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12 - The French Reformation - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter twelve. The French Reformation, the protest of Spires, and
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Speaker 1: the Confession at Augsburg, which marked the triumph of the
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Speaker 1: Reformation in Germany, were followed by years of conflict and darkness.
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Speaker 1: Weakened by divisions among its supporters and assailed by powerful foes,
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Speaker 1: Protestantism seemed destined to be utterly destroyed. Thousands sealed their
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Speaker 1: testimony with their blood. Civil war broke out, the Protestant
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Speaker 1: cause was betrayed by one of its leading adherents. The
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Speaker 1: noblest of the Reformed princes fell into the hands of
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Speaker 1: the Emperor and were dragged as captives from town to town.
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Speaker 1: But in the moment of his apparent triumph, the Emperor
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Speaker 1: was smitten with defeat. He saw the prey wrested from
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Speaker 1: his grasp, and he was forced at last to grant
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Speaker 1: toleration to the doctrines which it had been the ambition
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Speaker 1: of his life to destroy. He had staked his kingdom,
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Speaker 1: his treasures, and life itself upon the crushing out of
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Speaker 1: the heresy. Now he saw his armies wasted by battle,
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Speaker 1: his treasuries drained, his many kingdoms threatened by revolt, while
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Speaker 1: everywhere the faith which he had vainly endeavored to suppress
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Speaker 1: was extending. Charles the Fifth had been battling against omnipotent power.
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Speaker 1: God had said, let there be light, But the Emperor
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Speaker 1: had sought to keep the darkness unbroken. His purposes had failed,
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Speaker 1: and in premature old age, worn out with the long struggle,
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Speaker 1: he abdicated the throne and buried himself in a cloister.
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Speaker 1: In Switzerland, as in Germany, there came dark days for
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Speaker 1: the Reformation Hoile. Many cantons accepted the reformed faith, others
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Speaker 1: clung with blind persistence to the creed of Rome. The
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Speaker 1: persecution of those who desired to receive the truth finally
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Speaker 1: gave rise to civil war. Spingley and many who had
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Speaker 1: united with him in reform fell on the bloody field
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Speaker 1: of capel Ego. Lumpadius, overcome by these terrible disasters, soon
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Speaker 1: after died, Rome was triumphant and in many places seemed
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Speaker 1: about to recover all that she had lost. But he
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Speaker 1: whose counsels are from everlasting, had not forsaken his cause
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Speaker 1: or his people. His hand would bring deliverance for them.
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Speaker 1: In other lands. He had raised up laborers to carry
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Speaker 1: forward the reform. In France, before the name of Luther
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Speaker 1: had been heard as a reformer. The day had already
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Speaker 1: begun to break. One of the first to catch the
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Speaker 1: light was the aged Lefevre, a man of extensive learning,
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Speaker 1: a professor in the University of Paris, and a sincere
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Speaker 1: and zealous papist. In his researches into ancient literature, his
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Speaker 1: attention was directed to the Bible, and he introduced its
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Speaker 1: study among his students. Lefevre was an enthusiastic adorer of
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Speaker 1: the Saints, and he had undertaken to prepare a history
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Speaker 1: of the saints and martyrs as given in the Legends
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Speaker 1: of the Church. This was a work which involved great labor,
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Speaker 1: but he had already made considerable progress in it. When
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Speaker 1: thinking that he might obtain useful assistance from the Bible,
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Speaker 1: he began at study with this object. Here, indeed, he
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Speaker 1: found saints brought to view, but not such as figured
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Speaker 1: in the Roman calendar. A flood of divine light broke
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Speaker 1: in upon his mind. In amazement and disgust, he turned
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Speaker 1: away from his self appointed task and devoted himself to
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Speaker 1: the Word of God. The precious truths which he there discovered.
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Speaker 1: He soon began to teach in fifteen twelve, before either
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Speaker 1: Luther or Spingley had begun the work of reform, Lefevre wrote,
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Speaker 1: it is God who gives us by faith that righteousness, which,
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Speaker 1: by grace alone justifies to eternal life. Dwelling upon the
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Speaker 1: mysteries of redemption, he exclaimed, Oh, the unspeakable greatness of
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Speaker 1: that exchange. The sinless one is condemned, and he who
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Speaker 1: is guilty goes free. The blessing bears the curse, and
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Speaker 1: the curse it is brought into blessing. The life dies
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Speaker 1: and the dead live. The glory is whelmed in darkness,
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Speaker 1: and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is
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Speaker 1: clothed with glory. And while teaching that the glory of
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Speaker 1: salvation belongs solely to God, he also declared that the
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Speaker 1: duty of obedience belongs to man. If thou art a
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Speaker 1: member of Christ's church, he said, thou art a member
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Speaker 1: of his body. If thou art of his body, then
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Speaker 1: thou art full of the divine nature. Oh, if men
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Speaker 1: could but enter into the understanding of this privilege, how purely,
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Speaker 1: chastely and holy would they live? And how contemptible when
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Speaker 1: compared with the glory within them? That glory which the
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Speaker 1: eye of flesh cannot see. Would they deem all the
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Speaker 1: glory of this world. There were some among Lefevra's students
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Speaker 1: who listened eagerly to his words, and who, long after
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Speaker 1: the teacher's voice should be silent, and were to continue
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Speaker 1: to declare the truth. Such was William Ferrell, the son
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Speaker 1: of pious parents, and educated to accept with implicit faith
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Speaker 1: the teachings of the Church. He might, with the Apostle Paul,
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Speaker 1: have declared concerning himself, after the most straightest sect of
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Speaker 1: our religion. I lived a Pharisee, a devoted Romanist. He
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Speaker 1: burned with zeal to destroy all who should dare to
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Speaker 1: oppose the Church. I would gnash my teeth like a
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Speaker 1: furious wolf, he afterwards said, referring to this period of
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Speaker 1: his life, when I heard any one speaking against the Pope.
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Speaker 1: He had been untiring in his adoration of the saints,
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Speaker 1: in company with Lefevre, making the round of the churches
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Speaker 1: of Paris, worshiping at the altars and adorning with gifts
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Speaker 1: the holy shrines. But these observances could not bring peace
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Speaker 1: of soul. Conviction of sin fastened upon him, which all
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Speaker 1: the acts of penance that he practiced failed to banish,
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Speaker 1: as to a voice from heavens, and to the reformer's words,
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Speaker 1: salvation is of grace. The innocent one is condemned, and
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Speaker 1: the criminal is acquitted. It is the cross of Christ
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Speaker 1: alone that openeth the gates of heaven and shutteth the
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Speaker 1: gates of hell. Ferrel joyfully accepted the truth by a
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Speaker 1: conversion like that of Paul. He turned from the bondage
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Speaker 1: of tradition to the liberty of the sons of God.
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Speaker 1: Instead of the murderous heart of a ravening wolf. He
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Speaker 1: came back, he says, quietly, like a meek and harmless lamb,
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Speaker 1: having his heart entirely withdrawn from the pope and given
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Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ. While le Fevre continued to spread the
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Speaker 1: light among his students, Farrel, as zealous in the cause
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Speaker 1: of Christ as he had been in that of the Pope,
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Speaker 1: went forth to declare the truth in public. A dignitary
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Speaker 1: of the church. The Bishop of Moe soon after united
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Speaker 1: with them. Other teachers who ranked high for their ability
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Speaker 1: and learning, joined in proclaiming the Gospel, and it was
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Speaker 1: one adherents among all classes from the homes of artisans
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Speaker 1: and peasants to the palace of the King. The sister
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Speaker 1: of Francis the first, then the reigning monarch accepted the
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Speaker 1: Reformed faith. The King himself and the Queen Mother appeared
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Speaker 1: for a time to regard it with favor and with
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Speaker 1: high hopes. The reformers looked forward to the time when
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Speaker 1: France should be won to the Gospel, but their hopes
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Speaker 1: were not to be realized. Trial and persecution awaited the
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Speaker 1: disciples of Christ. This, however, was mercifully veiled from their eyes.
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Speaker 1: A time of peace intervened that they might gain strength
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Speaker 1: to meet the tempest, and the Reformation made rapid progress.
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Speaker 1: The Bishop of Moe labored zealously in his own diocese
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Speaker 1: to instruct both the clergy and the people. Ignorant and
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Speaker 1: immoral priests were removed and so far as possible, replaced
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Speaker 1: by men of learning and piety. The bishop greatly desired
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Speaker 1: that his people might have access to the Word of
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Speaker 1: God God for themselves, and this was soon accomplished. Lefevre
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Speaker 1: undertook the translation of the New Testament, and at the
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Speaker 1: very time when Luther's German Bible was issuing from the
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Speaker 1: press in Wittenberg, the French New Testament was published at me.
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Speaker 1: The bishop spared no labor or expense to circulate it
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Speaker 1: in his parishes, and soon the peasants of Mo were
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Speaker 1: in possession of the Holy scriptures. As travelers perishing from
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Speaker 1: thirst welcome with joy a living water spring. So did
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Speaker 1: these souls receive the message of heaven. The laborers in
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Speaker 1: the field, the artisans in the workshop cheered their daily
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Speaker 1: toil by talking of the precious truths of the Bible.
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Speaker 1: At evening, instead of resorting to the wine shops, they
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Speaker 1: assembled in one another's homes to read God's word and
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Speaker 1: join in prayer and praise. A great change was soon
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Speaker 1: manifest in these communities. Though belonging to the humblest class,
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Speaker 1: an unlearned and hard working peasantry, the reforming, uplifting power
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Speaker 1: of divine grace was seen in their lives. Humble, loving
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Speaker 1: and holy, they stood as witnesses to what the Gospel
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Speaker 1: will accomplish for those who receive it in sincerity. The
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Speaker 1: light kindled at Mo shed its beams afar every day.
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Speaker 1: The number of converts was increasing. The rage of the
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Speaker 1: hierarchy was for a time held in check by the king,
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Speaker 1: who despised the narrow bigotry of the monks, but the
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Speaker 1: papal leaders finally prevailed. Now the stake was set up,
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Speaker 1: the Bishop of Mo, forced to choose between the fire
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Speaker 1: and recantation, accepted the easier path. But notwithstanding the leader's fall,
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Speaker 1: his flock remained steadfast. Many witnessed for the truth amid
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Speaker 1: the flames. By their courage and fidelity of the stake.
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Speaker 1: These humble Christians spoke to thousands who, in days of peace,
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Speaker 1: had never heard their testimony. It was not alone the
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Speaker 1: humble and the poor, that, amid suffering and scorn, dared
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Speaker 1: to bear witness for Christ. In the lordly halls of
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Speaker 1: the castle and the palace, there were kingly souls by
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Speaker 1: whom truth was valued above wealth, or rank, or even life.
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Speaker 1: Kingly armour concealed a loftier and more steadfast spirit than
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Speaker 1: did the bishop's robe and miter. Louis de Berquin was
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Speaker 1: of noble birth, a brave and courtly knight. He was
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Speaker 1: devoted to study, polished in manners and of blameless morals.
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Speaker 1: He was s as a writer, a great follower of
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Speaker 1: the papistocal constitutions, and a great hearer of masses and sermons.
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Speaker 1: And he crowned all his other virtues by holding Lutheranism
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Speaker 1: in special abhorrence. But like so many others, providentially guided
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Speaker 1: to the Bible, he was amazed to find there not
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Speaker 1: the doctrines of Rome, but the doctrines of Luther. Henceforth
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Speaker 1: he gave himself with entire devotion to the cause of
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Speaker 1: the Gospel. The most learned of the nobles of France.
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Speaker 1: His genius and eloquence, his indomitable courage and heroic zeal,
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Speaker 1: and his influence court, for he was a favorite with
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Speaker 1: the king, caused him to be regarded by many as
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Speaker 1: one destined to be the reformer of his country. Said
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Speaker 1: Beza Bercin would have been a second Luther had he
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Speaker 1: found in Francis the first a second elector. He is
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Speaker 1: worse than Luther, cried the Papists, more dreaded he was.
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Speaker 1: Indeed by the Romanists of France, they thrust him into
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Speaker 1: prison as a heretic, but he was set at liberty
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Speaker 1: by the king. For years, the struggle continued, Francis, wavering
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Speaker 1: between Rome and the Reformation, alternately tolerated and restrained the
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Speaker 1: fierce zeal of the monks. Bercin was three times in
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Speaker 1: prison by the papal authorities, only to be released by
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Speaker 1: the monarch, who, in admiration of his genius and his
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Speaker 1: nobility of character, refused to sacrifice him to the malice
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Speaker 1: of the hierarchy. Bercin was repeatedly warned of the danger
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Speaker 1: that threatened him in France, and urged to follow the
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Speaker 1: steps of those who had found safety in voluntary exile.
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Speaker 1: The timid and time serving Erasmus, who with all the
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Speaker 1: splendor of his scholarship, failed of that moral greatness which
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Speaker 1: holds life and honor subservient to truth, wrote to Berkin,
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Speaker 1: asked to be sent as ambassador to some foreign country.
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Speaker 1: Go and travel in Germany. Youno Beta, and such as
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Speaker 1: he he is a thousand headed monster, darting venom on
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Speaker 1: every side. Your enemies are named Legion. Were your cause
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Speaker 1: better than that of Jesus Christ, they will not let
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Speaker 1: you go till they have miserably destroyed you. Do not
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Speaker 1: trust too much to the King's protection at all events.
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Speaker 1: Do not compromise me with the faculty of theology. But
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Speaker 1: as dangers thickened, Bercan's zeal only waxed the stronger. So
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Speaker 1: far from adopting the politic and self serving counsel of Erasmus.
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Speaker 1: He determined, upon still bolder measures, he would not only
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Speaker 1: stand in defense of the truth, but he would attack error.
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Speaker 1: The charge of heresy which the Romanists were seeking to
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Speaker 1: fasten upon him. He would rivet upon them. The most
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Speaker 1: active and bitter of his opponents were the learned doctors
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Speaker 1: and monks of the Theological Department in the Great University
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Speaker 1: of Paris, one of the highest ecclesiastical authorities, both in
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Speaker 1: the city and the nation. From the writings of these doctors,
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Speaker 1: Barkin drew twelve propositions which he publicly declared to be
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Speaker 1: opposed to the Bible and heretical, and he appealed to
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Speaker 1: the King to act as judge in the controversy. The Monarch,
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Speaker 1: not loath to bring into contrast the power and acuteness
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Speaker 1: of the opposing champions, and glad of an opportunity of
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Speaker 1: humbling the pride of these haughty monks, bade the Romanists
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Speaker 1: defend their cause by the Bible. This weapon, they well knew,
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Speaker 1: would avail them little imprisonment, torture, and the stake were
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Speaker 1: arms which they better understood how to wield. Now the
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Speaker 1: tables were turned, and they saw themselves about to fall
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Speaker 1: into the pit into which they had hoped to plunge Barkin.
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Speaker 1: In amazement, they looked about them for some way of escape.
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Speaker 1: Just at that time, an image of the Virgin at
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Speaker 1: the corner of one of the streets was mutilated. There
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Speaker 1: was great excitement in the city. Crowds of people flocked
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Speaker 1: to the place with expressions of mourning and indignation. The
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Speaker 1: king also was deeply moved. Here was an advantage which
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Speaker 1: the monks could turn to good account, and they were
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Speaker 1: quick to improve it. These are the fruits of the
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Speaker 1: doctrines of Berkin, they cried. All is about to be overthrown, religion,
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Speaker 1: the laws, the throne itself by this Lutheran conspiracy. Again,
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Speaker 1: Berkin was apprehended, The king withdrew from Paris, and the
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Speaker 1: monks were thus left free to work their will. The
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Speaker 1: reformer was tried and condemned to die, and lest Francis
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Speaker 1: should even yet interpose to save him, the sentence was
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Speaker 1: executed on the very day it was pronounced. At noon,
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Speaker 1: Berkain was conducted to the place of death. An immense
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Speaker 1: throng gathered to witness the event, and there were many
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Speaker 1: who saw with astonishment and misgiving that the victim had
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Speaker 1: been chosen from the best and bravest of the noble
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Speaker 1: families of France. Amazement, indignation, scorn, and bitter hatred darkened
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Speaker 1: the faces of that surging crowd, But upon one face
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Speaker 1: no shadow rested. The Martyr's thoughts were far from that
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Speaker 1: scene of tumult. He was conscious only of the presence
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Speaker 1: of his lord, the wretched tumbrel upon which he rode,
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Speaker 1: the frowning faces of his persecutors, the dreadful death to
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Speaker 1: which he was going. These he heeded not he who
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Speaker 1: liveth and was dead, and is alive forevermore, and half
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Speaker 1: the keys of death and of hell was beside him.
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Speaker 1: Barkin's countenance was radiant with the light and peace of heaven.
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Speaker 1: He had attired himself in goodly raiment, wearing a cloak
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Speaker 1: of velvet, a doublet of satin and damask, and golden hose.
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Speaker 1: He was about to testify to his faith in presence
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Speaker 1: of the King of Kings and the witnessing universe, and
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Speaker 1: no token of mourning should belie his joy. As the
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Speaker 1: procession moved slowly through the crowded streets, the people marked
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Speaker 1: with wonder the unclouded peace. The joyous triumph of his
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Speaker 1: look and bearing. He is, they said, like one who
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Speaker 1: sits in a temple and meditates on holy things. At
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Speaker 1: the stake, Barkin endeavored to address a few words to
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Speaker 1: the people, but the monks, fearing the result, began to shout,
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Speaker 1: and the soldiers to clash their arms, and their clamor
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Speaker 1: drowned the martyr's voice. Thus, in fifteen twenty nine, the
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Speaker 1: highest literary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris set the
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Speaker 1: populace of seventeen ninety three, the base example of stifling
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Speaker 1: on the scaffold the sacred words of the dying Bearcin
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Speaker 1: was strangled and his body was consumed in the flames.
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Speaker 1: The tidings of his death caused sorrow to the friends
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Speaker 1: of the Reformation throughout France, but his example was not lost.
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Speaker 1: We too are ready, said the witnesses, for the truth
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Speaker 1: to meet death, cheerfully, setting our eyes on the life
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Speaker 1: that is to come. During the persecution at moh the
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Speaker 1: teachers of the Reformed faith were deprived of their license
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Speaker 1: to preach, and they departed to other fields. Lefevre, after
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Speaker 1: a time, made his way to Germany. Ferrell returned to
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Speaker 1: his native town in eastern France to spread the light
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Speaker 1: in the home of his childhood. All Ready tidings had
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Speaker 1: been received of what was going on at Moe, and
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Speaker 1: the truth, which he taught with fearless zeal, found listeners.
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Speaker 1: Soon the authorities were roused to silence him, and he
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Speaker 1: was banished from the city. Though he could no longer
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Speaker 1: labor publicly, he traversed the plains and villages, teaching in
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Speaker 1: private dwellings and in secluded meadows, and finding shelter in
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Speaker 1: the forests and among the rocky caverns which had been
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Speaker 1: his haunts and boyhood. God was preparing him for greater trials.
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Speaker 1: The crosses, persecutions, and machinations of Satan of which I
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Speaker 1: was forewarned, have not been wanting, he said. They are
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Speaker 1: even much severer than I could have borne of myself.
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Speaker 1: But God is my father. He has provided and always
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Speaker 1: will provide me the strength which I require. As an
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Speaker 1: apostolic days persecution had fallen out rather unto the furtherance
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Speaker 1: of the Gospel. Driven from Paris and mo they that
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Speaker 1: were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word, and thus
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Speaker 1: the light found its way into many of the remote
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Speaker 1: provinces of France. God was still preparing workers to extend
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Speaker 1: his cause. In one of the schools of Paris was
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Speaker 1: a thoughtful, quiet youth, already giving evidence of a powerful
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Speaker 1: and penetrating mind, and no less marked for the blamelessness
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Speaker 1: of his life than for intellectual ardor and religious devotion.
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Speaker 1: His genius and application soon made him the pride of
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Speaker 1: the college, and it was confidently anticipated that John Calvin
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Speaker 1: would become one of them, aiblest and most honored defenders
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Speaker 1: of the Church. But a ray of divine light penetrated
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Speaker 1: even within the walls of scholasticism and superstition by which
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Speaker 1: Calvin was in. He heard of the new doctrines as
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Speaker 1: a shudder, nothing doubting that the heretics deserved the fire
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Speaker 1: to which they were given. Yet all unwittingly he was
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Speaker 1: brought face to face with the heresy, and forced to
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Speaker 1: test the power of Romish theology to combat the Protestant teaching.
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Speaker 1: A cousin of Calvin's, who had joined the Reformers, was
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Speaker 1: in Paris. The two kinsmen often met and discussed together
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Speaker 1: the matters that were disturbing Christendom. There are but two
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Speaker 1: religions in the world, said Oliveton the Protestant. The one
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Speaker 1: class of religions are those which men have invented, in
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Speaker 1: all of which man saves himself by ceremonies and good works.
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Speaker 1: The other is that one religion which is revealed in
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Speaker 1: the Bible, and which teaches man to look for salvation
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Speaker 1: solely from the free grace of God. I will have
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Speaker 1: none of your new doctrines, exclaimed Calvin. Think you that
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Speaker 1: I have lived in error all my days. But thoughts
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Speaker 1: had been awakened in his mind which he could not
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Speaker 1: banish at will. Alone in his chamber, he pondered upon
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Speaker 1: his cousin's words. Conviction of sin fastened upon him. He
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Speaker 1: saw himself without an intercessor, in the presence of a
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Speaker 1: holy and just judge, the mediation of saints, good works,
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Speaker 1: the ceremonies of the church, all were powerless to atone
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Speaker 1: for sin. He could see before him nothing but the
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Speaker 1: blackness of eternal despair in vain. The doctors of the church,
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Speaker 1: endeavored to relieve his woe. Confession penance were resorted to
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Speaker 1: in vain. They could not reconcile the soul with God.
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Speaker 1: While still engaged in these fruitless struggles. Calvin, chancing one
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Speaker 1: day to visit one of the public squares, witnessed there
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Speaker 1: the burning of a heretic. He was filled with wonder
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Speaker 1: at the expression of peace which rested upon the martyrs
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Speaker 1: countenance amid the tortures of that dreadful death, and under
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Speaker 1: the more terrible condemnation of the church. He manifested a
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Speaker 1: faith and courage which the young student painfully contrasted with
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Speaker 1: his own despair and darkness while living in strictest obedience
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Speaker 1: to the Church. Upon the Bible, he knew the heretics
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Speaker 1: rested their faith. He determined to study it and discover,
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Speaker 1: if he could, the secret of their joy. In the Bible,
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Speaker 1: he found Christ, Oh Father. He cried, His sacrifice has
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Speaker 1: appeased thy wrath. His blood has washed away my impurities,
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Speaker 1: His cross has borne my curse. His death has atoned
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Speaker 1: for me. We had devised for ourselves many useless follies.
21:31
Speaker 1: But thou hast placed thy word before me like a torch,
21:34
Speaker 1: and thou hast touched my heart in order that I
21:37
Speaker 1: may hold an abomination all other merits save those of Jesus.
21:42
Speaker 1: Calvin had been educated for the priesthood when only twelve
21:46
Speaker 1: years of age, he had been appointed to the chaplaincy
21:48
Speaker 1: of a small church, and his head had been shorn
21:51
Speaker 1: by the bishop in accordance with the canon of the church.
21:54
Speaker 1: He did not receive consecration, nor did he fulfill the
21:57
Speaker 1: duties of a priest, but he became a member of
22:00
Speaker 1: the clergy, holding the title of his office, and receiving
22:03
Speaker 1: an allowance in consideration thereof Now, feeling that he could
22:08
Speaker 1: never become a priest, he turned for a time to
22:11
Speaker 1: the study of law, but finally abandoned this purpose and
22:15
Speaker 1: determined to devote his life to the Gospel. But he
22:18
Speaker 1: hesitated to become a public teacher. He was naturally timid
22:22
Speaker 1: and was burdened with a sense of the weighty responsibility
22:25
Speaker 1: of the position, and he desired still to devote himself
22:29
Speaker 1: to study. The earnest entreaties of his friends. However, at
22:34
Speaker 1: last won his consent. Wonderful it is, he said that
22:37
Speaker 1: one of so lowly an origin should be exalted to
22:40
Speaker 1: so great a dignity. Quietly did Calvin enter upon his work,
22:45
Speaker 1: and his words were as the jew falling to refresh
22:47
Speaker 1: the earth. He had left Paris and was now in
22:51
Speaker 1: a provincial town under the protection of the Princess Margaret, who,
22:55
Speaker 1: loving the Gospel, extended her protection to its disciples. Lalvin
23:00
Speaker 1: was still a youth of gentle unpretentious bearing. His work
23:04
Speaker 1: began with the people at their homes, surrounded by the
23:08
Speaker 1: members of the household. He read the Bible and opened
23:11
Speaker 1: the truths of salvation. Those who heard the message carried
23:15
Speaker 1: the good news to others, and soon the teacher passed
23:18
Speaker 1: beyond the city, to the outlying towns and hamlets. To
23:22
Speaker 1: both the castle and the cabin he found entrance, and
23:25
Speaker 1: he went forward, laying the foundation of churches that were
23:28
Speaker 1: to yield fearless witnesses for the truth. A few months
23:32
Speaker 1: and he was again in Paris. There was unwonted agitation
23:36
Speaker 1: in the circle of learned men and scholars. The study
23:40
Speaker 1: of the ancient languages had led men to the Bible,
23:43
Speaker 1: and many whose hearts were untouched by its truths were
23:45
Speaker 1: eagerly discussing them and even giving battle to the champions
23:49
Speaker 1: of Romanism. Calvin, though an able combatant in the fields
23:53
Speaker 1: of theological controversy, had a higher mission to accomplish than
23:57
Speaker 1: that of these noisy schoolmen. The minds of men were stirred,
24:01
Speaker 1: and now was the time to open to them the truth.
24:04
Speaker 1: While the halls of the universities were filled with the
24:07
Speaker 1: clamor of theological disputation, Calvin was making his way from
24:11
Speaker 1: house to house, opening the Bible to the people and
24:14
Speaker 1: speaking to them of Christ and him crucified. In God's providence,
24:19
Speaker 1: Paris was to receive another invitation to accept the Gospel.
24:23
Speaker 1: The call of le Fevre and Ferrell had been rejected,
24:27
Speaker 1: but again the message was to be heard by all
24:29
Speaker 1: classes in that great capital. The king, influenced by political considerations,
24:35
Speaker 1: had not yet fully sided with Rome against the Reformation.
24:39
Speaker 1: Margaret still clung to the hope that Protestantism was to
24:42
Speaker 1: triumph in France. She resolved that the Reformed faith should
24:46
Speaker 1: be preached in Paris during the absence of the king.
24:50
Speaker 1: She ordered a Protestant minister to preach in the churches
24:53
Speaker 1: of the city. This being forbidden by the papal dignitaries,
24:57
Speaker 1: the princess threw open the palace. An apartment was fitted
25:01
Speaker 1: up as a chapel, and it was announced that every day,
25:03
Speaker 1: at a specified hour, a sermon would be preached, and
25:06
Speaker 1: people of every rank and station were invited to attend,
25:10
Speaker 1: crowds flocked to the service. Not only the chapel, but
25:14
Speaker 1: the ante chambers and halls were thronged. Thousands every day,
25:19
Speaker 1: assembled nobles, statesmen, lawyers, merchants, and artisans. The King, instead
25:25
Speaker 1: of forbidding the assemblies, ordered that two of the churches
25:28
Speaker 1: of Paris should be opened. Never before had the city
25:31
Speaker 1: been so moved by the word of God. The spirit
25:34
Speaker 1: of life from heaven seemed to be breathed upon the people. Temperance, purity, order,
25:40
Speaker 1: and industry were taking the place of drunkenness, licentiousness, strife
25:44
Speaker 1: and idleness. But the hierarchy were not idle. The king
25:49
Speaker 1: still refused to interfere to stop the preaching, and they
25:52
Speaker 1: turned to the populace. No means were spared to excite
25:56
Speaker 1: the fears, the prejudices, and the fanaticism of the ignorant
25:59
Speaker 1: and superstition multitudes, yielding blindly to her false teachers, Paris,
26:05
Speaker 1: like Jerusalem of old, knew not the time of her
26:07
Speaker 1: visitation nor the things which belonged unto her peace. For
26:12
Speaker 1: two years, the Word of God was preached in the capital.
26:15
Speaker 1: But while there were many who accepted the gospel, the
26:17
Speaker 1: majority of the people rejected it. Francis had made a
26:21
Speaker 1: show of toleration merely to serve his own purposes, and
26:25
Speaker 1: the Papists succeeded in regaining the ascendancy again. The churches
26:29
Speaker 1: were closed and the stake was set up. Calvin was
26:33
Speaker 1: still in Paris, preparing himself by study, meditation and prayer
26:37
Speaker 1: for his future labors, and continuing to spread the light.
26:42
Speaker 1: At last, however, suspicion fastened upon him. The authorities determined
26:46
Speaker 1: to bring him to the flames. Regarding himself as secure
26:50
Speaker 1: in his seclusion, he had no thought of danger. When
26:53
Speaker 1: friends came hurrying to his room with the news that
26:55
Speaker 1: officers were on their way to arrest him. At the
26:59
Speaker 1: instant knocking was heard at the outer entrance, there was
27:03
Speaker 1: not a moment to be lost. Some of his friends
27:06
Speaker 1: detained the officers at the door, while others assisted the
27:09
Speaker 1: reformer to let himself down from a window, and he
27:12
Speaker 1: rapidly made his way to the outskirts of the city,
27:16
Speaker 1: finding shelter in the cottage of a laborer who was
27:18
Speaker 1: a friend to the reform, he disguised himself in the
27:21
Speaker 1: garments of his host, and, shouldering a hoe, started on
27:25
Speaker 1: his journey. Traveling southward, he again found refuge in the
27:29
Speaker 1: dominions of Margaret. Here for a few months he remained
27:34
Speaker 1: save under the protection of powerful friends, and engaged as
27:38
Speaker 1: before in study. But his heart was set upon the
27:41
Speaker 1: evangelization of France, and he could not long remain inactive.
27:46
Speaker 1: As soon as the storm had somewhat abated, he sought
27:48
Speaker 1: a new field of labor and poitiers, where there was
27:50
Speaker 1: a university, and where already the new opinions had found favor.
27:55
Speaker 1: Persons of all classes gladly listened to the gospel. There
27:59
Speaker 1: was no public preaching, but in the home of the
28:01
Speaker 1: Chief magistrate, in his own lodgings, and sometimes in a
28:05
Speaker 1: public garden, Calvin opened the words of Eternal Life to
28:08
Speaker 1: those who desired to listen. After a time, as the
28:13
Speaker 1: number of hearers increased, it was sought safer to assemble
28:16
Speaker 1: outside the city. A cave in the side of a
28:19
Speaker 1: deep and narrow gorge, where trees and overhanging rocks made
28:22
Speaker 1: the seclusion still more complete, was chosen as the place
28:26
Speaker 1: of meeting. Little companies leaving the city by different routes
28:30
Speaker 1: found their way hither. In this retired spot, the Bible
28:34
Speaker 1: was read and explained. Here the Lord's Supper was celebrated
28:38
Speaker 1: for the first time by the Protestants of France. From
28:41
Speaker 1: this little church, several faithful evangelists were sent out. Once more,
28:46
Speaker 1: Calvin returned to Paris. He could not even yet relinquish
28:51
Speaker 1: the hope that France as a nation would accept the Reformation,
28:55
Speaker 1: but he found almost every door of labor closed. To
28:58
Speaker 1: teach the gospel was to take the direct road to
29:00
Speaker 1: the stake, and he at last determined to depart to Germany.
29:05
Speaker 1: Scarcely had he left France when a storm burst over
29:07
Speaker 1: the Protestants. That had he remained, must surely have involved
29:11
Speaker 1: him in the general ruin. The French reformers, eager to
29:16
Speaker 1: see their country keeping pace with Germany and Switzerland, determined
29:19
Speaker 1: to strike a bold blow against the superstitions of Rome
29:23
Speaker 1: that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly, placards attacking the
29:28
Speaker 1: mass were in one night posted all over France. Instead
29:31
Speaker 1: of advancing the reform, this zealous but ill judged movement
29:35
Speaker 1: brought ruin not only upon its propagators, but upon the
29:38
Speaker 1: friends of the Reformed faith throughout France. It gave the
29:42
Speaker 1: Romanists what they had long desired a pretext for demanding
29:45
Speaker 1: the utter destruction of the heretics as agitators dangerous to
29:49
Speaker 1: the stability of the throne and the peace of the nation,
29:53
Speaker 1: by some secret hand, whether of indiscreet friend or wily foe,
29:56
Speaker 1: was never known. One of the placards was attached to
29:59
Speaker 1: the door the King's private chamber. The monarch was filled
30:03
Speaker 1: with horror. In this paper. Superstitions that had received the
30:07
Speaker 1: veneration of ages were attacked with an unsparing hand, and
30:11
Speaker 1: the unexampled boldness of obtruding these plain and startling utterances
30:15
Speaker 1: into the royal presence aroused the wrath of the king.
30:19
Speaker 1: In his amazement, he stood for a little time, trembling
30:22
Speaker 1: and speechless. Then his rage found utterance in the terrible words,
30:27
Speaker 1: let all be seized without distinction, who are suspected of lutherracy.
30:31
Speaker 1: I will exterminate them all. The die was cast. The
30:36
Speaker 1: King had determined to throw himself fully on the side
30:39
Speaker 1: of Rome. Measures were at once taken for the arrest
30:43
Speaker 1: of every Lutheran in Paris. A poor artisan, an adherent
30:47
Speaker 1: of the Reformed faith, who had been accustomed to summon
30:50
Speaker 1: the believers to their secret assemblies, was seized, and, with
30:53
Speaker 1: the threat of instant death at the stake, was commanded
30:55
Speaker 1: to conduct the papal emissary to the home of every
30:58
Speaker 1: Protestant in the city. He shrunk in horror from the
31:02
Speaker 1: base proposal, but at last fear of the flames prevailed,
31:05
Speaker 1: and he consented to become the betrayer of his brethren.
31:10
Speaker 1: Preceded by the host, and surrounded by a train of priests,
31:13
Speaker 1: incense bearers, monks and soldiers, Morin, the Royal Detective, with
31:17
Speaker 1: the traitor, slowly and silently, passed through the streets of
31:21
Speaker 1: the city. The demonstration was ostensibly in honor of the
31:24
Speaker 1: Holy Sacrament, an act of expiation for the insult put
31:28
Speaker 1: upon the mass by the protesters, But beneath this pageant
31:31
Speaker 1: a deadly purpose was concealed. On arriving opposite the house
31:35
Speaker 1: of a Lutheran, the betrayer made a sign, but no
31:38
Speaker 1: word was uttered. The procession halted, the house was entered,
31:42
Speaker 1: the family were dragged forth and chained, and the terrible
31:45
Speaker 1: company went forward in search of fresh victims. They spared
31:49
Speaker 1: no house great or small, not even the colleges of
31:52
Speaker 1: the University of Paris. Morin made all the city quake.
31:56
Speaker 1: It was a reign of terror. The vicarvictims were put
32:00
Speaker 1: to death with cruel torture, it being specially ordered that
32:03
Speaker 1: the fire should be lowered in order to prolong their agony.
32:07
Speaker 1: But they died as conquerors. Their constancy was unshaken, their
32:11
Speaker 1: peace unclouded, their persecutors powerless to move, their inflexible firmness,
32:17
Speaker 1: felt themselves defeated. The scaffolds were distributed over all the
32:21
Speaker 1: quarters of Paris, and the burnings followed on successive days,
32:25
Speaker 1: the design being to spread the terror of heresy by
32:28
Speaker 1: spreading the executions. The advantage, however, in the end, remained
32:33
Speaker 1: with the Gospel. All Paris was enabled to see what
32:36
Speaker 1: kind of men the new opinions could produce. There was
32:39
Speaker 1: no pulpit like the martyrs pile. The serene joy that
32:43
Speaker 1: lighted up the faces of these men as they passed
32:45
Speaker 1: along to the place of execution. Their heroism as they
32:49
Speaker 1: stood amid the bitter flames, their meek forgiveness of injuries,
32:53
Speaker 1: transformed in instances not a few anger into pity and
32:57
Speaker 1: hate into love, and pleaded with resistless eloquence in behalf
33:00
Speaker 1: of the gospel. The priests bent upon keeping the popular
33:05
Speaker 1: fury at its height, circulated the most terrible accusations against
33:09
Speaker 1: the Protestants. They were charged with plotting to massacre the Catholics,
33:13
Speaker 1: to overthrow the government, and to murder the king. Not
33:17
Speaker 1: a shadow of evidence could be produced in support of
33:19
Speaker 1: the allegations. Yet these prophecies of evil were to have
33:23
Speaker 1: a fulfillment under far different circumstances. However, and from causes
33:27
Speaker 1: of an opposite character, the cruelties that were inflicted upon
33:32
Speaker 1: the innocent Protestants by the Catholics accumulated in a weight
33:36
Speaker 1: of retribution, and in after centuries wrought the very doom
33:39
Speaker 1: they had predicted to be impending upon the King, his government,
33:43
Speaker 1: and his subjects. But it was brought about by infidels
33:46
Speaker 1: and by the Papists themselves. It was not the establishment,
33:51
Speaker 1: but the suppression of Protestantism, that three hundred years later
33:55
Speaker 1: was to bring upon France. These dire calamities, suspicion, distrust,
34:00
Speaker 1: and terror now pervaded all classes of society. Amid the
34:05
Speaker 1: general alarm, it was seen how deep behold the Lutheran
34:08
Speaker 1: teaching had gained upon the minds of men who stood
34:11
Speaker 1: highest for education, influence and excellence. Of character, positions of
34:16
Speaker 1: trust and honor were suddenly found vacant. Artisans, printers, scholars,
34:21
Speaker 1: professors in the universities, authors and even courtiers disappeared. Hundreds
34:27
Speaker 1: fled from Paris, self constituted exiles from their native land,
34:31
Speaker 1: in many cases thus giving the first intimation that they
34:33
Speaker 1: favored the Reformed faith. The papists looked about them in
34:38
Speaker 1: amazement at thought of the unsuspected heretics that had been
34:41
Speaker 1: tolerated among them. Their rage spent itself upon the multitudes
34:46
Speaker 1: of humbler victims who were within their power. The prisons
34:49
Speaker 1: were crowded, and the very air seemed darkened with the
34:52
Speaker 1: smoke of burning piles kindled for the confessors of the Gospel.
34:57
Speaker 1: Francis the First had gloried in being a leader in
34:59
Speaker 1: the great movement for the revival of learning which marked
35:02
Speaker 1: the opening of the sixteenth century. He had delighted to
35:06
Speaker 1: gather at his court men of letters from every country.
35:09
Speaker 1: To His love of learning, and his contempt for the
35:11
Speaker 1: ignorance and superstition of the monks was due in part
35:15
Speaker 1: at least the degree of toleration that had been granted
35:18
Speaker 1: to the reform but inspired with zeal to stamp out heresy.
35:23
Speaker 1: This patron of learning issued an edict declaring printing abolished
35:26
Speaker 1: all over France. Francis the first presents one among the
35:31
Speaker 1: many examples on record showing that intellectual culture is not
35:35
Speaker 1: a safeguard against religious intolerance and persecution. France, by a
35:40
Speaker 1: solemn and public ceremony, was to commit herself fully to
35:43
Speaker 1: the destruction of Protestantism. The priests demanded that the affront
35:47
Speaker 1: offered to high Heaven in the condemnation of the mass
35:50
Speaker 1: be expiated in blood, and that the King in behalf
35:54
Speaker 1: of his people publicly give his sanction to the dreadful work.
35:58
Speaker 1: The twenty first of January fifth, eighteen thirty five was
36:01
Speaker 1: fixed upon for the awful ceremonial. The superstitious fears and
36:05
Speaker 1: bigoted hatred of the whole nation had been roused. Paris
36:09
Speaker 1: was thronged with the multitudes that from all the surrounding
36:12
Speaker 1: country crowded her streets. The day was to be ushered
36:16
Speaker 1: in by a vast and imposing procession. The houses along
36:20
Speaker 1: the line of march were hung with morning drapery, and
36:23
Speaker 1: altars rose at intervals. Before every door was a lighted
36:27
Speaker 1: torch in honor of the Holy Sacrament before daybreak. The
36:32
Speaker 1: procession formed at the palace of the King. First came
36:35
Speaker 1: the banners and crosses of the several parishes. Next appeared
36:39
Speaker 1: the citizens, walking two and two and bearing torches. The
36:43
Speaker 1: four orders of Friars followed, each in its own peculiar dress.
36:47
Speaker 1: Then came a vast collection of famous relics. Following these
36:52
Speaker 1: rode lordly ecclesiastics in their purple and scarlet robes and
36:55
Speaker 1: jeweled adornings, a gorgeous and glittering array. The ghost was
37:00
Speaker 1: carried by the Bishop of Paris under a magnificent canopy,
37:04
Speaker 1: supported by four princes of the Blood. After the host
37:08
Speaker 1: walked the King, Francis, the first on that day, wore
37:11
Speaker 1: no crown nor robe of state, with head uncovered, his
37:15
Speaker 1: eyes cast on the ground, and in his hand a
37:17
Speaker 1: lighted taper. The King of France appeared in the character
37:20
Speaker 1: of a penitent. At every altar, he bowed down in humiliation,
37:25
Speaker 1: not for the vices that defiled his soul, nor the
37:28
Speaker 1: innocent blood that stained his hands, but for the deadly
37:31
Speaker 1: sin of his subjects, who had dared to condemn the mass.
37:35
Speaker 1: Following him came the Queen and the dignitaries of state,
37:39
Speaker 1: also walking two and two each with a lighted torch.
37:43
Speaker 1: As part of the services of the day. The Monarch
37:45
Speaker 1: himself addressed the high officials of the kingdom in the
37:48
Speaker 1: Great Hall of the Bishop's Palace. With a sorrowful countenance,
37:53
Speaker 1: he appeared before them, and in words of moving eloquence,
37:56
Speaker 1: bewailed the crime, the blasphemy, the day of sorrow and
37:59
Speaker 1: disgrace at a upon the nation, and he called upon
38:02
Speaker 1: every loyal subject to aid in the extirpation of the
38:05
Speaker 1: pestilent heresy that threatened France with ruin. As true, monsieur,
38:10
Speaker 1: as I am your king, he said, if I knew
38:12
Speaker 1: one of my own limbs spotted or infected with this
38:15
Speaker 1: detestable rottenness, I would give it you to cut off.
38:19
Speaker 1: And further, if I saw one of my children defiled
38:21
Speaker 1: by it, I would not spare him. I would deliver
38:24
Speaker 1: him up myself and would sacrifice him to God. Tears
38:28
Speaker 1: choked his utterance, and the whole assembly wept with one accord,
38:31
Speaker 1: exclaiming we will live and die for the Catholic religion.
38:35
Speaker 1: Terrible had become the darkness of the nation that had
38:38
Speaker 1: rejected the light of truth, the grace that bringeth salvation,
38:42
Speaker 1: had appeared. But France, after beholding its power and holiness,
38:46
Speaker 1: after thousands had been drawn by its divine beauty, after
38:50
Speaker 1: cities and hamlets had been illuminated by its radiance, had
38:53
Speaker 1: turned away, choosing darkness rather than light. They had put
38:58
Speaker 1: from them the heavenly gift when it was offered them.
39:01
Speaker 1: They had called evil good and good evil till they
39:04
Speaker 1: had fallen victims to their wilful self deception. Now though
39:08
Speaker 1: they might actually believe that they were doing God's service
39:11
Speaker 1: in persecuting as people, yet their sincerity did not render
39:15
Speaker 1: them guiltless. The light that would have saved them from deception,
39:19
Speaker 1: from staining their souls with blood, guiltiness they had wilfully rejected.
39:24
Speaker 1: A solemn oath to extirpate heresy was taken in the
39:27
Speaker 1: Great Cathedral, where, nearly three centuries later, the Goddess of
39:31
Speaker 1: Reason was to be enthroned by a nation that had
39:33
Speaker 1: forgotten the Living God. Again, the procession formed, and the
39:37
Speaker 1: representatives of France set out to begin the work which
39:40
Speaker 1: they had sworn to do. At short distances, scaffolds had
39:44
Speaker 1: been erected on which certain Protestant Christians were to be
39:47
Speaker 1: burned alive, and it was arranged that the fagots should
39:50
Speaker 1: be lighted at the moment the king approached, and that
39:52
Speaker 1: the procession should halt to witness the execution. The details
39:57
Speaker 1: of the tortures endured by these witnesses for christ a
40:00
Speaker 1: too harrowing for recital, but there was no wavering on
40:03
Speaker 1: the part of the victims. On being urged to recant,
40:07
Speaker 1: one answered, I only believe in what the prophets and
40:10
Speaker 1: the apostles formerly preached, and what all the company of
40:13
Speaker 1: Saints believed. My faith has a confidence in God which
40:17
Speaker 1: will resist all the powers of Hell. Again and again,
40:21
Speaker 1: the procession halted at the places of torture. Upon reaching
40:25
Speaker 1: their starting point at the Royal Palace, the crowd dispersed,
40:29
Speaker 1: and the King and the prelates withdrew well, satisfied with
40:31
Speaker 1: the day's proceedings, and congratulating themselves that the work now
40:35
Speaker 1: begun would be continued to the complete destruction of heresy.
40:39
Speaker 1: The Gospel of Peace, which France had rejected, was to
40:42
Speaker 1: be only too surely rooted out, and terrible would be
40:45
Speaker 1: the results. On the twenty first of January seventeen ninety three,
40:50
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty eight years from the very day
40:52
Speaker 1: that fully committed France to the persecution of the Reformers,
40:56
Speaker 1: another procession with a far different purpose, passed through the
40:59
Speaker 1: streets of pairs. Again the king was the chief figure.
41:03
Speaker 1: Again there were tumult and shouting. Again there was heard
41:06
Speaker 1: the cry for more victims. Again there were black scaffolds,
41:10
Speaker 1: and again the scenes of the day were closed by
41:12
Speaker 1: horrid executions. Louis the sixteenth, struggling hand to hand with
41:16
Speaker 1: his jailers and executioners, was dragged forward to the block
41:20
Speaker 1: and there held down by main force till the axe
41:22
Speaker 1: had fallen and his dissevered head rolled on the scaffold.
41:26
Speaker 1: Nor was the king the only victim near the same spot.
41:29
Speaker 1: Two thousand and eight hundred human beings perished by the
41:32
Speaker 1: guillotine during the bloody days of the Reign of Terror.
41:37
Speaker 1: The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible,
41:40
Speaker 1: unsealing the precepts of the law of God and urging
41:43
Speaker 1: its claims upon the consciences of the people. Infinite love
41:47
Speaker 1: had unfolded to men the statutes and principles of Heaven.
41:52
Speaker 1: God had said, keep therefore and do them. For this
41:55
Speaker 1: is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of
41:57
Speaker 1: the nations, which shall hear all these days statutes, and say,
42:01
Speaker 1: surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
42:06
Speaker 1: When France rejected the gift of Heaven, she sowed the
42:08
Speaker 1: seeds of anarchy and ruin, and the inevitable outworking of
42:12
Speaker 1: cause and effect resulted in the Revolution and the reign
42:16
Speaker 1: of terror. Long before the persecution excited by the Placards,
42:21
Speaker 1: the bold and ardent Ferrell had been forced to flee
42:23
Speaker 1: from the land of his birth. He repaired to Switzerland,
42:27
Speaker 1: and by his labors, seconding the work of Spingley, he
42:31
Speaker 1: helped to turn the scale in favor of the Reformation.
42:35
Speaker 1: His later years were to be spent here, yet he
42:37
Speaker 1: continued to exert a decided influence upon the Reform in France.
42:42
Speaker 1: During the first years of his exile, his efforts were
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Speaker 1: especially directed to spreading the Gospel in his native country.
42:50
Speaker 1: He spent considerable time in preaching among his countrymen near
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Speaker 1: the frontier, where, with tireless vigilance, he watched the conflict, and,
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Speaker 1: aided by his words of encouragement and with the assistance
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Speaker 1: of other exiles, the writings of the German reformers were
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Speaker 1: translated into the French language, and together with the French Bible,
43:09
Speaker 1: were printed in large quantities by coalporters. These works were
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Speaker 1: sold extensively in France. They were furnished to the coalporters
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Speaker 1: at a low price, and thus the prophets of the
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Speaker 1: work enabled them to continue it. Ferrell entered upon his
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Speaker 1: work in Switzerland in the humble guise of a schoolmaster.
43:28
Speaker 1: Repairing to a secluded parish, he devoted himself to the
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Speaker 1: instruction of children. Besides the usual branches of learning, he
43:36
Speaker 1: cautiously introduced the truths of the Bible, hoping through the
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Speaker 1: children to reach their parents. There were some who believed,
43:44
Speaker 1: but the priests came forward to stop the work, and
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Speaker 1: the superstitious country people were roused to oppose it. That
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Speaker 1: cannot be the Gospel of Christ, urged the priests, seeing
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Speaker 1: the preaching of it does not bring peace but war.
43:58
Speaker 1: Like the first Disciples, when secuted in one city, he
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Speaker 1: fled to another, from village to village, from city to city.
44:05
Speaker 1: He went, traveling on foot, enduring hunger, cold and weariness,
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Speaker 1: and everywhere in peril of his life. He preached in
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Speaker 1: the market places in the churches, sometimes in the pulpits
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Speaker 1: of the cathedrals. Sometimes he found the church empty of hearers.
44:21
Speaker 1: At times his preaching was interrupted by shouts and jeers.
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Speaker 1: Again he was pulled violently out of the pulpit. More
44:29
Speaker 1: than once he was set upon by the rabble and
44:31
Speaker 1: beaten almost to death. Yet he pressed forward, though often repulsed,
44:36
Speaker 1: with unwearying persistence, he returned to the attack, and one
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Speaker 1: after another he saw towns and cities which had been
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Speaker 1: strongholds of popery opening their gates to the Gospel. The
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Speaker 1: little parish where he had first labored soon accepted the
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Speaker 1: Reformed faith. The cities of Morat and New Chatel also
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Speaker 1: renounced the Romish rites and removed the idolatrous images from
44:59
Speaker 1: their churches. Farrell had long desired to plant the Protestant
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Speaker 1: standard in Geneva. If this city could be won, it
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Speaker 1: would be a center for the Reformation in France, in
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Speaker 1: Switzerland and in Italy. With this object before him, he
45:13
Speaker 1: had continued his labours until many of the surrounding towns
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Speaker 1: and hamlets had been gained. Then, with a single companion,
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Speaker 1: he entered Geneva, but only two sermons was he permitted
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Speaker 1: to preach. The priests, having vainly endeavored to secure his
45:29
Speaker 1: condemnation by the civil authorities, summoned him before an ecclesiastical council,
45:34
Speaker 1: to which they came with arms concealed under their robes,
45:37
Speaker 1: Determined to take his life. Outside the hall, a furious
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Speaker 1: mob with clubs and swords was gathered to make sure
45:44
Speaker 1: of his death if he should succeed in escaping the council.
45:48
Speaker 1: The presence of magistrates and an armed force, however, saved him.
45:52
Speaker 1: Early next morning, he was conducted with his companion across
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Speaker 1: the lake to a place of safety. Thus ended his
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Speaker 1: first effort to evangelized Geneva. For the next trial, a
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Speaker 1: lowlier instrument was chosen, a young man, so humble an
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Speaker 1: appearance that he was coldly treated even by the professed
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Speaker 1: friends of reform. But what could such a one do
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Speaker 1: where Farrell had been rejected, How could one of little
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Speaker 1: courage and experience withstand the tempest before which the strongest
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Speaker 1: and bravest had been forced to flee? Not by might
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Speaker 1: nor by power, but by my spirit saith. The Lord
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Speaker 1: God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
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Speaker 1: confound the things which are mighty. Because the foolishness of
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Speaker 1: God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God
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Speaker 1: is stronger than men. Fromont began his work as a schoolmaster.
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Speaker 1: The truths which he taught the children at school, they
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Speaker 1: repeated at their homes. Soon the parents came to hear
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Speaker 1: the Bible explained, until the schoolroom was filled with attentive listeners.
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Speaker 1: New testaments and tracts are freely distributed, and they reached
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Speaker 1: many who dared not come openly to listen to the
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Speaker 1: new doctrines. After a time, this laborer also was forced
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Speaker 1: to flee, but the truths he taught had taken hold
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Speaker 1: upon the minds of the people. The Reformation had been planted,
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Speaker 1: and it continued to strengthen and extend. The preachers returned,
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Speaker 1: and through their labours, the Protestant worship was finally established
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Speaker 1: in Geneva. The city had already declared for the Reformation
47:24
Speaker 1: when Calvin, after various wanderings and vicissitudes, entered its gates.
47:29
Speaker 1: Returning from the last visit to his birthplace, he was
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Speaker 1: on his way to Basel, when finding the direct road
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Speaker 1: occupied by the armies of Charles the Fifth, he was
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Speaker 1: forced to take the circuitous route by Geneva. In this visit,
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Speaker 1: Farrell recognized the hand of God. Though Geneva had accepted
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Speaker 1: the Reformed faith, yet a great work remained to be accomplished. Here.
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Speaker 1: It is not as communities, but as individuals that men
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Speaker 1: are converted to God. The work of regeneration must be
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Speaker 1: wrought in the heart and conscience by the power of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, not by the decrees of counsels. While
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Speaker 1: the people of Geneva had cast off the authority of Rome,
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Speaker 1: they were not so ready to renounce the vices that
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Speaker 1: had flourished under her rule. To establish here the pure
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Speaker 1: principles of the Gospel, and to prepare this people to
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Speaker 1: feel worthily the position to which Providence seemed calling them,
48:21
Speaker 1: was no like task. Thehareau was confident that he had
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Speaker 1: found in Calvin, one whom he could unite with himself
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Speaker 1: in this work. In the name of God. He solemnly
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Speaker 1: adjured the young evangelist to remain and labor here. Calvin
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Speaker 1: drew back an alarm. Timid and peace loving, he shrank
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Speaker 1: from contact with the bold, independent, and even violent spirit
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Speaker 1: of the Genoese. The feebleness of his health, together with
48:45
Speaker 1: his studious habits, led him to seek retirement, believing that
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Speaker 1: by his pen he could best serve the cause of reform.
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Speaker 1: He desired to find a quiet retreat for study, and
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Speaker 1: there through the press, instruct and build up the churches.
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Speaker 1: But Pharell's solemn admonition came to him as a call
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Speaker 1: from heaven, and he dared not refuse. It seemed to
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Speaker 1: him he said that the hand of God was stretched
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Speaker 1: down from heaven, that it lay hold of him, and
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Speaker 1: fixed him irrevocably to the place he was so impatient
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Speaker 1: to leave. At this time, great perils surrounded the Protestant cause.
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Speaker 1: The anathemas of the Pope thundered against Geneva, and mighty
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Speaker 1: nations threatened it with destruction. How was this little city
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Speaker 1: to resist the powerful hierarchy that had so often forced
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Speaker 1: kings and emperors to submission. How could it stand against
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Speaker 1: the armies of the world's great conquerors. Throughout Christendom, Protestantism
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Speaker 1: was menaced by formidable foes. The first triumphs of the
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Speaker 1: Reformation passed, Rome summoned new forces, hoping to accomplish its destruction.
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Speaker 1: At this time, the Order of the Jesuits was created.
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Speaker 1: The most cruel, unscrupulous and powerful of all the champions
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Speaker 1: of popery. Cut off from earthly ties and human interests,
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Speaker 1: dead to the claims of natural affection, reason and conscience,
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Speaker 1: wholly silenced, they knew no rule, no tie but that
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Speaker 1: of their order, and no duty but to extend its power.
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Speaker 1: The Gospel of Christ had enabled its adherents to meet
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Speaker 1: danger and endure suffering, undismayed by cold, hunger, toil, and poverty,
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Speaker 1: to uphold the banner of truth in the face of
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Speaker 1: the rack, the dungeon, and the stake. To combat these forces,
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Speaker 1: Jesuitism inspired its followers with a fanaticism that enabled them
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Speaker 1: to endure like dangers and to oppose to the power
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Speaker 1: of truth all the weapons of deception. There was no
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Speaker 1: crime too great for them to commit, no deception too
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Speaker 1: base for them to practice, no disguise too difficult for
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Speaker 1: them to assume. Vowed to perpetual poverty and humility, it
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Speaker 1: was their studied aim to secure wealth and power, to
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Speaker 1: be devoted to the overthrow of Protestantism and the re
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Speaker 1: establishment of the papal supremacy. When appearing as members of
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Speaker 1: their order, they wore a garb of sanctity. Visiting prisons
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Speaker 1: and hospitals, ministering to the sick and the poor, professing
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Speaker 1: to have renounced the world, and bearing the sacred name
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Speaker 1: of Jesus, who went about doing good. But under this
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Speaker 1: blameless exterior the most criminal and deadly purposes were often concealed.
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Speaker 1: It was a fundamental principle of the order that the
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Speaker 1: end justifies the means. By this code, lying, theft, perjury,
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Speaker 1: assassination were not only pardonable but commendable when they served
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Speaker 1: the interests of the Church. Under various disguises, the Jesuits
51:37
Speaker 1: worked their way into offices of state, climbing up to
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Speaker 1: be the councilors of kings and shaping the policy of nations.
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Speaker 1: They became servants to act as spies upon their masters.
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Speaker 1: They established colleges for the sons of princes and nobles,
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Speaker 1: and schools for the common people, and the children of
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Speaker 1: Protestant parents were drawn into an observance of Popish rites,
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Speaker 1: all the eyes outward. Pomp and display of the Romish
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Speaker 1: worship was brought to bear to confuse the mind and
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Speaker 1: dazzle and captivate the imagination, and thus the liberty for
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Speaker 1: which the fathers had toiled and blood was betrayed. By
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Speaker 1: the Sons. The Jesuits rapidly spread themselves over Europe, and
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Speaker 1: wherever they went there followed a revival of popery. To
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Speaker 1: give them greater power. A bull was issued re establishing
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Speaker 1: the Inquisition, notwithstanding the general abhorrence with which it was
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Speaker 1: regarded even in Catholic countries. This terrible tribunal was again
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Speaker 1: set up by popish rulers, and atrocities too terrible to
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Speaker 1: bear the light of day were repeated in its secret
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Speaker 1: dungeons in many countries. Thousands upon thousands of the very
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Speaker 1: flower of the nation, the purest and noblest, the most
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Speaker 1: intellectual and highly educated, pious and devoted pastors, industrious and
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Speaker 1: patriotic citizens, brilliant scholars, talented artists, skillful artisans were slain
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Speaker 1: or forced to flee to other lands. Such were the
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Speaker 1: means which Rome had invoked to quench the light of
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Speaker 1: the Reformation, to withdraw from men the Bible, and to
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Speaker 1: restore the ignorance and superstition of the dark ages. But
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Speaker 1: under God's blessing and the labors of those noble men
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Speaker 1: whom he had raised up to succeed Luther, Protestantism was
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Speaker 1: not overthrown, not to the favor or arms of princes.
53:20
Speaker 1: Was it to oa it's strength. The smallest countries, the
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Speaker 1: humblest and least powerful nations, became its strongholds. It was
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Speaker 1: little Geneva in the midst of mighty foes plotting her destruction.
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Speaker 1: It was Holland on her sand banks by the Northern Sea,
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Speaker 1: wrestling against the tyranny of Spain, then the greatest and
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Speaker 1: most opulent of kingdoms. It was bleak, sterile Sweden that
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Speaker 1: gained victories for the Reformation. For nearly thirty years, Calvin
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Speaker 1: labored at Geneva, first to establish there a church adhering
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Speaker 1: to the morality of the Bible, and then for the
53:54
Speaker 1: advancement of the Reformation throughout Europe. His course as a
53:58
Speaker 1: public leader was not faultless, nor were his doctrines free
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Speaker 1: from error. But he was instrumental in promulgating truths that
54:05
Speaker 1: were of special importance in his time, in maintaining the
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Speaker 1: principles of Protestantism against the fast returning tide of popery,
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Speaker 1: and in promoting in the Reformed churches simplicity and purity
54:16
Speaker 1: of life in place of the pride and corruption fostered
54:19
Speaker 1: under the Romish teaching from Geneva, publications and teachers went
54:24
Speaker 1: out to spread the reformed doctrines. To this point, the
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Speaker 1: persecuted of all lands looked for instruction, counsel, and encouragement.
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Speaker 1: The city of Calvin became a refuge for the hunted
54:35
Speaker 1: reformers of all Western Europe. Fleeing from the awful tempests
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Speaker 1: that continued for centuries, the fugitives came to the gates
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Speaker 1: of Geneva, starving, wounded, bereffed of home and kindred. They
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Speaker 1: were warmly welcomed and tenderly cared for, and finding a
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Speaker 1: home here, they blessed the city of their adoption by
54:54
Speaker 1: their skill, their learning, and their piety. Many who sought
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Speaker 1: here a refuge return to their own countries to resist
55:01
Speaker 1: the tyranny of Rome. John Knox, the brave Scot reformer,
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Speaker 1: not a few of the English Puritans, the Protestants of
55:09
Speaker 1: Holland and of Spain, and the Huguenots of France, carried
55:12
Speaker 1: from Geneva the torch of truth to lighten the darkness
55:16
Speaker 1: of their native lands. End of Chapter twelve