Heidelberg

Abstract

Abstract The Heidelberg theologians Zacharias Ursinus (1534–1583) and Caspar Olevian (1536–1587) integrated into their covenant theology aspects that had roots in Zurich, such as the covenantal view of the prelapsarian state of man and above all the organic-mystical aspect of the covenant. On a historical level, the nature of the relationship between Bullinger and the Heidelberg theologians makes it very likely that the former influenced the latter not simply in more general terms (i.e., the covenant idea) but also on these specific issues. While Melanchthon’s and Calvin’s contributions to these early orthodox confessional formulations are not to be dismissed, Bullinger must be recognized as having played a more prominent role in this new stage in Reformed covenant theology than was previously assumed.