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...

A 1581 edition of the Geneva Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In 1553, Queen Mary ascended the British throne, which began a period of intense persecution of Protestants in England . More than 700 people fled England to escape persecution and settled in and around Geneva, Switzerland , in 1555. The refugees included Miles Coverdale , John Knox, and William Whittingham. Geneva in the 1550s was the center of Reformed Protestantism . And because of the presence of Theodore Beza , it was also a growing center of biblical scholarship. While there, the exiles began to see the need for a new translation of the Bible in their own language. The New Testament was finished in 1557, and the complete Bible—along with a revised New Testament—was finished in 1560. The Geneva Bible became the Bible of the common people The exiles began returning to England in 1558 when Elizabeth I ascended the throne, and they brought their Bible with them. The Geneva Bible soon became the prominent Bibl...

English: Flag of Israel with the Mediterranean sea in the background, in Rishon LeZion. עברית: דגל ישראל בראשון לציון (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Romans 11:26 promises that  all Israel will be saved . Dispensationalists understand this verse to refer to a national salvation of ethnic Israel after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Non-premillennialists  sometimes imply that such an interpretation is a dispensationalist invention, because it means that God still has a future plan for national Israel. But did you know that many throughout church history, including many in the Reformed tradition have shared that same interpretation? None other than  John Calvin , in his commentary on Romans 11:25-26, noted that “when the Gentiles shall come in, the Jews also shall return from their defection to the obedience of faith.”  Other Reformers, such as  Martin Bucer ,  Peter Martyr , and  Theodore Beza  similarly concluded that t...

Image via Wikipedia Each day, two of Geneva 's ministers came to check on Theodore Beza . The old reformer was dearly loved and they were concerned for his failing health. On this day, Sunday, October 13, 1605, the sick man felt well enough to dress. Theodore asked his visitors, "Is the city in full safety and quiet?" He was assured that all was well. Moments later, he lost all strength and collapsed to the floor. Friends gathered and prayed at his bedside as he passed peacefully away within a few minutes. The last of the great reformers was dead. His had been a life of much sorrow, hard work and grueling adventure. Theodore Beza was born in Burgundy in 1519, the son of a county bailiff. His father had marked out one course for him, but it seemed God had another. At nine years of age he was sent to study with a famous Greek scholar Melchior Wolmar . Wolmar's sympathy with the Lutherans rubbed off on his pupil. What fruit this would bear was not yet apparent. Bez...