The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IV. Bullinger-Little Horn Is Papacy, Not Turk

HEINRICH BULLINGER (1504-1575), of Zurich, one of the greatest prophetic expositors of his time, was the intimate friend of Zwingli, whom he succeeded as chief pastor in 1531. He was the most moderate and blameless among the Reformers, prudent and strong without being harsh, ready to conciliate without being weak. He was born at Bremgarten. His father, Dean Bullinger, was the parish priest who resisted the sale of indulgences in 1518, and in 1529 confessed the Reformation doctrine from his pulpit. In 1516 he sent his son Heinrich to the school of the Brethren of the Common Life, ²² at Emmerich, where, to learn carefulness and sympathy for the poor, he was compelled to support himself as a street singer while obtaining his education. In 1519 he went to Cologne, the seat of opposition to the Reformation, securing his B.A. there in 1520. Turning against scholastic theology, Bullinger began to study Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine. And because they drew their premises from Scripture, he set himself to study the New Testament. Securing a copy of his own, he searched it day and night. Erasmus led him to study the classics. PFF2 339.2

Deeply impressed by Luther’s tractates, especially his Babylonian Captivity, Bullinger was persuaded that the Papacy-was hopelessly corrupt, and so abandoned the idea of becoming a priest. Receiving his M.A. degree in 1522, he resolved to teach. He obtained a position in the Cistercian Monastery at Cappel as lecturer on the New Testament, which vocation he held until 1529. But from 1523 on, together with Juda, he began preparing tracts to spread the Reformation in Switzerland, an act which led to considerable Catholic hostility. PFF2 339.3

1. WIDE FRIENDSHIPS AND IMPORTANT CONTACTS

In 1527 Bullinger was granted a leave of absence to attend Zwingli’s lectures at Zurich and to perfect his Greek and Hebrew, and in 1528 he went with Zwingli to the disputation at Berne. In 1529 he became pastor at Bremgarten, as successor to his father, and two years later was elected successor to Zwingli at Zurich, serving as chief pastor. In 1536, with Leo Juda and others, he drew up the first Helvetic Confession. ²³ PFF2 340.1

An indefatigable writer and preacher, Bullinger rarely preached less than six to eight sermons a week during the first years of his ministry in Zurich, and his more than a hundred works fill ten folio volumes. He harbored the persecuted evangelicals of Italy, France, Germany, and England, ²⁴ such as Hooper, Calvin, and Jewel, and championed the rights of the Huguenots and Waldenses. He carried on extensive correspondence with leading theologians, Reformers, rulers, and statesmen in all parts of Europe, dedicating sermons and books to monarchs, such as Edward VI, king of England. ²⁵ Many of his writings were translated into English, and were widely circulated in other languages, and his sermons were held in such high repute in England that Archbishop Whitgift of Canterbury exhorted the bishops of his province to require every minister not licensed as a preacher to read one sermon from Bullinger’s Decades each week. ²⁶ PFF2 340.2

Significantly enough, Bishop Parkhurst, of Norwich, also wrote to Bullinger in 1561, just after the issuance of the English edition of Sermons on the Apocalypse. “I have given directions to all the ministers of the word throughout Suffolk and Norfolk to procure either in Latin or English your sermons on the Apocalypse.” ²⁷ And in 1565 Parkhurst wrote, “I am expecting your most learned discourses on Daniel.” ²⁸ PFF2 341.1

2. SERMONS ON ANTICHRIST AROUSE ANTAGONISM

Bullinger preferred to explain whole books of Scripture, such as the Apocalypse and Daniel, and wrote extensively on the prophecies. He was also active in lifting educational standards by scholarships, and filled professorships with able theologians. He clearly understood the value of the printed word, and many of his sermons were printed. Among them, most enlightening to our study, were his one hundred sermons on the Apocalypse. The Latin edition was published in 1557, a German translation following, and an English edition in 1561, as well as editions in French, Dutch, and Polish. Two large volumes of Zurich Letters, comprising the correspondence of several English bishops with the leading Helvetian Reformers, between 1558 and 1602—more than 250 letters in all—form part of the Parker Society reprint of the English Reformation writings. These give an intimate glimpse of the spirit, relationships, and heart burdens of these men, and thus throw light on our quest. PFF2 341.2

The wonderful Christian attitude which Bullinger exercised is clearly revealed in his answer to Borrhaus, who remarked that he could not follow him in all his explanations of the Apocalypse. Bullinger answered, “I am of the opinion, that I do not see any reason to quarrel with brethren in the faith, or even to sever the ties of friendship, if they differ in the explanation of certain passages, as long as we are united in the doctrines of faith. I have written about the New Testament and the Revelation, but if others write also about it, and offer better and more simple explanations to the church, I shall be very grateful and shall never stick obstinately to my writings.” ²⁹ PFF2 341.3