Wittenberg on March 6, 1522. Luther soon preached eight sermons against those he would label Schwärmer ("Fanatics") and the force of these sermons was enough to calm the growing radicalism in the city. The Prophets then reportedly confronted Luther in order to assert the authority of the Spirit-mediated message over Luther and his gospel. Luther claimed to have demanded that they authenticate their message with a miracle, a sign which the men refused to give. The Prophets then denounced Luther and left Wittenberg. Müntzer Thomas Müntzer held two posts as preacher in Zwickau in 1520/21 and had contact with the Zwickau Prophets. While Müntzer may have associated himself for a time with them and held similar views to them in several areas of doctrine, this is not the same as Müntzer being a part of their group. As Vedder explained it, Müntzer was "with" the Prophets, but not "of" them. Some historians, however, have asserted that instead of the Zwickau Prophets and Müntzer being parallel with a mutual influence, Müntzer used the Prophets for his revolutionary ends. New explanation While the above narrative of the events of Wittenberg in early 1522 and the association of the Zwickau Prophets with them had become the standard textbook explanation of the case, Olaf Kuhr has proposed a new explanation for understanding the occasion. Referencing primary sources such as correspondences, Kuhr concludes that Dreschel and Storch left Wittenberg before January 1 and Stübner by January 6. With the former pair in Wittenberg for no more than four days and the latter for no more than ten, Kuhr questioned how great of an impact the Prophets could have had and if they were the source of the Wittenberg disturbances. Their absence would explain Qualben's observation (noting that is named by Kuhr as holding to the older historiography) that Luther made no personal references to the Prophets in the eight sermons preached upon his return. Kuhr also challenged the older explanation on the confrontation that the Prophets had with Luther. Kuhr concluded that the Prophets did not come to Luther as a group but had each approached Luther at various times in the following year during separate visits to Wittenberg. Luther's account of the encounters, though appearing singular may have been a conflation of separate meetings, each meeting being similar enough for Luther to describe as one. Notes External links 1522 in the Holy Roman Empire