Title

Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) De Testamento Seu Foedere Dei Unico Et Aeterno Brevis Expositio (1534) (“A Brief Exposition of the One and Eternal Covenant of God”) Korean Translation of the Latin Original

Update (March 2026)

Version 3 has been released.

Chapters 1–3 now include full annotations.

Author

Ted Jeong

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0907-879X

Abstract

This study offers a comprehensive analytical summary of Heinrich Bullinger’s 1534 treatise De Testamento seu Foedere Dei unico et aeterno, situating the work within the theological and polemical context of the early Zurich Reformation. It argues that Bullinger’s theology is fundamentally structured around the unity and perpetuity of the one divine covenant, thereby rejecting any essential discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments. Rather than positing successive and qualitatively different covenants, Bullinger maintains that the covenant established with Abraham is substantially identical with the gospel revealed in Christ.

The study first examines Bullinger’s philological treatment of the terms testamentum and foedus, demonstrating how his engagement with Roman legal terminology and Renaissance humanist scholarship reinforces his theological claims. By clarifying the semantic range of these concepts, Bullinger presents the covenant not as a temporary legal contract but as a gracious and enduring divine promise grounded in God’s prior initiative.

Central to his argument is the distinction between substance and administration. While the outward form and historical administration of the covenant vary across redemptive history, its substance—justification by faith in the promised Christ—remains constant. This continuity provides the theological foundation for Bullinger’s defense of the inclusion of believers’ children within the covenant community and his critique of Anabaptist separatism.

A distinctive contribution of the 1534 treatise lies in Bullinger’s integration of law and gospel within a unified covenantal framework. He does not construe the Decalogue as a legalistic precondition for salvation, but as a covenantal exposition of the divine will already presupposing God’s redemptive act. The prologue to the Ten Commandments—recalling God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt—functions, in his reading, as the promissory ground upon which the commandments are given. The Decalogue thus serves as a concrete elaboration of the covenantal demand to “walk before God,” articulating the shape of life within the covenant rather than establishing the basis of entry into it.

Bullinger further distinguishes between moral, civil, and ceremonial laws according to their respective covenantal functions. The moral law expresses the enduring ethical order intrinsic to covenant fidelity. Civil law governs the historical and social life of the covenant community. Ceremonial laws, however, function pedagogically and typologically: they serve as temporary supports directing Israel toward Christ, whose advent brings their purpose to fulfillment. In this way, the entire legal corpus is situated organically within the history of the one eternal covenant.

The study concludes that the 1534 treatise represents a decisive moment in the early Reformed articulation of covenant theology. While anticipating later systematic developments, Bullinger’s formulation remains deeply rooted in biblical exegesis, humanist learning, and the ecclesial concerns of the Zurich Reformation.

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