Gordon on Bullinger

R. Ward Holder has just edited The Westminster Handbook to Theologies of the Reformation (Westminster: Louisville, 2010). Holder has recently edited some very interesting and thought provoking works.

In this book, Bruce Gordon (formerly of St Andrews, Scotland) of Yale has written the entry on Bullinger. Gordon does not require any introduction as he has published prolifically. His book on Calvin has been widely acclaimed while The Swiss Reformation won a major prize. Together with Emidio Campi (former professor at Zurich) he edited Architect of Reformation which contains essays on Bullinger.

Allow me to cite Gordon’s article on Bullinger in full:

“Bullinger, Heinrich (1504-75). Bullinger was a Swiss reformer, theologian, and leader of the Zurich church from 1531 until his death. His influence extended across Europe through his publications, correspondence and network of contacts. His best known work was the Decades, but he wrote biblical commentaries, histories, and pastoral tracts, all of which were widely translated. On the whole he remained faithful to the theology of Huldrych Zwingli, though significant modifications arose from polemical battles with Anabaptists, Lutherans, and Catholics, his relations with other Reformers and reform movements, and his pastoral work as head of a large territorial church. He did not write a definitive theological work: his Decades were never intended as a treatise of systematic theology, but without doubt they represent his principal concerns and ideas. Bullinger’s early theology was deeply influenced by Zwingli, Martin Luther, and Philip Melanchthon, particularly his 1521 Loci Communes.

Bullinger emerged as a reformer in the years following the outbreak of the controversy between Wittenberg and Zurich over the Lord’s Supper, and the hostilities dominated his life. From Zwingli he took up the importance of the covenant (De Testamento, 1534), but there was movement in his thought. From the later 1530’s, following his extensive commentaries, a shift toward pneumatology (De origine erroris, 1539) is detectable. This found full expression in the Decades of 1549, where it is placed alongside other key aspects of Bullinger’s theology, including the covenantal continuity of the Old and New Testaments and the Bible as a unified witness to God’s revelation.

Following Zwingli, Bullinger was particularly interested in sanctification and the ethical and communal nature of Christianity. He followed Zwingli in his conception of society as a corpus Christianum in which magistrates exercised authority over the church, whose authority resided in its prophetic witness to God’s Word. He moved beyond Zwingli in his willingness to speak of a spiritual presence in the sacraments, though he rejected any contention, against John Calvin, that the outward forms of the sacraments are instruments by which God conveyed grace. Bullinger’s reformation emphasis on grace alone was always accompanied with the exhortation to the Christian life.

In Bullinger’s mature theology the Spirit and its actions of sanctification, vivification, and communion with Christ are powerful and recurring themes. He emphasized the commandment to love, and in his extensive vernacular, pastoral literature enjoined the faithful to good works in the service of the community. Bulligner was a profound writer on the Christian life, continuously exploring the ways in which Christians should imitate Christ through humility, suffering, and self –negating love.” (pp29,30)

Many of Gordon’s comments are spot on. However, I would like to point out the following:

• I don’t follow the line that Bullinger followed on from Zwingli with respect to the covenant. I would actually like to argue that it was Bullinger who gave significant input to Zwingli re the covenant.
• No mention was made in the short article or either Bullinger’s biblical-historical-theological work The Old Faith nor of the significance of the Second Helvetic Confession.
• Although Gordon does mention Bullinger’s influence across Europe I think special mention should be made of his influence on England – see the works of Torrance Kirby and Carrie Euler for starters.
• I think Gordon is correct to refer to the importance of pneumatology for Bullinger which may, in fact, have been greatly influenced by Zwingli. However, I am not necessarily convinced that there was a shift to pneumatology commencing with De origine erroris. There must surely be a ‘slip of the pen’ in the last paragraph which should read “In Bullinger’s mature theology the Spirit and His (not its) actions …”
• A previous post of mine has referred to the work of Mark Burrows who concludes that Bullinger virtually identified justification with sanctification. I was looking for Gordon’s comment on this as I am still seeking to discover what Bullinger actually said about justification and sanctification.

These comments aside, we must thank Gordon for stimulating more thought on the significance of Bullinger in the 16th century.