Zwingli

Third Man of the Reformation

by Jean Rilliet

Book cover: Zwingli

Extent: 324 pages

Publisher: James Clarke & Co

Subjects: Early Modern & Renaissance Studies, Religious Studies

Language: English

PDF (Published)

(November 2023)

ISBN: 9780227179659

Price: $31.00

A comprehensive analysis of Zwingli’s life and his role in the reformation, in Switzerland and beyond


Ulrich, or Huldrych, Zwingli of Zurich is the ‘great unknown’ of the Reformation in Europe, and yet his influence and ideas have penetrated into every part of the world where the Reformed tradition has been planted. He was neither a passionate man of religion like Luther, nor a superb dialectician like Calvin. But in his lucid radicalism and belief in thorough reform in Church doctrine as well as in government, Zwingli stands with his two more famous brethren as a ‘Father of the Reformation’. First published in English in 1964, Jean Rilliet’s biography places Zwingli in the context of Swiss church history, as well as that of the sixteenth-century upheaval of which he was a part. Covering every aspect of Zwingli’s career, with detailed discussion of his more influential writings, the picture that emerges is one of a ‘fighting prophet’, unremittent in his search for God in this most turbulent of times.

  • By (author) Jean Rilliet
  • Translated by Harold Knight

"An exceedingly well planned volume, which, after an introductory essay on the Swiss people, takes the reader through every important aspect of Zwingli's career, including Marburg with all of its political and theological difficulties, and even manages to seize upon the appearance of Zwingli's Commentarius de vera et false religione (1525) to offer a descriptive review of Zwingli's theology in the course of some thirty pages. ... A sound, eminently readable, even absorbing biography, that teaches us more about Zwingli, and does him greater justice, than any comparable volume I am aware of." Bart Thompson, in Church History "Jean Rilliet's Zwingli: Third Man of the Reformation fills a significant gap in historical knowledge by illuminating the life of a key yet often overlooked figure. If you want to get to know more about this bold and fearless reformer, this book is an indispensable resource!" Marc Daniel Rivera In KristiyaKnow, June 2024
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