Heinrich Bullinger

Date of Birth 18 July 1504

Place of Birth Bremgarten, Switzerland
Date of Death 17 September 1575
Place of Death Zurich

Biography
Born the son of a cleric, Heinrich Bullinger was sent to study at a house
of the Devotio Moderna at Emmerich in the Rhineland. In 1519, he
matriculated at the University of Cologne. Having embraced the solae
of Martin Luther around 1520, Bullinger returned to Swiss lands to take
the position of teacher at the cloister school at Kappel near the lake of
Zurich. During this time, he carefully read the Bible in the original lan-
guages and established contact with Huldrych Zwingli, under whom he
studied for five months. Bullinger was sent by the Zurich Council to the
Bern Disputation in 1528, where he came to know some of the leading
Reformers, such as Martin Bucer. Bullinger married in 1529 while serving
as a parish minister, admired for his preaching. Following the Battle of
Keppel in 1531, where Zwingli was killed, Bullinger took up the position
of chief preacher in the Grossm̈nster in Zurich, which effectively made
him head of the church. He worked out an arrangement with the Zurich
magistrates whereby church and council could cooperate. The magis-
trates were to give the church a degree of independence to preach the
Gospel as long as ministers did not venture into political matters or criti-
cise the council. This arrangement would be the hallmark of Bullinger’s
40 years as head of the church in Zurich.
Bullinger remained the undisputed head of the Zurich church and
a major figure in the European Reformation till his death. His writings
were widely translated and his influence in England was particularly
notable, not least on account of the numerous refugees from Queen
Mary’s persecutions who made their way to Zurich. Together with John
Calvin, Bullinger drafted the 1549 Consensus Tigurinus, an agreement on
the Lord’s Supper. Concerning this sacrament, Bullinger was never able
to reach agreement with Luther or the Lutherans, although he remained
on good terms with Philip Melanchthon.

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In 1564, Bullinger produced his Uff siben Klagartikel . . . kurze waar-

haffte nodtwendigeund bescheine Verantwortung (Reply to the Seven
Charges; reprinted 1565), which was a defence of the Zurich theol-
ogy against opponents who were unnamed, though clearly Lutherans.
Bullinger discusses Islam (sig 34r-35r) as part of his treatment of the
nature of Christ. He adds little to his thoughts in Der Turgg. In Uff siben,
Bullinger is responding to accusations that the Zurichers’ understand-
ing of the nature of Christ was the same as that found in the Qur’an. In
other words, the Zurichers denied the divinity of the Son of God. About
ten pages later Bullinger returns to the subject of Islam to reject accusa-
tions that the Zurichers’ understanding of heaven was the same as that
taught by Muslims. In both cases, Bullinger refers to specific passages in
the Qur’an to make his point.
Bullinger was a crucial figure in stabilising the Swiss Reformation. He
oversaw the rebuilding of the Zurich church after the disaster of 1531 and
he gathered in the city a circle of outstanding scholars, including Kon-
rad Pellikan, Konrad Gesner, Theodor Bibliander and Rudolf Gwalther.
Bullinger himself published a large body of work, including commen-
taries, sermons, history and theological tracts. His best known work is
his Decades, a collection of 50 sermons that cover a range of doctrine.
It was translated into all the major European languages and was espe-
cially popular in England. Such was Bullinger’s status during his life that
John Calvin readily acknowledged the Zuricher as his senior, even when
they did not always agree. In particular, the two men differed on the
Lord’s Supper and the doctrine of predestination, though they agreed
to keep their disagreements private. They maintained close epistolary
contact, and Calvin made several journeys to speak with Bullinger in
confidence.

MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Primary
J.W. Stucki, Oratio funebris in obitum d. Henrici Bullingeri, in J. Simler and
J. Stucki, Narratio de ortu, Zurich: Chr. Froschauer, 1575
H. Bullinger, Reformationsgeschichte, Frauenfeld, Switzerland, 1838-40, repr.
Zurich, 1984 https://archive.org/details/heinrichbulling01bullgoog
E. Egli (ed.), Heinrich Bullingers Diarium (Annales vitae) der Jahre 1504-1574. Zum
400. Geburtstag Bullingers am 18. Juli 1904, Basel, 1904

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Heinrich Bullinger – Briefwechseledition/Heinrich Bullinger’s correspondence

http://www.irg.uzh.ch/hbbw.html (an invaluable webbased resource
from University of Zurich)
Secondary
E. Campi and P. Opitz (eds), Heinrich Bullinger, life, thought, influence. Inter-
national congress Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), Zurich, Aug. 25-29, 2004,
Zurich, 2007
F. B̈sser, Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575). Leben, Werk und Wirkung, 2 vols, Zurich,
2005
E. Campi (ed.), Heinrich Bullinger und seine Zeit. Eine Vorlesungsreihe (Zwingli-
ana: Beitr̈ge zur Geschichte Zwinglis der Reformation und des Protestant-
ismus in der Schweiz 31), Zurich, 2004
B. Gordon and E. Campi (eds), Architect of reform. An introduction to Heinrich
Bullinger, Grand Rapids MI, 2004
P. Opitz, Heinrich Bullinger als Theologe. Eine Studie zu den ‘Dekaden’, Zurich,
2004
C. Pestalozzi, Heinrich Bullinger. Leben und ausgeẅhlte Schriften, Elberfeld, Wup-
pertal, 1858, http://www.google.de/books?id=Gf8pzp0vEBAC&printsec=
frontcover&dq=Heinrich Bullinger#v=onepage&q=Heinrich%20Bullinger
&f=false

Works on Christian-Muslim Relations

Der Turgg. Von anfang und Ursprung desz
T̈rggischen Gloubens der T̈rggen ouch ihrer
Königen und Keyseren, ‘The Turks. On the
beginning and origin of the Turkish faith, the
kings and emperors of the Turks’
Date 1567
Original Language German
Description
This octavo volume of 32 pages appeared in 1567 without the name of
Bullinger, the printer or the place of publication on the title page (its title
in full is Der Turgg. Von anfang und Ursprung desz T̈rggischen Gloubens
der T̈rggen ouch ihrer Königen und Keyseren und wie f̈rtr̈ffenlich vil
landen unnd l̈then sy innet 266. jaren yn genommen und der Christenheit
abtrungen habind). However, it is thought that it was produced by Chris-
toph Froschauer in Zurich (Pfister, ‘Antistes Heinrich Bullinger Ueber

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den “Tuergg” ’, p. 72). Bullinger is known to be the author on account

of his mentioning Der Turgg in his Diarium (p. 87). Only two copies of
the book are known to exist (Zurich ZB and Winterthur StB). Below the
title is a quotation from Revelation 9:16-17, ‘The number of the mounted
troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. The horses and
riders I saw in my vision looked like this: their breastplates were fiery
red, dark blue, and yellow as sulphur. The heads of horses resembled the
heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulphur.’
The preface by Alsatian Reformer Matthias Erb is addressed to the Swiss
and German nobility. The work consists of 16 chapters and ends with a
long prayer for preservation in the face of the Turkish threat. Bullinger
offers an explanation of the Muslim religion and provides an extensive
history of Islam and the Ottoman Empire up to his own time, arguing all
the while that only the Christian faith is true.
Bullinger’s arguments are largely familiar. He draws heavily from John
of Damascus and denies that the Qur’an is divinely inspired. The book is
not holy, but instead the work of Muḥammad, who was aided by corrupt
Jews and Christian heretics. Islam is a heresy derived from Nestorianism
and Arians, and therefore particularly dangerous for true Christians. Like
other Christian heresies, Islam denies the divinity of Christ and therefore
the Trinity. Bullinger repeats well-established Christian arguments con-
cerning the Qur’an’s rejection of the resurrection and Islam as a religion
of works, likening it to Catholicism and asserting that the Qur’an denies
the essential teaching of the Reformation, that a person is justified by
faith alone. Even the Muslim concept of the afterlife is ‘fleshly’ rather
than spiritual.
In almost every respect, according to Bullinger, the Qur’an denies the
teachings and practices of Christianity: worship, marriage and political
authority. He even compares Islam to destructive Anabaptist kingdom in
M̈nster of 1534. In almost every respect the teachings of the Qur’an are
an inversion of Christianity. The only time Bullinger speaks positively of
Islam is when he wishes to admonish Christians; even the Muslims, he
writes, are more upright than indolent or sinful Christians. Otherwise,
the success of the Ottoman armies can only be explained in terms of
divine punishment on Christendom. God has allowed the Islamic forces
to prevail because of the sinfulness of his people. This narrative invokes
the story of God and the Israelites.
The vast majority of the book (chs 4-16) is given over to a factual
history of Islam from Muḥammad to Bullinger’s own day. As Bullinger
details the conquests and achievements of the Ottoman Empire, the

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work is largely a chronology of events and persons. He frequently cites

the Bavarian humanist and historian Johannes Aventinus (1477-1534) as
his source.
Der Turgg ends with a long prayer in which Bullinger names the lack
of faith among Christians as the cause of the Turkish invasions. God is
punishing Christians for their infidelity and the Turks are his instrument.
Bullinger prays that the people will repent. Further, he beseeches God
that the Muslims will convert to Christianity.
Significance
Der Turgg does not stand out among 16th-century Christian works on
Islam in terms of content. Bullinger’s arguments are fairly conventional,
drawn from ideas current in other works. His purpose, however, was
to educate laypeople about the threat of the ‘Turks’. Like his colleague
Theodor Bibliander, Bullinger believed that the best defence against
Islam was for Christians to learn about the religion, which he believed
was a heretical form of the true faith. Der Turgg is consistent with
the type of writings Bullinger published during his tenure as head of
the Zurich church. He frequently wrote in the vernacular to teach lay-
people about doctrinal and historical questions, regarding the education
of the laity as a principal part of his role as chief preacher.
Although his arguments are by no means original, Bullinger reveals
an impressive knowledge of Islam and Ottoman history. His summary of
qur’anic teaching, while hostile, reflects a considerable level of engage-
ment with the original text, which was printed in Basel in 1543. This
level of knowledge is not surprising, given the work done in Zurich
by his colleague and close friend Theodor Bibliander. Bullinger would
have had access to both Bibliander’s scholarship and the man himself.
Whereas Bibliander’s work had a strong missionary character, Bullinger
seems more concerned to convince the people that Islam was a perver-
sion or heresy of Christianity. It is fair to assume that Bullinger derived
most of his knowledge of Islam and the Qur’an from his colleague. It is
notable, however, that Bullinger wrote his work after Bibliander’s death
in 1564, establishing himself as the authoritative voice on Islam among
the Reformed churchmen of Switzerland. In Geneva, by contrast, Calvin
never wrote specifically on Islam.
Manuscripts
There is no known manuscript of Der Turgg.

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Editions & Translations

Der Turgg was printed in Zurich in 1567 and never reprinted.
See J. Staedtke, Heinrich Bullinger Bibliographie, vol. 1, Zurich, 1972,
p. 249 n. 557.
Text available at http://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/titleinfo/1573449
studies
L. Felici, ‘Una nuova immagine dell’Islam (e del cristianesimo)
nell’Europa del XVI secolo’, in G. Abbattista (ed.), Encountering
otherness. Diversities and transcultural experiences in Early Modern
European culture, Trieste, 2011, 43-66
E. Campi, ‘Early Reformed attitudes towards Islam’, Theological Review
of the Near East School of Theology 31 (2010) 131-51
W.P. Stephens, ‘Understanding Islam – in the Light of Bullinger and
Wesley’, Evangelical Quarterly 81 (2009) 23-37 http://oimts.files
.wordpress.com/2013/04/2007-10-stephens.pdf
T. Burman, Reading the Qur’an in Latin Christendom 1140-1560, Phila-
delphia PA, 2007
P. Widmer, ‘Bullinger und die T̈rken. Zeugnis des geistigen Wider-
standes gegen eine Renaissance der Kreuzz̈ge’, in Campi and
Opitz, Heinrich Bullinger. Life, thought, influence, 593-624
V. Segesvary, L’Islam et la Réforme. Etude sur l’attitude des Réforma-
teurs zuruchois envers l’islam, 1510-1550, San Francisco CA, 1998
H. Bobzin, Der Koran im Zeitalter der Reformation. Studien zur
Fr̈hgeschichte der Arabistik und Islamkunde in Europa, Berlin,
1995
K. Vehlow, ‘The Swiss Reformers Zwingli, Bullinger and Bibliander
and their attitude to Islam (1520-1560)’, ICMR 6 (1995) 229-54
R. Pfister, ‘Reformation, T̈rken und Islam’, Zwingliana 10 (1956) 345-75
R. Pfister, ‘Antistes Heinrich Bullinger Ueber den “Tuergg” ’, Evangelis-
ches Missions-Magazin NF 98 (1954) 69-78

Bruce Gordon

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