The Marburg Colloquy fails
Luther and Zwingli cannot agree on the Lord's Supper
Philip of Hesse arranges the meeting. He is a German prince who wants the Protestant powers unified — politically, militarily, theologically. If Luther's German Reformation and Zwingli's Swiss Reformation can agree on their theology, they can form an alliance against the Catholic emperor.
They cannot agree.
The Marburg Colloquy convenes in October 1529, and on fourteen of fifteen points the reformers reach agreement. Then they come to the Lord's Supper, and the conversation breaks down.
Luther believes in the real physical presence of Christ in the bread and wine — not transubstantiation, but genuine bodily presence: this is my body means the body is actually there. He writes THIS IS MY BODY in chalk on the table before the disputation begins. He will not move from it.
Zwingli argues that the presence is spiritual and symbolic — that this is my body means this signifies my body. He believes Luther's position irrationally clings to a physical reading of a spiritual text.
They argue for two days. Luther is immovable. Zwingli is immovable. Philip of Hesse watches the Protestant alliance dissolve over the interpretation of four words.
At the end, Zwingli weeps. He offers Luther his hand as a fellow Christian even if not a theological brother. Luther refuses. He says he cannot regard Zwingli as a brother in the faith.
The Protestant Reformation fragments at Marburg before it has fully formed.
“Your spirit and our spirit do not agree.”
— Martin Luther to Zwingli, at the Marburg Colloquy, October 1529 AD
“For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
Luther and Zwingli divided the Reformation over four words: this is my body.
Both men believed they were defending the gospel. Both were willing to sacrifice Protestant unity rather than compromise on what they believed the text required.
Zwingli wept and offered his hand. Luther refused it.
This is the moment in Reformation history that is hardest to defend. Not Luther's theology — reasonable people disagree on the Eucharist to this day. But the refusal of the hand. The decision that disagreement on this question meant they could not be brothers.
The fractures of Marburg are still visible in Protestant Christianity five centuries later — the Lutheran and Reformed traditions that cannot fully commune at the same table.
Is there a hand you have refused to take because the theological disagreement felt too significant? And are you certain the refusal was required by the gospel rather than by pride?