"We, the burgomaster and Small and Great Councils of the city of
Zurich, to all the clergy in our diocese our salutation and favorable
regard. Discord and dissension have sprung up among us between the
preachers. Some believe they have proclaimed the Gospel faithfully and
fully; on the contrary others affirm that these same persons sow error,
mislead their hearers, and are heretics, whilst they on their part at
all times and to every one declare themselves ready to be judged by
God's Word. Therefore with the best intentions and for the sake of
God's honor, peace and Christian unity, it is our will that ye
ministers, pastors and preachers, all in general and each in
particular, or even other priests, who may have a mind to speak, to
inveigh against or else to instruct the opposite party, appear before
us on the day succeeding Emperor Charles' day at early council-time at
our council-house, and when ye dispute, to do it with appeal to the
genuine Scripture in the German tongue and language. With all diligence
will we, with the aid of several learned men, note down, whether it
seems good to us, and, if it accord with the Holy Scripture, send each
one home with the command to go on or leave off; so that every one may
not preach from the pulpit without warrant, only what seems good to
him. We will also point out this to our gracious Lord of Constance, so
that your Grace or your deputies, as you wish, may be there also. But
if any one should be so perverse as not to produce the real Divine
Scripture, we will call him to account--of whom we would rather be rid.
We hope God will illumine us with the light of his truth, that we may
be able to walk as children of the light."
Thus it was no longer the Bishop, nor those, who were spiritual lords
heretofore, nor even the Pope, who should declare whether the doctrine
preached in Zurich was that of the church. Whether it agreed with the
Holy Scripture, this alone should be proven, and whether Zwingli or his
opponents had justified themselves as its true interpreters, on that
would the government decide--a view indeed directly opposed to the
Roman Catholic stand-point. It was a real violation of rule in the
Bishop not to lay an interdiction, and, if Zurich still persevered, to
break off all ecclesiastical intercourse with her. But revenues were
due in the Zurich district; worldly relations existed with its
government; these appeared to him to require indulgence. Besides, the
number of faithful adherents was still considerable. Should they be
abandoned? Might not affairs in some unexpected way take a more
favorable turn? Could not the envoys succeed in one thing, if not to
prevent a complete revolt, at least to postpone it? Hence the
resolution of the Bishop to send notwithstanding an embassy to Zurich.
This was composed of John Faber, Fritz von Anwyl, steward of the
Bishop, and Doctor Bergenhaus, to whom was yet added Doctor Martin
Blausch of Tuebingen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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