The Early Debate in Switzerland

In the spring and summer of 1525, Ulrich Zwingli published three works that rejected Christ’s corporeal presence, although Zwingli distanced himself from Karlstadt. Even more important was Johannes Oecolampadius’s treatise arguing that the church fathers had not taught Christ’s bodily presence. These Latin pamphlets generated a lively underground debate in letters and private conversations among reformers throughout southern Germany and Switzerland, and Erasmus did his best to distance himself from the position of his former associates. Zwingli’s pamphlets were translated into German and so contributed further to the vernacular discussion initiated by Karlstadt. Zwingli developed his understanding of the sacraments in attacks on Anabaptists who shared his understanding of the Lord’s Supper but rejected infant baptism. At the end of 1525, there was no clear distinction between the positions of Karlstadt and Zwingli, and the Wittenbergers considered Oecolampadius to be their most dangerous opponent