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071 - 8 The Reformation in French Switzerland · Short History of the Christian Church

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  Speaker 1: Part three, Chapter eight of Short History of the Christian
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  Speaker 1: Church by John Fletcher Hurst. The LibriVox recording is in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter eight The Reformation in French Switzerland.
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  Speaker 1: The influence of the German reformers was felt more slowly
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  Speaker 1: among the French speaking people of Switzerland than among those
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  Speaker 1: who spoke German. The difference in language made the work
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  Speaker 1: of indoctrination no easy process. The course of Protestant evangelism
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  Speaker 1: in French Switzerland was simple, an eastern current setting in
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  Speaker 1: from German Switzerland, and a western one, coming directly from
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  Speaker 1: France and entering by Geneva. As Adore, the two met
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  Speaker 1: in Berne, which city at once became a center for
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  Speaker 1: the dissemination of new doctrines throughout the French Cantons. After
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  Speaker 1: the Battle of Capel, the movement spread rapidly and went
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  Speaker 1: as far as Geneva, where it allied itself with the
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  Speaker 1: forces already in operation there. Very soon a strong Protestant
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  Speaker 1: party arose in that city, which was firm in the
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  Speaker 1: beginning and never wavered until it gained a complete victory.
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  Speaker 1: Geneva had long been an object of the ambition of
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  Speaker 1: the Dukes of Savoy and historical struggle, later commemorated by
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  Speaker 1: Byron in the incident which suggested his Prisoner of Chillon,
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  Speaker 1: an historical poem in which Bonivard tells the sad story
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  Speaker 1: of a long period of persecution for conscience's sake. My
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  Speaker 1: limbs are bowed, though not with toil, but rusted with
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  Speaker 1: a vile repose. For they have been a dungeon's spoil,
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  Speaker 1: and mine has been the fate of those to whom
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  Speaker 1: the goodly earth and air are banned and barred, forbidden fair.
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  Speaker 1: But this was for my father's faith. I suffered chains
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  Speaker 1: and courted death, that fought, perished at the stake for
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  Speaker 1: tenets he would not forsake, and for the same his
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  Speaker 1: lineal race, in darkness found a dwelling place. We were
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  Speaker 1: seven who now are, one six in youth and one
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  Speaker 1: in age, finished as they had begun, proud of persecution's rage,
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  Speaker 1: one in fire, and two in field. Their belief with
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  Speaker 1: blood have sealed, dying as their father died for the god,
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  Speaker 1: their foes denied. Three were in a dungeon, cast of
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  Speaker 1: whom this wreck is left. The last our religious convention
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  Speaker 1: was held in Geneva in fifteen thirty four Pharrell, who
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  Speaker 1: was the representative of the new doctrines, labored by speech
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  Speaker 1: and pen for their introduction. As in eastern Switzerland, so
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  Speaker 1: here the people were their own rulers and had resisted
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  Speaker 1: all attempts at absorption by ambitious prince. Popular meetings were
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  Speaker 1: held where both Romanism and Protestantism were discussed freely. The
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  Speaker 1: doctrines of the reformers spread, however, until the majority of
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  Speaker 1: the citizens declared in favor of them. Anton Fremant and
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  Speaker 1: Peter Verrat cooperated with Farrel in prosecuting the one work
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  Speaker 1: which lay near their hearts. All the great Reformers had
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  Speaker 1: a prompt and subtle perception of character. They seemed to
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  Speaker 1: recognize their helpers by unerring instinct. One July evening in
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  Speaker 1: fifteen thirty six, a French stranger called on Farrell, asked advice,
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  Speaker 1: expressed sympathy with the Reformation, and was about to take
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  Speaker 1: his leave and proceed on his journey. But Farrell was
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  Speaker 1: so attracted to him that he invited him to spend
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  Speaker 1: a few days. This stranger was John Calvin. He was
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  Speaker 1: born in Noyon, France fifteen o nine and died in
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  Speaker 1: Geneva fifteen sixty four. He received an excellent education and
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  Speaker 1: was thoroughly prepared for the practice of the law. His
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  Speaker 1: acquaintance with the classics was intimate. His first work, written
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  Speaker 1: when a young man of twenty three, was a critical
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  Speaker 1: edition of Seneca's Essay on Clemency. He studied in Paris, Bourget,
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  Speaker 1: and Orlean. While in the last place, and about the
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  Speaker 1: year fifteen thirty two, he came in contact with a
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  Speaker 1: German reformer, who told him more fully than he had known,
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  Speaker 1: the great doctrines of the Protestants of Germany. Calvin resolved
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  Speaker 1: to turn his attention to theology and to accept the
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  Speaker 1: doctrines of the new reform. In due time we find
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  Speaker 1: him going abroad. There was no peace for his soul,
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  Speaker 1: nor any rest for his body. He went southward, and
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  Speaker 1: for a time stayed in agou Yam, where for a
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  Speaker 1: century there lingered certain pleasant traditions of the quiet stranger
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  Speaker 1: who studied hard by day and night. He left on
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  Speaker 1: Gullam and knew not whither to go. In the preface
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  Speaker 1: to his Psalms, he spoke of this period of early
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  Speaker 1: uncertainty and anguish of soul. God led me about by
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  Speaker 1: so many circuitous paths that I could nowhere find rest.
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  Speaker 1: During fifteen thirty four he wandered about in many directions,
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  Speaker 1: conversing with the most cultivated people, and doing all that
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  Speaker 1: lay in his power to communicate a knowledge of Protestant doctrines.
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  Speaker 1: We now find him suddenly in his native Noion, now
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  Speaker 1: publishing a little book, The Psychopanaea against the French Anabaptists,
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  Speaker 1: Now halting a while in Paris, and now with a
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  Speaker 1: good prospect of being cast into prison with the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the outspoken foes of the papacy, resolving to go
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  Speaker 1: to some hidden corner in Germany where he could study
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  Speaker 1: theology in quiet. Of all Calvin's friends, only one accompanied him,
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  Speaker 1: Louis du Tiller. He was in full sympathy with him,
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  Speaker 1: and the two resolved to travel together and share each
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  Speaker 1: other's fortunes. The two fugitives had no easy task to
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  Speaker 1: reach the limits of France. A servant stole all their
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  Speaker 1: money and ran away. They reached Basil in fifteen thirty
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  Speaker 1: five in a penniless condition, But the Protestants of that
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  Speaker 1: hospitable city had welcomed Farrell ten years before, and also
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  Speaker 1: later both copp and Corneau, and now they welcomed with
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  Speaker 1: the same cordiality, both Kelvin and his friend. While here
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  Speaker 1: he devoted himself with passionate eagerness to biblical studies, for
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  Speaker 1: he knew that the Bible underlay the entire Protestant fabric.
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  Speaker 1: He heard any favorable news from France, the Protestants were
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  Speaker 1: thrust into prison, and their lives were in constant danger.
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  Speaker 1: They were without cohesion, guidance, or intention. Calvin resolved to
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  Speaker 1: write a theological system for their special benefit. He now
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  Speaker 1: conceived the idea of his Institutes of the Christian Religion,
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  Speaker 1: which he published in fifteen thirty six, and which became
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  Speaker 1: the doctrinal standard for all the Reformed churches of the
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  Speaker 1: continent and Great Britain. Calvin had no great sense of
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  Speaker 1: relief when his book was completed. His work was published
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  Speaker 1: under the assumed name of Martianus Leucanius, and so retired
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  Speaker 1: had been his manner of living, and so timid his nature,
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  Speaker 1: that no one knew of his plan or who this
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  Speaker 1: new author might be. Probably to avoid discovery as much
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  Speaker 1: as for any other reason, he determined to leave Basil. He,
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  Speaker 1: in company with his friend Dutille, journeyed to Italy, and
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  Speaker 1: stayed awhile in Ferrara, where Renada, the Protestant daughter of
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  Speaker 1: Louis the twelfth of France, was duchess. He then quietly
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  Speaker 1: returned to his native town, Noyone, and arranged the affairs
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  Speaker 1: of his now broken home and left it forever. He
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  Speaker 1: took with him his brother Antone, who was in full
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  Speaker 1: sympathy with his views. He now turned his face towards Germany, again,
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  Speaker 1: intending to make Strasbourg or perhaps Basil, his permanent home.
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  Speaker 1: The war of this time fifteen thirty six, made his
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  Speaker 1: journey a dangerous undertaking, and the way to Strasbourg being
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  Speaker 1: closed against him, he was compelled to go southward through Savoy.
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  Speaker 1: One evening about July first, he arrived at Geneva. He
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  Speaker 1: expected to stay one night, and in the morning to
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  Speaker 1: proceed northward. Farrell was found fascinated by his scholarship and spirit,
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  Speaker 1: Forarel invited Calvin to settle in Geneva and take charge
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  Speaker 1: of the new Protestant church of that city. Calvin refused.
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  Speaker 1: He pleaded his youth, inexperience, constitutional timidity, and the need
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  Speaker 1: of continuing his studies in a place where he could
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  Speaker 1: have perfect quiet. He begged to be spared. But Forrell
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  Speaker 1: saw in all these reasons only the better ground why
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  Speaker 1: Calvin should stay in Geneva. He said, in great excitement
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  Speaker 1: to him, you plead your studies, But in the name
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  Speaker 1: of the Almighty God, I say to THEE, God's curse
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  Speaker 1: will overtake thee if thou deprivest God's work of thy
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  Speaker 1: help and seek thyself more than Christ. Forarel's threat accomplished
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  Speaker 1: what his persuasion could not do. The call of an
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  Speaker 1: hour lengthened into a visit, and the visit into a
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  Speaker 1: whole lifetime. The acquaintance between Pharrell and Calvin ripened into
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  Speaker 1: one of those beautiful friendships with which Christianity has always
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  Speaker 1: abounded in its periods of throw and agony. By a
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  Speaker 1: natural gravitation of his genius, Calvin assumed the direction of
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  Speaker 1: the Protestant movements from Geneva as a center. He was
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  Speaker 1: soon in charge of the civil administration of the city,
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  Speaker 1: and remained identified with the interests of its citizens until
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  Speaker 1: his death. Without knowing it, the group of Genevan reformers
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  Speaker 1: were rather waiting for guidance than following a settled policy.
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  Speaker 1: They were pausing for a leader, and now they found
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  Speaker 1: one in Calvin. To a man of less nerve and
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  Speaker 1: wisdom than Calvin, the work of organizing the Protestants of
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  Speaker 1: Geneva into a compact and aggressive church would have been
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  Speaker 1: a hopeless undertaking. He saw that the first need was
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  Speaker 1: a common platform of fis a confession. In three months time,
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  Speaker 1: the Genovies possessed their confession in twenty one articles. Farrell's
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  Speaker 1: name stood as the responsible author, but Calvin's exact style
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  Speaker 1: and strong spirit pervayed every part. On November tenth, it
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  Speaker 1: was placed before the city Council for adoption and was accepted.
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  Speaker 1: Then came new measures, one after another in rapid succession.
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  Speaker 1: A plan for popular education, a scheme of organization of
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  Speaker 1: the church in Geneva, measures of discipline and support, and
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  Speaker 1: a catechism. Civil regulations were shaped according to the new
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  Speaker 1: ecclesiastical constitution, and some of the regulations were severe and
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  Speaker 1: exacting in the extreme. The theologians were novices at civil legislation,
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  Speaker 1: but there was no want of spartan inflexibility. The Libertines,
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  Speaker 1: a political party of Geneva, who were opposed to the
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  Speaker 1: strict life of the Reformers and saw in the Reformation
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  Speaker 1: a restraint on the morals of the people arose against
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  Speaker 1: both Farrel and Calvin and secured their banishment. Farrel, after
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  Speaker 1: a stay of seven weeks in Basel, went to New
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  Speaker 1: Chatel and thence to Metz, where and in the neighboring gores,
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  Speaker 1: he labored zealously for the Gospel. Calvin went to Strasbourg,
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  Speaker 1: where he had once found a refuge from persecution at home.
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  Speaker 1: The two reformers were at once brought into close relations
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  Speaker 1: with the Strasbourg circle of Protestant leaders Bousset, Capiteau and Hedio.
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  Speaker 1: It was a happy company. Calvin calculated on a permanent
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  Speaker 1: stay there, for they saw little hope of the early
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  Speaker 1: rise of Protestant authority in Geneva. He took papers of
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  Speaker 1: citizenship as a Strasbourg resident, and later, in fifteen forty,
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  Speaker 1: was married to IoLET van Buren, a lady in every
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  Speaker 1: way worthy of his confidence and affection. He became pastor
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  Speaker 1: of the French emigrant church, and with his practical duties,
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  Speaker 1: was absorbed in his studies. In due time, the people
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  Speaker 1: of Geneva repented of their error in banishing the two reformers,
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  Speaker 1: for they found they needed them for the government of
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  Speaker 1: the city. Calvin was recalled, but with true nobility of soul,
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  Speaker 1: refused to accept the offer unless Farrell, his early benefactor,
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  Speaker 1: was also permitted to return. The same liberty was therefore
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  Speaker 1: granted Farrell, though it is not known that he accepted
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  Speaker 1: the privilege, but Calvin was welcomed back to Geneva amid
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  Speaker 1: the rejoicings of the whole population. Henceforth, Calvin stood at
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  Speaker 1: the head of affairs and continued in that relation until
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  Speaker 1: his death. He belonged to Geneva henceforth, and Geneva to him.
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  Speaker 1: The organization of the Genevese Church was perfected in directions
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  Speaker 1: where it had proved to be weak. Calvin preached repentance,
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  Speaker 1: that the entire population should repent of their sins of
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  Speaker 1: many years and begin to serve God anew. Virat became
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  Speaker 1: a powerful aid to him, and there was no want
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  Speaker 1: of strong and wise leadership. Laws relating to the clergy,
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  Speaker 1: the church, divine service, and schools were enacted, and there
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  Speaker 1: was no department passed by in the new administration. Under
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  Speaker 1: the direction of Calvin, a Protestant university was established in
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  Speaker 1: that city, where young men were trained in the new
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  Speaker 1: doctrines of Protestantism. A theological seminary was organized in Lausan
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  Speaker 1: under the direction of Virat, and strongly aggressive measures were
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  Speaker 1: employed to extend the work throughout the French Cantons. The
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  Speaker 1: work left unfinished by Calvin at his death was taken
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  Speaker 1: up by Beza. His nature was different from that of Calvin.
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  Speaker 1: The latter had a broader mind, was stronger in purpose,
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  Speaker 1: and could have ruled a kingdom had he been born
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  Speaker 1: to an earthly crown. He was a master in the
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  Speaker 1: management of men, less by accommodating differences than by inducing
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  Speaker 1: men to accept his own views. His theology found its
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  Speaker 1: way into Germany, where it produced the Reformed Church, was
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  Speaker 1: taught in the University of Heidelberg, extended to Holland, formed
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  Speaker 1: the basis of the prevailing Confession. There, crossed the channel
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  Speaker 1: into England, exerted a marked influence on the New Anglican Church,
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  Speaker 1: ascended into Scotland, became the theological foundation of the Scotch
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  Speaker 1: National Church. Came over to this country with the Pilgrims
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  Speaker 1: in the Mayflower in sixteen twenty and has had no
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  Speaker 1: small share in molding the faith of the people in
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  Speaker 1: the colonies and states, and the territories which have grown
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  Speaker 1: from them. Beza fifteen nineteen to sixteen o five carried
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  Speaker 1: on the work left unfinished by Calvin. He was a
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  Speaker 1: man of noble birth, trained for the law of fine gifts,
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  Speaker 1: a scholar and a poet. In fifteen forty nine he
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  Speaker 1: was appointed professor of Greek in the Academy of Lausanne.
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  Speaker 1: He revived the Sacred Dramas of the Middle Ages, wrote
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  Speaker 1: a successful one himself in which he cleverly contrasted Roman
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  Speaker 1: Catholicism and Protestantism. Aided Calvin in his commentaries on Saint
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  Speaker 1: Paul's epistles, and completed a metrical version of the Psalter.
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  Speaker 1: He made a notable defense of Protestantism before Charles the
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  Speaker 1: ninth and a brilliant assembly of nobles and clergy in
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  Speaker 1: the Abbey of Poiss near Paris, September ninth, fifteen sixty one.
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  Speaker 1: His great service to the Reformed Faith, however, was rendered
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  Speaker 1: in his Latin version of the New Testament fifteen fifty
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  Speaker 1: six and his edition of the Greek Testament fifteen sixty five,
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  Speaker 1: both fully annotated. The later editions of his Greek text
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  Speaker 1: were the main basis for the authorized version, and his
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  Speaker 1: Latin version also exerted a great influence upon the King
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  Speaker 1: James translators. The Second Helvetic Confession, adopted in fifteen sixty six,
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  Speaker 1: became the formula of faith for the Protestants of all
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  Speaker 1: French Switzerland. It was in general harmony with the Augsburg Confession,
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  Speaker 1: but with more emphasis on the doctrine of election. The
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  Speaker 1: Protestantism of Geneva and other parts of French Switzerland exerted
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  Speaker 1: a strong influence on the cause. In France, the intercourse
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  Speaker 1: was constantly maintained. The works from the Genevan Press, and
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  Speaker 1: especially the tracts, were carried by tradesmen and others into
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  Speaker 1: most of the southern provinces of France, and aided largely
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  Speaker 1: in creating a French sentiment and giving courage to the
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  Speaker 1: rising huge knots. Thus Geneva, which became a refuge for
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  Speaker 1: the fugitive calvin and other French Protestants, became a fort
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  Speaker 1: which for generations, and indeed down to the present time,
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  Speaker 1: has discharged its Protestant artillery against the very country which
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  Speaker 1: produced and drove out its best sons and daughters. End
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  Speaker 1: of Chapter eight