ABSTRACT
The blending of radical ideas of reform with the desire of rural communities to free themselves from inherited lordships in their struggle for the autonomy of their own community was similar to the engagement which Thomas Muntzer was to manifest on behalf of the commoners. The commonalities between Grebel’s and Muntzer’s circles were not only to be found in battles against Zwingli and Luther. The Grebel circle had over time developed its own theological position and deliberately approached those who found themselves in a similar situation, in particular Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt and Muntzer. According to Muntzer only the poor in spirit were in a position to understand the Word of God and to await the ‘arrival of faith’. True, Muntzer meant the inner work or cleansing process of the person experienced in suffering; what the Zurichers heard was the concern about a faith that would change the whole person in both its inner constitution and outer relationships.
