WAS BULLINGER RIGHT ABOUT THE PREACHED WORD?

Trinity Journal, Spring 2005 by Scharf, Greg R

Praedicato verbi Dei est verbum Dei ("The preaching of the word of God is the word of God"). So reads, allegedly, the Second Helvetic Confession, written by Heinrich Bullinger in 1561. This paper explores what Bullinger actually wrote, what he meant, how defensible the statement is biblically, and the implications of our findings for preachers and teachers of preachers.

I. INTRODUCTION

Heinrich Bullinger (1505-1574) was a scholar, rector of a theological academy, pastor, and preacher. He succeeded Ulrich Zwingli in 1531 as pastor of the church in Zurich where he was known for community service, hospitality, and sacrificial care for those perishing during the plague epidemic of 1564. He wrote the Second Helvetic Confession originally as a codicil to his last will and testament to the Zurich church.1 Because of its concise clarity it became a widely appreciated summary of the best of reformed thinking.

II. TEXTUAL MATTERS

Although the words quoted above are perhaps the most frequently cited part of the Second Helvetic Confession, they are not part of the original text itself. According to Edward Dowey, they are a marginal heading, which

reflects an authentic lifelong preoccupation of Bullinger with the viva vox, whether the viva vox Domini to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles (Decades I.i), or the oral and audible passing along "as if by hand" of the gospel from Adam to Moses, or the living preaching which even "today" is the usual means of announcing the Gospel.2

Indeed, The Creeds of Christendom begins the fourth paragraph of the first chapter of the Confession, not with the words cited in the abstract, but with these:

Proinde cum hodie hoc Dei verbum per praedicatores legitime vocatos annunciatur in Ecclesia, credimus ipsum Dei verbum annunciare et a fidelibus recipe, necjue aliud Dei verbum vel fingendum, vel coelitus esse exspectandum: atcjue in praesenti spectandum esse ipsum verbum, quod annunciatur, non annunciantem ministrum, qui, etsi sit malus et peccatur, verum tamen et bonum manet nihilominus verbum Dei.3

[Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe the very Word of God is proclaimed and received by the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; for even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God remains still true and good.4]

As all documents, this one needs to be understood in its context and as part of the other works of Bullinger.

III. WHAT BULLINGER MEANT

In what sense is the preaching of the word of God actually the word of God? Dowey, in an essay based on the standard Latin edition of the confession, examines this question in the light of Bullinger's other writings and other reformed creeds of the day, all of which were penned against the backdrops on the one hand of exalted ecclesiastical authority, and on the other of the excesses of those who claimed direct revelations from God. While acknowledging that Bullinger asserts three times in the opening lines of the confession that the Bible is the Word of God, Dowey argues that there is not a simple "one-to-one correspondence between Word and Bible."5 What makes preaching equivalent to God's word is that its meaning "is not originally from men but is God's word, will and meaning."6 Dowey concludes, "Thus, the Bible is called the Word of God because of that which it reveals, not in an exclusive and unique sense, but in a sense transferable to another instrument carrying out the same function."7 This functional linkage between the two terms paves the way for an understanding of how preaching, including contemporary preaching, can be said to be the word of God. In preaching, the function of God exhorting his people is achieved, as long as the preacher does not depart from the norm of Scripture. "Scripture alone is the sufficient and authoritative norm also of preaching."8 That is, the link between Scripture and preaching whereby both can be referred to as the Word of God is instrumental, not normative. Preaching is not normative the way the Bible is. The Spirit provides an external word together with inner illumination. "The external Word, which is Scripture alone normatively and Scripture and preaching together instrumentally, has as its scopus (purpose) the saving Word, Christ."9 Preaching functions as the word of God when it is the Spirit-illumined exposition of Scripture properly interpreted and expounded for the faithful by a duly authorized preacher to reach the hearer in his concrete situation.10

For Bullinger, proper interpretation meant that Scripture is to be interpreted in ways drawn from the Bible itself11 so that it can be expounded for man's salvation and God's glory.12 In practice this meant studying the original languages, giving attention to literary and historical contexts, and comparing the text with "like and unlike texts" of Scripture.13 All this was to be done out of love for God by those who humbly call upon the Holy Spirit.14 Learned, ancient fathers and councils are to be followed so long as they agree with Scripture. Where controversy arises, the sole arbiter is, to use Bullinger's phrase, "God himself, who proclaims by the Holy Scriptures what is true . . . ."15 That appeal to God's voice in Scripture may seem somewhat circular, but it rests on Bullinger's bedrock conviction that the main themes of Scripture are clear and consistent and can therefore be readily summarized.16