Martin Bucer

German theologian and religious scholar

• Born: November 11, 1491
• Birthplace: Schlettstadt, Alsace (now in Germany)
• Died: February 28, 1551
• Place of death: Cambridge, England

During the Reformation, Bucer served as mediator between Protestant Reformers Huldrych Zwingli and Martin Luther and attempted to reconcile the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants. He made lasting contributions to the liturgy of Protestant sects, particularly in England.

Early Life

Born to Nicholas Butzer, a shoemaker, and his wife, an occasional midwife, Martin Bucer (BEWT-sur) lived in Schlettstadt, in the Alsace region, until he was ten years old. By the time he had moved to Strasbourg and was put under the care of his grandfather, also a shoemaker, Bucer had already acquired the religious and scholarly zeal that characterized his entire life. At fifteen, however, he had to decide whether to follow family tradition and become an apprentice shoemaker or to continue his education by the only means available to poor young men, service in the Church. Although he did not really want to become a monk, he joined the Dominican Order and spent the next ten years in the monastery at Schlettstadt. There he was subjected to medieval Scholasticism, embodied in the works of Thomas Aquinas, and deprived of the new learning of the Humanists, notably the reformer Desiderius Erasmus .

The turning point in Bucer’s life occurred ten years later, when he was transferred to the Dominican monastery at Heidelberg, a university town. There he was caught in the conflict between the medieval Scholasticism advocated by the Dominicans and the Humanism taught by the university professors. Bucer, a voracious reader, soon became a devoted follower of Erasmus, and his liberal leanings were strengthened by his meeting with Martin Luther, who came to Heidelberg in April of 1518 to defend his views. When he received his bachelor of theology degree and was made master of students in 1519, Bucer also received permission to read the Bible; he subsequently wrote biblical commentaries and grounded his own religious beliefs in Scriptures, not in the writings of the church fathers.

After joining the local literary society and meeting other religious insurgents, Bucer, whose models were Luther and Erasmus, became convinced that his views were incompatible with his life as a Dominican and attempted to win his release from his monastic vows. That first step in his break from the Catholic Church occurred in 1521; after brief stints as a court chaplain to Count Frederick of the palatinate and as a parish priest, he married Elizabeth Silbereisen. While his marriage did not result in his immediate excommunication, Bucer’s fervid defense of Luther’s teachings, particularly the primacy of the Bible and the emphasis on faith rather than good works, eventually and inevitably brought him to the attention of his church superiors. Bucer was regarded as a threat because he used his preaching ability and debating skill to challenge conservative theologians who were reluctant to engage him in religious disputations. When, in 1523, he refused to go to Speier to meet with his bishop, Bucer was excommunicated. He was left virtually homeless when he lost his religious and political supporters and the Council of Wissembourg requested that he leave the city in May of 1523.

Life’s Work

When he arrived, uninvited, in Strasbourg in 1523, Bucer found a city congenial to his views on the Reformation and strategically located between the warring strongholds of the Swiss Reformer Huldrych Zwingli and Martin Luther. In the eight years between his first sermon and his appointment in 1531 as official head of the Strasbourg clergy, Bucer brought his adopted city to prominence as a theological center. Under his unofficial leadership, ties were established between the church and the state; a public school system, with a religious emphasis, was inaugurated; and religious tolerance of a sort was established, though that tolerance was repeatedly tested by the Separatists and Anabaptists.

For the most part, Bucer’s biblical commentaries were written during this period a commentary on Romans, written in 1536, was the exception. Rather than using the traditional grammatical approach, he relied on close readings of the passages, which were placed in their historical context and compared to similar passages from elsewhere in the Bible. This comparative approach was especially helpful in his commentaries on the Gospels, but some critics believe that his best exegesis is contained in his work on the Psalms. (Unfortunately, this work was published under a pseudonym, Aretius Felinus, in order to gain for it an objective reading in Catholic France, but the stratagem left him open to charges of duplicity and earned for him the ire of both Luther and Erasmus.)

Shortly after Bucer arrived in Strasbourg, the Supper Controversy, the conflict over the meaning of the Eucharistic phrase “This is my body,” between Zwingli and Luther threatened Reformation unity. Zwingli’s followers and Bucer must be included among them maintained that the bread and wine were merely symbols of Christ’s body and blood, not his actual body and blood, as Luther’s followers, and the Roman Catholic Church, believed. Although he sided with Zwingli, Bucer attempted to reconcile the two factions, who became engaged in pamphlet wars, by glossing over the real doctrinal differences and by attempting, through ambiguous language, to effect an apparent compromise where none was, in fact, possible. Bucer’s conciliatory efforts were, unfortunately, hampered by his own writings, which revealed his own theological beliefs and which were attacked by Lutherans, Zwinglians, and Catholics: The middle ground was treacherous territory.

From 1524 until 1548, when he was exiled to England, there was hardly a religious conference in Germany or Switzerland that Bucer did not attend in his role of theological conciliator. The first significant conference, the Marburg Colloquy of 1529, established a tenuous peace between Luther and Zwingli on all religious doctrine except for the Supper Controversy, but the real differences between the two opponents kept surfacing. Working with Wolfgang Capito, another Strasbourg Reformer, Bucer drafted in 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg the Tetrapolitana, or Confession of the Four Cities Strasbourg, Zurich (Zwingli’s stronghold), Basel, and Bern but the ambiguous language concerning the Eucharist resulted in its rejection by Luther and Zwingli, both of whom wanted changes of a more specific kind. After Zwingli died in 1531, Bucer renewed his efforts at establishing concord, and the resulting Wittenberg Concord of 1536 did effect a consensus, if not a lasting peace, primarily because of Bucer’s gift of obscuring meaning through ambiguous wording. While Philipp Melanchthon secured Luther’s approval of the compromise, Bucer’s efforts with the Zwinglians, already suspicious because of Luther’s endorsement, effectively brought the moderate Zwinglians into the Lutheran fold while permanently alienating the ultra-Zwinglians.

The Protestant cause, already adversely affected by the Luther/Zwingli hostilities, suffered another setback when Philip the Magnanimous , a supporter of the Reformers, sought their religious sanction for his bigamy. Appealing to Scripture, the authority for the Reformers, Philip approached Bucer through an intermediary. Although he had not sanctioned Henry VIII’s earlier divorce from Catherine of Aragon and although his initial response to Philip’s request was negative, Bucer weighed the religious and political factors and reluctantly acquiesced to Philip. In fact, Bucer wrote a defense of bigamy, but his ultimate response was typically equivocal: He sanctioned Philip’s secret bigamy. Unfortunately, Bucer’s attempts to keep the marriage a secret were thwarted by Philip, who made it public and who also sought approval from the Catholic Church.

Although the Reformation was an accomplished fact, the Catholic Church was intent on returning the Reformers to the fold, and Bucer himself participated in several councils whose ostensible purpose was to unite all Christians. In 1540, the year of Philip’s bigamous marriage, the Colloquy of Worms was convened, but no real progress was made, despite Bucer’s efforts, which included secret meetings with liberal Catholic reformers. The following year, Bucer attended the Diet of Regensburg, which was called by Emperor Charles V , who had two aims: religious unity and military assistance against an impending Turkish invasion of the Holy Roman Empire.

The authorship of the Regensburg Book, which served as the basis for the ensuing discussions, was unknown; the material, however, was drawn from the secret meetings conducted at the earlier Colloquy of Worms. At these secret meetings, Bucer had made compromises that, when they were made public, brought criticism from the Protestants, especially the Lutherans. When both sides rejected the Regensburg Book, Bucer apparently despaired of effecting a Protestant/Catholic reconciliation, and he became very anti-Catholic. Subsequent meetings, which were also futile, were held, but they were conducted, as Bucer suspected, more for political than for religious reasons. Charles V, who had been conducting secret negotiations with the pope, the French, and the Turks, finally attacked the Protestant German princes in 1546 and quickly defeated them. After the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League , Charles V instituted the Augsburg Interim, which reflected not only his ideas but also some of the articles of the Regensburg Interim, which had been drafted in part by Bucer. Despite the similarities between the two documents, Bucer adamantly opposed the Augsburg Interim because it was the product of force, not negotiation, and because he had become more intolerant of the Catholics. Bucer resisted Charles V until 1549, when he was officially requested to leave Strasbourg.

Although he had various options, Bucer chose to accept Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s invitation to aid the Reformation effort in England. After all, his Cologne Ordinances had been included in the first Book of Common Prayer, and he had many friends and supporters in that country. Soon after his arrival at Cambridge, where he taught, he was again embroiled in the Supper Controversy, this time, however, with Catholic opposition.

In his service to Edward VI , he refuted the Catholic elevation of good works over faith, resisted the radical views of the Scottish Reformers, wrote De regno Christi (1557), a design for converting England into the Kingdom of Christ, and aided in the development of the English Books of Prayer. For his efforts he received the doctor of theology degree from Cambridge before he died on February 28, 1551. Even in death he was involved in controversy: English Catholics under Mary tried and condemned him posthumously for heresy, then exhumed and burned his body in 1555; Elizabeth, the Protestant queen, atoned for the Catholic desecration in 1560.

Significance

Unlike his more famous Reformation contemporaries Luther, Zwingli, and John Calvin Bucer was a mediator occupying the middle ground in most of the religious controversy of the sixteenth century. Rather than establishing his own sect, he sought to reconcile the intransigent extremes within the Reformation movement. His ecumenical efforts with such divergent groups as the Anabaptists and Catholics led him to make concessions, although for the goal of church unity, which undermined his credibility with his colleagues. Though he never abandoned the essential tenets of his faith, he did appear occasionally too willing to compromise, even to surrender, on the details that preoccupied other Reformers. Though he was inevitably unsuccessful in mediating what were irreconcilable differences, he did succeed in negotiating the reform of several German cities that were attempting to resolve questions about the disposition of church property and the use of images in worship services. Under his leadership, Strasbourg became an influential Reformation city that attracted young Reformers, most notably Calvin, who incorporated some of Bucer’s ideas in his Christianae religionis institutio (1536; Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1561).

Because he occupied the middle ground on theological disputes, Bucer is not a theologian whose influence is readily traced. His theology, because of his wide reading, was eclectic and drawn from many sources, some of them Anabaptist and Catholic inherently contradictory. Bucer’s contribution was in his synthesis of theology, not in his creation of it. Centuries later, his ecumenical approach to theology seems more appropriate to the times than the dogmatic intransigence of his more famous contemporaries.

Bibliography

Burnett, Amy Nelson. The Yoke of Christ: Martin Bucer and the Christian Discipline. Kirksville: Northeast Missouri State University, 1994. Awarded a prize by the American Society of Church History, this monograph details the Bucer’s interpretation of the “discipline of Christ.” Includes bibliographic references and index.

Eells, Hastings. Martin Bucer. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1931. Reprint. New York: Russell & Russell, 1971. The definitive biography of Bucer, this lengthy book contains valuable information about the historical context, theological differences between the Reformers, and the personalities of the major figures. The book is well organized, well indexed, and very readable. Though his sympathies are clearly with Bucer, Eells is fairly objective in his discussion of Luther, Zwingli, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Höpf, Constantin. Martin Bucer and the English Reformation. Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell, 1946. A thorough review of Bucer’s influence on the English Reformation. Höpf, who includes copious illustrations, original correspondence, and a comprehensive bibliography, extends Bucer’s influence beyond his Censura (wr. 1550) of the First Edwardian Prayer Book and details how Bucer’s psalms were printed in the English primers. Bucer, for Höpf, was more influential in England than either Zwingli or Luther.

Pauck, Wilhelm, ed. Melanchthon and Bucer. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969. Pauck includes his translation of Bucer’s De regno Christi, which he introduces by discussing Bucer’s substantial contribution to the Reformation and explaining how Bucer’s Strasbourg experiences affected his recommendations for England in De regno Christi. Of particular interest are Pauck’s comments about the relationship of church and state.

Selderhuis, Herman J. Marriage and Divorce in the Thought of Martin Bucer. Translated by John Vriend and Lyle D. Bierma. Kirksville, Mo.: Thomas Jefferson University Press at Truman State University, 1999. Voluminous attempt to clarify Bucer’s position on divorce. Provides extensive background on pre-Reformation marital laws, as well as detailed analysis both of Bucer’s treatises on marriage, celibacy, and divorce and of the biographical details of his own marriages. Includes bibliographic references and index.

Stephens, W. P. The Holy Spirit in the Theology of Martin Bucer. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970. A close examination of the Holy Spirit in Bucer’s theology. Stephens provides an introduction establishing Bucer’s theology in the context of his times and summarizes the various influences that affected the development of his religious thought. Excellent bibliography.

Wendel, François. Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. Translated by Philip Mairet. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. Although the book concerns the many sources of Calvin’s theology, Wendel establishes Bucer as being particularly influential. Bucer’s influence is especially prominent in the predestination material found in Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, and Calvin’s theology is regarded as being aligned with the theology of the Tetrapolitan Confession of 1530.

Wright, D. F., ed. Martin Bucer: Reforming Church and Community. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Anthology of essays examining Bucer’s lasting contributions to theology and church history. Includes essays on subjects ranging from specific sacraments to general cultural history. Bibliographic references and index.