The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 136

The European Union in Prophecy
The council declined to take action against Zwingli, and Rome prepared for a
fresh attack. The Reformer, when apprised of the plots of his enemies, exclaimed: "Let
them come on; I fear them as the beetling cliff fears the waves that thunder at its
feet."--Wylie, b. 8, ch. 11. The efforts of the ecclesiastics only furthered the cause which
they sought to overthrow. The truth continued to spread. In Germany its adherents,
cast down 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 suppression of vice and the promotion of order and
harmony. "Peace has her habitation in our town," wrote Zwingli; "no quarrel, no
hypocrisy, no envy, no strife. Whence can such union come but from the Lord, and our
doctrine, which fills us with the fruits of peace and piety?"-- Ibid., b. 8, ch. 15.
The victories gained by the Reformation stirred the Romanists to still more
determined efforts for its overthrow. Seeing how little had been accomplished by
persecution in suppressing Luther's work in Germany, they decided to meet the
reform with its own weapons. They would hold a disputation with Zwingli, and having
the arrangement of matters, they would make sure of victory by choosing, themselves,
not only the place of the combat, but the judges that should decide between the
disputants. And if they could once get Zwingli into their power, they would take care
that he did not escape them. The leader silenced, the movement could speedily be
crushed. This purpose, however, was carefully concealed.
The disputation was appointed to be held at Baden; but Zwingli was not present.
The Council of Zurich, suspecting the designs of the papists, and warned by the
burning piles kindled in the papal cantons for confessors of the gospel, forbade their
pastor to expose himself to this peril. At Zurich he was ready to meet all the partisans
that Rome might send; but to go to Baden, where the blood of martyrs for the truth
had just been shed, was to go to certain death. Oecolampadius and Haller were chosen
to represent the Reformers, while the famous Dr. Eck, supported by a host of learned
doctors and prelates, was the champion of Rome.
Though Zwingli was not present at the conference, his influence was felt. The
secretaries were all chosen by the papists, and others were forbidden to take notes,
on pain of death. Notwithstanding this, Zwingli received daily a faithful account of
what was said at Baden. A student in attendance at the disputation made a record
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