Heinrich Bullinger

Published in: Heinrich Bullinger : life - thought - influence : Zurich, Aug. 25-29, 2004, International Congress Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) / Emidio Campi, Peter Opitz (eds.). Zürich : Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 2007.  vol.  2. (Zürcher Beiträge zur Reformationsgeschichte ; Band 24).

Diese Untersuchung erhellt zum ersten Mal, wie die Geschichte der osmanischen Expansion in Europa vom schweizer Reformator Heinrich Bullinger aus der Perspektive seiner theologischen sowie seiner weitreichenden historischen und insbesondere kirchenhistorischen Untersuchungen gedeutet wurde.

This book examines John Calvin’s sense of vocation.

1) It begins with an analysis of thinking on prophecy in early, medieval, and Reformation theology.

2) It finds Calvin within a non-mystical, non-apocalyptic prophetic tradition that focused on scriptural interpretation.

3) It argues Calvin believed his prophetic authority was the same as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and suggests that he may have held himself to be infallible in matters related to Christian doctrine.

4) It argues that starting from about 1555, Calvin began to conceive the idea of encouraging one of the French 'lesser magistrates' (the princes of the blood royal) to rise up in armed conflict against the sitting French king with the aim of taking the throne.

5) Thus, it argues that when that did happen in 1562 when Louis of Condé gathered troops in Orléans and declared their intentions to liberate King Charles IX from the evil councillors surrounding him, this had Calvin's fingerprints on it -- Calvin was to a significant degree responsible for this turn of events.

6) Calvin pursued this plan, I argue, as one of a number of approaches to winning France for the gospel. In this way, the volume explores Calvin's sense of vocation and the impact this had on his political thought.

Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus powerfully epitomises the uncertainties and contradictions of the religious upheavals of the sixteenth century. While obsession with the Devil reached a high-water mark with the large-scale witchcraft persecutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, representatives of the Radical Reformation, such as Anabaptists, Libertines, or the Family of Love, began to question the existence of the Devil as part of a rigorous rejection of idolatry. Elizabethan drama in general, and Doctor Faustus in particular, likewise entertained a fraught relationship with its own, visual mode of representation which was not free from contemporary anxieties about visual representation. This paper argues that by putting devils center stage, Marlowe exposes them to widespread anxieties concerning the visual representation of the supernatural, which further highlights the play’s heterodox, spiritualising tendencies. However, while the devils’ role in Faustus’s downfall is constantly undermined in the A-text, the B-text is at pains to restore their credibility. Finally, such a revision of demonic agency in the play also holds important clues for a new assessment of the play’s treatment of predestination and how it relates to contemporary orthodoxy.

Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) was a collector of news on wonders and portents, which reached him either through his huge correspondence or through printed broadsheets and pamphlets. Part of his collection has survived after his death as an integral part of Johann Jacob Wick's much more extensive chronicle of wonders and portents. This article provides a full list of Bullinger's collection, traces some of its origins in Bullinger's correspondence and shows that Bullinger was actively involved in helping Conrad Lycosthenes finish his famous book "Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon," printed in Basel 1557.

Der Königsboden unter Osmanenherrschaft? Türkenmission in Siebenbürgen? Fruchtbare Missverständnisse in Melanchthons und Bullingers Briefwechseln
Though scholars have long studied the Protestant preacher letters dating from the first decades of the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, there is no agreement in interpretation. This paper approaches these texts from a new perspective, examining how the information was mediated from verbal messages and private letters, through copies and extracts disseminated publicly by printing, and how the content and message were changed. This study reveals that sharp criticisms against the Ottomans were blunted while optimistic estimates of the situation were emphasized more. Moreover, by the end of these letter chains, reports from non-occupied Hungary were merged with news for Ottoman Hungary – for instance the success of the Transylvanian Saxon Reformation was explained as being due to the benevolence of the Ottoman authorities. The end of this communication, reporting in this spirit with enthusiasm, was an anonymous pamphlet printed in 1546. Using the new perspective, the sources of this text can be revealed.

Il "De papatu Romano Antichristo" di Alberico Gentili (San Ginesio 1552 – Londra 1608) è conservato nella Bodleian Library di Oxford (D’Orville 607, ff. 1r-95v) e rappresenta il più noto degli inediti del giurista di San Ginesio al quale, soprattutto a partire dal secolo scorso, gli studiosi hanno dedicato particolare attenzione. Nuove indagini sul manoscritto hanno dimostrato che, pur essendo stato originariamente redatto fra il 1580 e il 1585, quel testo era stato rivisto, corretto e integrato dallo stesso Gentili. Correzioni, aggiunte, appunti scritti dall’Autore almeno fino al 1591: una novità deducibile dalla lettura di alcuni appunti autografi vergati in uno dei primi fogli del manoscritto bodleiano – fogli originariamente destinati a restare bianchi – ove si fa rinvio, più volte, al "Tractatus criminalis" di Tiberio Deciani la cui "editio princeps" risale al 1590.

Per tentare di comprendere pienamente l’entità e la natura sostanziale di queste modifiche e annotazioni, e le ragioni per le quali il Gentili non giunse mai alla determinazione di completare e successivamente pubblicare il lavoro, occorreva tornare a studiare criticamente la fonte manoscritta nella sua interezza, ma soprattutto predisporne l’edizione critica: un evento sempre auspicato ma mai, fino ad ora, realizzato.

Il progetto, dopo oltre sei anni di intenso lavoro da parte di Giovanni Minnucci che, nel corso di questo lungo periodo, ha dato periodicamente conto dei risultati progressivamente raggiunti, è stato finalmente portato a compimento.

Composta di 24 "Assertiones", attraverso le quali l’A. intese dimostrare che l’Anticristo era da identificare nel Papato Romano, l’opera è corredata da un numero copiosissimo di allegazioni tratte dalla Sacra Scrittura, dalle opere dei Padri della Chiesa, da quelle teologiche, storiche, filosofiche, letterarie e giuridiche, individuate dal curatore, a pié di pagina, in un apposito apparato critico. In un secondo apparato, sempre a pié di pagina, vengono edite anche le numerose "additiones" che Gentili vergò nei margini e, talvolta, nelle interlinee del testo. Segue un’  "Appendice" nella quale si legge il testo, criticamente edito, degli appunti di lavoro che Gentili annotò nel frontespizio e nei fogli del manoscritto inizialmente destinati a restare bianchi.

In ragione della particolare natura del testo – un vero e proprio work in progress che Alberico Gentili non aveva mai concluso – l’edizione critica del De papatu Romano Antichristo, delle numerose additiones e dei cospicui appunti sparsi che ne caratterizzavano la stesura, era meritevole di essere accompagnata da un saggio introduttivo. Per una migliore comprensione dell’opera, e per una sua più compiuta, ancorché preliminare, illustrazione, Giovanni Minnucci ha ritenuto necessario soffermarsi sulle presumibili ragioni sottese alla decisione assunta da Gentili di voler affrontare il tema oggetto del suo lavoro e sulle fonti complessivamente utilizzate – avendo riguardo anche a quelle prive di esplicito rinvio – cercando di approfondire, allo stesso tempo, la natura delle additiones vergate nei margini e nelle interlinee, e le probabili motivazioni della sua mancata pubblicazione. Né potevano essere ignorate, infine, in ragione dei contenuti eminentemente teologici e giuridici dell’inedito, le idee che, in relazione ai rapporti fra diritto e teologia e fra coloro che quelle discipline professavano, il nostro Autore aveva espresso negli anni ai quali va fatta risalire la conclusione della prima redazione dell’opera e a quelli immediatamente seguenti, allorquando decideva di aggiornarla e modificarla. In questo periodo, com’è noto, si concretizzarono i prodromi di un vero e proprio scontro teorico, di natura politico-dottrinale, con i puritani inglesi e, più in particolare, con il teologo John Rainolds. Queste vicende, già note alla storiografia, erano suscettibili non solo di essere ripensate e approfondite alla luce della documentazione manoscritta che le attesta, ma anche nuovamente contestualizzate: proprio mentre la polemica iniziava ad accendersi per poi successivamente esplodere all’inizio degli anni Novanta del XVI secolo, Alberico stava attendendo alla scrittura e alla successiva revisione del De papatu. Temi e problemi già oggetto di studio da parte di Minnucci, che vengono qui ripresi, integrati, approfonditi e notevolmente ampliati nei Prolegomena che precedono l’edizione.

Giunto ad uno stadio avanzato di elaborazione, il De papatu Romano Antichristo attesta i forti dissensi che caratterizzarono la vicenda politica e religiosa europea in uno dei momenti più bui della sua storia millenaria, ed è contestualmente testimone della vastissima cultura e della poliedrica attività scientifica del grande giurista e pensatore italiano, esule in Inghilterra sin dal 1580 per la sua adesione alla Riforma, e regius professor di civil law a Oxford dal 1587.

Gli altri volumi pubblicati da Giovanni Minnucci per Monduzzi Editoriale: https://www.monduzzieditoriale.it/autori/giovanni-minnucci/

Pubbliche presentazioni dell'opera:
- 25 maggio 2019. Centro Internazionale di Studi Gentiliani
https://www.academia.edu/39092324/San_Ginesio_Macerata_._25_maggio_2019._Presentazione_delledizione_critica_del_De_Papatu_Romano_Antichiristo_a_cura_di_G._Minnucci_Milano_Monduzzi_ed._2018_._Interviene_il_curatore_dellopera_._Introduce_L._Lacch%C3%A9_Presidente_del_Centro_Internazionale_di_studi_Gentiliani

- 24 maggio 2019. Università di Macerata
https://www.academia.edu/39085749/MACERATA._24_maggio_2019._Presentazione_delledizione_critica_del_DE_PAPATU_ROMANO_ANTICHRISTO_di_Alberico_Gentili_1552-1608_Monduzzi_Milano_2018_curata_da_G.Minnucci_Universit%C3%A0_di_Siena_._Intervengono_il_curatore_e_V._Lavenia_Universit%C3%A0_di_Bologna_._Coordina_L._Lacch%C3%A9_Universit%C3%A0_di_Macerata_

- 15 aprile 2019. Università di Siena
https://www.academia.edu/38722037/Siena.15_aprile_2019._Lucia_Felici_e_Isabella_Gagliardi_presentano_ledizione_critica_del_De_papatu_Romano_Antichristo_curata_da_G._Minnucci_Milano_Monduzzi_ed._2018_ORE_11_00_Dipartimento_di_Scienze_Politiche_e_Internazionali_Via_Mattioli_10_-_Siena

Reviews:
Prof. Rafael Domingo Osle, forthcoming in Academia.edu, di prossima pubblicazione in “Journal of Law and Religion”
https://www.academia.edu/37414267/Book_Review_Giovanni_Minnucci_ed._Alberici_Gentilis_De_Papatu_Romano_Antichristo

https://www.academia.edu/39903047/D._Solera_Recensione_a_Alberici_Gentilis_De_papatu_Romano_Antichristo_Recognovit_e_codice_autographo_bodleiano_DOrville_607_Giovanni_Minnucci_Milano_2018_in_Archivio_Storico_Italiano_177_2_2019_pp._397-400

Roberto Barzanti, “Toscanalibri”, 8 ottobre 2018 e “Giornale della Conferenza episcopale Toscana”
http://www.toscanalibri.it/it/news/chi-e-l-anticristo-il-papa-in-persona-dopo-cinquecento-anni-pubblicato-il-de-papatu-di-alberico-gentili_10499.html

Roberto Tomei, “Il foglietto della ricerca”, 20 settembre 2018
https://ilfoglietto.it/il-foglietto/6048-alberico-gentili-riformatore-italiano-nell-inghilterra-elisabettiana-il-papato-e-l-anticristo

Eugenio Gualandi, “sienanews”, 7 ottobre 2018
http://www.sienanews.it/toscana/siena/il-papa-e-lanticristo-dellapocalisse-di-s-giovanni-il-prof-minnucci-e-leresia-inedita/

Bruno Esposito, “La Civiltà Cattolica”, 20 ottobre/3 novembre 2018
https://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articolo/rassegna-bibliografica-4040/

"Le Carte e la Storia", 2 (2018), pp. 123-124.

N. Ordine. Minnucci. De papatu. Corsera. La lettura 7.4.2019.
https://www.academia.edu/38737351/N._Ordine._Minnucci._De_papatu._Corsera._La_lettura_7.4.2019

S. Colavecchia, in Nuova Rivista Storica, Anno CII, Gennaio-Dicembre 2018
https://www.academia.edu/38722008/S._Colavecchia_Recensione_a_Alberici_Gentilis_De_papatu_Romano_antichristo_recognovit_e_codice_autographo_bodleiano_dOrville_607_G._Minnucci_Milano_Monduzzi_2018_in_Nuova_Rivista_Storica_Anno_CII_Gennaio-Dicembre_2018_Fascicoli_I-III

G. Voltolina, in "Ephemerides iuris canonici", 59/1 (2019), pp. 398-402

https://www.academia.edu/39282225/Giulietta_Voltolina_Recensione_a_Alberici_Gentilis_De_papatu_Romano_Antichristo_Recognovit_e_codice_autographo_bodleiano_DOrville_607_Giovanni_Minnucci_Milano_2018_in_Ephemerides_Iuris_Canonici_59_1_2019_pp._398-402.

Michele Pepe, Annali del Dipartimento Jonico
https://www.academia.edu/40959178/M._Pepe_Recensione_a_Alberici_Gentilis_De_papatu_Romano_Antichristo_Recognovit_e_codice_autographo_bodleiano_DOrville_607_Giovanni_Minnucci_Milano_2018_in_Annali_del_Dipartimento_Jonico_VI_2018_pp._641-644
Sul nostro sito: https://www.monduzzieditoriale.it/libreria/gentilis-de-papatu-romano-antichristo/

This essay will consider Bullinger's view on the relationship between God and
man in its original state in light of the emergence of the covenant of works
in the Reformed tradition. I argue that Bullinger's covenant theology was
not fundamentally in opposition to the covenant of works, and that there are surprising similarities between the two. To date, there has been no scholarly work on this specific issue. The reason is not difficult to grasp. Bullinger never wrote extensively on the original state of man. His pastoral focus was on the restoration of fallen man in Christ. My approach, therefore, will be to address this issue through an analysis of Bullinger's exegesis of the book of Genesis, in particular of the first three chapters.

The Turks Supporting the Protestants? News on the Reformation in Ottoman Hungary from Melanchthon to Bullinger
Although scholars have long studied the letters of Protestant preachers dating from the first decades of the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, no academic consensus has emerged concerning the interpretation of these documents. This paper approaches the sources from a new perspective, examining how the information they originally sought to convey went through various iterations in the forms of verbal messages and private letters, copies and extracts, until they were ultimately disseminated in print form. The study also analyses how the content and message were transformed in the process. The analysis reveals that sharp criticisms of the Ottomans were blunted while optimistic assessments of the situation tended to receive greater emphasis. Moreover, by the time the documents in this chain of communication reached their final form, reports from non-occupied Hungary had become merged with news from Ottoman Hungary; the success of the Transylvanian Saxon Reformation, for instance, was explained as an achievement owing to the benevolence of the Ottoman authorities. An endpoint in the chain of communication described above was an anonymous pamphlet printed in 1546 which provides an illustrative example of the way such enthusiastic reports were combined. Using the new perspective of this study, it becomes possible to identify the underlying sources of the final text. Consequently, the report of Paulus Thurius (between 1556–1558), whose realistic voice was not suitable for the expectations of readers familiar with idealised reports, was only printed after the disenchantment in the wake of the Long Turkish War (1591–1606).

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead at the end of time has often been the subject of speculation in the history of theology, seen especially in the influence of Augustine. The Reformers, seeking to avoid speculation here as elsewhere, turned to meditation on the risen Christ. This article expounds two Reformed accounts, those of Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) and Francis Turretin (1623-1687), which follow an anti-speculative rule formulated by Calvin: 'we keep our eyes fixed upon Christ.' This rule, it is seen, also presses them to deny the Lutheran doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ's humanity.

Kein Login? 1 Auf Titel klicken 2 Runterscrollen bis „Read text“. - Biographies of the Zurich theologians and scholars: how biography changed on the way to the age of the encyclopaedia -
In 1531, the Reformed Church suffered a double blow when Ulrich Zwingli was killed at the battle at Kappel and Johannes Oekolampad, his colleague in Basel, also died unexpectedly. Their successors commemorated the two reformers by publishing their exchange of letters. Compiled for the same reason, the first account of Zwingli’s life marks the beginning of an upsurge in publishing that transformed Zurich and its "high school" into a centre of Reformation biographical writing. This article is the first to look at the biographies of Zurich clergymen and scholars between the 16th and the 18th centuries from the viewpoint of biography as a literary genre. The focus lies on the largely forgotten social group of the Zurich theologians and local officials closely related to them. The publications of this group were distributed as authorized biographies among likeminded people in the Swiss Confederation and across Europe. By contrast, handwritten compilations of these biographies were intended to serve as encyclopaedic handbooks on the art of government. Thus, the early Zurich biographies bear witness to transformation processes with the underlying aim of both appropriating a literary genre for new purposes and safeguarding the Reformed heritage.
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1531 erlitt die reformierte Kirche einen herben Schlag, als nach dem Tod Ulrich Zwinglis in der Schlacht bei Kappel auch dessen Basler Amtskollege Johannes Oekolampad unvermittelt verstarb. Dem Verlust der beiden Fürsprecher der neuen Lehre begegneten ihre Nachfolger unter anderem mit der Publikation ihres Briefwechsels. Die dafür verfasste erste Biographie Zwinglis markiert den Anfang einer regen Publikationstätigkeit, die Zürich und seine Hohe Schule zu einem Zentrum der reformierten Biographik machte. Der Artikel untersucht erstmals die Biographien der Zürcher Geistlichen und Gelehrten des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts in gattungsgeschichtlicher Perspektive. Der Fokus gilt der weitgehend in Vergessenheit geratenen sozialen Gruppe der in Stadt und Landschaft schriftstellerisch tätigen Zürcher Theologen und ihnen nahestehenden Angehörigen des städtischen Regiments. Ihre gedruckten Werke dienten der Verbreitung autorisierter Lebensbeschreibungen unter Gleichgesinnten in der Eidgenossenschaft und in Europa. Handschriftliche Sammlungen waren dagegen auf die enzyklopädische Darstellung Zürcherischen Herrschaftswissens gerichtet. Die frühen Zürcher Biographien zeugen von Transformationsprozessen, die zugleich die Aneignung einer literarischen Gattung und die Erneuerung des reformierten Erbes zum Ziel hatten.

Villa Vigoni,  Centro Italo-Tedesco per l'Eccellenza Europea / Deutsch-Italienisches Zentrum für Europäische Exzellenz.
Deutsch-Italienische Zusammenarbeit in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften 2019: "Im Labor der Moderne.
Die Schweiz im Zeitalter der Reformation: Theologie, Ontologie und Psychologie zwischen Deutschland und Italien"

More about Jakob Ruf and the SNF-Projekt
http://www.hildegardkeller.ch/en/research/jakob-ruf/the-snsf-project/

Edition and biography:
Keller, Hildegard Elisabeth (Hg.): Jakob Ruf. Leben, Werk und Studien. 5 Bände in Schuber mit 2 CD-ROM. Zürich: NZZ Libro 2008.

Albert Szenci Molnár was the first Hungarian intellectual of whom we know that he kept his letters organised. These letters were bound up in the “Collectio Molnariana” as we call it since the 17th century. The collection contains not only the “missilis-es” but also Szenci’s travelling documents, his references, degrees and letters written to and by some Reformers of the 16th century. The collection is now in the custody of the Department of Manuscripts at the Library and Information Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In this paper, we present the history of the “Collection” and, through a detailed investigation, we attempt to reconstruct its original structure. If we manage to understand Szenczi’s principles of structuring, we might get closer to appreciate his relationship-network as well.

Tamás Túri: Sermon and Apocalypse: Pál Karádi and the Protestant Tradition
This article explores the Unitarian superintendent/bishop of the Partium, Pál Karádi’s (1523–1590) exegetical method, his historical approach and the eschatological roles of the ministers and preaching in his Commentary on the Apocalypse (1580). Karádi mainly focused on the sensus litteralis (literal meaning) but he also considered a spiritual meaning, based on an empirical resemblance to the sensus litteralis, combined with consideration of the actual historical context. On this ’historical allegory’ Karádi constructed a cyclical historical approach, which widens the horizon of its application, making possible connections to other protestant interpretations.
Regarding pastoral theological thoughts, the role of the ministers and the preaching about the last days, there are many similarities between Karádi’s commentary and that of the Calvinist bishop, Péter Melius Juhász (1532–1572) in the interpretation of Revelations 10–12.
Additionally, Karádi probably used Heinrich Bullinger’s (1504–1575) A hundred sermons upon the Apocalypse… and the meaning of the Apocalypse, Paul’s eschatology, the characteristics of the sermon as genre, and pastoral theology in his own writings, resulting in similarities with the reformed tradition in Zürich.
Karádi’s and Melius’ common explanation about the pregnant woman, the son and the dragon in Revelations 12 is similar to the interpretation pattern of Antoine du Pinet (1510–1584), who combined the works of Sebastian Meyer (1465–1545), François Lambert (1486/87–1530), Beda Venerabilis (672/673–735), Joachim von Fiore (1135–1202) and Victorinus of Pettau (?–303/304).

The question of how Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) and John Calvin (1509-1564) interpreted the very first verses of the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis has important ramifications for dogmatics, and as a matter of fact on the history of doctrine as well. Of course for every reformer committed to the sola scriptura, as were Bullinger and Calvin, the modern separation between exegesis and systematic theology would be anachronistic. An exegetical issue is often, if not always, simultaneously a matter of doctrine. That is especially the case here. Genesis 17, namely God's covenantal promise to Abraham, plays a key role in Bullinger's theology. Looking from here back to Adam and forward to Christ, the covenant motive can arguably be said to be controlling his theological reasoning on the biblical narrative as Heilsgeschichte...

Heinrich Bullinger Briefwechsel, Band 17: Briefe von Juni bis September 1546. Ed. Reinhard Bodenmann, Alexandra Kess, and Judith Steiniger.
Heinrich Bullinger Werke, Zweite Abteilung. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 2015. 547 3 pp. €145.00. ISBN 978-3-290-17782-9. The Sixteenth Century Journal 49.4 (2018)

Max Weber traced the rise of the modern economy back to the convergence of new Protestant teachings on vocation, predestination, and asceticism.  It was especially the marital household, this Article argues, that served as an incubator of these Protestant teachings and a laboratory for their application to economic activity. The early modern Protestant family was structured and schooled to cultivate the critical habits of discipline and organization in the economic lives of its members.  Early modern Protestant catechisms and household manuals set out in detail the moral and religious rules, rights, and responsibilities that husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants had to each other and to their neighbors in different stages of life. It is here, in the elementary ethics and intimate experiences of the Protestant household, that many of the basic norms and habits of modern economic life were slowly instilled and cultivated in each new generation.  This chapter offers case studies of Heinrich Bullinger, Robert Cleaver, William Perkins, and Richard Baxter to illustrate how the early modern Protestant family was structured to support church, state, society, and economy alike.

Together with his brother Hans, Peter Füssli owned a Zurich foundry that produced churchbells, canons and firearms. He was also a mercenary and took part in the battles of Novara (1513) and Marignano (1515). While Hans has been considered the first follower of reformer Ulrich Zwingli, Peter stuck to the Catholic tradition. Both brothers were writers, as well: Hans Füssli, who corresponded with Heinrich Brennwald, Heinrich Bullinger and Johannes Stumpf, wrote a chronicle and political pamphlets. Peter was the author of an account of his pilgrimage to the holy land (1523) and of a description of the siege of Rhodes (1523). He also wrote an apology of his commitment to Zurich during the battle of Kappel, when Ulrich Zwingli died.

Today, covenant theology is often equated with Calvinism. The study of Calvin’s own use of the biblical covenant motive, however, has generated a controversial interpretation of the Reformed tradition. While some scholars have recently denied Calvin a genuine theology of the covenant, so as to oppose him to Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) and the covenant theology developed in Zurich, this chapter emphasizes Calvin’s positive reception and integration of Zurich’s theology in his Institutes. Even if Calvin did not himself significantly contribute to the development of covenant theology, he ensured Bullinger’s theology gained an enduring place within Calvinism.

Let Calvin, Luther, Bullinger and Cranmer sit alongside you as you open up your Bible day by day. The writings of these Reformers have been edited, and in parts translated, by Dr Lee Gatiss. Each day includes helpful questions and prompts to apply the Reformers' insights to your life and bring the Reformation to life in your own devotional walk with God.

2017 is the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Explore with the Reformers includes brief biographies of John Calvin, Martin Luther, Heinrich Bullinger and Thomas Cranmer.

Enjoy the treasures of Genesis, the Psalms, Galatians, the Ten Commandments, and more.

The Bubonic Plague struck Upper Germany & Switzerland with ferocity in 1562-66, exacting 20-percent-plus mortality tolls in many urban centers. While historical research on plague is currently in an advanced state, especially with the incorporation of new insights from DNA analysis, the major plague waves after the Black Death (1346-53) have received little sustained historical analysis. Given the number of leading physicians of the sixteenth century who witnessed this epidemic (Johann Winter von Andernach, Thomas Erastus, Johann Weyer, Felix Platter, and above all Gessner himself) there is a rich source base to study the mid-1560s outbreak. Gessner tracked the progress of plague across the region and engaged in an active correspondence concerning the epidemic with Achilles Pirmin Gassner, Johannes Crato von Krafftheim, Theodor Zwinger, and others. He likewise served heroically when, by the beginning of 1564, the disease had reached Zurich – famously treating Heinrich Bullinger as the latter teetered on the edge of death. Although Bullinger unexpectedly survived, Gessner himself succumbed to plague in a somewhat isolated case in late 1565.

The question of how Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) and John Calvin (1509-1564) interpreted the very first verses of the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis has important ramifications for dogmatics, and as a matter of fact on the history of doctrine as well. Of course for every reformer committed to the sola scriptura, as were Bullinger and Calvin, the modern separation between exegesis and systematic theology would be anachronistic. An exegetical issue is often, if not always, simultaneously a matter of doctrine. That is especially the case here. Genesis 17, namely God's covenantal promise to Abraham, plays a key role in Bullinger's theology. Looking from here back to Adam and forward to Christ, the covenant motive can arguably be said to be controlling his theological reasoning on the biblical narrative as Heilsgeschichte...