SUBJECT:  E. W. Bullinger, the man who wrote the Companion Bible

QUESTION:  What can you tell me about E. W. Bullinger?

ANSWER:

The following is found at the following web site: http://www.speraindeo.org/juneread.html

                                      E. W. Bullinger 1837-1913

The background music playing on this page is a hymn called, “I Am Trusting Thee.”  The musical score was composed by Bullinger in 1874. Lyrics by Francis Ridley Havergal.

Ethelbert William Bullinger was born on December 15 in Canterbury, England. He was a direct descendent of the great Swiss Reformer Johann Heinrich Bullinger, a covenant theologian, who succeeded Zwingli in Zurich in December of 1531.

Bullinger was educated at King's College, London. He was a recognized scholar in the field of biblical languages. The Archbishop of Canterbury granted him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1881 in recognition of his biblical scholarship.

Some of his best known works are The Companion Bible, Number in Scripture, Word Studies on the Holy Spirit, The Witness of the Stars, The Book of Job, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Great Cloud of Witnesses, The Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testaments, How to Enjoy the Bible and Commentary On Revelation. You will find something about most of these works here, with one exception.

 
Dr. Bullinger believed in and taught the pretribulation, premillennial rapture.  He is also considered an ultra dispensationalist because he taught that the gospels and Acts were under the dispensation of law, with the church actually beginning at Paul's ministry after Acts 28:28. We at Spera in Deo DO NOT agree with these two particular teachings. Eschatologically speaking, we are of the Historical Premillennial school (Christ returning after the tribulation - no rapture - but before the millennium) and we believe in a covenantal theology rather than a dispensational view. Therefore we cannot recommend Bullinger's Commentary on Revelation. And even though we highly recommend The Companion Bible, we don't necessarily agree with everything found in the appendices in the back - especially suspect is the very last appendix because this also is an ultra dispensationalist view of Revelation.

If all this eschatology talk is confusing to you, or you would like to learn more about the various views on the return of Christ, check out, The Meaning of The Millennium: Four Views.  Available at Amazon: here. Look inside the book here.

It’s rare that one person would agree with every single doctrine that another person believes. None of us are perfect while we are in this world and we all probably have a few false notions in our heads...so read Bullinger and all men’s works using discernment.

Dr. Bullinger died on June 6, 1913, in London, England, leaving behind a wonderful legacy of works to help us in the study of God’s Word.