Guido de Brès: Author of the Belgic Confession

Part of the power and enduring value of our confessions is the fact that they arose out of the life of the church. They were not drawn up by men sitting in ivory towers, contemplating the truth of Scripture, but far removed from the battle for the faith. They breath the life of the church's struggles.

The Heidelberg Catechism was written in the struggles between Calvinism on the one hand and Lutheranism and Romanism on the other hand, as these struggles were bitterly fought out in Frederick's Palatinate. The Canons of Dordt arose out of the fierce battle with Arminianism which all but engulfed the churches in the Netherlands in the first part of the 17th century. The Confession of Faith (Sometimes called, The Belgic or Netherlands Confession) was written during and reflects the bitter persecution of the saints in the Lowlands in the early years of the Reformation.

It is this persecution, in the midst of which it was written, that gives to the Confession of Faith its moving power. The affirmations of the confession, "We all believe ..."; "We confess ..."; "We believe and profess ..." take on new meaning when we understand that they are shouts that arise from scaffolds, burning piles of tinder, deep prison cells, and cruel torture chambers.

Its author, Guido de Brès, died on the scaffold for his faith. To his story we know turn.

Early Life And Conversion

Guido de Brès was born in Mons in 1522, the fourth child of a family of glass painters. In Mons the art of glass painting had been highly developed, and Mons deservedly had an international reputation for the skill of its artists. Guido himself was trained for this work.

 Guido's family carried on the traditions of the guilds in Mons, although the children were split on Reformation doctrine. John, the oldest, while remaining Roman Catholic all his life, helped Protestants in times of persecution. Christophe was a seller of glassware, but spent his entire life distributing Bibles and Protestant literature, often at great risk to his life. Jerome became a cloth dyer and remained within the Romish Church. Marlette, the only girl, married a Protestant in Valenciennes and, with her husband, was deeply involved in Protestant affairs.

 The city of Mons was on the border of France and the Lowlands, that part of the Lowlands which is now Belgium. Here Lutheranism had first come and had been eagerly studied by the citizens; but the Hugenots from France soon followed with the purer Reformation doctrines of John Calvin.

 Guido, already in his teens, heard from others Reformation truths and could not help but listen to the stories of those who, already then, were being killed for the sake of the gospel. He was only 14 when the news reached him of Tyndale's cruel martyrdom. It may have been Tyndale's willingness to die for the sake of translating the Bible into the language of the people that led Guido to study the Scriptures. But it was through this study that God led him to true faith in Jesus Christ.

 Guido decided, perhaps because of persecution in the Lowlands, to go to London and join a refugee Church in East London. East London was a haven for refugees from many different countries in Europe who were forced to flee because of persecution. And so in that part of London could also be found a Walloon congregation composed of French-speaking citizens of the Lowlands, to which Guido joined himself. The refugees had peace in England because of the benign rule of Edward VI who, though young, favored Protestantism. Here he studied for the ministry and listened to the powerful preaching of the great Reformers á Lasco and Martin Bucer.

Work In The Lowlands

 But Guido's love was for his native land, and in 1552 at the age of 30, he returned -- as an evangelist and traveling preacher. From that moment on his life was in almost constant danger.

 His first field of labor was the city of Lille, in which a large secret Protestant community had been established under the name, the Church of the Rose. From Lille he went to Ghent, where he published a tract entitled Le Báton de la foi ("The Staff of the Faith"), a stirring defense of the Reformed faith.

 Guido enjoyed a brief interlude at this time. Traveling to Frankfurt in Germany, Guido met Calvin and was persuaded to come to Geneva. In the three years he spent in Geneva, Guido learned the Reformed faith more perfectly, mastered Greek and Hebrew under Beza and Calvin, and was more fully equipped for the gospel ministry. During this period (1559), he also married Catherine Ramon and with her had four or five children, the oldest named Israel, and the second, Sara.

 While Guido was in Geneva, Charles V retired, weary and careworn, to a monastery in Spain, and his cruel son Philip II came to the throne. Philip was determined to stamp out all "heresy," especially in the Lowlands. While, therefore, up to this time persecution had been sporadic and relatively light, it now became more severe and bitter.

 de Brès, after returning again to the Lowlands, was forced to travel in disguise and under the pseudonym of Jerome. Although the cities in southern Belgium and northern France (Lille, Antwerp, Mons) were the area of his labor, his headquarters was in Doornik where he ministered to the congregation which had chosen as its name, the Church of the Palm.

 Here two former ministers had been burned at the stake for their faith; here the congregation knew de Brès only as "Jerome"; here the meetings of the congregation were always held in secret and at night, with small groups of not more than 12 attending at one time.

 In spite of the problems which the congregation faced, de Brès organized the church with elders and deacons and faithfully administered the sacraments.

 But even this situation did not remain, for a more radical group of the believers, under the leadership of Robert du Four, thought it cowardly and unfaithful to Christ to keep their faith secret. The group, several hundred strong, moved in public procession through the city singing Psalms in open defiance of the authorities. The next night, September 30, 1561, 500 Protestants gathered for the same purpose. The result was that Roman Catholic investigators were sent with orders to suppress Protestantism in the city.

 Although Guido managed to hide until December and flee in safety, all the information of the secret congregation was discovered, Guido's true identity was found out, the people of the church were forced to flee or be killed, and Guido's rooms were ransacked and his papers (including letters from Calvin) were burned. Guido was hanged in effigy.

 Guido concentrated his work for several years in northern France, perhaps some of the quietest years of his ministerial career. Although also in France persecution against the Hugenots raged, in Guido's area the church had peace. He worked in Amiens, Montdidier, Dieppe, and Sedan, building up the congregations and preaching faithfully the gospel.

 But he could not refrain from making periodic trips into his own country, a "lion's den" of danger. He traveled three times to Doornik, his old congregation, once to Brussels to meet with William of Orange concerning matters of union between Calvinists and Lutherans, once to a secret Synod of the Reformed Churches held in Antwerp (the password for entry was "Vineyard") where de Brès' Confession was adopted as the official confession of the Reformed Churches.

 In 1566 de Brès went to Valenciennes to become a preacher in the church there, a congregation which called itself the Church of the Eagle. While the Protestant faith grew so rapidly that the Roman Catholic authorities dared not interfere in the religion of God's people, certain radical elements once again stepped forward and created trouble. Stirring up large mobs, they went through all the cathedrals smashing, burning, destroying anything that in the least smelled like popery. Philip II, infuriated at this, sent troops to lay siege to the city, which surrendered on Palm Sunday, 1567. Although de Brès escaped with four companions, he was soon captured and imprisoned.

His Martyrdom and Importance

 de Brès spent the first part of his captivity in a prison in Doornik, where he could receive visitors. Many of his visitors, however, were enemies who came to taunt him. But just as was the case with the apostle Paul (Philippians 1:12-14), Guido's imprisonment became an occasion for him to witness to the truth. When a princess, along with many young court ladies, came to mock, and the princess said in horror at Guido's heavy chains, "My God, Mr. de Brès, I don't see how you can eat, drink, or sleep that way. I think I would die of fear, if I were in your place," Guido responded: "My lady, the good cause for which I suffer and the good conscience God has given me make my bread sweeter and my sleep sounder than those of my persecutors." And, then, still responding to the princess, "It is guilt that makes a chain heavy. Innocence makes my chains light. I glory in them as my badges of honor."

 Soon Guido was transferred to Valenciennes and thrown into a dark, cold, damp, rat-infested dungeon known as The Black Hole. In spite of the cold, the hunger, the horror of this hole, Guido wrote a tract on the Lord's Supper and letters to his friends, his aged mother, and his wife. A letter to his wife is an especially moving testimony of his faith.

My dear and well-beloved wife in our Lord Jesus.

 Your grief and anguish are the cause of my writing you this letter. I most earnestly pray you not to be grieved beyond measure . . . . We knew when we married that we might not have many years together, and the Lord has graciously given us seven. If the Lord had wished us to live together longer, he could easily have caused it to be so. But such was not his pleasure. Let his good will be done . . . . Moreover, consider that I have not fallen into the hands of my enemies by chance, but by the providence of God . . . . All these considerations have made my heart glad and peaceful, and I pray you, my dear and faithful companion, to be glad with me, and to thank the good God for what he is doing, for he does nothing but what is altogether good and right . . . . I pray you then to be comforted in the Lord, to commit yourself and your affairs to him, he is the husband of the widow and the father of the fatherless, and he will never leave nor forsake you . . . .

 Good-bye, Catherine, my well-beloved! I pray my God to comfort you, and give you resignation to his holy will.

Your faithful husband, Guido de Brès.

Guido was publicly hanged on May 31, 1567 at the age of 47. He was pushed off the ladder while comforting the crowd which had gathered and urging them to faithfulness to the Scriptures. His body was left hanging the rest of the day and buried in a shallow grave where dogs and wild animals dug it up and consumed it.

Guido de Brès is the author of our Confession of Faith, although he was assisted by Adrien de Saravia (professor of theology in Leyden), H. Modetus (chaplain of William of Orange), and G. Wingen. It was written in the vain hope that it would persuade the cruel Philip II to see that the views of the Calvinists were truly biblical and to stop persecution against them. Roman Catholics had lumped the Calvinists with the radical and wild-eyed Anabaptists who rejected the authority of magistrates, and the Confession sets the Reformed faith over against Anabaptism.

The Confession was thrown over the wall in Doornik and ultimately did reach the king but it served only to arouse Philip to greater fury against the saints of God.

In a letter which was added to the Confession, Guido and his co-workers protested being called rebels. They solemnly averred that though they number over 100,000 and were cruelly oppressed by "excommunications, imprisonments, banishments, racks, and tortures, and other numberless oppressions which they had undergone," they obeyed their government in all things lawful, and that "having the fear of God before their eyes, and being terrified by the threatening of Christ, who had declared in the Gospel that he would deny them before God the Father, in case they denied him before men, they therefore offered their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire."

From this spilled blood God caused to emerge a confession of faith which has held a special place in the hearts of Reformed believers. It is as if, knowing that the confession was written in blood, the saints receive it as a sacred trust, precious and vibrating yet with the faith of their fathers.

Our fathers both knew what they believed and were faithful to it, even to death. We have received, by the Spirit of truth, the glorious fruit which God worked through them. It is entrusted to our care that we may be faithful to it and teach it to our children.

 We ought earnestly to pray that we may know as they did the faith, and that we may be faithful to it as they were, for persecution shall soon also be our lot.

Taken from: Portraits of Faithful Saints, Chapter 31, by Herman Hanko

Zacharias Ursinus & Caspar Olevianus: Authors of the Heidelberg Catechism

Without question the Heidelberg Catechism is one of the most, if not the most, beloved Confession of all time. Those who cherish the heritage of the truth and turn to the Confessions of the church to learn it will rejoice in the Heidelberger as a precious gift of God through the Spirit of Truth Whom Christ promised the church.

 Not only those who belong to churches which have made the Catechism their theological basis, but God's people from any tradition and from all ecclesiastical backgrounds, love and cherish this glorious creed.

 Its attractiveness lies in two characteristics. The first is its warm and personal style. It speaks to the experience of the child of God. It tells him what the truth means to him personally in his own life and calling in the world. The second is its dominating theme of comfort. The personal and experiential aspect of the Catechism looks at the truth in all our life as a truth which brings comfort. It echoes the words of God in Isaiah 40:1: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God."

 In the last chapter we described the role that Frederick the Pious played in the writing of the Heidelberg Catechism. In this chapter we will let the authors themselves step out of the obscure past and take their place momentarily on the stage of history to tell us of what God worked in them.

Zacharias Ursinus

Ursinus's Early Life

 Zacharius Ursinus was born on July 18, 1534 in the town of Breslau of Silesia, a province of Austria. He was born of a family by the name of Baer, or Bear. Those who know the Big Dipper as Ursa Major will also know that Ursinus is only the Latin word for bear.

 His parents were poor, for the wages of a tutor were meager and his father was a tutor. Two advantages, however, were his, brought up as he was in a tutor's home. The first was that he was surrounded from infancy with learning, and the second was that he had an opportunity to meet many of the rich and famous in the course of his early years.

 Ursinus studied in Breslau until his 15th year, when he went to Wittenberg. Four years after Luther's body had been laid to rest in the cathedral of Wittenberg, and while Philip Melanchthon, Luther's colleague and close friend, was still teaching, Ursinus came to this notable and famous school. Because his parents could not support him, his expenses were underwritten by the Senate of Breslau, with the understanding that he would return to his native town to teach after he had completed his education.

 Although he was a very able and gifted student, Ursinus was shy and retiring, tending somewhat to be moody, and not at all inclined to participate in the intellectual rough and tumble of classroom life in a university. Nor did he eagerly seek the companionship of his fellow students who, oftentimes with excessive gaiety, would celebrate the freedom of an academic life. He preferred to compose Greek and Latin verses in the solitude of his study.

 He would probably have passed through the halls of the university scarcely noticed if it were not for the fact that Melanchthon observed his ability, took Ursinus into his own home, and became a friend and companion as well as teacher to the shy student. It was a strange but rich friendship, a 53 year old gifted theologian with a poor student of 16.

 The Lutheran Reformation had penetrated Breslau prior to Ursinus's birth and had influenced his parents. Wittenberg was the center of Lutheran studies. It is not surprising that Ursinus became an ardent Lutheran. But already Melanchthon was having second thoughts about Luther's view of the Lord's Supper and was more inclined to agree with the Swiss theologians on the presence of Christ in the bread and wine. Ursinus was influenced by Melanchthon and developed his own views, which were more like those of his mentor.

 Ursinus spent seven years with Melanchthon and even accompanied him to Worms and Heidelberg in 1557. Heidelberg was the city in which Ursinus would do his most important work. He saw it for the first time in the golden autumn of October. On the hillside covered with trees stood the imposing castle in which the Elector lived. The city was in the narrow valley of the Neckar River which flowed through the Black Forest to the Rhine just a few miles away. The Church of the Holy Spirit dominated the city with its spires soaring above the roofs of the houses. Almost at the feet of the spires was the most famous and oldest university in Germany, the University of Heidelberg. It had been Roman Catholic; it was now Protestant. Whether it would be Lutheran or Reformed had yet to be decided. It was Melanchthon's home, the land for which he longed. But Melanchthon had not come to stay; his life's work was on the sandy and dusty soil of Wittenberg.

 After traveling together to Heidelberg, Ursinus and Melanchthon parted ways, Ursinus to travel for a year throughout Europe visiting the Protestant centers of learning in Germany, France, and Switzerland. He could read the Hebrew lectures of Jean Mercier in Paris, sit at the feet of Bullinger in Zurich, and talk with Calvin in Geneva. In fact, Calvin presented him with a gift of a complete set of Calvin's works, signed by their illustrious author.

 For a few short years he fulfilled his obligations to Breslau by teaching there. But the Lutherans suspected him of being more Reformed than Lutheran in his views of the Lord's Supper. They were right; but it was a whispering campaign against him, finally exploding into public debate, which persuaded Ursinus to resign his position and leave the city. He never did enjoy controversy, and the bitterness of the hatred in Breslau was more than he could bear.

 From Breslau Ursinus went to Zurich for a short time of peace and quietness in which he became a close friend of Peter Martyr, the Reformer from Italy who had made such a notable contribution to the Reformed doctrine of the Lord's Supper. His decision to go to Zurich was a difficult one. He told his uncle:

Not unwillingly do I leave my fatherland, since it does not permit the confession of the truth, which I can not with good conscience give up. If my teacher Melanchthon still lived, I would go nowhere else but to him. But as he is dead, I will go to Zurich where there are pious, great and learned men. As for the rest, God will care.

Ursinus found companionship and fellowship here with men with whom he was in complete agreement.

 Frederick the Pious wanted a Reformed professor in Heidelberg and called Peter Martyr. Martyr declined the call on the grounds of old age, but recommended Ursinus. When Ursinus received the call from Frederick, he was most reluctant to go. He as well as anyone knew the tensions and controversies which were tearing apart that city. To a friend he wrote: "Oh that I could remain hidden in a corner. I would give anything for shelter in some quiet village."

 But God has a way of calling a person to a work from which he shrinks. So it was with Moses. So it was when Calvin, at the threats of the fiery Farel, was persuaded to stay in Geneva. So God called Ursinus, shy and retiring, to the swirling ecclesiastical and doctrinal hubbub of Heidelberg.

Years In Heidelberg

 Times in Heidelberg were trying. Although through the wise and godly rule of Frederick the Pious Roman Catholicism had been pretty much rooted out of the city, Lutheranism and the Reformed faith were vying for dominance. The differences were almost exclusively over the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, but violent and radical Lutherans were doing everything they could to rid the city of any men who disagreed with their position.

 Ursinus was appointed head of the Collegium Sapientiae, the College of Wisdom, as it was called. But it was not long after, that he was appointed to occupy the chair of Dogmatics. And every imaginable chore and obligation were thrust upon him, as Frederick and others sought to make use of his enormous abilities and clear understanding of the truth.

 It was not as a joke that Ursinus put a sign on the door to his office in the University which contained on it a bit of Latin doggerel which translated read: "Friend who enters here: be quick, or go; or help me with my work."

 Yet his work for which he is renowned is his authorship of the Heidelberg Catechism. With Caspar Olevianus, he was instructed to draw up a confession which could be used for the instruction of the people of the Palatinate and could serve as a basis of unity.

 Ursinus had earlier written a small Catechism in Latin, which also had proceeded from the idea of comfort. It had suggested to Ursinus the theme of this Catechism, and much of this earlier work was absorbed into the Heidelberger. It is hard for us to believe that Ursinus was only 28 years old at the time, but he had been steeped from infancy in Reformational theology and he was a man of brilliant gifts with which God had endowed him. The work began in 1562 and took nearly a year. It was a great time for Confessions: the Thirty-Nine Articles had been adopted by the Church of England; Bullinger had written his beautiful Second Helvetic Confession; and Spanish persecutors in the Lowlands were hunting the author of the Belgic Confession, Guido de Brès.

 Frederick pressed the work forward at the swiftest possible rate. When the Catechism was nearly ready in early 1563, he summoned a large company of ministers and teachers from throughout the Palatinate to meet in solemn assembly to discuss and, if possible, approve the work. After solemn worship services and lengthy discussion, the assembled group was so moved by the genius of the work that they unanimously recommended to Frederick that it be adopted without change. And so it was.

 In the second edition, Frederick ordered Q. & A. 80 to be added, though without the sharp language concerning the mass; but when the attacks of Roman Catholics increased in bitterness and intensity, Frederick made another change in this same question and answer which included the words which have ever afterward vexed the souls of Roman Catholics, words which branded the mass as "an accursed idolatry." Frederick also ordered that it be divided into 52 sections, or Lord's Days, so that it could be preached from beginning to end in one year.

 It quickly ran through many editions and was soon translated into different languages, including the Dutch, where it became a treasured confession of the Dutch Reformed Churches.

Ursinus's Post-Heidelberg Years

 The rest of Ursinus's years in Heidelberg were busy and relatively unhappy. Not only did his duties continue in the University, but he was now also asked to preach each Lord's Day on the Heidelberg Catechism. Furthermore, he became the chief defender of the Catechism against the many and vicious attacks made against it by Roman Catholics and Lutherans alike. They so wearied him who loved peace, so physically exhausted him, and so impaired his health, that in 1566 he ceased writing and two years later resigned his chair of Dogmatics. The chair went to the esteemed Italian reformer, Hieronymous Zanchius, whose work on "Predestination" is still widely read.

 Disputes in Heidelberg continued, now over church government. Did the discipline of the impenitent rest with the State or with the church? The controversy was sharp and bitter. The main defender of Presbyterianism was an Englishman named George Withers. Bullinger and Beza were called in to give advice. Finally, annoyed by the silence of Ursinus, Frederick ordered him to express his views. He did so in a public assembly and in such a candid and kindly way that his views carried the day, and Presbyteries were established with discipline safely in the hands of the church.

 All these years he had remained unmarried and had lived with the students in the dorms of the University. But in 1572, at the age of 38, he began to consider the possibility of marriage. He had noticed a quiet and friendly woman only a block away from the University, and one day, summoning up his courage, he took time out from his studies to propose to her. She accepted; they were married -- perhaps one of the shortest courtships on record. They lived together nine years, and brought forth one son.

 But things were soon to change in Heidelberg. Frederick died, worn out by the cares of his kingdom. The Elector Louis came to the electorate. Louis was an ardent Lutheran and determined to force Lutheranism on the Palatinate. Within one year he succeeded in doing this, and the Reformed faculty at the University, including Ursinus, were dismissed. Over 600 teachers and preachers left the Palatinate during this unhappy time.

 Although Ursinus was invited to teach at Lausanne in Switzerland, he chose instead to go to Neustadt, where he set up a school in a nunnery with the help of his good friend Casimir, son of Frederick the Pious. The school obtained a good faculty and soon attracted many students from throughout Europe.

 But Ursinus taught only briefly in it. He was asked by a Reformed Convention which met in Frankfurt in 1577 to draw up a confession which could serve as a basis for unity of all Reformed Churches in Europe, but he declined on the grounds of ill-health.

 The great work of these years was the writing of his well-known commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, a volume which all who love this creed ought to purchase. The volume was put together from his lectures on the Catechism in Neustadt, lectures which he edited and prepared for publication, although this latter work he never finished. The book was published in 1584 after his death.

 His health continued to decline and his teaching became increasingly sporadic. Finally on March 6, 1583, at the age of 49, he died in Neustadt, leaving his wife a widow and his child without a father.

Summary

 Ursinus was not a very good preacher; his gifts lay in the classroom, where his lectures were learned, incisive, instructive, and delivered in a most interesting way. He was ever the cautious man, so much so that when questions were asked of him in class, he almost always postponed the answers to the following day so that he could have time to formulate a careful answer. His strength was in his penetrating mind and his deep commitment to the truth. The truth was not for him an intellectual matter however; it was his "comfort," that which alone could sustain him through the grueling years of his work in Heidelberg.

 God thrust this shrinking man into the maelstrom of Heidelberg. God knows what to do with His appointed servants even when it seems all wrong to them and others. But we are the beneficiaries , for to us has been given the time-honored treasure of the Heidelberg Catechism.

Caspar Olevianus

Introduction

 God used more than one man to write the Heidelberg Catechism. Frederick III, elector of the Palatinate, ordered it written and supported the project, even offering suggestions from time to time. Zacharius Ursinus was its theologian. But Caspar Olevianus left his own indelible mark on it.

 History has not recorded for us what precise part each of the two authors of the Catechism played in its formation; and speculations on the subject by historians have proved fruitless. But it does seem to be a manifestation of God's great wisdom when, in the formulation of this marvelous creed, God used both the theologian Ursinus and the preacher Olevianus. Not only is the Catechism an unsurpassed summary of the Christian faith with the touch of a theologian; but it is a confession eminently suitable to preach: it has the touch of a man who was himself a gifted and eloquent preacher and pastor.

 Early Life and Training

 Caspar Olevianus was born on August 10, 1536, two years after the birth of his colleague Ursinus. He was born in one of the most famous cities in Trans-Alpine Europe, the city of Trier, or, as it was sometimes called, Treves. The city was built on the banks of the Moselle River on the border of Germany and Luxembourg. It boasted of the fact that its history went back to the days before the birth of Christ, and it claimed to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest city north of the Alps. The Emperor Caesar Augustus had started the city in 15 B.C. and had made it an important city in an ocean of barbarians.

 The city had the distinction of being briefly the home of the great church father Athanasius, when, because of his uncompromising defense of the truth of Christ's divinity, he had been banished from his church in Alexandria in Egypt. That was back in the first half of the 4th century.

 The prominence of the city in the Middle Ages was due in large measure to the fact that the cathedral in the city claimed to have in its possession the seamless robe of Christ over which the soldiers gambled at the cross. (This robe is still put on public display at 25-year intervals, and hundreds of thousands crowd the city to look at it.) Further, the abbey church in the city claimed to be the burial place of the apostle Matthew, the only apostle, so tradition said, to be buried north of the Alps.

 Olevianus was born of Gerhard von der Olewig and Anna Sinzig. The name "Olewig," which means "olive," actually refers to a part of the city, perhaps even a small village annexed to the city, known by that name. "Olevianus" is the Latinized form of that name.

 Caspar's father was a merchant, relatively wealthy, and a prominent citizen of this historic place. He was a baker, a president of the Bakers' Guild, a member of the city council, and treasurer of the city. He followed a family tradition of service to the city, for Caspar's grandfather was president of the Butchers' Guild and also a member of the council. These positions in the city were important, for Trier, because of its ancient and illustrious past, was a "free" city in Germany.

 Caspar's mother was a pious and godly woman who exerted great influence on her family and son. It is striking, if I may make here a somewhat parenthetical remark, that so many of those men who occupied places of great importance in the cause of God and of His church, had very godly and pious mothers. It is a fact of history that ought to give all covenant mothers pause: they never know what the effect of their piety and humble service of God will be upon their children and how God will use their godliness for His cause.

 Trier was a Roman Catholic city. It remained such even though the Lutheran Reformation spread through much of Germany. It remained immune to Lutheran teachings. Caspar was brought up, therefore, in a Roman Catholic home and taught in a Roman Catholic school in Trier the first 14 years of his life.

 Offsetting this Roman Catholic influence was one incident which made a deep impression on Casper during these years, an incident of which he himself later spoke. While Casper was at school, an aged but kindly and saintly priest planted a seed in his heart which was eventually to bear fruit. It was nothing more than a remark which the old priest made to him in the corridors of the school. Recognizing the abilities of the young boy, the priest put his arm over Casper's shoulder and said to him: "Never forget that salvation and comfort are to be found only in Christ's perfect work." Again and again, through those dark and dreary centuries when Roman Catholicism held sway over the minds and consciences of men, we find these isolated individuals who, in spite of Rome's denial of Christ's perfect sacrifice for sin, held to the truth that all our salvation is only in Christ. It must have been these lonely and scattered men who enabled the church of Christ to stay alive during those perilous times.

 In 1550, at the age of 14, Caspar completed his studies in Trier. His grandfather stepped in and offered to support Caspar's further education in France provided Caspar would study law. This was somewhat strange, for Trier had its own university; but it becomes a bit understandable when we remember that Trier was solidly Roman Catholic and its schools were steadily losing students, while the universities of other parts of Europe were becoming very popular because of openness to Renaissance and Reformation teachings.

 It was in France that Caspar's life took an extraordinary turn.

Conversion and Early Work

 The years Olevianus spent in France were profitable, if for no other reason than that they led to his conversion to the Reformed faith.

 Caspar attended the universities of Paris, Orleans, and Bourges, the same universities in which Calvin had received his training. Although he studied law, he came under the influence of leading thinkers in the universities who were more or less committed to Lutheranism; but more importantly, he came under the influence of Huguenot teaching. The Huguenots were French Calvinists who had been delivered from Roman Catholicism, but who were forced to meet secretly because they were severely persecuted by the king and the church. The shadow of the stake, the hangman's noose, and the sword hung constantly over them and their families. Not only did Caspar come in contact with them, but he became persuaded of their position and even attended their secret meetings.

 Especially one experience changed his life. While walking with a friend, a prince from Germany, along the river which ran by Bourges, Caspar and this friend were invited to cross the river in a boat in which were other students. Caspar refused because the students in the boat were drunk, but his friend took up the offer. In midstream the students began rocking the boat and it overturned. Caspar dived into the water to save his friend, but was unable to do so because of the swift current. He was himself in danger of drowning. At that crucial point, Caspar promised that, if God would spare his life, he would preach the gospel in Trier. His friend's valet, thinking Caspar was his master, hauled Caspar from the water, while the friend drowned. Although Caspar continued his studies in law, that promise, made in the cold waters of the river Auron, was not forgotten.

 After completing his studies in France, Caspar returned to Trier -- not yet to preach (for this he was untrained), but to practice law. His promise, however, sat heavily upon his soul, and he found no satisfaction in the legal niceties of 16th century law practice. In disgust and restlessness, Caspar traveled to Geneva for the express purpose of talking with Calvin.

 The two years he spent in Switzerland were important ones. He not only met with and talked to Calvin, but had opportunity to spend many hours with Theodore Beza, Henry Bullinger, Peter Martyr, William Farel, and Peter Viret, all luminous stars in the Reformation heavens. The years were not spent, though, in idle chatter; he studied in Geneva under Calvin, learned Hebrew, mastered theology, was instructed in the art of preaching, and prepared himself for the ministry.

 It must have been good instruction which he received in preaching because, along with the development of his native gifts, this instruction made Caspar one of the outstanding and most eloquent preachers of the times -- and the times were blessed with many gifted preachers!

 The year 1559 was an important one in the history of the Reformation. During this year French Protestants held their first Synod in Paris, John Knox returned to Scotland to establish the Presbyterian Church there, William the Silent made his vow to drive "the Spanish vermin" from the Netherlands, Elector Frederick III the Pious began his reign in Heidelberg, and Calvin opened his Academy in Geneva and published the last edition of his Institutes.

 In June of this important year, at the urging of Farel -- that firebrand of a Reformer who had been instrumental in keeping Calvin in Geneva, Olevianus returned to Trier.

 Trier was still a Roman Catholic City, and Caspar's presence as a minister of the truth of the Calvin Reformation would not have gone over very well there. But two men, Otto Seele and Peter Sierk, influential in the city, were known in Geneva to have some Calvinistic leanings. To them Calvin wrote to try to encourage them to work towards reformation in the city, and especially to bring Caspar Olevianus to the city to help.

 It seems as if Caspar went without really revealing what his position on reformational matters was. He must have, for the time being, concealed his true purposes, for he had no difficulty, because of the reputation of his parents and grandparents, obtaining an appointment to teach philosophy in the school of a solidly Roman Catholic city. He chose to teach Melanchthon's Dialectics. The instruction was in Latin, and Dialectics was rather boring to any but the most ardent students; so Olevianus could be of little influence. Here he stayed for awhile, in his home town, in a sense flying under false colors, eager to keep a vow he had made long before, stuck in a philosophy class in a dying school.

Work In Trier

 Because few people in Trier could understand Latin (even most of the students were not very proficient in the language) Olevianus, though able to slip in a few Reformed remarks from time to time, could scarcely be an effective teacher of the truths he had learned to love.

 In his discomfort over his vow that he would preach, and determined to reach the common people, he decided to hold a public lecture in German, the language of the people. It was subsequently announced. A large crowd assembled. The success of the lecture was the beginning of a series of lectures in the German tongue, lectures which became expositions of a Reformation Catechism.

 Because the people received what he had to say eagerly and because the crowds continued to grow, he asked permission of the council to preach to the people, which permission was reluctantly given. He chose for this sermon the subject of justification by faith, which he ably set forth in a crowded room, and which became an occasion for him to attack various Romish practices. At last he was beginning to keep the vow he had made to God in the river of Bourges.

 Although the town clerk supported this public proclamation of the gospel, Olevianus was brought before the city council, which was less receptive to the idea. Somewhat reluctantly and probably because the city council did not really understand what was at stake, the men of the council voted to permit him to preach.

 The crowds grew rapidly and soon a Protestant and Calvinistic congregation was organized. But Archbishop John, a cleric in the church of Rome as well as Elector of that region, heard reports of what was going on. He knew the significance of it, and soon, marching with a number of soldiers to the gates of the city, he demanded that such "nonsense" stop. When the city refused to open the gates to him, he took up headquarters near the city and began to harass the citizens by taking away their status as a free city, burning their crops, seizing and attacking citizens as they traveled to and from the city, threatening the city with many fierce threats, cutting off their water supply, preventing supplies of food from entering the city, and summoning more soldiers to make a determined march on the city.

 Finally John attacked the city, threw Olevianus into jail, banished all who upheld Protestant practices, and restored Roman Catholicism. It was a total triumph for Rome. John, to add insult to injury, instituted an annual "Olevian Procession" to celebrate the banishment of this man of God. It was nearly 250 years before any worship services other than Romish were held here again.

 Olevianus was held in prison for ten weeks and was finally released only at the insistence of the Elector Frederick the Pious, who paid an enormous ransom for the release. Olevianus never again returned to the city of his birth.

 He had thought (and promised) to preach the gospel in Trier; he kept his promise, though only for a short time; God had need of him elsewhere. The year was 1560; Olevianus was only 24 years old.

Work In Heidelberg

 Although Olevianus had many offers to work elsewhere, he chose to go to Heidelberg at the invitation of Frederick. In Heidelberg he became leader and director at the college. There he completed his doctoral studies in theology and was appointed to the chair of dogmatics. For use in his lectures, he made a summary of Calvin's Institutes, which book was the major textbook in the class.

 His abilities were not, however, primarily the abilities of a professor; he was above all a preacher. And so, when Zacharius Ursinus came to the university, Olevianus moved out of the chair of Dogmatics to make room for Ursinus, and Olevianus became chief pastor in St. Peter's Church and later in the Church of the Holy Spirit. Here, on the pulpit, expounding God's Word, he felt at home. Here God used his gifts to the advantage of the church.

 And so it was that both a professor, gifted in theology, and a preacher, eloquent and faithful in the pulpit, were, under God's providence, chosen to write the Heidelberg Catechism. Ursinus was 28 years old; Olevianus was 26. It is hard to believe that they were so young. The Catechism gives evidence of authorship by spiritually and theologically mature men. And so they were. Maturity before one's thirties -- that is the measure of their God-given abilities.

 The Catechism is a teacher's book and a preacher's book. It is a systematically-arranged treatise covering the whole of the Christian faith; but it is not the doctrine of the classroom or lecture hall; it is the doctrine of the pulpit and the faith of the people of God. The systematic theology of the creed reflects the gifts of Ursinus; the passionately pastoral approach of comfort in doctrine is the delicate touch of the preacher.

 Olevianus's work on the Catechism was by no means all he did in Heidelberg. His congregational responsibilities were enough to keep him busy, but he was also deeply involved in continuing reform in the Palatinate. He was instrumental in bringing into the Palatinate hundreds of Reformed teachers to teach in the schools and preachers to preach in the pulpits. He was deeply involved in the defense of the Reformed faith over against Lutheran and Roman Catholic attacks. He was especially instrumental in solidifying genuine biblical church government in the Palatinate, although not without a bitter battle with those who wanted the State to rule the church.

The Last Years

 But even such good things as Olevianus's work in Heidelberg had to come to an end.

 There are so many things in God's eternal purpose that seem all wrong to us. Just at that point when so many battles seemed to be won and when Heidelberg was becoming a center for Reformational studies, God stopped it all.

 The cruelty which Ursinus suffered came also to Olevianus. Ludwig came to the throne. The pulpits and schools were the first objects of Ludwig's attacks. Olevianus was fired from his post and put under house arrest. When this arrest was lifted it was only to banish from the entire Palatinate anyone who breathed a Reformed word. Over 600 preachers and teachers, including Olevianus, fled, and the Calvin Reformation came to an abrupt halt.

 Olevianus went for a short time to a castle of a friend in central Germany to tutor his son and help in the Reformation work which was being done in that area. In 1548 he went to Herborn, another city in Germany, as the chief preacher of the church there and as promoter of the Reformation. The result was that, although Lutheranism was the dominant faith in Germany, there were various places where Calvinism flourished and a Reformed church grew strong.

In the same year that Olevianus came to Herborn he started a Seminary, more properly, an Academy, for the school taught also the subjects which were necessary for pre-theological studies. Olevianus once again occupied the chair of dogmatics. Under his labors and leadership the Seminary expanded and grew with incredible speed. A year after it had been started, the famed Piscator came to the school along with 12 other teachers of prominence in the Reformed movement. The student body was a cross-section of Europe's Calvinists.

 But we near the end of the story.

Though only 51, Olevianus was worn with labor and toil in the cause of the gospel. As he lay dying, he confessed: "I have only learned to know in this sickness what sin is, and how great is the majesty of God." He spoke of a dream he had had: "Yesterday I was filled for more than an hour with unspeakable joy. It appeared to me that I was walking in a meadow resplendent with light, and while I was moving about, heavenly dew fell on me, not in drops but in streams. Both my body and soul were filled with exceeding great joy."

Piscator, hearing this, said: "So the good Shepherd has led you into His green pastures." Olevianus replied: "Yes, he has led me to the fountain of living water." He requested that Psalm 42 and Isaiah 53 be read to him. He asked that those at his bedside sing a Reformation hymn, with whom he joined in a weak voice. He died shortly after telling those around him: "I would no longer postpone my journey to the Lord. I desire to depart and be with Christ." He said his farewells to his wife, his aged mother, his children, and his friends, taking the time to bless each of them. And so living and dying in that "only comfort in life and in death," he went to be with the Lord.

 Olevianus's power was in his preaching. Nevertheless, one more accomplishment, and that in the field of theology, must be mentioned. He wrote a book, undoubtedly the best of all his writings, entitled "The Covenant of Grace." What is so striking about this book is that, although Olevianus often spoke of the covenant as a pact or an agreement (an idea in keeping with his times), he also, amazingly, spoke of the covenant as a bond of friendship and fellowship, an idea which was not to be fully developed in all its beauty until the theology of Herman Hoeksema. Such is a measure of the stature of this eminent man of God through whose hands God gave us our Heidelberg Catechism. No wonder that in that very Catechism should appear the profound truth: "Are infants also to be baptized? Yes: for since they, as well as the adult, are included in the covenant and church of God; and since redemption from sin by the blood of Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the author of faith, is promised to them no less than to the adult; they must therefore by baptism, as a sign of the covenant, be also admitted into the Christian church . . . " (Q & A 74).

Taken from: Portraits of Faithful Saints, Chapter 29, by Herman Hanko

Theodore Beza: Reformed Theologian

Few Reformers have been as much maligned as Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor in Geneva. The slanders against him came in his own lifetime from his Roman Catholic opponents who evidently feared the power of his pen. But, though of a different kind, these slanders have been found in the writings of modern-day "Calvinists" who charge Beza with corrupting Calvin's pure doctrine and giving Calvin's teachings new twists which Calvin would have repudiated.

Specifically, Beza is charged with altering in significant ways Calvin's teachings on predestination and the atonement of Christ. While we may dismiss with scorn the Romish charges which were leveled against him in his lifetime, the accusations that Beza altered Calvin's doctrines of predestination and the atonement are more serious. It is maintained, e.g., that pure Calvinism has been lost since Calvin's time because the Reformed fathers in Germany, the Netherlands, and America have followed Beza in teaching a view of predestination and the atonement which Calvin never taught. Gomarus, the Synod of Dort, the Westminster divines, Perkins and Owen in England, Turretin, Abraham Kuyper, and Herman Hoeksema have followed Beza and not Calvin. It is time, so these critics opine, that today's Calvinistic churches return to pure Calvinism and repudiate Beza's corruptions of what Calvin taught.

Beza's Early Life

Who is this Beza who is so widely criticized?

Theodore Beza was born in Vézeley in Burgundy of France on June 24, 1519. He was born of Pierre de Besze and Marie Burderot, both from the lesser nobility. His mother, an intelligent and charitable woman, bore seven children, of whom Theodore was the last. She died when Beza was only three years old.

Beza never knew his family home. At a very young age his uncle Nicholas, a member of Parliament in Paris and one who was impressed with Theodore's intelligence, took him into his own home in Paris to supervise his education. Perhaps part of the reason why Theodore's father consented to this was the death of his beloved wife.

Protestantism had come into France with the first writings of Luther which were widely circulated and read. As early as 1520 many Protestants could be found in the land, although they were isolated from each other and unorganized. It was to be the lot of Calvin and Beza to provide leadership in France and a haven in Geneva for the refugees who fled the fierce persecutions of Protestants in that Roman Catholic land.

Beza's formal education began in 1528, when he, scarcely nine years old, was sent to Orléans to study under Melchior Wolmar. Wolmar will be remembered in history as a man of Protestant convictions who had the privilege of teaching both Beza and Calvin. In fact, it is quite possible that the two knew each other already then, for they were students of Wolmar at the same time. Wolmar took Beza into his own family and Beza stayed with Wolmar for seven years.

Although Wolmar made every effort to convert Beza to Protestantism, the young boy resisted strenuously and refused to forsake the Roman Catholicism of his family. As Beza himself later wrote, it was not until much later that God caused the seeds of Wolmar's teaching to grow and mature in his life.

Nevertheless, the affection between Wolmar and Beza never diminished, and Beza followed Wolmar to Bourges.

In 1534 Wolmar fled to his native Germany during the incident of the placards. Some Protestants had distributed widely in Paris condemnations of the mass, and this brought upon them the fierce persecutions which were to be so much a part of the life of the faithful in France.

Following the wishes of his father, Beza (much like Calvin) turned to the study of law in Orléans. His heart was not in it, though; he far preferred the study of ancient Greek and Roman literature, especially old Latin poets. He was a literary man above all, and he reveled in the writings of these Roman pagans.

 Although he did set up a law practice with his uncle in Paris after he completed his studies, Beza spent more time in reading literature and writing Latin poetry than he did in practicing law. He even had many of his poems published in a book entitled Juvenalia, which made a huge sensation in the literary world in Paris. His mastery of the Latin and his elegant style in Latin were so impressive that all his contemporaries agreed that his Latin writings were stylistically more beautiful than his later writings in his native French. The poems, however, were indecent and were to be a source of many regrets in his later life.

 Beza was able to enjoy a life of comparative leisure because two benefices were arranged for him which provided him with the steady income of 700 golden crowns a year. Such a handsome income enabled him to live luxuriously in the highest circles of Parisian society where he wined and dined with the famous literary people of his day. While Beza, in reflecting on this period of his life, admitted sadly to many indiscretions and sins, he steadfastly maintained that he had never fallen into immorality or the more cardinal sins which were so openly practiced in the higher circles of society.

 In 1544 Beza was secretly engaged to Claudine Denosse, a girl of the lower class. He insisted on keeping the engagement secret, for to make his engagement public would not only be an embarrassment to his literary friends, but it would also rob him of the income from his benefices. Yet his moral principles left him uneasy even then, and he promised his fiancee that at a proper time he would marry her publicly.

Beza's Conversion and Early Work

 God prepared Beza during these years for greater work in His kingdom. Much like Calvin, who was educated as a humanist scholar, Beza too, though he did not know it, was being fashioned and formed by his God for crucial labors in the Reformation by drinking deeply at the well of Humanist thought.

 Like Zwingli, Beza was brought to conversion by a serious illness during which he had much time to ponder the inscrutable ways of providence and to remember the faithful instruction of his old tutor, Melchior Wolmar. Humbled and chastised, he recovered from his illness a sound Protestant who now committed his life to the propagation of the gospel.

Because persecution continued in France, he took his fiance and fled to Calvin in Geneva. Here he was warmly welcomed by his old fellow student and here he kept his promise to Claudine by marrying her publicly in the church of Geneva.

By means of the influence of Peter Viret, Beza was appointed professor of Greek at the University of Lausanne. Calvin already then showed his high esteem for Beza when he wrote to Farel during a time when Beza was ill with the plague:

I would not be a man if I did not return his love who loves me more than a brother and reveres me as a father: but I am still more concerned at the loss the church would suffer if in the midst of his career he should be suddenly removed by death, for I saw in him a man whose lovely spirit, noble, pure manners, and open-mindedness endeared him to all the righteous. I hope, however, that he will be given back to us in answer to our prayers.

Beza's work in Geneva and France

But Geneva needed Beza, and so in 1549 he was called to become professor of theology in the Academy which Calvin founded. Lausanne was reluctant to see him leave, but Beza felt the urge to work with his beloved Calvin. Beza served as professor in the Academy from 1559-1599 and as rector from 1559-1563, when Calvin refused the position. He was pastor of the church in Geneva from 1559-1605 when old age forced him to retire. And he served as moderator of the company of pastors after Calvin's death (1564-1580).

 The Academy in Geneva became the one most important school in all Calvinistic Europe. Students from every part of Europe came there to study, and went forth from the Academy to spread the truths of Calvinism into every part of the continent. Among those who studied there was John Knox, who returned to his native Scotland to fight for the Reformation in that land; and Jacobus Arminius, who, although he studied under Beza, never imbibed Beza's teachings and returned to the Netherlands to spread his poison in the land of our fathers.

 Beza will be loved especially by those whose ancestry dates back to the Hugenots (as Calvinists in France were called). It is impossible to relate here how many trips he took to France, of how many years he spent among the Hugenots, and what services he rendered for them. When not receiving warmly their refugees in Geneva, he endangered his life by preaching for them, marching with their armies, writing on their behalf and in their defense, and attending their Synods. He presided over the last French Reformed Synod in La Rochelle, before the horrible massacre of Protestants by the Roman Catholics on St. Bartholomew's eve made further Synods impossible. While engaged in peaceful worship in a barn at Vassy, these hapless Protestants were set upon by the Duke of Guise who butchered hundreds of them.

 His greatest service to French Protestants was his attendance at the Colloquy of Poissy on July 31, 1561. This colloquy was called in an effort to bring peace between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Attending this notable conference were 11 Reformed pastors from France, delegates from Switzerland, French Roman Catholic bishops, the king of France (though he was a child), and the queen mother, Catherine de Medici. It was a notable assembly. The discussions, however, went nowhere. As Beza was speaking in defense of the Protestant cause, he was rudely interrupted by the bishops of Rome who were determined not to allow the Protestants to propagate their views. After fruitless efforts to continue the discussion, the assembly was adjourned. Yet the result was that the king and queen mother were exposed to Protestant teaching, Catherine de Medici was impressed with the clarity and boldness of Beza's presentation, and Protestantism was given some recognition and a measure of freedom. This however lasted but a short time. Cardinal Lorraine, the chief opponent of Protestantism, said of Beza: "I could well have wished either that this man had been dumb or that we had been deaf."

 In a confrontation with the cruel and bloodthirsty Duke of Guise, Beza made his memorable statement: "Sire, it belongs, in truth, to the church of God, in the name of which I address you, to suffer blows, not to strike them. But at the same time let it be your pleasure to remember that the Church is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer."

Beza's Last Days

 The last days of Beza were spent continuing Calvin's doctrines, quietly teaching, attending meetings, writing and corresponding with Reformers and saints throughout Europe. His wife, Claudine, died in 1588 and Beza married again: a refugee from Genoa, Geneviève del Piano. When Calvin died in 1564, Beza preached his funeral sermon, and shortly after wrote a biography of his mentor and dear friend.

 Weary of his many labors on behalf of the cause of Christ, he died peacefully on Sunday, October 23, 1605 at the age of 86. At his request, written in his will, he was buried in the common cemetery where Calvin was buried and near the grave of his wife. He had fought the good fight and had kept the faith, and he then received the reward of the crown of life.

Concluding Thoughts

Though not the original thinker that Calvin was, Beza was nevertheless a man of great learning, vast intellect, and deep devotion. His labors and writings are staggeringly great. He wrote dramas, satires, polemical treatises, Greek and French grammars, biographies, political treatises, and theological works. He edited an annotated text of the Greek New Testament which he bequeathed to Cambridge University in England, which text received his name: Codex Bezae. He edited the publication of Calvin's letters and wrote a defense of the killing of Servetus, the heretic who denied the trinity and was burned at the stake in Geneva by the order of the Council. He defended presbyterian church polity against the Anglicanism of the Church in England. He refuted the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper, defended predestination against the heretic Castellio, and defended the doctrine of the trinity against the Italian heretic Ochino. His pen was sharp and often filled with the ink of satire; his enemies feared him.

He attended countless meetings, not the least of which was a meeting with German, French, and Swiss Protestants in an effort to bridge the chasm between Lutherans and Calvinists, in the hopes that German Protestants would aid in helping the beleaguered French Hugenots.

He made explicit some of the key doctrines of Calvinism which were more or less implied in Calvin's writings: the truths of the particular atonement of Christ, the federal imputation of Adam's guilt, and supralapsarianism. It is for this that he is charged with altering Calvin's theology.

His enemies, showing their fear of him, did everything to discredit him. He was charged with immorality and with the gravest of moral faults. Repeatedly the rumors of his return to the bosom of Rome were spread far and wide. In fact, specific efforts were made to persuade him to return to the Romish Church. On one occasion, when Beza was an old man (1597), a certain Francois came to Geneva to do this. He was only thirty, young, zealous, skilful in debate, and the winner of countless encounters with adversaries. But all his skill failed to move Beza. When argumentation failed, he tried bribery and offered Beza in the name of the pope a yearly pension of 4000 gold crowns and a sum equal to twice as much as the value of his personal effects. This Beza could not tolerate. Politely but emphatically Beza told him: "Go, sir; I am too old and too deaf to be able to hear such words!"

That Beza significantly altered Calvin's teachings is nonsense. They worked together in peace and harmony for many years in Geneva and the Academy. Beza read what Calvin wrote and Calvin read what Beza wrote. Who can know the many discussions they had between them on all matters of the truth? Not one word can be found in all the records that Calvin disagreed with Beza on any one point.

Yet the slander goes on. Some even call Beza the father of Hyper-Calvinism. But then, we too are called Hyper-Calvinists. And, if Beza was a Hyper-Calvinist, then so was Calvin himself. It is a slander which is easily refuted. And in any case, sovereign, unconditional, and particular grace, which Beza so ardently taught, is the truth of Scripture.

Taken from: Portraits of Faithful Saints, Chapter 26, by Herman Hanko

Heinrich Bullinger: Covenant Theologian

The truth of God's covenant is part of the precious heritage of Reformed Churches. We are not always aware of the fact that this truth goes back to the time of the Reformation. Prior to the Reformation this truth was unknown; it has its roots and origin in the Reformation in Switzerland, particularly in the work of Zwingli and Bullinger. Having already talked of Zwingli, we now turn to Bullinger.

Early Life

Heinrich Bullinger was born on July 18, 1504, the youngest of five sons, to a parish priest in Bremgarten, Switzerland near Zurich. Bullinger's father, though a priest, was married - apparently because of the loose enforcement of vows of celibacy in Switzerland. Although not much is known of Bullinger's parents, Bullinger's father, when a very old man, came to believe and confess the doctrines of the Reformation, probably under the influence of his gifted son.

Bullinger began his formal education in the school of The Brethren of the Common Life in Cleves. His father gave him no money, believing that poverty was necessary for his son to develop good habits in life. Bullinger, like Luther, was required to sing to earn money to support himself.

During these studies Bullinger wanted to enter a Carthusian monastery, but was dissuaded by his brother. Instead, in 1519 he went to Cologne, Germany where he earned a BA in 1520. At Cologne Bullinger studied the scholastic theologians of the Middle Ages, but soon became so disgusted with them that he turned to the church fathers, particularly Chrysostom and Augustine. The one point which impressed him in the writings of these church fathers was their copious use of Scripture. Spurred on by their apparent determination to ground all their doctrine in God's Word, Bullinger turned to a study of the Scriptures. It was this study of Scripture which enabled Bullinger to read the writings of Martin Luther with pleasure, as they were then being circulated throughout Germany. During these years of study in Germany, the winds of reform let loose by Luther were blowing through Bullinger's life as well.

After earning his master's degree in 1522, Bullinger returned to his beloved Switzerland. Although already influenced by Reformation thought, he accepted a call by Wolfgung Rüpli, abbot of a monastery in Cappel, to teach in the cloister school. He taught the monks from the New Testament and from Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes, which was the first systematic theology of the Reformation.

Sent to Zurich, where Zwingli preached, Bullinger spent five months listening to Zwingli, perfecting his Greek, and beginning his studies in Hebrew. It was here that he became more thoroughly acquainted with Reformation distinctives. The result was that, when he returned to the cloister school in Cappel, he persuaded the abbot and all the monks to accept the teachings of the Reformation.

 In 1529 Bullinger was called to be minister in the church at Bremgarten, where he succeeded his father as pastor. Here he preached until the battle of Cappel, when Zwingli was killed and the Reformation in Switzerland was brought to a temporary standstill. In these years at Bremgarten he developed his skills as a preacher and pastor, and served the congregation well. But when Zwingli was killed in 1531, Bullinger was forced to leave his congregation and stop preaching. His absence from the pulpit, however, was brief, for he was soon called to be Zwingli's successor in the prestigious congregation of Zurich. Here he remained till the end of his life wrapped up in the ministry of the Word. Here, in the early years of his ministry, he preached six or seven times a week; later, only on Friday and on the Lord's day.

 His Work

 The death of Zwingli seemed to be a deathblow to the Reformation in Switzerland, but God provided for the churches there a man who could keep a steady hand on the tiller.

 Bullinger was a devoted pastor, not only as a powerful preacher, but also as a faithful shepherd who visited his sheep day and night, opened his house to all who needed help, exposed himself to dangers when he visited those who were struck down by the plague that several times visited Zurich, and brought comfort and strength to the dying.

Although he lived on a very meager salary, his charity was known throughout the country. He freely distributed money, food, clothing. He refused any gifts, but gave anything beyond his salary to hospitals and institutions of mercy. He nearly always had in his home strangers and exiles for whom he provided shelter and food. He secured a pension for Zwingli's widow, took her under his roof, and assumed responsibility for the education of Zwingli's two children. His Christian love and charity brought him the respect and devotion of all his parishioners.

Bullinger was deeply committed to Christian education. He served as superintendent of the schools in Zurich. He was instrumental in the staffing of the Seminary with able theologians. He actively participated in the regulation of the schools according to the Word of God.

Bullinger was a devoted family man. In 1529 he married Ann Adlischweiter, a former nun from Zurich, and with her had several children. His biographers speak of the fact that his home was a happy place, in spite of the fact that almost always strangers were lodging with them. He romped with his children and grandchildren and was deeply conscious of his covenant calling to teach them the ways of the Lord. When his parents could no longer care for themselves, Bullinger and his wife cared for them in their own home.

Bullinger the Theologian

After Zwingli's death, Bullinger became the theologian of the Swiss churches other than the church of Geneva where Calvin labored.

The Swiss Reformation, outside Geneva, produced two remarkable and beautiful confessions: The First and the Second Helvetic Confessions. The First Helvetic Confession was the work of Bullinger, along with several other theologians: Megander, Grynaeus, Myconius, and Leo Judd. The Second Helvetic Confession was Bullinger's personal work, written as a personal confession of faith, and adopted by the Swiss Churches in 1566. It is in many respects a beautiful confession and worth the time it takes to read and study it.

When controversy rose in Switzerland over the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, Bullinger not only defended the Reformed view against Lutheranism, but also worked with John Calvin to bring uniformity among the Swiss. The result of their cooperative effort was the Consensus Trigurinus, an important Reformation document on the doctrine of the Lord's Supper.

Bullinger's influence extended throughout Europe, even though he never traveled beyond Switzerland. When exiles from England sought refuge in Zurich during the reign of Bloody Mary, Bullinger took them into his home and taught them more carefully the truths of Scripture. Through an astonishing correspondence Bullinger exerted influence on theologians everywhere. He corresponded with Swiss, German, and English theologians; he wrote to kings, princes, and queens. When he died, the English mourned his passing as a calamity, and repeatedly expressed their great debt to this preacher of Zurich.

In one controversy, however, he showed a weakness. When Calvin in Geneva was struggling with the heresies of Bolsec, the Consistory of Geneva sought the advice of the other Swiss theologians. Although in general these theologians agreed with Calvin in his doctrine of predestination (Bolsec denied sovereign predestination), they cautioned Geneva to proceed with care and questioned Calvin's strong statements on God's predestination of sin and sovereign, unconditional reprobation. Bullinger was among them. When Calvin drew up his Consensus Genevensis, Bullinger refused to sign it. This latter document is extremely important. It has been translated into English under the title, "A Treatise on the Eternal Predestination of God." in Calvin's Calvinism

Of great value to us is a controversy which Bullinger carried on in his debates with the Anabaptists. Against them he wrote no fewer than six books. In his defense of the biblical position on the doctrine of infant baptism, Bullinger developed his ideas of God's covenant of grace. It is in these writings that we have the first development of this doctrine which has meant so much to the cause of the truth. All subsequent covenant theologians, in both Reformed and Presbyterian circles, owe a great debt to Heinrich Bullinger.

Bullinger's Death

Bullinger's last days were filled with suffering. The great burden of the work undermined his health. In 1562 he wrote to a friend: "I almost sink under the load of business and care, and feel so tired that I would ask the Lord to give me rest if it were not against his will." In 1564 and 1565 he nearly died from the plague, which took from him his wife, three daughters, and a brother-in-law. In all his sufferings he bore his burdens with great patience and submission to the will of God. Though often lonely and heartsick, he continued his labors until death overtook him.

Bullinger died on September 17, 1575 after suffering intensely from calculus, a disease which was probably what we would now call kidney and bladder stones, for which there was no cure in the 16th century. His youngest daughter, Dorthea, cared for him in his last years. When near death, he assembled the pastors of Zurich about him and exhorted them to purity of life, unity among the brethren, and faithfulness in doctrine. He warned them against temptation, assured them of his love, thanked them for their kindness towards him, and closed with a prayer of thanksgiving.

After shaking hands with all of them with tears, he bade them farewell -- as Paul did with the elders at Ephesus. He died reciting Psalms 51, 16, and 42, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. His son-in-law preached the funeral sermon.

Bullinger was the man chosen by God to maintain the Swiss Reformation after the death of Zwingli. He was equipped by God with extraordinary spiritual gifts for this task. He was a man of patience, firm faith, courage, moderation, and endurance who "proved that the Reformation was a work of God" when, by his work, the Reformation in Swizerland survived the catastrophe at Cappel.

 To him we, who love the truth of God's covenant, owe a great debt under God.

Portraits of Faithful Saints, Chapter 25, by Herman Hanko