This page has been validated.
1527]
Teachings of Hübmaier
209

that for which he has so valiantly contended, in a manner more creditable to his ingenuity than to his good sense and good faith.

"This is my body," he says, is immediately followed by "Do this in remembrance of me." It is a well-known rule that every subject must be understood by its predicate. Hence, "This is my body" must be taken to mean, This bread is the body of Christ that was crucified for us. But, as matter of fact, the bread was not crucified, did not die for us. Therefore the bread must be the body of Christ not in reality but in remembrance, for the words "in remembrance of me" qualify all the preceding words. Hence the breaking, distributing, and eating of the bread is not an actual breaking, distributing, and eating of the body of Christ, but a remembrance of his passion, an eating in faith that he did this for us.[1]

Whether Hübmaier's exegesis or Zwingli's is the better may be a fair question, but what is perfectly plain is that they reach exactly the same result. One cannot resist the conclusion that this difference between the two teachers amounted to just nothing

  1. Simple Explanation, Op. 15; Hoschek, ii., 134 sq.