Heinrich Bullinger

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Heinrich Bullinger

Heinrich Bullinger (born July 18, 1504 in Bremgarten , Aargau ; † September 17, 1575 in Zurich ) was a Swiss reformer and antistes of the Zurich Reformed Church for 44 years . He was one of the leading theologians of Protestantism in the 16th century, gave numerous sermons, wrote 124 works and his correspondence comprised over 12,000 letters. He also wrote the Second Helvetic Confession , which was adopted as a creed by the Reformed in Scotland, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Romania, Bohemia and Slovakia.

Church historical circumstances

Bullinger's student years coincided with the beginning of the Reformation and during his long tenure in Zurich there were significant events such as the Reformation in England , the Reformation in Geneva by John Calvin , the Schmalkaldic War , the Peace of Augsburg and St. Bartholomew's Night in France .

Life

Heinrich Bullinger was born in 1504 in the small town of Bremgarten as one of five children of the cohabiting Catholic priest Heinrich Bullinger (in 1529 the father also converted to the Reformation and legalized his marriage to Anna Wiederkehr). At the age of five he attended Latin school . In 1516 Bullinger went to Emmerich as a Latin student at the humanistically reformed collegiate school. He studied with Matthias Aquensis at the University of Cologne , a strongly Catholic university, the church fathers and ancient languages and joined the Reformation during this time.

In 1523, at the age of 19, he became a teacher in the Cistercian monastery in Kappel am Albis and taught not only classics, but also Philipp Melanchthon's Loci communes . His lessons were so interesting that not only the abbot and all the monks took part, but also people from the surrounding area. Bullinger took up the position on the condition that he did not have to attend mass and choir prayer himself. During his time in Kappel he wrote a. a. 30 Latin and 22 German fonts.

In 1528 he went to the Bern disputation with Ulrich Zwingli , at which the city of Bern committed itself to the Reformation. The Kappel monastery also joined the Reformation and, in addition to his teaching post, Bullinger also became a preacher in neighboring Hausen am Albis .

1529 Bullinger's father was in Bremgarten because of his evangelical commitment discontinued. Shortly afterwards, however, his son gave a trial sermon in his hometown, as a result of which the citizens burned their images of saints and chose the young priest as their pastor .

In the same year he married Anna Adlischwyler , the daughter of Hans Waldmann's personal cook and one of the last nuns from the Oetenbach monastery in Zurich. The monastery has been closed since the Reformation. Anna still lived in the monastery building. Bullinger had a happy marriage with her, which was considered a role model everywhere. He was a loving father to their eleven children who loved to play with them and write verses for them at Christmas. His house was constantly filled with refugees, pastor colleagues and people seeking advice and help. All of his sons became pastors.

Sculpture by Bullinger on the north-eastern outer wall of the Great Minster

After the defeat in the Second Kappel War in 1531, where Zwingli was killed, Bremgarten and the rest of the Freiamt had to return to the Catholic faith. Bullinger and two ministerial brothers had to leave the city, even if the population did not like to see them leave. Bullinger came to Zurich as a refugee with his wife Anna and two small children, where on the Sunday after his arrival in Zwingli's pulpit in the Grossmünster he "thundered down a sermon that it seemed to many that Zwingli was not dead, but rose again like the Phoenix" ( Oswald Myconius ). In December of the same year, at the age of 27, he was elected to succeed Zwingli as Antistes of the Zurich Church. He only accepted the election when the council had expressly assured him that he could keep his proclamation "free, unbound and without restriction", even if criticism of the authorities was necessary. He remained in this office until his death in 1575.

In 1536, together with Oswald Myconius and Leo Jud, he wrote the first Helvetic Confession , which was published jointly by Zurich, Bern, Basel , Schaffhausen , St. Gallen , Mulhouse and Biel .

Bullinger's hospitality set an example in Zurich and the city accepted many Protestant refugees, for example from Locarno in 1555 and from England after the death of Henry VIII . When these refugees returned to England after the death of Maria I Tudor , they took Bullinger's writings with them, which were widely circulated there. From 1550 to 1560 in England there were 77 editions of Bullinger's decades and 137 editions of his house book (for comparison: the Institutiones of Calvin saw two English editions at the same time).

Although Bullinger himself has never left Switzerland since he became an antistes of Zurich, he had correspondence with all of Europe and was so well informed that he even published a kind of newspaper about political events.

Together with Johannes Calvin he worked out the Consensus Tigurinus of 1549, which meant an agreement on the Last Supper question between Zwinglians and Calvinists , which prevented the various Reformed schools from developing separately in Switzerland.

Seriously ill himself and cared for by Conrad Gessner , City Physician of Zurich, Bullinger lost his wife and three daughters to a plague epidemic in 1565 .

In 1571 Bullinger wrote in his work: Against the black art, the devil had great power even over the innocent and, with reference to divine and human rights, demanded a severe punishment of the "black artists" by the death penalty.

Ethelbert William Bullinger (1837–1913), a leading theologian of American Protestantism and editor of the Companion Bible, is a direct descendant.

Views

“My father wished that I should beg at the doors for the entire duration of my stay in Emmerich; not because he could not have fed me, but because he wanted me to get to know the unfortunate lot of beggars from experience, so that from now on I would be friendlier to them all my life. "

- Fritz Blanke : Heinrich Bullinger

“Not a single righteous Christian should be misled by the fact that quite a few clever minds play subtle thought games and say that God is incomprehensible and indestructible spirit, whereas Scripture is flesh, understandable and destructible, that is why it cannot be the true word of God, etc. To allow such fantasies meet, God himself describes what the prophets and the holy apostles preached orally as his, that is, God's word. "

- Heinrich Bullinger : Summa Christian Religion 1556

Perceptions

“Like Zwingli, he [Bullinger] sees church and state very close to one another. The church should take care of the well-being and edification of the people, the state ensures peace and order. For Bullinger, Luther's doctrine of two kingdoms is unthinkable. "

- Patrik Müller : Heinrich Bullinger

"There is no one to whom I would rather write than Master Bullinger, whom I have always loved for his great kindness, adored for his unique learning and rare piety, among other excellent achievements ..."

- English refugee in Zurich looking back in 1573 : Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger

Works

1560

Bullinger's theological works include 124 titles

  • Decades, also called house book . - Bullinger's main theological work. It is a compilation of fifty Latin teaching sermons (five books of ten sermons each, hence “decades”) that were published between 1549 and 1552 in Zurich. They cover all important points of the Reformed faith. The decades were translated into German, English, French and Dutch and had a great influence on Calvin, the Heidelberg Catechism and especially the English and later American Reformed piety. The decades were compulsory reading for Anglican ministers and the yardstick for Reformed preaching.
  • Letters - Bullinger's correspondence is the largest known from the 16th century. There are over 12,000 letters from and to Bullinger, including B. 300 letters to Calvin alone. Bullinger corresponded with Reformed, Lutherans, Anglicans and Anglicans and was in correspondence with Lady Jane Gray , Henry II and Francis II of France, Henry VIII , Edward VI. and Elizabeth I of England, Christian III. of Denmark , Philip of Hesse and the Count Palatine Friedrich III. Bullinger was the personal friend and advisor to many leading figures in the Reformation.
  • Second Helvetic Confession - written by Bullinger as a personal creed and at the request of Friedrich III. Published in 1566.
  • The Anabaptists' origins, intercourse, sects . (1560) - Bullinger's polemical view of the origin of the Anabaptists (denial that these emerged from the Zurich Reformation), this view lasted well into the 20th century, but is now considered refuted ( archive.org ).
  • Historical works: a history of the Reformation (1564) (one of the most important historical sources for the Reformation), a history of the Confederates (1568) and a history of Zurich (1574)
  • Latin Bible commentaries on all New Testament books .
  • Numerous sermons, including 66 about Daniel , 170 about Jeremiah and 190 about Isaiah
  • Studiorum ratio. - a study guide for students
  • A pamphlet on the persecution of Christians from antiquity to the 16th century.
  • Summa of Christian Religion. Froschower, Zurich 1558, (new: Limache, ISBN 3-9520867-0-3 ).
  • Apocalypse. A collection of 100 sermons on the Revelation of John from 1554 to 1556 triggered a huge boom in end-time sermons and commentaries in England .

drama

  • A nice game of the story of the noble Roman woman Lucretiae , drama in 2 acts, premiere: Basel 1533.
  • Other titles:
    • A nice game of the story of the noble Roman woman Lucretiae and how the tyrannical küng Tarquinius Superbus of Rhom and wonderful of the steadfast Junij Bruti of the First Consul in Rhom
    • Game of the beautiful Lucretia
    • A nice game from the story of the noble Roman Lucretiae
    • Game of Lucretia and Brutus

See also

Editions

  • Correspondence. Edited by the Zwingliverein in Zurich. Volumes 1 ff. Tvz, Zurich 1983 ff. (Heinrich Bullinger's works. 2nd section) [19 volumes were published at the end of 2019, a total of 2870 letters up to March 1547, containing around a quarter of the total stock].
  • Theological writings. Edited by the Zwingliverein in Zurich. Volumes 1 ff. Tvz, Zurich 1973 ff. (Heinrich Bullinger's works. 3rd section) [7 volumes were published at the end of 2014].
  • Fonts. On behalf of the Zwingliverein and in collaboration with Hans Ulrich Bächtold, Ruth Jörg and Peter Opitz ed. by Emidio Campi, Detlef Roth and Peter Stotz. 6 volumes of text and a register volume, TVZ, Zurich 2004–2007.
  • Writings for the day. Edited by Hans Ulrich Bächtold, Ruth Jörg and Christian Moser. achius, Zug 2006 (studies and texts on Bullinger's time 3).

Remembrance day

September 17th in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

Reception in the film

  • Zwingli's legacy . Feature film, 2018, 55 min., Production: Eutychus Production, director: Alex Fröhlich

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Bullinger  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christof Bauernfeind: 450 Years of the Second Helvetic Confession. IdeaSpektrum, Liestal October 12, 2016, page 7
  2. ↑ Rudolf Gamper: The Latin Bible by Johannes Bullinger. In: Querblicke, Zürcher Reformationsgeschichten (= messages from the Antiquarian Society in Zurich. Volume 86). Edited by Peter Niederhäuser and Regula Schmid. Chronos Verlag, Zurich 2019, ISBN 978-3-0340-1498-4 , pp. 78–83, pp. 84–89, concerning the older brother Hans Reinhart, called Johannes Bullinger, esp.p. 85.
  3. ^ Fritz Blanke : Heinrich Bullinger: Father of the Reformed Church. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-290-10079-0 , p. 23.
  4. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , pp. 21 and 23.
  5. ↑ Sybille Knecht: Endure or withdraw? Life paths of former nuns after the abolition of the monastery using the example of the cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel. Phil. Diss. Univ. Zurich. 2013, p. 55 f. , accessed December 26, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Fred Rihner: Illustrated history of the Zurich old town. Bosch, Zurich 1975.
  7. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , p. 28.
  8. ^ Letter from Oswald Myconius to Simprecht Schenck dated November 29, 1531 (i.e. just under a week after the sermon), cf. Carl Pestalozzi: Heinrich Bullinger . Elberfeld 1858, p. 72.
  9. ↑ Jan-Andrea Bernhard: Letters to Heinrich Bullinger with a view to the origin, composition and reception of the »Confessio Raetica« (1552/53). In: Zwingliana 40, Zurich 2013, ISSN  0254-4407 , pp. 37-71.
  10. ^ Rainer Henrich: Heinrich Bullinger, Against the black arts (1571)
  11. ^ Fritz Blanke: Heinrich Bullinger: Father of the Reformed Church. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-290-10079-0 , p. 15.
  12. ↑ Heinrich Bullinger: Christian life of faith. [1556] Limache slsa, ISBN 3-9520867-0-3 , p. 15.
  13. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , p. 34.
  14. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , p. 51.
  15. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , p. 41.
  16. ^ Patrik Müller: Heinrich Bullinger. Reformer, church politician, historian. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-290-17288-0 , p. 54.
  17. ^ Heinrich Bullinger in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
personal data
SURNAME Bullinger, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss reformer and antistes in Zurich
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1504
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremgarten , Aargau, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH September 17, 1575
Place of death Zurich