as a
cadet, to my later, chance encounter with his imposing statue
in Zurich. His 16th century revolutionary insights
influence the way I continue to think today. I trust that the
following will also be of value to Salvationists exploring
their theological roots, and indeed to all who value
sacramental grace.
Zwingli
From his boyhood Zwingli developed a profound
care for ‘common people.’ This was a decisive characteristic
and it qualified him, in later years, to enact church reforms
with the support of both political leaders and the masses.
While serving as a chaplain in the Swiss regiments, Zwingli
became famous for his outspoken criticism of the mercenary
system and its attendant ills. The military and political
elite respected his unabashed patriotism, while the common
people supported him because of the pastoral concern he showed
for them. It was a rare and highly effective combination. At
the same time, his fame as a preacher grew.
Zwingli saw the work of Christ, revealed in the
gospels, as the supreme revelation of God’s will. In his
understanding, Christ annulled ceremonial law without
annulling moral law. Christians are therefore liberated from
subjection to manmade ordinances.
While serving as a chaplain, Zwingli was killed
in military action. His ideas, however, proved influential.
Zwingli’s Sacramental Theology
Zwingli maintained that the sacraments are mere
signs or seals of divine grace already given. For him,
the elements do not mediate grace. Just as baptism does not in
itself regenerate the individual, the Lord’s Supper does not
provide grace through the real presence of Christ. Zwingli
emphasized fellowship and the spiritual union of the
communicants confessing faith together. He saw the Lord’s
Supper as a “memorial” of Christ’s sacrificial death on the
cross and a corporate confession of faith.
Zwingli saw the atonement as a grace received
only by faith; for him, living faith always brings with
it the presence of Christ. Hence the real presence of Christ
is in the ceremony of the Eucharist, but only in the
faith of the communicant, and not in the bread and wine.
The truly distinctive idea — the one that
specifically pertains to The Salvation Army— is that the
presence of Christ in the sacrament does not depend upon any
ceremony.
The Anabaptists
Among the most radical interpreters of Zwingli
were the Anabaptists, a multifarious group that originated
amidst the political and social unrest of the fifteenth
century. However, whereas Zwingli was an ardent patriot and
affirmed the strong link between church and state, Anabaptists
did not. This difference led to a conflict over baptism
In sacramental terms, however, the link between
Zwingli and the Anabaptists—especially with regard to the
Eucharist—remained strong. For the Anabaptists, as for
Zwingli, the Lord’s Supper is merely a remembrance; it is a
fellowship meal, signifying union with Christ and the
community of faith.
Following the example of Christ, the
Anabaptists’ celebration of the Eucharist occurred in the
evening in the privacy of home, and most certainly not in
church, for fear of encouraging false devotion. The Eucharist
was now integrated with the common meal. This practice is akin
to that of The Salvation Army, which regards as sacramental
every meal eaten in remembrance of Christ.
Theological momentum was now underway and
through the Anabaptist movement became a powerful creative
force, providing theological inspiration for such modern
groups as the Independents, the Baptists, and, especially, the
Quakers, to whom we now turn.
The Quakers
In a sense, Quakerism was an updated version of
Anabaptism. Although the Reformation began as a highly
spiritual revolt against old forms and authorities, it quickly
developed its own rituals. The reformist leaders were wary of
religion defined primarily by the spirit, seeing it as
portending anarchy. They therefore tried to crush the
Anabaptists, just as the English reformation, in turn, tried
to crush the Quakers. If Anabaptism was the radical wing of
the European reformation, Quakerism was the radical wing of
the English reformation.
For the Quakers, spiritually eating and
drinking the body and blood of Christ superseded physically
eating and drinking of the bread and wine of communion. In
fact, Quaker founder George Fox believed that the latter could
become an impediment to “true communion.”
Robert Barclay, perhaps the most influential
Quaker theologian, added an important original insight: the
improbability that Jesus would institute any new ceremony.
Barclay found insufficient evidence in the New Testament to
substantiate the installation of a ceremony, and saw the
history of ecclesiastical misunderstanding and superstition
that accompanied the traditional ceremonial sacraments as
reason to omit them.
The Quakers were the first group to abandon the
formal ceremony of the Lord’s Supper altogether—a practice
familiar to Salvationists
The Salvation Army
The affinity between Quakers and Salvationists
has been noted since The Salvation Army began. W.T. Stead
called William Booth “the George Fox of the nineteenth
century,” and General Wilfred Kitching found “sufficient
evidence to suggest that in thought and practice there is
perhaps a closer unity between The Society of Friends and The
Salvation Army than between any other religious movements.”
Salvationists and Quakers both reject the claim
that Christ instituted a ceremony at the Last Supper. They
both emphasize the unique necessity of inner commitment. Both
accept the concept of communion, but regard it as an entirely
spiritual affair. Indeed, Quaker ideas, transmitted primarily
through Barclay’s writings, and expanded upon by Catherine
Booth and George Scott Railton, played a decisive role in
convincing William Booth to dispense with the observance of
the sacraments.
According to Salvationist writer William
Metcalf, Booth, like Barclay, found “no place for these
sacraments according to the New Testament.” This was a
crucial conclusion: it was primarily on this ground that
General William Booth ended The Salvation Army’s outward
observance of the sacraments, a decision he announced to an
assembly of officers in January 1883. Once again, an appeal to
“the source”—that is, the New Testament—provided the basis for
such sacramental theology. In this respect, The Salvation Army
extends a line of Eucharistic thinking developed by the
Quakers, but originating with Zwingli and the Anabaptists.
Conclusion
I began with a question: Is there a connection
between Zwingli’s sacramental theology and that of The
Salvation Army? It does appear this is indeed the case, as
documented from the historical and theological study of
Anabaptist, Mennonite and Quaker sacramental thinking.
Among these individual sacramental theologies,
there is a common set of ideas—that Christ’s presence is
spiritual in nature, that nothing else can suffice for this
spiritual presence, and that this presence is only mediated
through faith. All the leaders we have reviewed, from Zwingli
to Booth, appeal specifically to the texts and context of the
New Testament to substantiate their position. All the
movements we have surveyed reject the authority of tradition,
while affirming the authority of scripture and experience.
Thank you, Commissioner Zwingli.
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