Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 3
John Ruth recounts Grebel’s shift from Renaissance ambition and moral mess (“goofing off,” “skirt chaser,” venereal disease) to being “swollen” by hearing Scripture preached in the common tongue; how does this narrative challenge modern expectations that God mainly uses the already-disciplined and respectable to launch reform?
Another way to ask: Grebel went from chasing status and making a mess of his life to being changed by hearing Scripture in everyday language. How does that story challenge the idea that God mostly uses “good,” respectable people to start reform?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The narrative challenges the idea that God only uses polished, stable people; Grebel is portrayed as gifted but immature, and yet Scripture grips him and he becomes part of a decisive reforming break. God’s work, in this telling, can move through morally messy lives that are seized by the Word.
- Grebel is described in Paris as “not studying… just goofing off,” “bored stiff,” “kicked out,” a “skirt chaser,” who “gets venereal disease.”
- Yet he is also exceptionally bright: his professor predicts he will be “the top person when the Swiss get their Renaissance.”
- The turning point is spiritual and visceral: hearing Zwingli preach in German with the New Testament open makes Grebel say, “I’m swollen… I almost am going to burst,” quoting Job.
- The speaker refuses to idealize him: “I don’t praise Conrad. He was not mature in everything.”
- Grebel’s own summary is decisive: “When we took up the scriptures… something is happening in our hearts.”
- Despite personal flaws, he becomes central to the “historic crossing of a line” that formed a lasting fellowship.