BUCHMANN (BIBLIANDER), THEODORE. - Protestant, b. ca. 1504 at Bischofszell (Thurgau), d. of the plague at Zurich on 26 Sept. 1564.
Professor of Oriental languages at Zurich after Zwingli (from 1531), B. distinguished himself by his knowledge of Hebrew and completed the translation of the Bible (Zurich 1542–43) begun by Leo Jud. He is chiefly the *homo grammaticus*, as he liked to call himself (*De optimo genere grammaticalum Hebr.* [1542]; *id.*, *Commentarium de Sancta lingua Hebr.*, ll. 24 [ms]; *id.*, *De ratione communi omnium linguarum et litterarum Commentarius* [1543]). His translation of the Qur’an (1543) is rather a revision of the text by Peter of Cluny. Unlike Luther and Melanchthon, he concerned himself with both biblical and ecclesiastical history (*De ratione temporum* [1551]; *id.*, *Temporum supputatio partitioque exactor* [1558]). He often attacked the Catholic Church with the weapons of humanism in the manner of Erasmus and more frequently with arguments drawn from Zwinglianism. It is noteworthy that he opposed the reforms of the Council of Trent while still desiring the union of the Churches (*Amplior consideratio decreti Synodalis Tridentini de authentica doctrina Ecclesiae Dei*..., Basel 1551; and again in: *De legitima vindicatione christianismi*, 1553).
From a missionary standpoint, Zwingli and after him B. adopted a humanist attitude toward the problem of the salvation of the infidels (*Oratio ad narrationem Esajae* [1532]). In his dissertation *De Monarchia totius Orbis Supremi*, B. claims the treasures of divine grace for all Christians, Jews, and Muslims. He also diverged from Zwingli’s thesis on predestination.