Reformed Orthodoxy in

Christian Moser

The State of Research and Definition of the Period

The era of Reformed Orthodoxy in Switzerland has not been much favored by the fellowship of historians up to now. As far as Protestant- ism in Switzerland is concerned, almost all ecclesiastical and theologi- cal historiography concentrated on the transformations of the sixteenth century, the dawn of the Enlightenment, and the thriving of Pietism in the eighteenth century, quite to the detriment of the orthodox era, which is generally considered the “forlorn period.”1 In order to examine this period one has to—with few exceptions—revert to ancient literature. Of fundamental significance for the historiography on Reformed Orthodoxy in Switzerland was ­Alexander Schweizer’s description of the Centraldog­ men der reformirten Kirche, which, being the first critical examination of the time, formed the basis for all subsequent attempts.2 The general overviews of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries offer only slight assessments of the orthodox period, the material covered and the depth of insight lagging shamefully behind those of other epochs, and reveal an obvious lack of research tradition in that field.3 The same can be found regarding the individual Reformed centers of the confederation, except Basel, where the historiography of both its church and university include several major studies of the era of orthodoxy, which coalesce into a sort of

1 After the chapter title in Wilhelm Hadorn, Kirchengeschichte der reformierten Schweiz (Zurich, 1907), part 2, “Das Jahrhundert der Orthodoxie,” 166. 2 Alexander Schweizer, Die protestantischen Centraldogmen in ihrer Entwicklung inner­ halb der reformirten Kirche, 2 vols. (Zurich, 1854/56). For Schweizer’s life and work see Alexander Schweizer (1808–1888) und seine Zeit, ed. Emidio Campi, Ralph Kunz, and Chris- tian Moser (Zurich, 2008). 3 See Emil Bloesch, Geschichte der schweizerisch-reformierten Kirchen, 2 vols. (, 1898/99); Hadorn, Kirchengeschichte der reformierten Schweiz; Rudolf Pfister, Kirchenge­ schichte der Schweiz, vol. 2, Von der bis zum zweiten Villmerger Krieg (Zurich, 1974); Ökumenische Kirchengeschichte der Schweiz, ed. Lukas Vischer, Lukas Schenker, and Rudolf Dellsperger (Fribourg, 1994). 196 christian moser

­general ­survey of the period.4 There are a few studies on Geneva,5 while the research done on Bern and Zurich have rather less to offer. As to the periodization of the epoch, the model suggested by Olivier Fatio for the entire field of Reformed Orthodoxy may be equally applied to the specific circumstances in Switzerland.6 The model distinguishes between three phases, which are linked by two historical events and proceedings almost like hinges.7 In the field of Swiss Protestantism, the beginning of so-called early orthodoxy can be fixed upon the publication of the Second Helvetic Confession in 1566 as the normative confessional outline.8 The date corresponds with a drastic generational change: in 1563 Wolfgang Musculus (b. 1497)9 passed away in Bern, just one year prior to Calvin in Geneva and one year after Peter Martyr Vermigli (b. 1499)10 in Zurich. In Zurich two further incidents of that time marked the swing to a firm orthodox doctrine: Theodor Bibliander’s (1505–64) criticism of the doctrine of predestination lead to his retirement in 1560,11 and the so-called Ochino Affair around the Dialogi XXX by Bernardino Ochino (1487–1564), which were perceived as heterodox, terminated with his

4 See Andreas Urs Sommer, “Eine Stadt zwischen Hochorthodoxie und Aufklärung. Basel in frühneuzeitlichen Transformationsprozessen,” in Theologische Zeitschrift 66, no. 1 (2010): 44–61; Amy Nelson Burnett, Teaching the Reformation. Ministers and their Mes­ sage in Basel, 1529–1629 (Oxford, 2006); Max Geiger, Die Basler Kirche und Theologie im Zeitalter der Hochorthodoxie (Zollikon, 1952); Martin Sallmann, Predigten in Basel 1580 bis 1650. Städtische Gesellschaft und reformierte Konfessionskultur (Tubingen, forthcoming). Besides this, the history of the Basel theological department is relatively well researched; see below n21. 5 See for early orthodoxy, although a nominally yielding study, W. McComish, The Epigones. A Study of the Theology of the Genevan Academy at the Time of the Dort, with Special Reference to Giovanni Diodati (Allison Park, Pa., 1989). The period of Genevan late orthodoxy has been more extensively researched; see Martin I. Klauber, Between Reformed Scholasticism and Pan-Protestantism. Jean-Alphonse Turretin (1671–1737) and Enlightened Orthodoxy at the Academy of Geneva (Selinsgrove, Pa., 1994); Maria Cristina Pitassi, De l’orthodoxie aux lumières. Genève 1670–1737 (Geneva, 1992). 6 See Olivier Fatio, “Orthodoxie II,” in TRE, 25:488. 7 The same model applied in Ökumenische Kirchengeschichte der Schweiz, 164. 8 From the vast array of literature on the Second Helvetic Confession, see Glauben und Bekennen. Vierhundert Jahre Confessio Helvetica posterior. Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte und Theologie, ed. Joachim Staedtke (Zurich, 1966). 9 See Reinhard Bodenmann, Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563). Destin d’un autodidacte lorrain au siècle des Réformes (Geneva, 2000); Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563) und die ober­ deutsche Reformation, ed. Rudolf Dellsperger et al. (Berlin, 1997). 10 See A Companion to Peter Martyr Vermigli, ed. Torrance Kirby, Emidio Campi, and Frank A. James III (Leiden, 2009). 11 See Joachim Staedtke, “Der Zürcher Prädestinationsstreit von 1560,” Zwingliana 9 (1953): 535–46.