Topic > Analysis of the Marburg Colloquium - 1457

Luther opposed the extremes of Catholic practice determined by superstition, however he continued to consider "the images, the bells, the Eucharistic vestments, the ornaments of the church, the altar lights and similar” as “indifferent”. Zwingli, however, had abolished the mass in 1525 in Zurich, replacing the altar with a table and a tablecloth. Luther was trying to counteract the "bad growth" within Roman Catholic sacramentalism, while Zwingli saw sacramentalism as partly the problem itself. Zwingli believed that the solution to this problem required a reinterpretation of the nature of the sacraments. The question of true or “real presence” was the theological heart of the Marburg debate, a question of Christology and more specifically a question of the humanity of Christ. The third session of the Marburg Colloquium was dominated by the Christological debate, Zwingli saw Luther's statement as a denigration of the humanity of Christ by not allowing the human body of Christ to remain in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. Luther countered that Zwingli denigrated the humanity of Christ by denying his presence in the Eucharist. This argument stemmed from both individuals' approach to the dichotomy between flesh and spirit. Zwingli draws a stark contrast between the physical and the spiritual