Icarus of Basel? Oecolampadius and the Early Swiss Reformation

Abstract

This article examines the role of Johannes Oecolampadius in the establishment of reformation at Basel specifically and his place in the Swiss Reformation generally. In this context there is an overview of reformation tactics and activities at Basel in the 1520s, especially concerning the role of the city council, popular movements advocating iconoclasm, and the Anabaptist problem. Oecolampadius' relations with Luther, Zwingli, Erasmus and the radical reformers are considered. It is suggested that the importance of Oecolampadius consists in the doctrine of the eucharist and his ideas on ecclesiastical discipline as they relate to civil authority. With respect to the eucharist, Oecolampadius' position is clearly delineated in his writings, principally his 1525 treatise and then later at the famous Marburg Colloquy in 1529. His eucharistic theology departed from the positions of Roman Catholicism, Luther and the Anabaptists. There is also a subtle deviation from Zwingli. Regarding the church and state in matters of discipline, Oecolampadius anticipated Calvin in the plea for ecclesiastically administered civil order and moral regulation. It is argued that Oecolampadius' ideas on the eucharist and ecclesiastical discipline were foundational in the development of Reformed theology and polity and therefore the Basel Reformation is a watershed in that tradition.