Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Great Bible Scholar - Harry Bultema (1884-1952)

Harry Bultema (1884-1952) was born in Holland and was one of six siblings who came to America in the early 1900s. He was raised and nurtured by devout parents. In the U.S. he studied at Calvin College and Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michi¬gan. After graduation he pastored Christian Reformed churches in Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan. Through his own intense study of the Bible, he concluded that there is a major difference between Christ as coming King over Israel and Jesus as present Head of the church. These newly discovered truths resulted in his becoming a premillennial dis¬pensationalist and leaving the Christian Reformed denomination. His writings in English include Commentary on Isaiah, Commentary on Daniel, and Maranatha!

All of his works are from his premillenial and pretribulational viewpoint. In his commentary on Isaiah, Bultema writes: "Christ, as the true theocratic King, shall reign over restored Israel and the entire earth. He will rule from Mount Zion and Jerusa¬lem in the presence of His ancients in glory." Elsewhere he writes: "In all of Scripture there is not a semblance or shadow of justification for the identification of Israel as a nation with the church as the body of Christ. In the New Testament the word Israel appears seventy times, but it must always be taken in its lit¬eral historical meaning."