Rudolf Hospinian
Rudolf Hospinian, real name Rudolf Wirth, was a Swiss Reformed theologian and controversialist.
Life
He was born in Fehraltorf, Zürich, Switzerland, as son of Adrian Wirth, a minister. He studied in Marburg and Heidelberg in Germany. Returning to Switzerland, he joined the church of Zürich, and was a pastor and schoolteacher. He ministered at Fraumünster from 1594 to 1623, and died in Zurich.Works
His anti-Catholic writing was against the supposed harmony of Catholic doctrines and institutions with the early Church, concentrating on baptism, the Eucharist, church festivals, fasting, religious orders, the rule of the papacy, and funerals. He wrote:- De origine et progressu rituum et ceremoniarum ecclesiasticarum ;
- De templis, hoc est de origine, progressu et abusu templorum, ac omnia rerum omnium ad templa pertinentium ;
- De monachis, seu de origine et progressu monachatus ac ordinum monasticorum, equitum militarium tam sacrorum quam sæcularium omnium ;
- De festia Judæorum et Ethnicorum, hoc est de origine, progressu, ceremoniis et ritibus festorum dierum Christianorum ;
- Historia sacramentaria. The first volume was directed against the Catholic view of the sacraments, and the second treated the sacramental dispute among Protestants, under the title De origine et progressu controversiæ sacramentatiæ de cœna Domini inter Lutheranos et orthodoxos quos Zwinglianos et Calvinistas vocant, exortæ ab anno 1517 usque ad annum 1612.