On this episode of five minutes in church history, we're going to go back to one of our favorite topics, the Reformation.

And we're going to talk about, I think, one of the most interesting events in all of church history.

This is the famous sausage supper of 1522. Well we need to set the stage for you.

Christopher Froshauer is the printer in the city of Zurich in Switzerland and the printer was a very prestigious person in the 16th century.

This was a person of some wealth, a person of some influence in power and a very respected citizen.

And Christopher Froshauer and his understudies and his apprentices had all been very

busy.

They just completed a new edition of St Paul's epistles and they wanted to celebrate. So they decided to have a sausage supper.

Now what we need to know is this was on a Friday and it was in the spring and it was during

Lent. So yes you can connect the dots here. This was not

allowed according to church law could not eat meat on Fridays during Lent. But here's

Christopher Froshauer, a respectable citizen of the city.

Not only is he a respectable citizen, but he also invites the town priest or Zwingley to come

to the sausage supper.

Now, the legend has it that Zwingley was there, that he might have even helped serve the sausage, but he himself did not eat. But nevertheless, there he was and these citizens were eating and had this sausage supper, and this caused quite a scandal.

Now if we go up to Germany, we remember that the Reformation came to Germany when Martin Luther

posted his 95 theses on the church door. But here down in Zurich in Switzerland

the reformation comes to Switzerland when a bunch of middle-aged guys were sitting around and had a sausage supper.

Well, not only did they have the sausage supper, but after the sausage supper,

Zwingley ascended the pulpit at the Gross Munster. the this is one of the best sermon titles of all time and it's simply this on the choice and freedom of foods.

In the sermon Zwingley makes a very simple argument. He can't find Lent in scripture. He's looked far and

wide and he can't find these restrictions that the church has imposed upon people.

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