Zwingli and the Zurich Catechetical Tradition

Zwingli’s close friend and collaborator Leo Jud was the main actor for the development of the Zurich catechetical tradition. His German shorter catechism remained the standard for religious education in Zurich up to the end of the sixteenth century, and, in an adapted version, even into the modern period. Still, the present investigation shows that this development received important stimuli from Zwingli’s writings, both on the level of specific church reforms (biannual catechetical sessions), and on the level of theological contents (prohibition of images, covenant theology). Although the contribution of Zwingli to the Zurich catechetical tradition was indirect and limited, because of the long-term impact of Jud’s catechisms for the religious education of broad layers of the population, it forms a substantial part of his legacy to the churches of the Reformation.