E.W. Bullinger — Pneumatology
b1 — Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance
The Holy Spirit and the Inspiration of Scripture
Verbal-literal inspiration as the conclusion of numerical patterns
Bullinger argues in Part I that the numerical unity of the Bible — word frequencies that hold across fifteen centuries of writing by 36 separate authors — is explicable only by divine inspiration:
“Then we shall have a great and wondrous proof of the Divine, verbal, and even literal inspiration of the Word of God.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II (“Design Shown in the Word of God”).
Moved by the Holy Ghost
The decisive conclusion of Bullinger’s argument:
“Each writer must have been ignorant as to this final result; but each wrote ‘as he was moved by the Holy Ghost’; and hence, each contributed such a part as should end in perfecting the original design. This sweeps away as with a flood, all the puny attempts of man either in attacking or defending the inspiration of the Word of God.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Conclusion.
Interpretation: Bullinger here cites 2 Pet. 1:21 (“moved by the Holy Ghost”) as the biblical anchor for his proof. The numerical patterns in Scripture are for him the empirical evidence that this movement was truly verbal and literal — not merely conceptual.
One Spirit inspires the whole of Scripture
Bullinger explicitly invokes 1 Cor. 12:11 as the key to biblical unity:
“But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, whose infinite wisdom is seen inspiring the whole of Divine revelation and securing a uniformity in results which would be absolutely impossible in a work written separately by different writers.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II, section on word-occurrences in the OT.
And in the discussion of the OT and NT combined:
“This would be absolutely impossible if ‘one and the self-same Spirit’ had not inspired the whole so as to produce such a harmonious result.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II, section “The Old and New Testaments Combined”.
The Holy Spirit as Author of Scriptural Emphasis
Bullinger argues that the frequency with which words occur is not arbitrary but determined by the Holy Spirit:
“All such general and important words—i.e., such words on which the Holy Spirit would have us place special emphasis, or would wish us to lay special stress—occur a certain number of times. These are either (1) A square number, or (2) A cube, or (3) A multiple of seven, or (4) A multiple of eleven.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II, section on word-frequencies.
Interpretation: Bullinger treats the Holy Spirit here as an active, intentional author who through numerical structures directs the reader towards particular words — a form of pneumatic-literary guidance of Scripture.
The Holy Spirit as Selective Editor of Scripture
In the discussion of the first recorded words of the Lord Jesus:
“not one syllable that He uttered has the Holy Spirit been pleased to record in the Scriptures, until He was twelve years of age. And then only this one utterance from His birth till He entered on His ministry at His baptism. Only one sentence out of all those twenty-nine years. Surely words thus singled out by the Holy Spirit must be full of significance. What were they? They are written down for us in Luke 2:49: ‘WIST YE NOT THAT I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS?‘”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part II, Number One, section “The First Recorded Words of the Lord Jesus”.
Interpretation: Bullinger explicitly attributes the selection of biblical text to the Holy Spirit — not the writer decides what is included, but the Spirit. This implies an active role of the Spirit in the canonical preservation process.
Gifts of the Spirit — the Spiritual Ear
In the context of his musical analogue (section on sound and number):
“Not every one has this peculiar (musical) ‘ear.’ And no one has by nature that ear which can distinguish the things of God. The spiritual ear is the direct gift and planting of God. Hence it is written, ‘He that hath an ear,’ i.e., only he that hath that divinely-planted, God-given ear can hear the things of the Spirit of God. ‘An ear to hear’ those spiritual things is a far greater reality, and an infinitely greater gift, than an ear for music! Oh wondrous ear! It is the Lord that gives ‘the hearing ear’ (Prov 20:12). He wakeneth the ear to hear (Isa 50:4); It is the Lord that openeth the ear (Isa 50:5). The natural ear does not hear spiritual sounds; it cannot discern them (Isa 64:4 and 1 Cor 2:9).”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. I, section “Sound and Music”.
Interpretation: Bullinger explicitly distinguishes the natural ear from the spiritual ear. The spiritual ear is a gift of God — the Spirit — that enables the believer to understand the things of God. Biblical references: Ps. 94:9, Prov. 20:12, Isa. 50:4-5, Isa. 64:4, 1Cor. 2:9.
Number 7 and Spiritual Perfection
In his overview of the four perfect numbers:
“3 is the number of Divine perfection. 7 is the number of Spiritual perfection. 10 is the number of Ordinal perfection. 12 is the number of Governmental perfection.”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II, section on word-frequencies.
Interpretation: For Bullinger, number 7 is the numerical key for everything relating to the Spirit — the fact that words of spiritual importance occur in multiples of 7 connects to this. The identification of 7 with spiritual perfection is a foundational category in his entire system.
πνεῦμα in the Apocalypse — 14 times
In his detailed analysis of word-frequencies in the Apocalypse:
“‘Spirit,’ 14 times, Πνεῦμα, 1:10, 2:7,17,29, 3:1,6,13,22, 4:5, 5:6, 11:11, 14:13, 22:17”
Source: Number in Scripture, Part I, Ch. II, section “Occurrences of Words in the Apocalypse”.
Interpretation: Bullinger notes that πνεῦμα occurs exactly 14 times (= 2×7) in Revelation — in keeping with his law that spiritually important words appear in multiples of seven. This confirms both his numerical system and the activity of the Spirit throughout the Apocalypse.