Dr Paul Allen

Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) is regarded as the most influential second-generation Reformer. As the heir to Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich, Switzerland , he consolidated and continued the Swiss Reformation that his predecessor had started. Philip Schaff writes that Bullinger was "a man of firm faith, courage, moderation, patience, and endurance . . . [who was] providentially equipped" to preserve and advance the truth in a difficult time in history (Philip Schaff,  History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII: Modern Christianity: The Swiss Reformation  [1910; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984], 205). During his forty-four years as the chief minister in Zurich, Bullinger's literary output exceeded that of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Zwingli combined. He was of monumental importance in the spread of Reformed teaching throughout the Reformation. So far-reaching was Bullinger's influence throughout conti...

Portrait of Ulrich Zwingli after his death 1531 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Zwingli lived a tremendously full and productive life in spite of its temporal brevity. He wrote hundreds of tractates and books, many hundreds of letters, and preached thousands of sermons. He made incredible contributions to theology and his efforts on behalf of Reform laid the foundation for the work of his successor, Heinrich Bullinger , who can be rightly credited with taking the Reformed movement international. Indeed, Bullinger was more widely respected and followed around Europe in the 16th century than either Calvin or Luther . But the most remarkable contribution which Zwingli made to the Reformed movement was the contribution of a pious life piously lived.  Zwingli may be widely known as a warrior, as the man who died on the field of battle; but that is scarcely the real Zwingli. The real Zwingli will be discovered in his teaching on and practice of prayer; his firm conviction of th...

Other than Martin Luther , Heinrich Bullinger , and John Calvin , the most important early Reformer was Ulrich Zwingli . A first-generation Reformer, he is regarded as the founder of Swiss Protestantism. Furthermore, history remembers him as the first Reformed theologian . Though Calvin would later surpass Zwingli as a theologian, he would stand squarely on Zwingli's broad shoulders. Less than two months after Luther came into the world, Zwingli was born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus, a small village in the eastern part of modern-day Switzerland, forty miles from Zurich . His father, Ulrich Sr., had risen from peasant stock to become an upper-middle-class man of means, a successful farmer and shepherd, as well as the chief magistrate for the district. This prosperity allowed him to provide his son with an excellent education. He presided over a home where typical Swiss values were inculcated in young Ulrich: sturdy independence, strong patriotism, zeal for religion, and re...