Principles of Protestantism

The root word of Protestantism is protest, which means “to express strong dissent or objection.” Do Protestants today know the protest of their forefathers? Are Protestants today still standing in protest? During the Reformation, our forefathers stood for and died for the principles of Protestantism. Can you do the same? Do you know the principles of Protestantism?

The Bible alone is the foundation of faith

Protestants took the position that the Bible, and the Bible alone, constituted the rule of faith and doctrine, that the word of God is the only unerring guide for human souls, and that it is unnecessary and harmful to take the words of priests and prelates instead of the word of God. The Bible alone is the religion of true Protestantism.

All men may read and understand the Bible

The Protestant Reformers believed that the Bible was written for all mankind, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, everyone could read and understand God’s Word.

Truth is progressive — Accept all new truth

Protestant Reformers believed that truth is progressive, and all should be ready to accept new light as it shines from God’s Word.

“The Puritans had joined themselves together by a solemn covenant, as the Lord’s free people, ‘to walk together in all His ways made known or to be made known to them.’…Here was the true spirit of reform, the vital principle of Protestantism.…John Robinson…said: ‘Brethren, . . I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry; for I am very confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy word.’.…‘Remember your church covenant, in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the Lord, made or to be made known unto you. Remember your promise and covenant with God and with one another, to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you from His written word; but withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive for truth, and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it; for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.’”
The Great Controversy
, 291, 292.

Church has no authority against the Scriptures

“In the presence of the monarch and the leading men of Sweden, Olaf Petri with great ability defended the doctrines of the reformed faith against the Romish champions. He declared that the teachings of the Fathers are to be received only when in accordance with the Scriptures. …Christ said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me’ (John 7:16); and Paul declared that should he preach any other gospel than that which he had received, he would be accursed (Galatians 1:8). ‘How, then,’ said the Reformer, ‘shall others presume to enact dogmas at their pleasure, and impose them as things necessary to salvation?’…He showed that the decrees of the church are of no authority when in opposition to the commands of God, and maintained the great Protestant principle that ‘the Bible and the Bible only’ is the rule of faith and practice.” Ibid.,243.

Stood for freedom of speech

The Reformers believed in the right to teach and preach their convictions of truth. They denied the power of the church to try to control what they could preach.

Freedom to worship according to your conscience

The Protestant Reformers believed all men have the right to freedom of conscience, the freedom for all to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience.

Protesting the Principles of Rome

Bible interpreted by the leaders

“The mistake made by the Roman Catholic is that he reads the Bible in the light of the priests and rulers of the church, the early fathers, or other Catholic expositors.” Review and Herald, August 13, 1859.The Roman Church reserves to the clergy the right to interpret the Scriptures.” On the ground that ecclesiastics alone are competent to explain God’s word, it is withheld from the common people.” The Great Controversy,596.

Human traditions above the commands of God

“The spirit of the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commands of God,—is permeating the Protestant churches…” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 390.

Rome’s plans reach far into the future

“The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation.” Signs of the Times, June 30, 1898.

Rome will use oppression to further it’s cause

“It was a fundamental principle of the [Jesuit] order that the end justifies the means. By this code, lying, theft, perjury, assassination, were not only pardonable but commendable, when they served the interests of the church.” The Great Controversy, 235.

Rome never changes

“It is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church.” Ibid., 581.

America, a Protestant Nation

America was founded upon religious freedom. Many of our forefathers came to the shores of America fleeing from Roman oppression.

Fleeing from Papal religious intolerance

“Those who first found an asylum on the shores of America rejoiced that they had reached a country free from the arrogant claims of popery and the tyranny of kingly rule. They determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Signs of the Times, November 1, 1899.

Government founded on Religious Liberty

“Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’…Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. The Great Controversy,441.

Our greatest fear is to forget the past

Have Protestants forgotten the cruelty of Roman oppression, the slaughter of thousands of Christians? Have Protestants forgotten that Rome never changes? She may work in secret, but her plan is still the same—to take control of government power and rule with oppression. Take a look at a very recent Apostolic letter (decree) from Pope John Paul II, given May 28, 1998, and instituted into the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.

“Canon 1436:

  1. Whoever denies a truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or who calls into doubt, or who totally repudiates the Christian faith, and does not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished as a heretic or an apostate with a major excommunication; a cleric moreover can be punished with other penalties, not excluding deposition.
  2. In addition to these cases, whoever obstinately rejects a teaching that the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops, exercising the authentic Magisterium, have set forth to be held definitively, or who affirms what they have condemned as erroneous, and does not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished with an appropriate penalty.”

It is now time for Protestant churches to take a stand, before it is too late, and protest any concessions with Rome or Roman principles.

The greatest fear of the future is to forget the past.

Will the Real Seventh-day Adventist Protestant Please Stand Up?

Seven score and eighteen years ago our pioneers brought forth, line upon line, our distinctive message for the sole purpose of fulfilling a mission by manifesting it to the world. We are now at a crossroads, a fork, a great divide, attesting whether or not the Second Advent Movement will withstand in the hallowed footsteps of its founders.

“I was shown three steps—the First, Second, and Third Angels’ Messages. Said my accompanying angel, ‘Woe to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received.’ I was again brought down through these messages, and saw how dearly the people of God had purchased their experience. It had been obtained through much suffering and severe conflict.” Early Writings, 258, 259.

Dedicated to the Work

Our brave predecessors struggled against all odds. We may long forget what we do, but we can never forget what they did, what God did through them, for us! Those courageous pioneers now dead, struggled for us, so that we could be dedicated to the great task of completing the work that they started.

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” Revelation 14:13.

It has been said that all a man hath will he give for his life. While we are required to contribute our substance, these honored dead gave their lives and devotion to our cause. The greater merits are due to them, and we should be highly determined that these shall not have died in vain.

“God had led them along step by step, until He had placed them upon a solid, immovable platform. I saw individuals approach the platform and examine the foundation. Some with rejoicing immediately stepped upon it. Others commenced to find fault with the foundation. They wished improvements made, and then the platform would be more perfect, and the people much happier. Some stepped off the platform to examine it and declared it to be laid wrong.” Early Writings, 259.

We expect to maintain this task come what may. Whether we triumph or are conquered, through life or death, come rain or shine, whether men embrace or forsake us, it must be well understood, once and for all, that we will not surrender or turn away from our stern purpose in making known our old, historical, timely, beloved messages to the world.

Proclaiming the Final Invitation

We urge you again, we admonish you not to let go but to be steadfast and do all you can do, which is your duty as well. It is your business to rise up and preserve this work. Do it for yourselves. Do it for your Lord. Do it for those that are still in Babylon, to whom the Lord declares, “Come out of her, My People.” Revelation 18:4. Let us readopt our mission, and together, let us harmonize with it. Let all Seventh-day Adventists, lovers of the Three Angels’ Messages, join in this great and marvelous work.

If we do this, we will not only save souls, but we will save ourselves and fulfill our destiny by proclaiming the final invitation from God to this dying world. The millions and millions of celestial inhabitants, and the holy people in the world made new, shall rise up and call us blessed, for we labor in the final era of the plan of salvation.

For now, this unpopular work must continue. The cause of God must not be surrendered, even though there may be one or a hundred obstacles.

Do Not Falter

So many find fault with our course of action, which can sometimes bring sorrow. Yet it is a perfect certainty that if we stick to our resolution, if we do not falter or give up, one day, very soon, God will turn all our sorrow into everlasting joy. We would be most happy indeed if we could be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, by perpetuating the real issues of the great controversy.

We must never remain silent. It is the eternal struggle between the two principles, right and wrong, that we endeavor to proclaim. These are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and have ever continued to struggle. In your hands, my fellow Adventist, is the momentous issue of the great controversy. Get involved. When you do, you will be assailed. You will be in conflict. You will meet with aggressors, but you will be registered in heaven as a co-laborer with God. Heaven will guide, preserve, protect, and defend your efforts.

My fellow Adventists, we are not enemies. We must not become enemies. Though many difficulties may have strained our bonds of fellowship, let it not affect our bonds of affections. The same Spirit that leads in every mission, every battlefield, whether past or present, will yet swell in our hearts again.

Kiss the Protestants Good-bye

“Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years.” The Great Controversy, 563.

“It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant countries that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times. There has been a change; but the change is not in the papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists. . . . Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her.” Ibid., 571, 572.

“The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. . . . Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery.” Ibid., 565, 566.

We, as Seventh-day Adventists, have already seen what has happened to Protestantism today. There was a time when Protestants would protest all the corrupt practices of apostate churches and promote true, biblical Christianity. By this unholy union with Rome, we shall see how Protestants have ceased to be what they once were. Rome has perpetuated a change, a “liberation” of the Protestants. This was accomplished through Vatican II. Adventists have seen this and know this to be true, so why do we believe that, if we do the same thing, somehow we cannot be affected in the same way? Why, then, should Seventh-day Adventists make compromises and concessions with ecumenical Babylon? We would be very foolish to do this, knowing what the consequences would be. It would be appropriate for us to review how this change has taken place and to review our Protestant-Christian heritage.

One “Catholic” Church

Soon after Christ’s ascension into Heaven, churches began to appear. In the New Testament, the word church means an assembly or body of people. The first Christian church was in Jerusalem. Most of its members, if not all, were Jews who had accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. As the disciples of Christ began to carry the gospel to the Gentile nations, there were many churches established. Even though there were several churches started, God looked down from heaven and saw only one church made up of all true Christians.

The term catholic, which means universal or one, was used to describe the great church of all believers. The idea of a catholic church was gradually accepted to mean a single, visible, large, organized church for all Christians. Perhaps their motives were at first innocent—a desire to unite all believers (which Christ had taught) and to defend Christian beliefs, but the visible catholic church soon began to distort and change Christianity.

In time, the organization of the churches had changed. Bishops had come to the forefront and had become very powerful. A single bishop ruled several churches. The bishops tried to maintain and to justify their supremacy in the church by the idea of apostolic succession. They said that the apostles were the guardians of the gospel. Instead of emphasizing the New Testament as the Christians’ permanent link to the apostles, they claimed that the apostles had appointed bishops as their successors. They also claimed that these successors had, in turn, appointed successors of their own and that much, if not all, of the authority of the apostles had, therefore, been passed down in an unbroken line to the bishops of this day. During the first century, the bishops of Rome began using the scripture to support the Petrine theory, that Christ made Peter the head of the Catholic Church, and that Peter passed his power to the bishop of Rome. Yet, the Bible never shows Peter acting as if he were the head of the church nor does it refer to Peter as the church foundation.

The Petrine theory permitted the supremacy of the church in Rome to emerge, resulting in the idea of the Roman Catholic papacy that the bishop of the Church of Rome is supreme over all churches. The bishop of Rome, eventually called the pope, meaning papa or father, began to rule the Catholic Church as supreme ruler or king.

The Reformation

The word reformation is a term that describes the fragmentation of the Roman Catholic Church during the Sixteenth Century. Several Christian groups rose up to protest the way the established Roman church was distorting the truth and denying people access to the Word of God. Bible-believing Christians protested the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church and at first sought to reform the church, restoring it to the authority of the Scriptures, rather than to withdraw from it. The followers of this movement were called Protestants. By the 1530s all of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and much of Germany, Austria, and France had severed their ties with Rome. The Protestant Reformation so shook the Roman church that the pope soon responded with the Counter-Reformation. The main objectives were to prevent any more Catholics from becoming Protestants and to force Protestants back into the Roman fold. The Counter-Reformation put life into the Inquisition. Throughout Europe, the Inquisition used torture and terror to destroy Protestantism.

Babylonian Captivity of the Church

Most of the Protestants compared the pope to ancient Babylon, which had taken the Chosen People captive. They declared that the pope held the church in captivity by his distortions of Biblical Christianity. They believed in the freedom of the Christian. They declared that one thing, and one thing alone, is necessary for life, justification, and Christian liberty. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Protestants said nothing new; they simply revealed that what the Catholic Church had put between man and Christ was a distortion of the Word of God. They only tried to restate the Bible and restore the authority of the Scriptures to men’s lives. The work of the Reformation resulted in the formation of the first Protestant churches. Roman Catholic doctrines and practices incompatible with the gospel of Christ were rejected. The sermon came to occupy a central place in public worship; in it the preacher exposed sin and then proclaimed forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ through faith in the gospel. The formation of these Independent-Protestant churches completed the breach with Rome. In spite of intense persecution from Rome, the newly formed Protestant churches continued to greatly influence the world.

Second Vatican Council and the Ecumenical Developments

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) brought about enormous changes to the Catholic Church. Vatican II produced 16 council documents in all. During the third session of 1964, The Decree on Ecumenism was produced. The decree describes the ecumenical movement as one of seeking Christian unity.

We know, from Bible prophecy (Revelation 13), that the decree on ecumenism is really an attempt to destroy the Protestant Spirit and to bring Protestants back to the already existing unity of the Roman Catholic Church.

Protestants once taught that the Roman Catholic Church was the whore and beast of Revelation 17. During the Reformation there were men like Martin Luther, John Knox, and John Calvin; and then you had the great preachers like Moody, Finney, Spurgeon and so on. They all believed the same thing—that the papacy was the anti-Christ. It wasn’t until lately, after Vatican II, that things have changed.

Liberals, Moderates, and Conservative Protestantism

In the past, when a person professed to be a Protestant Christian, this meant that they identified their theological beliefs by the list shown on page 7. But recently, after Vatican II, Protestants are finding themselves internally divided. Protestants today talk about the existence of two Christian religions. They are not referring to a split between Roman Catholics and Protestants, as in the past, but rather a division among the Protestant denominations. The terms, such as fundamentalist, conservative, evangelical, mainline, modernist, and liberal, all refer to Protestants today.

Religious conservatives and fundamentalists are viewed negatively, as overly strict on moral issues, close-minded, intolerant of other religious views, fanatical about their beliefs, too harsh, too much emphasis placed on guilt or sin, too concerned about their own salvation, and too rigid and simplistic. Many people would not like to have them as neighbors.

Liberals, mainline, and modernists are viewed as substituting social concerns for the true Gospel, too compromising with the world, morally loose, having a shallow knowledge of the Bible, and influenced too much by the world. The chart on the previous page spells out some of the differences between liberals and conservatives. Moderates fall somewhere in between.

Roman Catholic leaders have been trying to accelerate a change in the Protestant churches. They call it the modernization of the church. Vatican II is responsible for changes within Protestantism. The Roman church is trying to liberate (called liberation theology) Christians from fundamentalism. Rome’s objective is complete—Keep the Protestants fighting among themselves so that they are not protesting.

Protestants must wake up. Romanism, as a system, is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her history. (See The Great Controversy, 566.) Does this mean our fight is with the Roman Catholic people who have been betrayed by their leaders? No! Our job is to rip that mask off her face, and let Roman Catholics and Protestants see that to which they are really tied. They have to be set free. They have to find Christ as the answer. It is not Mary and the rest of the unscriptural practices that will save them. It is our job to win them to the truth.

Protestants are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. Liberalism and modernism (New Theology) have taken over Protestantism and have even made their way into the ranks of Seventh-day Adventism. Historic Seventh-day Adventists must proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages, the only remedy for this spiritual disease that plagues this world. Catholics and Protestants must wake up! They can only do so by the faithful missionary efforts of the true, Protestant-historic Seventh-day Adventists.

“We are not to cringe, and beg pardon of the world for telling them the truth. We should scorn concealment. Unfurl your true colors to the gaze of men and angels. Let it be understood that Seventh-day Adventists can make no compromise.” Review and Herald, January 31, 1893.

Seventh-day Adventists should never apologize to Rome for the Three Angels’ Messages. Rome should apologize and repent for what it has done. We are not out to please pastors, churches, or denominations. The truth is worth everything, and we must be willing to share it regardless of the opposition. It is worth enduring persecution, when it is for the truth’s sake. But how do we expect to stand for the truth during the terrible crisis that is before us, when we have been compromising, acting political with the truth, and apologizing to Rome? Why do we keep deceiving ourselves?

“The persecutions of Protestants by Romanism, by which the religion of Jesus Christ was almost annihilated, will be more than rivaled when Protestantism and popery are combined.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 239.

“Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the papacy; by a national act enforcing the false sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience.” Signs of the Times, June 12, 1893.

The fields are ripe for the harvest now! It is now time to go forward with the work and win precious souls for Christ. God bless you; may you “Prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:12.

Prophecies on God’s Church in the End Time, Part II

The following quotation is one that many Adventists do not want to apply to themselves. They look only to the other churches, applying the warning to them: “I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these [Three Angels’] messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.” Early Writings, 261.

Does that apply to Adventists today? Can we crucify Christ today? When Ellen White compares the crucifixion of Christ with the crucifixion of the Three Angels’ Messages, she describes an undermining of the Word by those who were aiming to destroy the fundamental beliefs of Adventism. God gave His people warning messages. It is Satan’s aim to destroy the sanctuary message and the Three Angels’ Messages.

An Effective Tool

Organization is good. It is a tool for the church, but the organization itself is not the church. Ellen White wrote of this and of Satan’s aim concerning the Adventist organization: “As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization there would be great confusion, and the work would not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable. . . .

“We sought the Lord with earnest prayer that we might understand His will, and light was given by His Spirit that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church—that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law of God’s people on the earth.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 26.

“Oh, how Satan would rejoice to get in among this people and disorganize the work at a time when thorough organization is essential and will be the greatest power to keep out spurious uprisings and to refute claims not endorsed by the word of God!” Ibid., 228.

“Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God.” Ibid., 494. Satan’s methods are practiced even among Seventh-day Adventists who claim to have the advantage of truth.

This danger was already visible in Ellen White’s time! Many Seventh-day Adventists do not recognize that Satan already works through the organization of the Seventh-day Adventists, but he has a very effective tool in his hand. He can bring men under the control of other men.

Fallen Preachers

Ellen White warns us of fallen leaders and preachers, for through their influence whole churches have been and will be defiled. “If those who hold positions of trust in connection with our institutions, or in connection with the church, make self first, if their hands are defiled in any way, and they do not reflect in character the image of the divine One, they are bodies of darkness.” Review and Herald, February 27, 1894.

“We are in a day when iniquity abounds. There are those who have but little moral sense; self-pollution has been practiced, and the moral powers are benumbed. Such have no just sense of holiness or purity. They are corrupt, and will corrupt others. Miserable wrecks of humanity are everywhere. Some put on a religious garb; but the soul is defiled, and they corrupt other minds. They call evil good, and good evil. They are Satan’s most efficient agents, and individuals of this stamp will connect with our institutions and with God’s instrumentalities, masking their evil ways under a pretension of godliness.” Pamphlet 167, Counsels to Physicians and Medical Students, 38, 39.

She is describing those men who will be the reason for evil deeds, and when people follow these men, they will be separated from God. We are warned of those who defile institutions; we should never put our trust in men, but only in Christ and in His Word. All who trust in preachers who bring them nice and sweet words to calm them down are cursed. “The people are too willing to believe their teachers without careful thought and prayerful investigation of God’s word. They love to have their consciences quieted,—love to be rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal security. In their blind selfishness, they deceive themselves in those things wherein they are willing to be deceived.” The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1884.

“Men who have perverted truth, misapplied Scripture, and who have become blinded by resisting the word which is truth, form the great apostate power of the last day. It belongs to the same order as the power which the Lord Jesus revealed to John as drunken with the blood of saints. It is to pursue the same line of action, determined to rule or ruin. The crisis is right upon us, and many will be deceived. Men who have all their life had opportunity to learn of Christ, but who have tenaciously clung to their own habits and practices, unwilling to change their own course of action and walk in the light, will act like blind men. They will accept everything that will coincide with their own ideas.” The Bible Echo, January 25, 1897.

End Time Apostasy

Ellen White predicts a dramatic apostasy in the end time. “Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 197. Can you already see part of those startling things happening around you?

“I [Ellen White] knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people.” Ibid., 203.

Do you know what the Alpha crisis has been among the Adventist people? You can read about it in Book 1 of Selected Messages. This crisis and what God told us these situations are teaching are helpful to us in the end time crisis.

“The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.” Ibid., 204.

“We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, and we may be surprised at nothing in the line of apostasies and denials of the truth. Unbelief has now come to be a fine art, which men work at to the destruction of their souls. There is constant danger of there being shams in pulpit pr eachers, whose lives contradict the words they speak; but the voice of warning and of admonition will be heard as long as time shall last; and those who are guilty of transactions that should never be entered into, when reproved or counseled through the Lord’s appointed agencies, will resist the message and refuse to be corrected. They will go on as did Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar, until the Lord takes away their reason, and their hearts become unimpressible. The Lord’s Word will come to them; but if they choose not to hear it, the Lord will make them responsible for their own ruin.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1170.

Is this being fulfilled today? We still have a time of mercy, although the time of mercy for Seventh-day Adventists is ending earlier than for the rest of the world, which has not yet had the opportunity to hear the truth. “Oh, that the people might know the time of their visitation! There are many who have not yet heard the testing truth for this time. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 97.

Ellen White stated that in her time she already had the impression that some pastors had gone too far, as they could not repent. “I inquire of those in responsible positions in Battle Creek, What are you doing? You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. There needs to be a cleansing of the heart, the feelings, the sympathies, the words, in reference to the most momentous subjects—the Lord God, eternity, truth. What is the message to be given at this time? It is the third angel’s message. But that light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. Be careful how you treat it. Take off the shoes from off your feet; for you are on holy ground. Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and to repent.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 89, 90.

When I look around among the German people and talk with our pastors, I only can agree with that impression. They cannot any longer see the truth. They are equally as blind as were the Pharisees who could not believe that God would cast off His people. But they forgot one thing—all prophesying of God is connected to conditions; promises are connected to conditions. They did not fulfill the conditions, but they liked to take the promises. Are we the same?

Fatal Choice

“Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God. They are praising Christ and the god of this world in the same breath. While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas, and by their actions say, ‘Not this Man, but Barabbas.’ ” Ibid., 409. Well, sure, all of those churches around us are this way, but keep on reading. “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. ‘If thou hadst known,’ said Christ, ‘even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.’ [Luke 19:42.]” Ibid., 409, 410.

Where will the faithful pastors and ministers be? Together with the professed people of God when they are in apostasy? The faithful ministers will be removed from the so-called Adventist people. We need to learn to distinguish between the real people of God and the so-called people of God.

What do we experience as the faithful ministers or preachers are removed from the so-called Adventist people? Are they separated from the true people of God? No, they are separated from the so-called or professed people of God. We must learn and know the difference. If we do not learn this differentiation, we will confuse and mix all the quotations of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that talk about the people of God. There is only one true people of God.

Ring-leaders

“Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous prove to be ring-leaders in apostasy and examples in indifference and in the abuse of God’s mercies.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 212. About whom is this talking? It is talking about the ministers of God who once were His faithful ministers, bestowed with His presence and His guidance, but they departed from Christ and led others into error. Therefore, they are brought under divine displeasure.

Some Adventists do not discern this apostasy, and they are warned through the following quotations: “Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these men who have so often opened to them the treasures of God’s word, they will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path.” Ibid., 214.

Apostasy Prepares Way

Paul, in 11 Thessalonians 2:3, described the apostasy of the church. He said, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image of the beast. (See The Great Controversy, 443.) What is the image of the beast? “The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas.” The Great Controversy, 445.

Unfortunately, that is happening now in Germany. Protestantism and the ecumenical movement are requiring Sunday laws from the state. It will happen in the United States: “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” Ibid.

Read again the testimony in Revelation 13:15, 4: “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” This image is being formed, and the ecumenical unification is a step in this direction. Only unified churches of the world can force the state to support their dogmas. If the Seventh-day Adventist Church unites with those churches, is it still opposing the dogmas?

The leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany probably voted to keep Sunday as a national holiday. There has been no threat of religious persecution; it is just to keep no work on Sunday. In Germany, all the shops are closed and there is no work on Sunday.

This is not really going against the Sabbath, but can we, as Adventists, vote for keeping a work-free Sunday? God says, “Six days thou shalt work.” (Exodus 20:9.) To take a second holiday in the week is apostasy. That is a step towards forming a unity with the beast.

Therefore, Ellen White could state: “The spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London, draws a dark picture of the spiritual declension that prevails in England: ‘The truly righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart. The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink from even reproach. . . . Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraven on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but, alas! they cry, “We are rich, and increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing.” ’—Second Advent Library, tract No. 39.” The Great Controversy, 388. Surely she had in view her own people!

“Every church,” she wrote. “Well,” you say, “Ellen White did not write this. This comes from another historian.” When Ellen White quotes a historian of church history and includes his statements in her works, does she not stand behind such statements? Otherwise, she would have to criticize the statements! But she put it into The Great Controversy. It is very plain that in the last apostasy the Seventh-day Adventist Church is included.

Look Forward

When Christ returns, those united with Him are only those who are staying with His orders and His commandments, who heed His prohibitions, who truly heed the call of the Midnight Cry, “Come out of her, my people.” Revelation 18:4. We need to go forward. We are not allowed to look back. We have a great work to do. The whole world needs to be warned—more than just the United States, more than Europe—the whole world. We should allow nothing to hinder us in this work.

The history of most Adventist pastors who stand faithful to Jesus has been always the same. Satan tries to forbid those pastors, through the organization, to spread the message. He has used the organization to hinder it.

Should faithful ministers disregard such commands, even though the danger of losing their jobs exists? Should they disregard the commands, in spite of the danger that they will not receive any money from the conference? They might fear problems of sustaining their families; should they allow those things to hinder them from preaching the truth? When they want to be saved and show all of us the way to find redemption, they should not allow anything to hold them back.

The apostle said, “We need to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), when the official organization wanted to hinder them. Today, again, there is an organization that wants to stop the faithful pastors. As a result, where are the faithful ministers to be found? Separated from the professed people who think, We are rich and we are in need of nothing. We do not need the Three Angels’ Messages in this clear form. We need a sermon about the love of Christ.

“The Lord knoweth them that are His. The sanctified minister must have no guile in his mouth. He must be open as the day, free from every taint of evil. A sanctified ministry and press will be a power in flashing the light of truth on this untoward generation. Light, brethren, more light we need. Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm in the holy mountain. Gather the host of the Lord, with sanctified hearts, to hear what the Lord will say unto His people; for He has increased light for all who will hear. Let them be armed and equipped, and come up to the battle—to the help of the Lord against the mighty. God Himself will work for Israel. Every lying tongue will be silenced. Angels’ hands will overthrow the deceptive schemes that are being formed. The bulwarks of Satan will never triumph. Victory will attend the third angel’s message. As the Captain of the Lord’s host tore down the walls of Jericho, so will the Lord’s commandment-keeping people triumph, and all opposing elements be defeated. Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven-sent message.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 410.

Without a doubt, we need to preach the love of Christ, but the preaching of love is the Three Angels’ Messages in a whole sense.

The Narrow Path

God loves mankind; He wants to save them. But the saving path is narrow. He is not irritated or confused because there are just a few people with you on the path. Do not become insecure that you may be on the wrong path or that you may have come a bit too far out from the mother church. What do we read about those who thus fear? “Some grew weary, and said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, ‘Alleluia!’ Others rashly denied the light behind them and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below.” Early Writings, 14, 15. They are lost for eternity.

As it is for the pastors, when they turn the wrong way, the same will happen to those who follow them. We cannot allow ourselves to go this wrong way. We cannot allow ourselves not to give the loud cry. We cannot allow ourselves to go together with those who fall off the path of Christ.

Can two walk one way if they are not in unity? Impossible. What is said of the people of the 144,000? Are they in unity? Fully, completely, in all things. May the Lord’s people come and be led to this unity, through His Spirit, through His light. May the Lord give His mercy, that we belong to those who have learned this lesson and who are fitting to the words of Matthew 25:34: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Dr. Korinth is a physician living in Berlin, Germany. He is very active in spreading the Three Angels’ Messages throughout Europe. He and his family have a printing press in their home and have had tracts translated in most of the different European languages. He is a promoter of home churches and is very interested in working with other historic Seventh-day Adventist groups worldwide. He may be contacted by e-mail at: hkorinth@mefag.de.

Bible Study Guides – The Reformation Ends

November 28, 2010 – December 4, 2010

The Dark Ages and the Reformation

Key Text

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” Matthew 24:22.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 197–210, 237–244.

Introduction

“The experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding ages.” The Great Controversy, 204.

1 How did the Lord defend His work of the Reformation by His overruling providences? Proverbs 15:9.

Note: “A dark and threatening day had come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding the Edict of Worms, declaring Luther to be an outlaw and forbidding the teaching or belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailed in the empire. God’s providence had held in check the forces that opposed the truth. Charles V was bent on crushing the Reformation, but often as he raised his hand to strike he had been forced to turn aside the blow. Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment the armies of the Turk appeared on the eastern frontier, or the king of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the increasing greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; and thus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend.” The Great Controversy, 197.

2 How did the papists try to quench the budding desire for religious liberty? Acts 5:27, 28.

Note: “If this edict [of Worms] were enforced, ‘the Reformation could neither be extended … where as yet it was unknown, nor be established on solid foundations … where it already existed.’ … Liberty of speech would be prohibited. No conversions would be allowed.” The Great Controversy, 199.

3 What quiet principles were nonetheless at work? Revelation 3:6; 22:17.

4 What example should all civil authorities adopt when asked to adjudicate on religious issues or matters of conscience? What is the duty of the state in matters of conscience? Acts 18:12–16.

Note: “ ‘Let us reject this decree,’ said the princes. ‘In matters of conscience the majority has no power.’ The deputies declared: ‘It is to the decree of 1526 that we are indebted for the peace that the empire enjoys: its abolition would fill Germany with troubles and divisions. The Diet is incompetent to do more than preserve religious liberty until the council meets.’ … To protect liberty of conscience is the duty of the state, and this is the limit of its authority in matters of religion. Every secular government that attempts to regulate or enforce religious observances by civil authority is sacrificing the very principle for which the evangelical Christians so nobly struggled.” The Great Controversy, 201.

5 What fundamental principles that are the very essence of Protestantism were outlined in the formal protest brought by the princes before the national council? II Corinthians 4:2–5.

Note: “ ‘The principles contained in this celebrated Protest … constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and apostles, “We must obey God rather than man” [Acts 5:29]. In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God.’ … The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.” The Great Controversy, 203, 204.

6 Why is there such a great need for us to review and return to the great fundamental principle of Protestantism and religious liberty? What should we remember of history? Ecclesiastes 1:9, 10.

Note: “In our time there is a wide departure from their [the Scriptures] doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control to destroy religious liberty. The antichristian power which the protesters of Spires rejected is now with renewed vigor seeking to reestablish its lost supremacy. The same unswerving adherence to the word of God manifested at that crisis of the Reformation is the only hope of reform today.” The Great Controversy, 204, 205.

7 In face of powerful foes, what far-reaching principle was clearly enunciated by Luther when the princes proposed a defense league? John 18:36, 37.

Note: “One of the principles most firmly maintained by Luther was that there should be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation, and no appeal to arms for its defense. He rejoiced that the gospel was confessed by princes of the empire; but when they proposed to unite in a defensive league, he declared that ‘the doctrine of the gospel should be defended by God alone. … The less man meddled in the work, the more striking would be God’s intervention in its behalf. All the politic precautions suggested were, in his view, attributable to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust.’ ” The Great Controversy, 209.

8 During the protest of the princes, how was God working in a manner similar to the way He did in the days of Elisha? II Kings 6:15–17.

Note: “God’s faithful servants were not toiling alone. While principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places were leagued against them, the Lord did not forsake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they would have seen as marked evidence of divine presence and aid as was granted to a prophet of old. … [II Kings 6:17 quoted.] And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariots and horses of fire, the army of heaven stationed to protect the man of God. Thus did angels guard the workers in the cause of the Reformation.” The Great Controversy, 208.

9 When Luther saw the danger of armed conflict, what were the only weapons he used in defense of truth? Ephesians 6:11–17.

Note: “When powerful foes were uniting to overthrow the reformed faith, and thousands of swords seemed about to be unsheathed against it, Luther wrote: ‘Satan is putting forth his fury; ungodly pontiffs are conspiring; and we are threatened with war. Exhort the people to contend valiantly before the throne of the Lord, by faith and prayer, so that our enemies, vanquished by the Spirit of God, may be constrained to peace. Our chief want, our chief labor, is prayer; let the people know that they are now exposed to the edge of the sword and to the rage of Satan, and let them pray.’ …

“Luther declared that the only weapon employed in this warfare should be ‘the sword of the Spirit’ [Ephesians 6:17]. He wrote to the elector of Saxony: ‘We cannot on our conscience approve the proposed alliance. We would rather die ten times than see our gospel cause one drop of blood to be shed. Our part is to be like lambs of the slaughter. The cross of Christ must be borne. Let your highness be without fear. We shall do more by our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Only let not your hands be stained with the blood of your brethren. If the emperor requires us to be given up to his tribunals, we are ready to appear. You cannot defend our faith: each one should believe at his own risk and peril.’ ” The Great Controversy, 209.

10 What great example has been inherited from the Reformation of the sixteenth century concerning the peril of compromise for temporal gain? Psalm 146:3–6.

Note: “Had the Reformation, after attaining a degree of success, consented to temporize to secure favor with the world, it would have been untrue to God and to itself, and would thus have ensured its own destruction. The experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding ages. Satan’s manner of working against God and His word has not changed; he is still as much opposed to the Scriptures being made the guide of life as in the sixteenth century. In our time there is a wide departure from their doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control to destroy religious liberty.” The Great Controversy, 204, 205.

11 Besides Germany and Switzerland, what other nations opened their doors to the Reformation? Who were other leaders with a wide influence? Acts 11:19–21.

Note: “The teachings of Luther found a congenial soil in the Netherlands, and earnest and faithful men arose to preach the gospel. From one of the provinces of Holland came Menno Simons.” The Great Controversy, 238.

“Tausen, ‘the Reformer of Denmark,’ was a peasant’s son. …

“Tausen went to Cologne, which was then, as now, one of the strongholds of Romanism. Here he soon became disgusted with the mysticisms of the schoolmen. About the same time he obtained Luther’s writings. He read them with wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy the personal instruction of the Reformer. But to do so he must risk giving offense to his monastic superior and forfeiting his support. His decision was soon made, and erelong he was enrolled as a student at Wittenberg.

“On returning to Denmark, … Tausen began to preach. The churches were opened to him, and the people thronged to listen. Others also were preaching the Word of God. The New Testament, translated into the Danish tongue, was widely circulated. The efforts made by the papists to overthrow the work resulted in extending it, and erelong Denmark declared its acceptance of the reformed faith.

“In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk from the well of Wittenberg carried the water of life to their countrymen. Two of the leaders in the Swedish Reformation, Olaf and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a blacksmith of Orebro, studied under Luther and Melanchthon, and the truths which they thus learned they were diligent to teach.” Ibid., 241, 242.

Personal Review Questions

1 What enabled the Reformation to survive against overwhelming odds?

2 What was the keystone of the Reformation in the sixteenth century?

3 Wherein is the strength of every true reformation?

4 What alternative is given for temporal weapons?

5 Who were the leaders of the Reformation in different lands?

Additional Reading

“This contest, though conducted upon a stage comparatively obscure, serves to show us ‘the sort of men that formed the rank and file of the army of the Reformers. They were not illiterate, sectarian, noisy controversialists—far from it; they were men who had studied the word of God, and knew well how to wield the weapons with which the armory of the Bible supplied them. In respect of erudition they were ahead of their age. When we confine our attention to such brilliant centers as Wittenberg and Zurich, and to such illustrious names as those of Luther and Melanchthon, of Zwingli and Oecolampadius, we are apt to be told, these were the leaders of the movement, and we should naturally expect in them prodigious power and vast acquisitions; but the subordinates were not like these. Well, we turn to the obscure theater of Sweden, and the humble names of Olaf and Laurentius Petri—from the masters to the disciples—what do we find? … Scholars and theologians; men who have thoroughly mastered the whole system of gospel truth, and who win an easy victory over the sophists of the schools and the dignitaries of Rome.’ ” The Great Controversy, 243, 244.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission

The French Reformation

Francis I had begun a course of persecution which he found he was not capable of controlling or stopping. As he laid on his death bed, at age fifty-two the memory of many dreadful deeds tormented him. The priests were unable to calm his fears as he drew near the end of his probation. He knew the judgement awaited him.

The most troubling incident had taken place just two years before in Provence. Anciently this area had been a desert. Its poor soil, boulders, swamps, and extreme weather conditions caused it to be farmed very little. But the Vaudois of the high valleys of the Piedmontese Alps, saw possibilities in the area. They crossed the mountain, cleared the boulders, and they planted wheat and vineyards. Now this former desert was lush with orchards, gardens, and golden fields of grain.

As the Reformation was moving forward in Europe, these Vaudois sent representatives to inquire into the beliefs of the Reformation, and discovered that they were brothers in the faith. When the priests in this area heard about this they determined to stamp out the first signs of Lutheranism in their territories. Francis offered pardon if the accused would give up their religion. They declined and horror followed. In a night, twenty-two villages were burned or sacked, and all their inhabitants murdered with horrible cruelty. The area was destroyed and became uncultivated and uninhabited. These memories followed Francis I to his death bed.

Francis I was replaced on the throne by his son Henry II who was a feeble king. During his rule four factions arose who fought to control the king, and thus the kingdom. These factions all hated Protestantism and these years were marked with great calamity for France. Henry was married to Catherine de Medici, the niece of a former Pope. Her influence was to be greater for evil than that of her husband or her sons who followed on the throne. Her husband’s love of pleasure was well known and all the nation knew of his mistress, Diana of Poictiers, who controlled access to the king.

The King and the Tailor

Though he was a poor husband, Henry determined to celebrate Catherine’s coronation as queen with great display, and he felt that the burning of a few Huguenots would add to the splendor of the event. It was decided that to give additional pleasure to his court, a simple tailor would be examined by a Catholic scholar, who would show the confusion of the poor man before the court. But the tailor proved more than a match for the scholar and it was the court which was embarrassed. Henry’s mistress came to the defense of the churchman; the tailor rebuked her sin as well as her ignorance. For punishment he was to burn as a coronation torch and the king had chairs set on a porch overlooking the sight, where he and Diana of Poictiers could personally watch the event. As the tailor burned he never ceased to look the king in the eye as his limbs burned and fell, until death relieved his suffering. The king suffered from the memory for days and determined to never watch another heretic burn. Since Diana was given many of the estates of the condemned, her insatiable avarice prompted new executions almost daily.

The two remaining factions consisted of Montmorency, the High Constable of France, and the Guises. The Lords of Guise, from the house of Lorraine, included Francis, a man of war, and Charles, his brother, who chose the priesthood, becoming the Cardinal of Lorraine. One historian calls Charles the “cowardliest of all men.” Both brothers were known for their cruelty and ambition, and the arms of one executed the craft plotted by the other. “‘But for the Guises,’ says Mezeray, ‘the new religion would perhaps have become dominant in France.’” Wylie’s History of Protestantism, book 17, 517. The jealousies between the Constable and the Guises brought calamity on the nation and nearly ruined France. The blame for these calamities was thrown on the Protestants. The calamity that befell the nation only worked as a cover for evangelization.

Church Growth

It was during this time of persecution that the various churches of Protestantism, which consisted of groups of believers meeting secretly in homes, began their work of electing pastors from their number, as well as other officers. The first church to elect a pastor was in Paris. They chose the son of the king’s attorney, who hated Protestantism. This necessitated the son’s flight from his father’s home and the forfeiture of his wealth. “Death the growing rigour of the persecution, the shameful slanders which were propagated against the reformed, and the hideous deaths inflicted on persons of all ages and both sexes, the numbers of the Protestants and their courage daily increased. It was now seen that scarcely was there a class of French society which did not furnish converts to the Gospel. Mezeray says that there was no town, no province, no trade in the kingdom wherein the new opinions had not taken root.” Ibid., 522

The king’s alarm was great, and the friends of Rome sought in every way to crush the growing church. The king’s court and the ecclesiastical judges reproached one another for not showing greater zeal in executing the edicts against heresy. Finally, the Cardinal of Lorraine stripped the Parliament and the civil judges of the right to hear cases of heresy, leaving them only to the task of carrying out the orders of the bishops. He attempted to set up an Inquisition similar to that of Spain, but the Parliament refused their consent. All around the king were voices urging him to uproot heresy before it succeeded in overthrowing his throne, uprooting his family, and bringing the nation to destruction. Henry II and Charles V of Spain joined in a secret treaty, binding both monarchs to combine their powers to eliminate heresy in their dominions.

Heresy in the Gena

Quarterly, groups of senators met to discuss evidences of corruption in the state. The king was urged to present himself unannounced at one of these assemblies and see for himself if heresy did not exist among his senators. This advice he followed in June of 1559. He ascended a throne and gave a speech on religion. He expounded on his efforts for peace in Christendom, and announced his intention to devote himself to healing the wounds of the Christian world. Then he called the senators to go on with their work as he observed.

Many senators did not fail, even under this intimidation, to speak out for liberty and to declare the injustice of the burnings. One man, Annas du Bourg, spoke pointedly of the need to punish wicked crimes which went unpunished, even as new punishments were invented daily for those who were guilty of no crime. But others recalled the ancient slaughter of the Waldenses and the Albigensian heretics, and called for these time honored methods to again be used. When their votes were taken and recorded the king took note of the register “and to show that under a despot no one could honestly differ from the royal opinion and be held guiltless, he ordered the Constable Montmorency to arrest Du Bourg. He was instantly seized and carried to the Bastile.” Ibid., 524. Other senators were arrested the next day.

“The king’s resolution was to execute all the senators who had opposed him, and to exterminate Lutheranism everywhere throughout France. He would begin with Du Bourg, who, shut up in an iron cage in the Bastile, waited his doom. But before the day of Du Bourg’s execution arrived, Henry himself had gone to his account.” Ibid. Fourteen days after his visit to the Parliament, while celebrating the engagement of his daughter to the mightiest prince of the time, Philip II of Spain, the king was in a jousting match with the Constable and was mortally wounded. He died a few days later at forty-one.

Henry’s eldest son next took the throne under the title of Francis II. He was sixteen and without principles or morals. He was married to Mary Stuart, the heir to the Scottish throne and a niece of the Guises. Catherine de Medici was not yet in her full power, and in effect the Guises ruled France since, through their niece, they had easy access to the ear of the young boy king. One of Francis’s first acts was to try and condemn Du Bourg. Though imprisoned and fed only bread and water he continually sang psalms, and in giving up his life for the truth greatly aided the cause of Protestantism.

Organization of the Church

These days of persecution for the church were also days of growth. Though they had few ordained ministers to serve them, they would meet together to read the Word and to pray. These places were carefully selected. It might be a barn, cave, forest or home. “Assemble where they might, they knew that there was One ever in the midst of them, and where he was, there was the church.” Ibid., 525. The Swiss printing presses kept colporteurs supplied with Bibles and religious books in abundance. They chose to hide their mission, and following the example of the ancient Vaudois, they went as traveling merchants hiding their books within their baskets of wares. In this way they succeeded in placing Bibles in the homes of nobles and peasants. The number of believers multiplied. Even in Provence, just 15 years after the terrible slaughter, no less than sixty churches existed.

It was determined that a Synod should be held in Paris in May of 1559. There were great difficulties sending word of the planned meeting to the churches, and more difficulty finding a place of concealment, but eleven representatives met. They studied the New Testament model of church organization and sought to follow its example. They set out forty articles in a Confession of Faith, and an additional forty articles in a Code of Discipline which outlined their organizational framework. They determined how their leaders were to be chosen and outlined their responsibilities. “Their power was not legislative but administrative, and their rule was not lordly but ministerial; they were the fellow-servants of those among whom, their functions were discharged.” Ibid., 531.

Among the lay-leaders of the French Protestants, three names stand out. The prince of Conde was a noble who joined the cause, but did not bring to it that entire devotion or holy life necessary to be of true service. As with all of the house of Bourbon, to which he belonged, it might be said that they did the cause more damage than good. His brother was married to a truly great woman, Jeanne d’Albret, the daughter of Margaret of Valois. As the Queen of Navarre she ruled her small kingdom, wisely keeping her husband from the task. She studied law and produced a set of laws far in advance of her times. She encouraged industry, and, in a short time, her kingdom attracted universal attention for its order and prosperity. She was a true Protestant fostering liberty of conscience. The third name of renown is that of Admiral Coligny, perhaps the greatest layman of the French Reformation.

Persecutions

The Guises had not been successful in setting up an Inquistion after the Spanish order, but they succeeded in establishing courts styled Chambres Ardentes whose task it was to send all heretics to the flames. With their three judges or inquisitors, and a body of spies or familiars, they were quite effective. With prizes of the victim’s goods offered to informant, it was an opportunity to avenge grudges, and many suffered who had little acquaintance with the gospel. The courts and scaffolds were constantly busy, with one day’s victims being dispatched to make room for the next. It was a reign of terror. The little children of the heretics were left to wander the streets, crying piteously for bread, but no one would help. To aide a victim or to complain of the injustice, was to be drawn into the same punishment. The Parliament made no attempt to intervene. The citizens of the land were made to believe that the persecuted were atheists and monsters and that they were cleansing France in their extermination. Their properties were confiscated, but the day of reckoning came in 1789 when the wealth taken by confiscation and injustice went in the same manner.

Conspiracy of Ambiose

The nation was nearing civil war. Only the most bigoted Roman Catholics and the rabble, who were the pliant tools of the oppressor, were safe from this reign of terror. Both Catholics and Protestants began to promote the idea of forcibly removing the brothers of Lorraine. Calvin counseled against it, forseeing “that the Reformation might lose, even if victorious, by becoming in France a military and political power.” Ibid., 542. Admiral de Coligny stood aloof from the plan. The Prince of Conde was chosen to lead in the attempt. They planned first to try making just demands for freedom of worship, and the removal of the Guises, but anticipating the rejection of these requests they planned to remove the Guises by force and place the Prince of Conde on the throne. Their plans, which had been kept secret by thousands, were leaked by a timorous Protestant attorney in Paris on the eve of the event. The plot ended with the army and its brave leader killed. The Guises now took revenge. Scaffolds were set up around the castle, and the royal court, including Mary Stuart, dressed in party fashion, watched as the axes fell and blood ran rushing into the Loire. Twelve hundred persons died.

In the face of all this violence, the Reformation continued to grow until whole towns were Protestant. These now grew bold to worship openly. This stung the Guises to madness and they became more violent. They would surprise the worshipers and hang their leaders. The Guises next thought to hang the Prince of Conde, and cause all of France to adjure Protestantism in a single day, by demanding each individual subscribe to an adjuration oath or be immediately executed. The cardinal called this his “Huguenot rattrap.” As they prepared to get the king’s signature on their orders and all appeared lost for Protestantism, the young king sickened and died at age seventeen after a reign of only a few months. In the scramble for power that followed all were too busy to bury the king, and after some days his funeral car was followed by one blind bishop and two domestics to his grave.

King Charles

Mary Stuart returned to Scotland, taking with her a deeply cherished hatred of the Reformation. Catherine de Medici’s day had at last arrived as her nine year old son Charles IX took the throne. By right the Prince of Conde should have held the Regency of France during Charles’ minority, but the queen mother boldly put him aside and took the role herself. The Prince was freed from prison.

There followed two important meetings where justice had a hearing. In a meeting of the States-General, all the lay speakers “united as one man in arraigning the Roman Church as pre-eminently the source of many evils which afflicted France.” Ibid., 547. They called for reform in doctrine and in their luxuriant living of the priests and called on them to instruct their flocks and reclaim those who had gone astray with truth and reason, not with persecutions. The Catholic speaker who followed called on the young king to root out heresy by violence. Coligny rose and demanded an apology. When non would support him, the speaker was forced to apologize, and Catherine, sensing the mood of the nation, decided to remain on good terms with both parties. She meant to hold a balance between the two parties by making each weaken the other and thus strengthen herself.

The favors she granted the Protestants prompted the formation of the Triumvirate, a holy league for the defense of the Catholic religion and their estates. Its members were the Duke of Guise, Constable Montmorency and Marshal St. Andre. This league left its mark on history.

The second hearing for justice and truth was a meeting between the two opinions, with opportunity given the Protestants to have their case heard. The Colloquy was held in September 1561. First were heard voices for toleration of the Protestants, since they were also Christians, and calls for reforms based on the Bible. The Papal members angrily denounced these ideas. Here Beza, the learned associate of Calvin, was allowed entrance and opportunity to speak. The distinction in dress, manners, and speech between the two parties made a favorable impression and Protestantism was seen in a different light. Beza on bended knee presented a copy of the Confession of the French Protestant Church to the king. The Romish party tried by speeches, tricks, and loud clamors to subdue the Protestants and convince them to deny their faith, but “it was clear that no fair discussion, and no honest adjustment of the controversy on the basis of truth, had from the first been intended.” Ibid., 553. Many began to question if Romanism was a corruption of the Gospel. The Reformation stood higher in the public estimation, as it was seen to be different from the picture that the priest had painted of it.

Protestantism continued to grow, and with this growth were seen changes in the lives of its adherents. Growth was aided by an edict known as the Edict of January, granted in 1562, which gave a very limited right to exercise religion freely outside the cities, in open places, unarmed. A numbering of the churches by Beza, at the request of Catherine, counted upwards of 2,150 congregations some as large as 4,000 to 8,000 members. As many as 40,000 were known to have gathered outside the capital to hear sermons. It is estimated that one fourth of the flower of the population in respect of rank, intelligence, and wealth joined the Reformed faith.

Massacre at Vassy and Civil War

The Pope, Philip II of Spain, and the Triumvirate of Paris studied how to roll back the tide of Protestantism, for it was feared that France was soon to be lost to Lutheranism. Rome dreaded the loss of glory, revenues, and political strength that would result. They first succeeded in convincing the King of Navarre, husband of Jeanne d’Albret to join them with false promises. Antoine de Bourbon was a handy prize. Pulpits thundering against the Edict of January, with priests filling the superstitious ears of their congregations with tales and supplying them with arms, turning their churches into arsenals. When the time was right, the Duke of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, were called upon to cut the knot of the edict with the sword.

They chose to march on the little town of Vassy where about 1200 Hugenots met weekly in a barn. On the first of March the barn was surrounded and a brutal scene followed as the captive worshippers attempted in vain to escape. This was the first blow in the civil wars. Other massacres followed and there was no national action taken against them. “The Popish mob was supplied with arms and formed into regiments. The churches served as club-houses.’ Ibid., 561. On June 8th Parliament passed a law allowing any man to kill a Protestant where he found him, and on the 18th of August Parliament again spoke declaring all gentlemen of the ‘new religion’ traitors to God and king. There was now open war.

Huguenot Wars

The next eight years saw three civil wars. The Huguenot reluctantly took up arms, choosing the Prince of Conde and Admiral Coligny as their leaders. Repeatedly they had the advantage and might have gained control of the capital if they had acted decisively. More than once they were drawn into conferences of peace by Catherine de Medici, which always ended as her forces grew powerful enough to fight again. Even after winning victories, the Prince of Conde gave such concessions to Catherine that even his enemies were astounded.

Many lives were lost in these wars and all the members of the Triumvirate were finally struck down. There were times when the Huguenot might have achieved their freedom if they had had the courage to make their demands. Peace after peace was declared, but blood continued to flow and one war followed another. There was no justice in the land. Another outcome of the wars was that hatred between the two sides grew, making conversions to Protestantism almost cease. “Piety decayed on the battlefield, and the evangelism began to retrograde. ‘Before the war,’ says Felice, ‘proselytism was conducted on a large scale, and embraced whole cities and provinces; peace and freedom allowed of this; afterwards, proselytes were few in number, and obtained with difficulty. How many corpses were heaped up as barriers between the two communions; how many bitter enmities, and cruel remembrances, watched around the two camps to forbid approach.’” Ibid., 587.

While the wars continued Catherine and Charles IX began to council with Philip of Spain on a different kind of battle of destroy Protestantism. The plan involved several years of planning and dreadful deceits. The result of their efforts would bring them all infamy.

The End

John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland

Note: Calvin was to spend the second half of his life in the little city of Geneva and make it famous as the center of Protestantism and a place of refuge for the exiles of his native France and other persecuting countries. But before he entered the city, the surrounding territories and finally the city itself were to be evangelized by William Farel and other ministers, mostly Frenchmen. The stories of their courage and boldness are some of the most thrilling of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. Space does not permit us to recount their mighty deeds in the detail that the reader might wish and it is hoped that this brief introduction will inspire further study of this period which D’Aubigne describes thus: “In no part of the Christian world will the resistance be so stubborn; but no where will the assailants display so much courage.” History of the Reformation, Book XV, 596 (BSI edition).

Farel in the Forest Cantons of Switzerland

Geneva lay in the part of Switzerland which had not been reached by the Reformation preaching of Zwingle. The Forest Cantons had been very resistant and remained obedient to Rome. But William Farel recognized the good to be achieved if these areas could be won to the Gospel. The people of Geneva had long been a freedom loving people who had offered martyrs, not a few, in their fight for political freedom. The location of the city, on the borders with both France and Italy, offered a good place for the headquarters of a work for these nations.

Before entering Geneva he sought to make progress in the surrounding areas. He first worked in Aigle as a school teacher under an assumed name. When his lessons had attracted a congregation of students and their families, he cast off his disguise and announced himself as Farel the preacher. He immediately mounted the pulpit and preached with his characteristic thunderous, yet eloquent voice and with a message which bore the stamp of divine truth. From one sermon, converts were won and the priests became fired with a zeal to rid their domains of this fellow. Despite letters from Protestant Bern, which ruled the area, giving Farel permission to teach the Scriptures, the priests worked the people into an army ready to make war and Farel’s followers were equally ready for the fight. Farel though undismayed decided to move on and carried his message to other towns and villages.

He would at times enter a town and while the priest was offering the mass at the altar, he would mount the pulpit and his voice would drown out the mass. This sometimes resulted in his being pulled violently from the pulpit, but at other times conviction would set in and the priest would throw off his robes and join the people in dismantling the altar and destroying the images. “In three weeks time four villages of the region had embraced the Reformed faith . . . The spring and summer sufficed to establish the Reformed faith in a great part of this region.” Wylie, The History of the Protestant Reformation, Book 14, 249, 250.

In the city of Neuchatel, known for its religious devotion, this man of short stature, red beard, glittering eyes, and stentorian voice, came to the market and announced that he had a religion, not from Rome, but from the Bible. After their first dumb astonishment, the monks and priests cried for his brains to be beaten out, but he lifted his voice above the clamor and the city was taken by storm. He again had to leave the town but returning a few weeks later the people formed around him and escorted him up the hill to the site of their cathedral and placed him in the pulpit. He preached one of his most powerful sermons and the citizens rose up and dismantled the altar, tore down crucifixes and pictures, broke images, and cast the lot down the summit of the terrace where the cathedral stood. They inscribed on a pillar of the great building the words— “On the 23rd October, 1530, Idolatry was overthrown and removed from this Church by the citizens.” Ibid., 250.

Farel’s life was in constant danger and, since it was winter, cold, hunger and weariness were his frequent attendants. The priests used tricks, threats, and violence to try to remove this danger to their “religion” and thus their tithes and offerings. They could not fight doctrine with doctrine since their ignorance prevented this approach. Instead they used violence. Once Farel was beaten nearly to death. He was so disfigured that his friends scarcely recognized him. He had to spend some time recuperating and had barely recovered his strength when he set out again to evangelize.

Due to the battles over religion, the nation was drifting toward civil war and in an attempt to avert bloodshed, a conference was held in Bern to try to work out a compromise. “Thus out of that necessity which is said to be the mother of invention, came the idea of toleration. We deem the mass idolatry, said Protestant Bern, but we shall prevent no one going to it. We deem the Protestant sermon heresy, rejoined Popish Friburg, but we shall give liberty to all who wish to attend it. Thus on the basis of liberty of worship was the public peace maintained. This dates in Switzerland from January, 1532. Toleration was adopted as a policy before it had been accepted as a principle. It was practiced as a necessity of the State before it had been promulgated as a right of conscience. It was only when it came to be recognized and claimed in the latter character as a right founded on a Divine charter—namely, the Word of God—and held irrespective of the permission or interdiction of man, that toleration established inviolably its existence and reign.” Ibid., 255.

Gospel Struggles in Geneva

On his return from the Waldensian synod in the valley of Angrogna, in October, 1532, Farel, with Saunier his companion, was able to visit Geneva. The friends of liberty in that city listened with intense interest to two sermons concerning the authority of the Word of God and the great pardon of God. “They had been shedding their blood for their franchises, but now the Reformer showed them a way by which their souls might escape from the dark dungeon in which tradition and human authority had succeeded in shutting them up . . . ‘This,’ said Farel, ‘is the Gospel; and this, and nothing short of this, is liberty, inasmuch as it is the enfranchisement of the whole man, body, conscience, and soul.’ ” Ibid., 257. His arrival was not unnoticed by the priests and he was called before the council. Thanks to the letters he carried from their Excellencies of Bern, he was released. Next he was invited to an episcopal council under the pretext of open debate but some council members carried weapons under their sacerdotal robes. “Such was their notion of a religious discussion.” Ibid. The event would have ended tragically but for the intervening of two magistrates. Outside the hall they met another armed mob and narrowly escaped. They slept with an armed guard and were escorted early the next morning to Lake Leman, to sail away.

Farel’s name was too powerful to begin the work in Geneva. A lowly minister by the name of Froment was sent to the city and he choose to begin his work, as Farel had, as an instructor of the young. His congregation quickly grew and the homes of the believers were not adequate to hold the crowds. One day the crowd carried their preacher to the market place and he expounded on “free pardon.” A band of armed priests and soldiers arrived and Froment had to be carried into hiding. He too had to quit the city. But the believers continued to meet in homes. They elected one of their number to be their leader, Guerin, who also had to flee the hatred of the priests.

Friends of the Duke of Savoy and of Rome—the Mamelukes, as they were called—determined that the only answer to the crisis was to kill all the Protestants in Geneva without an exception. They took an oath promising to perform their plan the next day. Three hundred armed priests led a host of 2,500 armed men followed by women and children with stones. These moved on a group of 400 Protestant believers who had gathered in the mansion of one of their leaders. They determined to stand their ground. Bloodshed was averted by the interposition of seven merchants from Friburg who stood between the forces and diligently worked to restore calm and succeeded in working out terms of pacification. The priests were not content with this action and a few weeks later went into the streets again armed for battle. In the darkness they fought each other as well as the foe and their leader was killed. This ended the street battles.

The papal prince-bishop of the city invited the leading Protestants to his castle for discussions and then threw them into the dungeon. Even the Catholics on the council could not tolerate this action and after giving over his captives, the prince-bishop, fearing his safety, fled the city.

Geneva’s Prolonged Struggles

With some dangers gone, Farel returned. He delivered sermons to congregations who wore helmets and carried arms. Both sides were ready for battle; some to defend the Word of God and others demanding the burning of all the Bibles in the city. Froment and Viret came to help Farel and their mighty preaching resulted in the majority of the city choosing Protestantism.

The cities’ battles were not over. One plot involved arming a large group who were disguised as pilgrims and duly outfitted, arriving outside the city gates in mass. But the citizens, recognizing a Trojan horse, refused them entry. Another plan had an army hidden without the city, ready in cooperation with the papist Mamelukes inside, to attack when the signal was given. The plot was discovered just minutes before the attack. The army retreated when they learned they were discovered. With the miscarriage of their plot, most of the Mamelukes fled the town and their priests, left without their flock, followed. The Genevans decided that they had to tear down the suburbs surrounding their city in order to have a buffer zone for security. One half of the city lay outside the walls, including the homes of rich and poor alike. They sacrificed their dwellings and gardens, which were demolished brick by brick and the area burned and cleared.

In this time of need all of Geneva’s allies forsook her. Even Bern refused aide. The duke was raising an army to force entrance into the city. The bishop published an excommunication and the Pope added his anathema against the city. It was seen as the dwelling place of devils. The Emperor Charles V joined their foes and demanded their surrender. The citizens were in constant danger when outside the walls. There were tortures and murders, as ferocious bands laid waste the country around Geneva, cut off the supplies coming to its markets, waylaid its citizens, and then tortured, beheaded or otherwise dispatched them.

A Convent Converted

An attempt to poison the three French pastors was made by a woman who claimed to be a Protestant exile, and was employed in the house where they lived. Viret alone ate the poison. He survived but suffered its debilitating results the rest of his life. The woman confessed and accused a priest of planning the attempt. She was executed and the ministers were assigned to apartments in a Franciscan Convent where it was thought they would be safe. The end of the affair was the conversion of almost all the brethren of the convent, including James Bernard, who thought it would be well to hold a public disputation. A date was fixed and invitations published and sent to a wide area. Learned men from both sides came and two Roman champions were chosen to defend the old faith. In the end, both acknowledged themselves vanquished and announced their conversion to the Reformed faith.

Tricks for Miracles

The advance of Protestantism in Geneva was accelerated by some startling revelations of frauds that had been perpetrated upon the citizens in the name of miracles. Investigations were made regarding miracles and relics that brought vast funds into Roman coffers. These investigations revealed tricks in place of miracles, and indignation intensified. Finally the Council met on August 10, 1535, to discuss the question of religion. The Protestant ministers addressed the Council, offering to submit themselves to death if the priests could prove that in the public disputation or in their sermons they had advanced anything contrary to the Word of God. Next the Council called the Cordeliers, Dominicans, Augustines, the canon, the grand-vicar of the bishop, and the parochial cures before them. They recounted the ten years of religious conflicts that had disturbed their city. They offered that the Roman religion would be restored to its former glory if they could prove the truth of their dogmas and worship from the Word of God. They declined. “The prospect of rendering Romanism once more supreme in Geneva, could not tempt them to do battle for their faith . . .They craved only to be permitted to exercise their religion without restraint. The deputation announced to them the order of the Council that they should cease to say mass, and then retired . . .On the 27th of August a general edict was issued, enjoining public worship to be conducted according to the rules of the Gospel, and prohibited all ‘acts of Popish idolatry’.” Ibid. 275.

This action infuriated the duke who determined to crush this city which had scarcely a soldier to defend it and no allies. He would starve the inhabitants with a total blockade by land and water. It so happened that Bern suffered an affront from the duke about this same time and they declared war against him. The combined efforts of Geneva and Bern resulted in a series of disasters for the duke’s army and ended by the Duke loosing not only Geneva his conquest, but Savoy and Piedmont with his capitol. He spent 17 years in humiliation and exile before his death.

Calvin Enters Geneva

Since the outside threats were diminished, the work of teaching the people and leading them to have transformed manners and habits commenced in earnest. There were two parties of the Protestants: those who had been transformed by the Gospel and those who professed a belief but did not expect this to mean any change in their licentious lives. The latter were known as Libertines for their professed love of liberty, which they defined as liberty from all restraint. Farel felt the weight of the task. He was thankfully surprised to learn that Calvin had come to the city. Calvin had been traveling and detoured from his intended route around the armies of Charles V and through Switzerland.

Farel felt that God had sent him the man he most needed to join him in his task and he immediately visited Calvin and urged him to become his comrade in the campaign. Calvin refused, for he felt that his contribution was through his studies and his pen. “But Farel would not stand aside. Putting on something of the authority of an ancient prophet, he commanded the young traveler to remain and labor in Geneva, and he imprecated upon his studies the curse of God, should he make them the pretext for declining the call now addressed to him. It was the voice not of Farel, but of God, that now spoke to Calvin; so he felt; and instantly he obeyed . . . He gave his hand to Farel, and in so doing he gave himself to Geneva.” Ibid., 281.

He was 27 years old and would spend 28 years in the service of this city. “He would display before all Christendom the Institutes, not as a volume of doctrines, but as a system of realized facts—a State rescued from the charnel-house of corruption, and raised to the glorious heritage of liberty and virtue—glorious in art, in letters, and in riches, because resplendent with every Christian virtue. To write Protestantism upon their banners, to proclaim it in their edicts, to install it as a worship in their Churches, Calvin and all the Reformers held to be but a small affair; what they strove above all things to achieve was to plant it as an operative moral force in the hearts of men, and at the foundation of States.” Ibid., 281, 282.

Calvin’s genius for system and organization was seen as he helped to draw up first a simple and brief Confession of Faith, setting forth in twenty-one articles, the leading doctrines of Protestantism. The citizens came forward in relays of ten to take the oath. This was followed by a Catechism for adults which showed the people the moral duties that were demanded by the Protestantism that they professed. “The Genevans had lifted up their hands: had they bowed their hearts? This was the main question with him.” Ibid., 282.

The Constitution for the Republic was also considered and Calvin again helped to revise the form of government of the State. There was to be a General Council which consisted of all the people, which would meet once a year to elect the four Syndics and at other times in case of an important emergency. The Syndics served on the Council of Twenty-five which actually governed the city in both legislative and judicial matters. There was also a new power to be added, the Consistory, which was to handle Church scandals. It was composed of five ministers and twelve laymen and met every Thursday. The strongest powers given this body was that of excommunication which they defined as the power to withhold the Sacraments from one whose life was “manifestly unholy.” (It did not seek to determine man’s condition before God.)

Calvin did see the need of distinguishing between the powers of the religious and the civil bodies. The religious body had no powers in the civil government but he did not clearly separate from the civil bodies, power over religious matters. Calvin held a “profound distinction between the civil and the religious community. Distinction, we say, and by no means separation . . . In this great question as to the relations between Church and State, Calvin desired and did more than his predecessors . . . he secured to the Reformed Church of Geneva, in purely religious questions and affairs, the right of self-government, according to the faith, and the law as they stand written in the Holy Books.” Ibid., 285.

Calvin’s attempts to establish a theocracy in Geneva with the government as the guardian over things both civil and spiritual, we, from our vantage point in history, “regard as a grave error.” Ibid., 284.

Sumptuary Laws

“Calvin’s theological code was followed by one of morals . . . The clergy were notoriously profligate, the government was tyrannical, and the people, in consequence, were demoralized. Geneva had but one redeeming trait, the love of liberty . . . It was clear that Protestantism must cleanse the city or leave it. Geneva was nothing unless it was moral; it could not stand a day. This was the task to which Calvin now turned his attention.”

“This introduces the subject of the sumptuary laws . . . The rules now framed forbade games of chance, oaths and blasphemies, dances, lascivious songs, farces, and masquerades. The hours of taverners were shortened; every one was to be at home by nine at night, and hotel-keepers were to see that these rules were observed by their guests. To these were added certain regulations with a view of restraining excess in dress and profusion at meals. All were enjoined to attend sermon and the other religious exercises . . . The second battle with the citizens proved a harder one than the first with the priests, and the reformation of manners a more difficult task than the reformation of beliefs.” Ibid., 285, 286.

“The Libertines, as the oppositionists began now to be called, demanded the abolition of the new code; they complained especially of the ‘excommunication’ . . . The reproofs which Calvin thundered against their vices from the pulpit were intolerable to many, perhaps to most . . . It was mortifying to find that very Protestantism which they had struggled to establish turning round upon them, and weighing them in its scales, and finding them wanting.” Ibid.

Calvin and Farel Banished

One principle which Calvin was determined not to compromise, for he believed that the Reformation would stand or fall with that principle, was that holy things were not to be given to unholy men. A question arose over whether unleavened bread should be used with the communion. Calvin and Farel said that the church could decide this issue, but that the more serious question was whether the communion should be given at all to those guilty of blasphemies and immoralities. The Libertines at this time enjoyed a majority on the Council and this left the pastors alone to uphold the standard.

The day of communion arrived and the ministers determined not to hold the ordinance at all. The Churches were filled with worshippers, many of whom had come with their swords at their sides. Farel held the services in one church and Calvin in another. When it became apparent that the Lord’s Supper was not going to be dispensed, there was a great uproar. Swords were unsheathed and men rushed toward the pulpit. They were met with resoluteness by both pastors. It was a miracle, many believed, that no blood was shed.

On the morrow, the Council banished their pastors. Farel went to Neuchatel where he completed his life’s labors. Calvin moved to Strasburg where he was able to study and commune with many other reformers. He spent three years here preaching and performing all the duties of a pastor. He lectured daily at the Academy and he attended several conferences between the Reformed leaders and the Papacy. He suffered from poverty as he was not paid for his labors and had to sell his books for his support. He met Melancthon and they became fast friends. He also married during his time in Strasburg. Idelette de Bure was to be his dearest companion. And from afar he kept Geneva from the attacks of the papacy, which was determined to reenter the city.

Calvin Returns to Geneva

Meanwhile in Geneva, the government passed more measures to try to control the manners of the populous, but without moral leadership these were ineffective. Finally after mighty turmoils, four Syndics were charged with sedition; two fled, another died trying to flee and the forth was hanged. Recognizing their need of Calvin, they sent a delegation to ask him to return. He considered this like lying on a bed of nails but agreed to return if his brethren so advised. They did, and he traveled back to his former field, ready to face the sneers, laughs, rage, plots and hatred that he would encounter for some years to come.

Calvin returned with a broader education which he received in banishment. His vision had enlarged with his travels and communications with Reformer’s throughout Europe. He learned to work for the work’s sake and although he longed for human sympathy he learned to be satisfied with the sympathy of his Master only. He also knew more of the selfishness, cruelty, and craft in the hearts of men, for he had felt the pain of receiving his deepest wounds in the “house of his friends.” His wife followed him to Geneva to be his companion during nine of the most laborious and stormy years of his life.

He saw a storm coming in the pantheistic doctrines that were flooding Europe. German Protestantism was weakened with her political involvements and Calvin with his clear, calm judgment, constructive skill and his profound submission to the Bible, was the man to lead the fight in this battle. Wittemberg had battled Romanism but Geneva was to battle Romanism and pantheism.

Upon his return he began the large task of organizing the church. The Consistory was to act in Church disorders and met weekly. The pastors were to meet weekly for mutual correction and improvement. His schedule was grueling. He delivered three theological lectures weekly, spoke in the pulpit every Sunday, and everyday of the alternate weeks, presided over the Consistory on Thursdays, gave a public exposition on Fridays, and carried a full load of pastoral duties with visitations. He studied early and late and carried on a vast correspondence, never failing to write to one awaiting martyrdom and advising the kings, queens, and princes as well as other government officials throughout Europe.

For years he battled the Libertines whose influence was still strong in the city. The grossest immoralities were spoken of as desirable and adding to the perfection of the saints. He suffered a persecution not felt by other reformers. He was met with insults and scoffing daily as he traveled the streets. His detractors named their dogs Calvin, they stuck out their tongues and hissed as he passed, but he remained above the outrages he was forced to endure in the streets. He maintained a consciousness of the great task that he was performing and rode out the long storm. During this time his wife of just nine years grew ill and died. He was deeply bereaved.

Servetus Burned in Geneva

One dreadful event of those years was the execution of Servetus. We today are shocked and saddened by the blot on Reformation history. Servetus was a scholar who had written a book on anti-Trinitarian doctrine which was also filled with pantheism. He had sent his work to Calvin who had condemned it. His native Vienne had tried him in the Inquisition and condemned him to die. He escaped and came to Geneva where Calvin called for his arrest. Messengers were sent to many Reformation leaders who advised that Servetus be condemned and executed. After a long trial he was found guilty of publicly promoting opinions treasonous to society and burned at the stake.

We are horrified by this verdict and none the less with the knowledge that that century saw thirty or forty thousand stakes kindled by Rome and one by the Protestants. “We deplore—we condemn—this one pile. It was a violation of the first principles of Protestantism.” Ibid., 338.

The Libertines next tried to have the public presses closed. A strange act for those so named for their love of liberty. They were finally banished from Geneva following their open attacks on the refugees of the city. They resented the refugees being supported by public resources and after slandering these exiles they vowed to massacre all. The refugees were among the most distinguished citizens of the countries they had fled. They represented almost every nationality and Geneva was elevated by their coming to her but they came nearly penniless and the city had been generous in their support. Its citizens had saved and even chosen to eat sparingly in order to accommodate them. When the night of the massacre arrived, not one refugee was found or killed, but the Libertines suffered the beheading of four of their number following the trial and the banishment of the lot.

Calvin’s Last Years

Calvin’s influence was felt in fields near and far but especially did he work for France. He urged the Protestants there to “eschew politics, shun the battle-field, and continue to fight their great war with spiritual weapons only.” Ibid., 359. He believed that more was to be gained by martyrdoms than politics. He was able in his last years to build an Academy in Geneva.

“The position which Calvin now filled was one of greater influence than perhaps any one man had exercised in the Church of Christ since the days of the apostles. He was the counselor of kings; he was the advisor of princes and statesmen; he corresponded with warriors, scholars, and Reformers; he consoled martyrs, and organized Churches; his admonitions were submitted to, and his letters treasured, as marks of no ordinary distinction. All the while the man who wielded this unexampled influence, was in life and manners in nowise different from an ordinary citizen of Geneva. He was as humbly lodged, he was as simply clothed, and he was served by as few attendants as any burgess of them all. He had been poor all his days, and he continued so to the end.” Ibid., 359 He died, before seeing his fifty-forth year, in May of 1564, after years of weakness and illness and months restricted to his bed. He was buried in a common cemetery without a stone marker, the exact spot is unknown today.

The End