Together with Farel, Calvin set up institutions in Geneva that would support, facilitate, and grow pastoral ministry in Geneva and beyond. The key focus of ministry in Geneva was on the ministry of ...the word of God. As a prophet who expounded and applied God's word, Calvin set the model for others. From Calvin's farewell messages prior to his death, several insights can be gleaned concerning his approach to pastoral leadership.
Commencing October 1555, Calvin (1509-1564) preached 110 sermons on 1 Corinthians. This was almost ten years after his 'Commentary on Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians' (1546). One year before ...these sermons, Calvin had received a letter from the ministers of Zurich (24 October 1554) which contained feedback on a draft of his forthcoming 'Defence of the Sound and Orthodox Doctrine concerning the Sacraments', which was written in response to Joachim Westphal's (1510-1574) attack on the joint statement drafted by Geneva and Zurich ('Consensus Tigurinus', 1549). The Zurich ministers were anxious that, in his zeal and fervour for an evangelical union, he might be too flexible with what had been agreed together at Zurich. In this letter, Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) and the ministers of Zurich pointed out that because Calvin did not read German, he did not really appreciate the extent and depth of the vehemence of Luther's attacks on Zurich. They gave several suggestions for Calvin's work, in particular, to cite Tertullian, Jerome, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambrose, Augustine, and Fulgentius to strengthen his argument.
Bullinger and Romans MOCK, Joe
Reformed theological review,
04/2010, Letnik:
69, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Proclaiming the message of the Epistle to the Romans had an immeasurable influence in the early phase of the Reformation. In this regard, the works of Luther and Calvin on Romans have been thoroughly ...researched. However, little attention has been given to the exegesis of Romans by the Zurich reformer Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575).Soon after he embraced the Reformation when he was a teacher in a monastery at Kappel, not far from Zurich, Bullinger interpreted the Epistle to the Romans in a series of lectures in 1525. Only his hand written notes of the first five chapters are extant. This work of the young Bullinger was the focus of a meticulous study by Hausammann.
Union with Christ was foremost in Calvin's thought and at the centre of his soteriology. With his desire for the Lord's Supper to be celebrated weekly, it appears that for him, the Eucharist was at ...the centre of worship. The number of scholars who have written on Calvin and the Eucharist is staggering. It is no surprise, therefore, that the recent comprehensive study by Henri Blocher indicates an 'intriguing', diverse array of interpretations of Calvin's understanding of the Eucharist.
There is ongoing debate in the literature about the interpretation of in Col 2:11. Some scholars conclude that this phrase is an objective genitive, 'the circumcision of Christ', and thus refers to ...the death or crucifixion of Christ. Other scholars, in tandem with the NIV, which translates the phrase as 'the circumcision done by Christ', see the phrase as a subjective genitive. Still others view the phrase as a possessive genitive which refers to 'Christian circumcision'.
Calvin is regarded by many as the covenant theologian par excellence. For example, Lillback observed that Calvin's 'subtle weaving of the covenant into his system has caused many to overlook its ...presence altogether. Because others could not find it in a locus, they assumed it was not present. Yet the covenant was pivotal and presuppositional for Calvin's theology.' However, it was the Swiss reformer, Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), who wrote a treatise specifically on the theme of the covenant.
The Swiss Reformer Heinrich Bullinger wrote The Old Faith (1537) to be read alongside his treatise on the covenant, De testamento (1534). His aim was to convince a wide audience that the Reformed ...faith was in conformity with a correct reading and interpretation of the biblical message and the church fathers. The work displays insight into key biblical and theological themes and, as with Irenaeus’s The Demonstration, has apologetical, catechetical, and polemical purposes. We can learn with Bullinger to read and exegete the text of the biblical canon and learn from faithful exegetes of the past.
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