Bullinger and the English Church

I have just had access to a copy of Frank Gulley’s dissertation: “The Influence of Heinrich Bullinger and the Tigurine Tradition upon the English Church in the Sixteenth Century” (Vanderbilt). I believe Gulley became professor of Church History at Vanderbilt. From time to time this dissertation is referred to in the literature. It is full of insightful comments and probably hasn’t received the recognition it justly deserves. Although Carrie Euler mentions the work in the bibliography of her Couriers of the Gospel: England and Zurich, 1531-1558 Torrance Kirby appears to make no mention of it in his The Zurich Connection and Tudor Political Theology. I hope to do a few posts citing sections of Gulley’s dissertation.

The following are references to Bullinger’s influence on the English church as cited by Gulley:

“Many years ago Allen Hinds wrote: ‘At the head of the Zurich church was the erudite Bullinger, a man universally respected, and who exercised and continued to exercise a vast influence over the English Protestants of all opinions.’ His judgment was also echoed by the learned Maitland a few years later: ‘A better example of a purely spiritual power could hardly be found that the influence that was exercised in England by Zwingli’s successor, Heinrich Bullinger. Bishops and Puritans argued their causes before him as if he were the judge.’ Even today Bullinger’s influence has been recognized by H.F. Woodhouse: ‘While one can endorse the general statement that the Anglican divines sought from continental Protestants inspiration and guidance, it is possible that a case might be made out that Bullinger, Zwingli’s successor, had more influence than any other single figure, ….’”

The references are:

Allen Hinds, The Making of the England of Elizabeth (New York: Macmillan and co., 1985), p43

F.W. Maitland, “The Anglican Settlement and the Scottish Reformation,” The Cambridge Modern History, ed. A.w. Ward et al (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1902), II, p597

H.F. Woodhouse, The Doctrine of the Church in Anglican Theology 1547-1603 (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1954), p167