One of the key figures of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, Huldruch (Ulrich) Zwingli understood the effective proclamation of the Word of God to be central to any meaningful religious reform.

Born in 1484 (the same year as Luther), Zwingli's father was a chief magistrate for their district, located about 40 miles from Zurich. Zwingli attended the University of Vienna, then the University of Basel. In 1506 he was ordained and began a decade of service as priest in Glarus. During this period he carried on humanistic and theological studies, with growing sympathies for Renaissance scholarship. The young priest began a correspondence with Erasmus during this period of his ministry.

While serving the parish of Glarus, Zwingli earned a reputation as an effective preacher. In 1516 he became priest at Einsiedeln, which attracted pilgrims from throughout Switzerland because of a famous shrine. Large audiences enjoyed Zwingli's preaching, which by this time had become expositions of the gospels.

In 1518, while still on good terms with the papacy and the Roman Church, Zwingli became people's priest at the Great Minster in Zurich. With the opportunity to preach regularly before large audiences, Zwingli immediately began a program of biblical exposition, starting with the book of Matthew. This sermonic approach increased the popular knowledge of Scripture and helped lay a foundation for the religious reform that would soon follow.

Though not a great orator, Zwingli's practical emphasis and occasional humor made him a popular preacher with the common people. He avoided use of manuscripts for fear it would restrict his freedom and energy in preaching. Zwingli usually preached about a half hour, though in his early ministry he often preached a full hour.

By the early 1520's, the evangelical reform movement was underway in Zurich, with Zwingli recognized as its theological leader. In the years of political, military and religious struggle that followed, Zwingli moved to the fore as leader of his canton, and sought constantly to build alliances with other cantons and even with Luther -- though unsuccessfully. He died in battle on October 11, 1531, while serving as a chaplain during the defense of Zurich.

Despite his death, the reforms which Zwingli inspired continued under the leadership of Heinrich Bullinger. Although on a small scale, at Zurich Zwingli had presented the first model of a church reorganized according to an evangelical understanding of scripture. Though he took on responsibilities in the political and military realm, Zwingli always recognized his primary calling as a preacher of the Word.

The selections that follow, drawn from several of Zwingli's sermons, offer a glimpse of the preaching ministry of this significant figure in the history of the Christian pulpit.

From "On the Providence of God"

But man is not alone the offspring of God; all creatures are so, though one differs from another in nobility and freedom. They are by birth of God and in God, and the nobler any one is, the more it proclaims the divine glory and power. Do not the creatures of the species of rodents proclaim the wisdom and providence of the Godhead? The hedgehog when with its spines he most cleverly carries a large quantity of fruit to its dwelling place, by rolling over the fruit and planting its spines in it. Alpine rats or marmots, which we now call the mountain rats, station one of their number upon an elevation, that, as they run about intent upon their work, no sudden danger may fall upon them without his timely cry of warning, while meantime the rest of the band carry off the softest hay from all around. And since they have no wagons, they turn themselves into wagons by turns, one lying upon his back and holding fast with all his feet the hay loaded upon his stomach and chest, while another seizes by the tail his comrade thus transformed into a wagon, and drags him with the plunder to their dwelling place to enable them to sleep through the inclemency of the harsh winter season. The squirrel, dragging a broad bit of wood to the shore by its mouth, used it as a boat to cross the water, hoisting its bushy tail, and being thus driven by the favoring breeze, needs no other sail.