Recent historiography has decentred John Calvin's place within Reformation studies on the grounds that he was neither the wellspring nor the yardstick of Reformed theology (as the unfortunate term ‘Calvinism’ might imply). Calvin was but one influential exponent of Reformed, as distinct from Lutheran, theology in the sixteenth century. The scholarly literature is playing catchup with this shift, with a growing number of studies emerging focusing on the thought of other significant early modern reformers. Heinrich Bullinger (1504–75) is one such reformer whose influence was enormous, but who has not been given the proportionate amount of scholarly attention that he warrants. Bullinger succeeded Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) as the leader of the Church in Zurich and was among the most influential Reformed contemporaries of Calvin, with notable influence in England.
The present volume provides a near-comprehensive account of Bullinger's thought. It represents the final scholarly contribution of William Peter Stephens, who died in early 2019. Stephens is perhaps best known for his work on Bullinger's forebear, The theology of Huldrych Zwingli (Oxford 1986). Before he died, Stephens handed editorial duties for his final work to Jim West and Joe Mock, who ably edited it for publication.
After an introductory chapter on Bullinger's life and ministry, the book proceeds through chapter-length treatments on the standard theological topics of Reformed theology: Bible, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, predestination, covenant, sin, law, justification and good works, church, ministry, word and sacrament, baptism, eucharist, the state and the last things. Each subject receives a thorough treatment except the eucharist, the only chapter for which Stephens did not produce a draft. The editors therefore included a reproduction of Stephens's brief treatment of Bullinger's account of the eucharist which was published in Zwingliana in 2006. There are also several brief discussions embedded in other chapters. This maintains the integrity of the work's authorship and its intended scope, though it is regrettable that Stephens was not afforded the opportunity to complete his work as intended.
Each chapter approaches its theological topic primarily by systematically expounding it through Bullinger's works in chronological order. At times this is repetitive, however it highlights the scope of Bullinger's corpus and demonstrates the development of Bullinger's thought over his career. Moreover, Stephens's treatment covers many writings of Bullinger which have never been translated into English, which alone makes this work a significant scholarly contribution for English readers.
Stephens rejects the old search for a ‘central dogma’ of a theologian, preferring to discuss the interconnectedness of Bullinger's thought, recognising that many themes are ‘central, though not the centre’ of it. One strength of the book's approach is that each subject is given opportunity to take ‘centre-stage’ rather than being marginalised by others. Bullinger's theological instincts emerge through this process too, particularly his characteristic emphasis on Scripture alone as the authoritative source of all theology, as well as his lifelong habit of marshalling patristic support for his interpretations, particularly drawing upon Augustine. The polemical contexts of Bullinger's work also appear throughout the volume, particularly in relation to Anabaptists and Roman Catholics, but also with Lutherans and other Reformed theologians.
Describing each chapter's contents would require more space than is available here, so I will reserve my comments to those on predestination and covenant.
Predestination (ch. vi) has long been viewed as a central emphasis of Reformed theology, and readers of early modern thought ought to learn about Bullinger's nuanced views on this subject. Contrary to those who claim that Bullinger held to single predestination (i.e. predestination to eternal life alone, and passively passing by the rest), Stephens demonstrates that Bullinger in fact held to a qualified form of double-predestination (active predestination to eternal life or eternal condemnation respectively). Bullinger's approach to predestination was pastorally orientated, emphasising the universal invitation of the promises of God extended to sinful humanity in Christ. Bullinger's instincts were to emphasise God's goodness and mercy, his desire that all would be saved, the personal responsibility of individuals for their rejection of grace and the border of divine mystery defined by what Scripture specifically teaches and beyond which we may not cross. He firmly opposed all sense that God might be the author of evil and gave a prominent place to the concept of divine permission in his predestinarian thought. Bullinger typically contrasted the ‘elect’ with the ‘condemned’ rather than the ‘reprobate’, highlighting human blameworthiness rather than divine agency in relation to eternal condemnation. Stephens's exposition also highlights differences between Bullinger's predestinarian views and those of Calvin, Zanchius and Martyr. Bullinger's predestinarian views are extraordinarily important for early modern historians to be aware of lest they implicitly equate Calvin's views with Reformed predestinarian orthodoxy in general.
Stephens's chapter on covenant (ch. vii) treats a subject that has often been considered at the centre of Bullinger's thought and influence. Bullinger held that there was one eternal covenant between God and man which defined the divine-human relationship in both testaments. Apart from describing Bullinger's treatment of this theme, the chapter includes a very useful critique of long-standing notions that Bullinger espoused a fundamentally ‘covenantal’ theology, and that he taught a ‘bilateral’ covenantal doctrine rather than a unilateral covenant, as Calvin did (pp. 215–24). Here Stephens brings his extensive knowledge of Bullinger's writings to bear, demonstrating that whilst covenant is an important theme for Bullinger, its prominence in his work has been greatly exaggerated. Second, Stephens agrees with recent research which concludes that both Calvin's and Bullinger's conceptions of covenant contained unilateral and bilateral elements.
One minor disappointment is that the work does not contain an index. Nevertheless, as an account of Bullinger's theology, Stephens's volume is without peer. Researchers of early modern Reformed theology owe a debt of gratitude to the volume's editors for getting Stephens's final scholarly contribution into print. It will surely be the standard reference work for Bullinger's thought for years to come.
