As successor to Zwingli in Zurich, Bullinger played a major role in the Protestant Reformation. He was the son of a parish priest. While studying theology at Cologne he was stimulated through his study of the early church fathers to a fresh investigation of the Scriptures. After he returned home to Zurich, he joined with Zwingli in the move to reform the church. Four years later, after Zwingli's death, Bullinger became the leader of the Zurich branch of the Swiss Reformation. Although the center of Reformed leadership soon passed from Zurich to Geneva and to John Calvin, Bullinger's influence continued for some forty years among those who adhered to Zwingli's version of the Protestant faith. He regularly preached and taught the Scriptures, delivered commentaries on the books of the Bible, set forth theological treatises on the disputed questions of the day, sought to establish and maintain fraternal relations with other Reformed Christians, and wrote a multivolume history of the Reformation.
The best summary of Bullinger's theology is his Decades. This work consisted of fifty long sermons dealing with the major tenets of Christian doctrine. They were published during 1549-51 and soon translated into English, Dutch, and French. In England the Decades served as the officially appointed theological guide for clergy who had not obtained a master's degree. Bullinger also wrote major studies on providence, justification, and the nature of the Scriptures. All told, his works number approximately 150.
Bullinger played an important role in uniting Protestants. He and Calvin sought to avert potential schisms in the Protestant movement through their proposal of the Zurich Agreement (1549). They agreed that believers receive Christ spiritually and are united to him through the Lord's Supper. Later Bullinger authored the Second Helvetic Confession, published in 1566, which became the bond of unity for Calvinistic churches scattered throughout Europe.
Like the other leaders of the Reformation, Bullinger emphasized the centrality of the Scriptures. The first sermons in his Decades deal with the giving of Scripture as God's all-sufficient revelation to all people for their salvation and sanctification. To comprehend fully the biblical message requires an awareness of the importance of the analogy of faith, reading texts in context, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and, most importantly, "a heart that loves God and seeks his glory." Ultimately the reader is dependent on the Holy Spirit to give understanding of the text.
Bullinger's ecclesiology agreed with that developed by the other Reformers. The invisible church is composed of all the elect, while the visible church consists of all professing Christians. Only God knows perfectly the members of each. The true church is characterized by proper preaching of the word of God and faithful administration of the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The true apostolic succession is found not in historical descent through bishops but in preaching and teaching those truths given by the apostles. While rejecting the papacy and its authoritative claims, Bullinger was willing to judge the Roman Catholic Church as well as Protestantism by the word proclaimed and the two sacraments administered correctly.
O.G. OLIVER, JR.