Bullingers briefwisseling met Traheronus over providentie en predestinatie

Samenvatting

Verschenen in gedrukte jaargang 48 (2005), nr. 1, p. 4-26.  

Bullinger would be following Melanchthon’s views on predestination and providence. Traheronus was thoroughly convinced of Calvin’s perspective as being excellent and most agreeable to Holy Scripture. The answe rprovided by Bullinge rcontains a plain survey of his views on providence, freewill and predestination. Bound by Holy Scripture as the norm, in continuity with the church of all times and critically answering contemporary opinions, Bullinger determines his own. He emphasizes that the preaching of the gospel of Christ must apply to all and that everybody has to believe. The believers are the elect, but their faith is the fruit of, and not the precondition for their election. Only persistent unbelievers are reprobated. Election and reprobation are held to be completely asymmetric: faith is the gift of God, sin and unbelief only the guilt of man. No one can charge God to be the author of sin.