When did the Reformation Begin? 1517, 1519 or 1525?

The Swiss Reformation...
On a recent visit to Zurich I was surprised to find the Swiss celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2019! I always thought that the 500th anniversary was to be celebrated in 2017 - 500 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 suggestions-for-discussion on the door of a church in Wittenberg (in custom with the times).

The Grossmunster Church - Zurich

"Oh no!" say the Swiss! The reformation began in earnest when Zwingli came to Zurich and became the preacher at the Grossmunster church - still standing today.

So this year, 2019, they are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Quite independently of Luther, Zwingli came to the same truths of the Gospel as he did, truths of salvation by grace, truth lost under the religious system of popery.

So what will it be, 1517 or 1519?

The Annabaptists - 1525
I am not sure either date should be regarded as the start of the Reformation. I prefer the date January 21st 1525 instead, and here is why.

Many (now virtually unknown) reformers wanted to go further than the famous Luthers and Zwinglis wished to go - they wanted to be more biblical. Good men like Zwingli wanted to reform the church through the state - using the magistrates. This was a fatal, not to mention foolish, mistake. Why? Because you cannot advance the cause of Christ with the sword and you can't advance the cause of His Kingdom with the help of unbelievers.

The forgotten reformers wanted to take the reformation further and were labelled Annabaptists - which means baptise again. It was a name they didn't want but was thrust upon them by the other reformers who said they wanted to be baptised "again" - after they had been baptised the first time, as infants. The Annabaptists saw their first baptism as false and believed that their adult baptism was their first baptism, but they were stuck with the name given to them by their enemies.

Anyway! The very first baptism of believing adults took place in Zurich on the 21st January 1525. A small faithful-to-Christ band of believers realised that Zwingli was not going to reform the church according to the New Testament and so they refused to have their babies baptised and got themselves baptised in obedience to Christ.

From this moment onwards they were hounded by the state, persecuted, imprisoned and killed for their faith. A famous old painting, below, depicts the first drowning of an Annabaptist ("You wanna be baptised again? We'll do it for you - permanently" - that was the sinister logic of drowning.) the drowning of Felix Manz.

As wonderful as the work of the "Magisterial Reformers" (who relied on the local magistrates to force through the reformation) was - for they recovered the Gospel - they did not go far enough and for me, I find the brave Annabaptists far more biblical, and thus I would want to date the Reformation from 1525, not 1517 (sorry Lutherans) or even 1519 (sorry Reformed folks).

The forgotten Anabaptists, or as they wanted to be called, the Brethren, wanted to separate church from state, just like the NT does. They wanted to baptise people who believed, not infants who were unaware, just as the NT does. They were far closer to us in our evangelical independent churches than the magisterial reformers who clung to the church-state error.

Felix Manz, Annabaptist, is drowned in the Limmat

So, I'm looking forward to a celebration in 2025!