(Short-lived) Strasbourg, France, 26 June, 2010

DAY 7 – SAT 26 JUN

STRASBOURG – ZURICH
On the border of France and Germany, Strasbourg is influenced by both countries and is the capital of the Alsace region. A noteworthy site is the GOTHIC CATHEDRAL. On to Zurich where you join your Tour Director for a walk through the Old Town and visit GROSSMUNSTER CHURCH, the mother church of the Reformation in Switzerland under Ulrich Zwingli. Also see the Helferei where Zwingli lived. Then, visit FRAUMUNSTER CHURCH, known for Chagall’s stained-glass windows. Overnight in Zurich. (B)

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After five days of sausage and schnitzel (as it good as it was), I think the entire tour-group fell in love with Strasbourg. The small french border-city between Germany and France had been a Protestant hub and imperial city in the sixteenth century.

Arriving the night before, staying in a boutique French Hotel, Heather and I wandered the streets (minus the tour group), enjoying the sights and sounds of this picturesque French town. Early the next morning (Saturday) after having been woken up by a false (fire) alarm, we took a short walk around the corner to the Church that Calvin had pastored while being mentored by Bucer (pronounced Butzer - German sounding).

A quick hike up the road leads to Bucer's Church, St Thomas, which was once a Luthern Church, it is now a Protestant Church and still remains significant as the centre of the Reformation in Strasbourg.

Sadly, both of these Churches were closed when we visited.

Here in Strasbourg we part company with Martin Luther and begin to reflect on the events of the sixteenth and subsequent centuries as REFORMATIONS (plural) as opposed to singular, Reformation. This was the topic we were invited to explore today. A helpful way of getting started is to explore the key differences between the reformation that ensued as a result of the work of Luther in comparison to the Strasbourg-Zurich-Geneva reformation movements. Whist, as we have seen, Luther was an academic, ordained minister and preacher, his reformation developed from a deep inner conversion. In Rhys' words, Luther's message was "Jesus is Saviour" whilst in Strasbourg, Zurich and Geneva the message was "Jesus is Lord." The Wittenberg movement did not perceive of a relationship between Church and State, nor did it place a great emphasis on reforming the community. It was about righteousnes through God's grace expressed personally to and for each believer. The subsequent reformers in Switzerland and France were preoccupied with influencing reformation in the Church and the State. Zwingli saw Church and State as being very connected (he preached openly and strongly against Swiss youths being sent to mercenery service) whereas Luther would not have been able to conceive of such a notion. Luther’s reformation was born out of personal struggle, whereas the Swiss reformation was about a corporate struggle to reform the Church in a pertinent time and context.

I'll save Zurich for my next post.

More photos of Strasbourg below: