The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

V. Epitome of Bullinger’s Teachings on the Prophecies

Bullinger’s A Hundred Sermons Upon the Apocalips of Jesu Christe (“Englished” in 1561, but originally written in Latin in 1557) sets forth most clearly and fully his positions. The twenty-four-page preface, addressed “unto all the exiles for the name of Christ in Germany and Swyserland, of Fraunce, England, Italy, and of other Realmes or Nations, and generally to all the faithfull wheresoever they be, abiding and lokyng for the comyng of Christe oure Lorde and Judge,” is most revealing. PFF2 342.1

1. CHRIST AND ANTICHRIST THE CONTINUING THEME

The high priesthood and the kingship of Christ are continually stressed. The seven churches are “all the churches that shal be in the worlde, untyl the worldes ende,” and the seven trumpets portray the grievous conflicts which will befall the church. The Witnesses are those cruelly slain by Antichrist. The beasts of Revelation 13 are the old Roman Empire and the triple-crowned“Papistrie.” Out of old Rome’s division rises the new Rome, spoken of by Paul and in Daniel 7 and 11. It is also denominated Babylon. The mark of the Beast is his excommunicating power, and the 666 are years, he thought, leading from A.D. 97, the time when the book of Revelation was written, to 763, when the bishop of Rome began to forget his humility. The scarlet woman of Revelation 17 is “the Romish church,” and Rome the seat of the Beast. ³⁰ PFF2 342.2

2. STUDENT OF EARLIER PROPHETIC INTERPRETATIONS

Bullinger contended that Daniel was understood as far as ful filled, citing Christ’s admonition to understand. But in the Revelation the mystery is made plain. Not only had Bullinger studied it from his youth, but he had searched the writings of other expositors—Bibliander of Zurich, Aretas, Justin, Primasius, Thomas Aquinas, Sebastian Meier, Francois Lambert, Erasmus, Laurentius Valla. And on the Antichrist he had compassed Irenaeus, Tertullian, Jerome, Arnulf of Orleans (at Rheims, 991), Bernard of Clairvaux, Eberhard of Salzburg (1240), giving a sketch of his great speech identifying the kingdom of the popes as coming up among the divisions of Rome. ³¹ Then he cites Joachim, Petrarch, Luther, Marsilius of Padua, Savonarola, Pico della Mirandola, and the Waldenses. PFF2 342.3

This summary, Bullinger continues, was compiled at great labor, and repeats that it is dedicated to the oppressed sufferers for the faith in all lands. Before launching into his sermon—expositions he makes an elaborate defense of the Apocalypse, citing more than twenty witnesses covering the centuries. He stresses that the book can be understood by prayer, and that its dominant theme is the conflict of Christ and Antichrist, and “an absolute and certayne prophecie of thynges to come.” ³² PFF2 343.1

3. FIFTH AND SIXTH TRUMPETS ARE MOHAMMEDANS ANDTURKS

The pope is Antichrist because he usurps the keys of Christ and His kingly and priestly authority. ³³ The seat of Satan is, at the time of Pergamos, Rome itself. ³⁴ In Daniel 7, 8, 11, clear indications of Antichrist are given. ³⁵ The fifth and sixth trumpetsare the Mohammedans and Saracens, and the Turks and the Tartarians, respectively. ³⁶ PFF2 343.2

4. POWERS OF Revelation 13 AND Daniel 7 IDENTICAL

After naming the four empires Bullinger declares that the time of the beast is 1260 days, forty-two months, or three and a half times, contending that these are not literal but prophetic time. ³⁷ He reiterates that the Roman beast of Revelation 13 is the same as that of Daniel 7, that the seven heads are named as the seven hills as well as seven kings. ³⁸ Then Bullinger elaborates on the Antichrist’s appearing after the fourth empire is taken away, and the pope’s transition from the simple pastor to the ruling bishop of Rome, about the time of Phocas, reaching the climax of power under Innocent III and Boniface VIII. ³⁹ Arguing as to the number 666, whether a name or years, he concludes that it is years, from 97 to 763 ⁴⁰ PFF2 343.3

5. FOLLOWS AUGUSTINE ON THE THOUSAND YEARS

The angelic message of Revelation 14 symbolizes the preaching of the pure gospel, which is also declared in Matthew 24; and the fall of Babylon is the fall of the Papacy. ⁴¹ No attempt is made to list completely the ten horns supporting the Papacy in Revelation 17, but they must include Spain, France, and Hungary. ⁴² On the thousand years of Revelation 20, however, Bullinger still follows Augustine, and puts them either from 34 to 1034, from 60 to 1060, or from 73 to 1073; and the resurrection he spiritualizes away as the newness of life in the Christian’s heart. ⁴³ PFF2 344.1

6. GLORIOUS SECOND ADVENT TO DESTROY SINNERS

Bullinger’s clear view of the second advent appears often. “At the second time he shall come gloriously to judgment, to be a judge and revenger that will not be entreated against all unrepentant sinners and wicked doers. And he shall come out of heaven, from the right hand of the Father, in his visible and very human body, to be seen of all flesh, with the incomprehensible power of his Godhead, and being attended on by all the angels.” ⁴⁴ PFF2 344.2

7. LITTLE HORN IS ROMAN KINGDOM OF POPE

In his commentary on Daniel he is explicit that the Papacy is the Little Horn of chapter 7, which power begins to blossom forth under Gregory and Boniface: PFF2 344.3

“By the little horn many understand the kingdom of Mohammed, of the Saracens and of the Turks.... But when the apostolic prophecy in Second 2 Thessalonians 2 is more carefully examined, it seems that this prophecy of Daniel and that prophecy of the apostle belong more rightly to the kingdom of the Roman pope, which kingdom has arisen from small beginnings and has increased to an immense size.” ⁴⁵ PFF2 344.4

8. SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DATED FROM ?TH OF ARTAXERXES

The seventy weeks, or 490 years, extending from the seventh year of Artaxerxes to the death of Christ, are calculated by the Olympiads: PFF2 345.1

“The computation of the seventy weeks, that is, of the 490 years, must begin from the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus and must extend even to the year of the suffering and death of the Lord, which in one and the same year was followed by the glorious resurrection, the ascension into heaven, and the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, who went into the whole world, and prepared a kingdom for Christ among all peoples and nations. Therefore since we have already announced from what terminus the computation of the seventy weeks must be commenced, and until when it must be extended, namely, from the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus to the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the computation will now be easy and plain, certainly if we progress through the Olympiads and through the years from the founding of the city.... The seventh year of our Artaxerxes falls in the Eightieth Olympiad, year 2, and in the year A.U.C. 294. Moreover, the death of the Lord, which I have also indicated above, falls in the 18th year of Tiberius, that is, in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, and in the year 784 of the founding of the city.” ⁴⁶ PFF2 345.2

He gives no B.C. date, although his chronological tables place the crucifixion in the year of Christ 33. A close inspection reveals a discrepancy between text and tables which makes it hard to determine whether he ends the period in 33 or 34, and consequently whether he begins it in 458 or 457 B.C. ⁴⁷ PFF2 345.3