Page 10 - History of Christianity II- Textbook

their homes to widows, orphans, and those fleeing the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church. He
was a prolific writer—127 titles, as well as 12,000 letters—and produced many important works. In 1536
Bullinger helped write the First Helvetic Confession, which attempted to reconcile a disagreement
between Luther’s followers and Zwingli’s; in 1549, he wrote Consensus Tigerinus, a cooperation
with John Calvin to clarify the Protestant understanding of the Lord’s Supper; in 1566, Bullinger helped
unify other factions of the Protestant Reformation with his Second Helvetic Confession.

Heinrich Bullinger paved the way for all non-Catholic Christians to return to the Scriptures as their sole
authority. Bullinger’s zeal for truth empowered future generations to seek truth from Scripture and to
rely upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not the Pope, to explain it.

(exerts from https://www.gotquestions.org/Heinrich-Bullinger.html)

John Calvin (1509–1564) was a prominent French theologian during the Protestant
Reformation and the father of the theological system known as Calvinism

As a student in Paris, he studied the liberal arts before continuing his studies in
theology at his father’s request. Later, when his father had a falling-out with the
local bishop, he instructed John to pursue an education in civil law, which he did in
Orleans. After graduating as a Doctor of Law in 1531, he returned to Paris.

Calvin’s ambition was not to be a professional lawyer, but a man of letters. In 1532 he self-published a
commentary on the Roman philosopher Seneca’s Treatise on Clemency that evidenced considerable
rhetorical skill, but otherwise went unnoticed.

During his time in Paris, Calvin left Roman Catholicism and joined the Protestant movement,
subsequently becoming an informal leader to other Paris Protestants.

On his way to Basel in 1536 he passed through Geneva where reformer William Farel persuaded him to
stay and help the cause of the church, which he did for nearly two years. As a result of government
resistance, Farel and Calvin left Geneva and Calvin moved to Strasbourg where he pastored from 1538–
1541. When Calvin’s supporters won the election to the Geneva city council in 1541, he was invited back
to the city where he remained until his death in 1564.

You have heard of Calvinism? People who follow Calvin’s teaching range from moderate to extreme.
Calvin stressed the doctrine of election, that God predestined some for salvation. He
taught that if a person is elected, then the Holy Spirit’s wooing to salvation cannot be
resisted. He also taught that since some people are elected for salvation, then Christ on
the cross died just for the sins of those who would be saved, and not for those who are
not elected. It is called limited atonement.

Even today there are those who will refuse to have Christian fellowship with you if you disagree with
these views. We need to know what the Scriptures declare about these subjects and be willing to
stand for the truth as best we can understand it.

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