Last week Annette & I had the privilege (having being asked to represent The Salvation Army) and the pleasure of watching a film called Zwingli – A Life’s Portrait @ the Embassy Theatre in Wellington about the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli.
We inconspicuously took our seats in the middle of the front row of the second tier of the beautifully restored venue and were promptly joined by Barbara Kuriger (the MP for Taranaki-King Country) and the Swiss Ambassador to New Zealand David Vogelsanger. After being briefly introduced to those gathered, David provided by way of an introduction, a brief synopsis of the movie that features as part of the 11th German Film Festival. Having grown up in Zurich he shared personal experiences and some of the historical context before we settled in to watch the movie.
Zwingli was the main proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland and turned the entire city of Zurich and the firmly established canon of values upside down. With his razor-sharp intellect he dissected the religious and social system, denounced abuses and was not afraid of taking issue with the most powerful people of his time.
In a time when Martin Luther and others around Europe challenged the authority and office of the Pope and the Roman Catholic church, he too challenged long held views and religious ordinances and systems that subjected the common man. He kept in regular contact with Luther and others by writing lots of letters back and forth, along with sending and receiving translations of the scriptures into their respective languages. Zwingli’s work made him world famous within a few years and his life has had a profound effect on the church ever since.
The Reformer. Zwingli – A Life’s Portrait is a spectacular film about the life and works of possibly Switzerland’s most influential man and is proudly supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in New Zealand.
Heinrich Bullinger continued his work in Zurich and the Zurich Bible which in large part was down to the hard work of Zwingli and people associated with him made the Bible available to the common man and has influenced many Christians today; as we try to understand how ‘The Word’ is not only relevant to our lives but how we can be transformed by saving grace and power of Jesus Christ.
Although the movie is in Swiss-German you can check out the trailer here and I highly recommend it to anyone working in the church or is involved in the ministry, let alone those that belong to any particular church. As if it was not for the works of men such as these we wouldn’t have the freedom to worship and appreciate God in the way that we do today!
One of the famous quotes from Zwingli is “I beseech Christ for this one thing only, that He will enable me to endure all things courageously, and that He break me as a potter’s vessel or make me strong, as it pleases Him.” Another from the movie is this (again from Zwingli himself); “For God’s sake, do something brave!“
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