A year after Luther's translation of
the New Testament into German; Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples published
the New Testament in the French language. Lefevre's translation of
the New Testament was published in 1523 two years prior to
Tyndale's English translation. By 1530, the whole Bible was available
and became known as the Antwerp Bible. Pierre
Robert Olivetan published another translation in 1535 which was revived
in 1557 and became the basis for the Geneva Bible.
In 1534, John Calvin, a French
Protestant, was twenty-five when he met with his cousin Robert
Olivetan and Lefevre – translator of the Bible. After leaving the
Roman church in Noyon, France, he was briefly put into prison.
Assuming a disguise, Calvin chose to live in Paris upon his release
from prison and worshiped secretly in homes and wooded groves
utilizing passwords. He eventually fled to Germany and then to Geneva
which is situated near Lake Leman in Switzerland.
Geneva, Switzerland officially voted to
become Protestant as a result of the preaching and influence of
Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli became the founder of the Protestant movement
in Switzerland while Luther founded the Protestant church in
Germany. Zwingli served as chaplain to the Swiss army. Tragically, he
died in a battle in 1531.
Calvin wrote his infamous Institutes
of Christian Religion in 1536.
The Council of Geneva ordered John Calvin to do something which he
felt he could not obey without violating his conscience. He was
banished from Geneva upon which he traveled to Strasbourg where he
became the pastor of a congregation which was comprised of French
refugees. He continued to pastor the church in Strasbourg for three
years and met a French refugee named Idelette whom he married.
Calvin
was invited by the Council to return to Geneva in 1541 where he
authored “Ecclesiastical Ordinances” The
Ecclesiastical Ordinances included policies for physical health,
safety of citizenry, education, sanitation requirements, and policies
for jails.
Rosalie
Slater states in her work “Teaching and Learning
America's Christian History”
“No writing of the Reformation era was more feared by Roman Catholics, more zealously fought against and more hostilely pursued, than Calvin's Institutes.”
J. H.
Merle d'Aubigne wrote in his History of the Reformation:
“The renovation of the individual, of the church, and of the human race, is his theme...”
“The reformation of the sixteenth century restored to the human race what the middle ages had stolen from them; it delivered them from the traditions, laws, and despotism of the papacy; it put an end to the minority and tutelage in which Rome claimed to keep mankind forever; and by calling upon man to establish his faith not on the words of a priest, but on the infallible Word of God, and by announcing to every one free access to the Father through the new and saving way – Jesus Christ, it proclaimed and brought about the hour of Christian manhood.”
“An explanation is, however, necessary. There are philosophers in our days who regard Christ as simply the apostle of political liberty. These men should learn that, if they desire liberty outwardly, they must first possess it inwardly...”
“There are, no doubt, many countries, especially among those which the sun of Christianity has not yet illuminated, that are without civil liberty, and that groan under the arbitrary rule of powerful masters. But, in order to become free outwardly, man must first succeed in being free inwardly...
“The liberty which the Truth brings is not for individuals only; it affects the whole of society. Calvin's work of renovation, in particular, which was doubtless first of all an internal work, was afterwards destined to exercise a great influence over nations.”
The citizens of Geneva, through
Calvin's encouragement,worked hard to make their city a model of
Biblical government.
Calvin established the first Protestant
university known as the Geneva Academy. Theodore Beza became the
rector of the academy. Geneva became a haven for French Huguenots
seeking refuge from the tyranny in France. Furthermore, it became a
refuge and haven for Protestants throughout Europe. Geneva became a
training center for French Huguenots and European protestants seeking
refuge. Huguenot is a German
word which means “Confederate.”
The Huguenots
experienced severe oppression and persecution but continued to thrive
until 1553. In 1553, five Huguenots were burned at the stake. This
event actually failed in the attempt to quench the Protestant
movement in France. Within four years a third of all Frenchmen
(300,000) were Protestants.
After two years passed, a Confession
of Faith of the Reformed Churches was
composed by a national synod meeting in Paris. Consequently, the Pope
issued an edict which made reading the Bible illegal!
Three
years would pass and in 1562 the number of Protestant Churches grew
from 300 to 2000 throughout France. The French Huguenots formed a
political alliance to protect their religious freedom because of
severe violations against their freedom of worship.
30,000
Protestants were massacred as they worshiped on St. Bartholomew's Day
in 1572. The French Huguenots became convinced of the need to defend
themselves by force if necessary. The Biblical foundation of their
position was articulated in Vindicae Contra Tyrannos
(A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants)
which was published in1579. It is believed that Philippe DuPlessis
Mornay was the author of Vindicae. His
reasoning was drawn from the wellspring of Calvin's writings. The
document also became a precedent for the American colonists during
the American War for Independence.
France
was plunged into civil war between Protestants and Catholics and
finally ended with the Edict of Toleration of 1598. The
edict guaranteed both political and religious freedom to certain
partitioned areas of France.
J. H.
Merle d'Aubigne declared:
“Lastly, Calvin was the founder of the greatest of republics. The pilgrims who left their country in the reign of James I and, landing on the barren shores of New England, founded populous and mighty colonies, are his sons, his direct and legitimate sons; and that American nation which we have seen growing so rapidly boasts as its father the humble reformer on the shores of the Leman.”
An old
Huguenot song proclaims:
“Spirit who made them live, awaken their children, so that they may know how to follow them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment