56 THE SWISS KEFOEMATION.
The Council was not prepared to order the immediate abolition of the mass and the images. It punished Hottinger and other " idol-stormers " by banishment, and appointed a commission of ministers and laymen, including Zwingli, Schmidt and Judce, who should enlighten the people on the subject by preaching and writing. Zwingli prepared his " Short and Christian Introduction," which was sent by the Council of Two Hundred to all the ministers of the canton, the bishops of Constance, Basle, and Coire, the University of Basle, and to the twelve other cantons (Nov. 17, 1523).^ It may be compared to the instruction of Melanchthon for the visitation of the churches of Saxony (1528).
A third disputation, of a more private character, was held Jan. 20, 1524. The advocates of the mass were refuted and ordered not to resist any longer the decisions of the magistracy, though they might adhere to their faith.
During the last disputation, Zwingli preached a sermon on the corrupt state of the clergy, which he published by request in March, 1524, under the title "The Shepherd." ^ He represents Christ as the good Shepherd in contrast with the selfish hirelings, according to the parable in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Among the false shepherds he counts the bishops who do not preach at all ; those priests who teach their own dreams instead of the Word of God ; those who preach the Word but for the glorification of j)opery ; those who deny their preaching by their conduct ; those who preach for filthy lucre ; and, finally, all who mislead men away from the Creator to the creature. Zwingli
versies as a council, where the Word of God was not allowed to decide. "Ja, Hongg und Kussnacht ist ein gewiissere Kilch denn all ziisammen gerotlet hishof iind pcipst." Werke, I. 472.
1 Ein kiirz christenliche ijnleitung, die ein eersamer rat dei- statt Ziirich den scelsorgem und priidicanten . . . zugesandt hahend, etc. Werke, I. A. 541-505. Gwalter gives a Latin version, Op. I. 264-268.
^ Der Hirt, luie man die loaren chrixtenlichen hirten und iciderum die falschen erkennen . . . sotle. Werke, I. A. 631-668.
§ 18. THE PUBLIC DISPUTATIONS. 57
treats the papists as refined idolaters, and repeatedly denounces idolatry as the root of the errors and abuses of the Church.
During the summer of 1524 the answers of the bishops and the Diet appeared, both in opposition to any innovations. The bishop of Constance, in a letter to Zurich, said that he had consulted several universities ; that the mass and the images were sufficiently warranted by the Scriptures, and had always been in use. The canton appointed a commission of clergymen and laymen to answer the episcopal document.^ The Swiss Diet, by a deputation, March 21, 1524, expressed regret that Zurich sympathized with the new, unchristian Lutheran religion, and prayed the canton to remain faithful to old treaties and customs, in which case the confederates would cheerfully aid in rooting out real abuses, such as the shameful trade in benefices, the selling of indulgences, and the scandalous lives of the clergy.
Thus forsaken by the highest ecclesiastical and civil authorities, the canton of Zurich acted on its own responsibility, and carried out the contemplated reforms.
The three disputations mark an advance beyond the usual academic disputations in the Latin language. They were held before laymen as well as clergymen, and in the vernacular. They brought religious questions before the tribunal of the people according to the genius of republican institutions. They had, therefore, more practical effect than the disputation at Leipzig. The German Reformation was decided by the will of the princes ; the Swiss Reformation, by the will of the people : but in both cases there was a sympathy between the rulers and the majority of the population.
1 The answer was written by Zwingli, and printed Aug. 18, 1524. Werke, I. A. 584-630.