Page 83 - God's Church through the Ages - Student Textbook

spirit, and he considered dogmatic controversy meaningless. He asserted the extremely anti-dogmatic notion
that Christians need know only the doctrines found in the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. In the
end he became a solitary figure who found no realm of truth left but the inner life of the mystics.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted.” Luther was criticized and persecuted for standing against the Roman Church on
certain issues, the greatest being “justification by faith.” Sometimes the persecution comes from
those who claim the name of Christ. Franck was converted to Lutheranism, yet departed from
the key doctrines, and denied many of Lutheran doctrines. He struck out against members of his own
denominations. Such may be your future course. Remember, if you stand for the doctrines of the faith as
presented in God’s Word, some will not like your position. They may persecute you. Remember the verse
above and take comfort in the fact that persecution means you are living godly in Christ Jesus. They
persecuted Him, so don’t be surprised as His representative, you can escape their wrath.

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Heinrich Bullinger, 1504-75 –
Heinrich Bullinger is considered one of the most influential Reformers in
Christian history. Heinrich was born in 1504, outside the city of Zurich,
Switzerland, to parents who were living in a common-law marriage..

Young Bullinger was sent to monastic school at Emmerich, Germany, where
he studied the works of the great church fathers such as Aquinas, Augustine,
and Bernard. Their writings stirred within Heinrich the desire for a personal
experience with God. Upon graduation, he proceeded to the University of
Cologne in Germany, where he began to realize the importance of studying
the Scriptures for himself. This practice was rare among his Roman Catholic classmates, as tradition dominated
the atmosphere and the Pope’s interpretations of Scripture were considered divine.

Zealots were burning the works of Martin Luther in Cologne, and this fanaticism piqued Heinrich’s interest. What
was contained within those books that made the church feel the need to burn them? Upon obtaining copies of
Luther’s work and of others who supported reform, Heinrich began to understand the doctrine of justification by
faith in Christ alone. At age seventeen, Bullinger surrendered to the call of the Holy Spirit, and his life was
transformed.

In 1529, at the age of 25, Bullinger married Anna Adischwyler, a devoted proponent of Reformation theology in
her own right. Together they had 11 birth children and adopted many others. Remarkably, all six of their sons
became Reformed ministers. Roman Catholic resistance had become violent, and in 1531 Zwingli was killed.
Within days, Bullinger was asked to fill the empty pulpit Zwingli had left, and soon Heinrich Bullinger was
recognized as the new leader of the Swiss Reformation.

Throughout his life and ministry, Bullinger was a generous and tireless servant. He and Anna opened 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.

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