King Charles V: Protestant Colloquy
Marburg Colloquy The year was 1529; and the Catholic forces of King Charles V (1500-1558) were nearing the end of their escapades in the south against the Muslim forces of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). In the North in the town of Marburg, Germany, the Swiss and German Protestants planned a meeting to form alliances and unite against the Catholic regime under the Pope and Charles V. For four days (October 1-4) the Protestant leaders of the day met at Marburg Castle by order of Landgrave Philip of Hesse (1504-1567) and conversed with each other with the ultimate goal of deciding common rules of the Protestant religion. Without a unified creed, there would be no alliance between all the disparate factions of the Protestant faith.
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Without complete agreement on these 15 Articles, a true union of the Protestant factions would fail against the Catholics. The congregation made it through fourteen of these sacraments with little issue before conflicts arose surrounding the 15th. Zwingli, Luther, and their colleagues disagreed on how the Eucharist or Lords Supper should be viewed. Zwingli viewed the Lords Supper as a symbolic ceremony where eating of the bread and drinking of the wine symbolized Jesus’ flesh and blood merely for the purpose of commemorating and remembering the Savior and his sacrificial act. Luther on the other hand believed that at the moment of presenting and blessing the Eucharist, the previously normal bread and wine became holy, equal to the actual flesh and blood of the Christ, and that Jesus was thenceforth in the presence of the people at the ceremony. Zwingli argued that Jesus was not omnipresent and was up in heaven watching you partake in the Lords Supper and acknowledging it. Luther argued that the phrase “hoc est corpus meum” meant “this is my body,” and was meant to be taken literally. Zwingli countered that “hoc est corpus meum” meant instead “this signifies my body,” and emphasized the symbolism of the act rather than the literal presence of the Christ. At the end of the …show more content…
Luther would continue to lead the German Protestants until 1547 when he died of an apoplectic seizure. Bucer would later print volumes and works that pertained to his views of the conflict at Marburg. He argued that the disagreement over the Lords Supper should not stop the Protestant unification as the faith had much bigger concerns, mainly defense against the Catholics. He also argued that the Catholic and Protestant faiths shouldn’t be divided by their differences of opinion regarding the Christian Doctrine and that followers of either faith shouldn’t be charged with counts of Heresy by the officials of the other. After all was said and done Protestantism became fairly popular and is a major part of the Christian religion of today as we know it; and it continues to thrive and
Without complete agreement on these 15 Articles, a true union of the Protestant factions would fail against the Catholics. The congregation made it through fourteen of these sacraments with little issue before conflicts arose surrounding the 15th. Zwingli, Luther, and their colleagues disagreed on how the Eucharist or Lords Supper should be viewed. Zwingli viewed the Lords Supper as a symbolic ceremony where eating of the bread and drinking of the wine symbolized Jesus’ flesh and blood merely for the purpose of commemorating and remembering the Savior and his sacrificial act. Luther on the other hand believed that at the moment of presenting and blessing the Eucharist, the previously normal bread and wine became holy, equal to the actual flesh and blood of the Christ, and that Jesus was thenceforth in the presence of the people at the ceremony. Zwingli argued that Jesus was not omnipresent and was up in heaven watching you partake in the Lords Supper and acknowledging it. Luther argued that the phrase “hoc est corpus meum” meant “this is my body,” and was meant to be taken literally. Zwingli countered that “hoc est corpus meum” meant instead “this signifies my body,” and emphasized the symbolism of the act rather than the literal presence of the Christ. At the end of the …show more content…
Luther would continue to lead the German Protestants until 1547 when he died of an apoplectic seizure. Bucer would later print volumes and works that pertained to his views of the conflict at Marburg. He argued that the disagreement over the Lords Supper should not stop the Protestant unification as the faith had much bigger concerns, mainly defense against the Catholics. He also argued that the Catholic and Protestant faiths shouldn’t be divided by their differences of opinion regarding the Christian Doctrine and that followers of either faith shouldn’t be charged with counts of Heresy by the officials of the other. After all was said and done Protestantism became fairly popular and is a major part of the Christian religion of today as we know it; and it continues to thrive and