Sale of Indulgences in Switzerland

In Germany the infamous Tetzel conducted the sale of indulgences. In Switzerland the church put sales under the control of Samson, an Italian monk. Samson had already raised huge sums from Germany and Switzerland to fill the papal treasury. Now he traveled throughout Switzerland, draining the poor peasants of their meager earnings and demanding rich gifts from the wealthy. When he arrived with his wares at a town near Einsiedeln, Zwingli immediately set out to oppose him. Zwingli was so successful in exposing the friar's lies that Samson had to leave for other towns. Later, Zwingli preached zealously in Zurich against those who tried to sell God's forgiveness. When Samson approached the place, he used a clever maneuver to gain entrance. But when the people there sent him away without the sale of a single pardon, he soon left Switzerland.LF 77.4

The plague, or Great Death, swept over Switzerland in the year 1519. Many came to feel how useless and worthless were the pardons they had bought. They longed for a surer foundation for their faith. At Zurich Zwingli came down with the plague, and the report circulated widely that he was dead. In that awful hour he looked in faith to the cross of Calvary, trusting in the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. When he came back from the gates of death, he preached the gospel with greater intensity than ever before. The people themselves had come from caring for the sick and the dying, and they felt the value of the gospel as never before.LF 77.5

Zwingli had come to a clearer understanding of the gospel's truths and had more fully experienced its renewing power in himself. “Christ,” he said, “... has purchased for us a never-ending redemption.... His suffering is ... an eternal sacrifice, and it has eternal power to heal. It satisfies the divine justice forever for all who rely on it with firm and unshaken faith.... Wherever there is faith in God, there is also a zeal urging and driving people to good works.”^{8J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, book 8, chapter 9.}LF 77.6

Step by step the Reformation gained ground in Zurich. In alarm its enemies arose to oppose it openly. They made repeated attacks on Zwingli, trying to silence the teacher of heresy. The bishop of Constance sent three deputies to the Council of Zurich, accusing Zwingli of endangering the peace and order of society. If the authority of the church were set aside, he urged, complete anarchy would result.LF 78.1

The council declined to take action against Zwingli, and Rome prepared for a fresh attack. The Reformer exclaimed: “Let them come on. I fear them like the rocky cliff fears the waves that thunder at its feet.”^{9James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 8, chapter 11.} The efforts of the church officials only helped the cause that they were trying to overthrow. The truth continued to spread. In Germany its followers, discouraged by Luther's disappearance, took heart again as they saw the progress of the gospel in Switzerland. As the Reformation became established in Zurich, its fruits were more fully seen in the reduction of crime and the promotion of order.LF 78.2