This thesis is an examination of the Synod and its administration of clerical discipline in Zürich between 1532 and 1580. It is an investigation to determine how an early reformed institution implemented the teachings on discipline amongst the rural clergy. The basis of the work are the surviving manuscript records of the Synod found in the Zürich Staatsarchiv together with other ecclesiastical records and the writings of the reformers. The beginning point of the thesis is the historical and theological background to the Synod. The diocesan synods of Constance served as a useful model for Zwingli, as, on the whole, the structure of the rural church was left intact by the Reformation. The Synod was formed in 1528 with a brief shaped by the theological revolution of the 1520s. The idea of discipline as integral to Zwingli's teachings on God, the Church and the Christian life is examined. Bullinger's further explication of clerical discipline is discussed as the basis for the restoration of the Synod in 1532 following Kappel. The next section examines the structure and composition of the Synod. From the surviving documents it is possible to reconstruct the membership and agenda. The work of the clerical and civil representatives is discussed along with the Synod's working relationships with the other ecclesiastical and civil bodies of the canton. The Synod was part of a hierarchy of discipline which began with the parish and culminated in the Council. The central part of the thesis is a systematic treatment of the disciplinary cases in the Synod. Using Bullinger's schematic outline for the life of the minister, the cases are divided thematically that they might be studied in light of pertinent theological, political and social factors. The work of Bullinger in guiding the Synod was crucial and considerable attention is given to his writings. Finally, the thesis offers a detailed prosopography of the ministers involved in disciplinary cases between 1532 and 1580. The information provided indicates the wide range of problems afflicting the Zürich church and the heterogeneous nature of the rural clergy. The position of the Zürich church in the sixteenth century debates over discipline is well known. It rejected the system of separate church courts employed in the mediaeval and later in the Calvinist churches. This thesis explores what happened when the Zürich reformers and magistrates actually attempted to enforce their concept of discipline upon the clergy.

Given the relative paucity of treatments relating to both the 1532 and 1538 Bern Gespräche, alongside a growing historiography which has offered a clearer understanding of the backdrop around which these two debates were held, the focus of this research project will be to provide a comparative analysis of the recorded dialogues from the debates at Bern. This ecclesiologically focused comparison aims to discern whether the debate relating to the nature of the church at the 1538 session was merely a redundant exercise and continuation of the earlier 1532 disputation or whether the latter debate offered anything substantively new to the ongoing religious dialogue between these two groups. Furthermore, all of the respective views on the nature of the church manifest in these debates will be examined in light of the preceding Anabaptist/Reformed dialogue of the period to determine their place contextually. Having embarked upon the aforementioned goals several conclusions may be definitively drawn. First, the major ecclesiological suppositions expressed by both the Anabaptist and Reformed participants at the 1538 debate were, in fact, retained using the same core theological elements employed by their predecessors at the 1532 debate. Yet, despite this striking similarity, the independent nature of these debates must also be acknowledged. This may primarily be found in that both groups expressed their retained ecclesiologies with notable variation in things such as language, argumentative content, biblical corroboration, and illustrative evidence. Finally, both the similar and independent nature of these events will be shown to have been largely derived from the Anabaptist/Reformed dialogue already begun as the Swiss Brethren movement emerged from under Zwingli’s reform efforts in Zürich. Each of these conclusions should help to paint a more accurate portrait of not only what was accomplished through these debates, but where each stands contextually during the period.

This study charts the developing relationship between the Zurich church and Italian-speaking Protestants between around 1540 and 1620. It explores the close ties that were established between Zurich's senior minister, Heinrich Bullinger, and Italian evangelical exiles in Switzerland and elsewhere from the early 1540s, and describes how the Zurich church facilitated the spread of Protestantism in Italian-speaking regions such as Locarno and southern Graubünden. That process culminated in the setting-up in Zurich, under Bullinger's patronage, of an Italian Reformed congregation. A particular concern of the thesis is the threat to the integrity of the Zwinglian settlement posed by the ideas and activities of religious radicals within the Italian exile community. To begin with, Bullinger was confident that those 'heretics' could be accommodated within the emerging Reformed consensus. However, a series of doctrinal disputes during the 1540s, 1550s and 1560s revealed the extent of the radicals' differences with Reformed orthodoxy and compelled the Zurichers to revise their judgement. Bullinger's hostile reaction to the publication of the allegedly heterodox Dialogi XXX by his Italian colleague, Bernardino Ochino, signalled a move from conciliation to confrontation. From the early 1560s, the Zurich divines assumed an active role in the Reformed campaign to shore up Nicene orthodoxy against the criticisms of Italian antitrinitarians, and to expel radicals from the Italian-speaking churches of the Rhaetian Freestate. In the process, they endeavoured to counter the charges of heresy that had long bedevilled Zwinglianism by articulating a conservative, 'catholic' definition of their church's identity. The study concludes by examining how relations between the Zurich church and the Italian Reformed communities of Graubünden and its subject lands were placed on a new, co-operative basis once the radical challenge had been repelled. Through its support for those vulnerable congregations, I suggest, the Zurich church gave evidence of its continued commitment to the international Protestant cause during the period following Bullinger's death. The correspondence of Bullinger and other Zurich ministers forms the dissertation's most important source. The study also draws on works produced by the Zurich divines in the context of their exchanges with Italian evangelicals, the works of the Italian exiles themselves, and the records of Zurich's Italian-speaking community.

This doctoral thesis, entitled “Church & Society in Eighteenth-Century Geneva, 1700-1789”, will seek to reappraise the relationship between religion and the Enlightenment through the context of eighteenth-century Geneva. Based on the perspectives of the philosophes, historians have generally understood the Enlightenment as the source of secularization and a period of religious decline. However, more recent work has begun to reassess the developments of religion in the eighteenth century beyond the philosophes, resulting in an increasingly multi-faceted picture of religion in the age of Enlightenment. This thesis will contribute to that revisionist effort. Eighteenth-century Geneva offers an intriguing example because it allows one to observe the encounter of the Reformation and the Enlightenment in the figurative meeting between Calvin and Voltaire. With that in mind, this work will re-examine the legacy of Calvin from 1700 to 1789 through a socio-historical and theological approach in order to analyze the functioning of religious life in Genevan society, the theological content and development of preaching and worship, and the clerical responses to incidents of conflict in relation to the government and the philosophes. The near totality of this research has stemmed from the study of manuscript sources within the Genevan archives, such as sermons, church and government records, and official and personal correspondence. Through the perspective of Geneva’s church and clergy, a far more complex picture of the dynamic between religion and the Enlightenment will emerge supporting the understanding that the Enlightenment occurred differently in different contexts and challenging the widespread attribution of the secularization theory and the decline of religion thesis to the eighteenth century.

Text in German and English, summaries in German and English / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-154) / Diese theologisch-empirische Studie befasst sich mit einem ganzheitlichen Verständnis von Mission im pfingstlich-charismatischen Kontext und besteht aus zwei Untersuchungen. In der ersten wird Literatur zum Paradigma ganzheitlicher Mission und zur Pfingstbewegung missionstheologisch erforscht. Die zweite Untersuchung baut auf der Literaturanalyse auf und bezieht sich exemplarisch auf eine pfingstliche Freikirche aus der Schweiz namens BewegungPlus. Mithilfe von offiziellen Dokumenten der Bewegung und ihres internationalen Zweigs, wie auch in Interviewaussagen leitender Personen von Lokal kirchen der Bewegung, wurde das Missionsverständnis untersucht. Die Auswertung der Interviews orientierte sich methodisch an der Grounded Theory. Aus den Resultaten beider Untersuchungen wurden thesenartige Schlussfolgerungen gezogen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der missionstheologische Paradigmenwechsel im pfingstlich- charismatischen Kontext rezipiert wird. Die Integration pfingstlicher und ganzheitlicher Mission ist am Beispiel der BewegungPlus zu beobachten, vor allem, wenn Mission und Eschatologie in einer Reich-Gottes-Theologie verbunden sind. Der im Rahmen dieser Arbeit erfolgte Beitrag aus pfingstlich-charismatischer Perspektive kann die aktuelle Missions diskussion erweitern. / This empirical theological study dealing with a holistic understanding of mission in an pentecostal context contains two studies. The first investigates literature focused on the paradigm of holistic mission and the Pentecostal Mission. The second study based on this literature analysis refers to an example of a pentecostal Church in Switzerland named „BewegungPlus“. The understanding of mission was investigated by examining official documents of the movement and by taking interviews with leading members of local churches. The evaluation of the interviews was methodologically based on the Grounded Theory. From the results of both studies theses-like conclusions were drawn. The results show that the mission theological paradigm shift is received in the pentecostal-charismatic context. In „BewegungPlus“ you can see the integration of both pentecostal and holistic mission especially when mission and eschatology are connected to a Kingdom of God theology. The pentecostal-charismatic perspective seen in this theses may contribute to the contemporary missional discussion. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)