31. Chapter 28: The Church Is Reformed in France, 1541-1559, and in the Netherlands, 1561-1571

CHAPTER 28 The Church Is Reformed in France, 1541-1559, and in the Netherlands, 1561-1571

1. The Reformation Had Its Roots in the Past

Like all great movements the Reformation had its roots far back in history. The preparation for the Reformation stretched over many centuries. The same forces that were at work in other countries of western Europe were at work also in France to prepare the soil for the seed of the Reformation. Among these were: the Babylonian Cap­tivity (ch. 21, sec. 3); the Great Schism (ch. 21, sec. 4); dissatis­faction of the earnest members of the Church with the many abuses existing in the Church, which led to the calling of the three General Councils (ch. 22, sec. 9); the Ren­aissance (ch. 22, sec. 10); and the writings of Erasmus (ch. 22, sec. 11 and 12).

Then there was a preparation in France peculiar to that land. In the southern part of France the influ­ence of the Albigenses and the Wal­denses still lingered (ch. 22, sec. 3-5).

Finally there was an immediate preparation by Le Fevre, Luther, and Calvin.

2. Le Fevre Prepares the Way in France

Jacques Le Fevre of Etaples was a student of the ancient Greek and Roman writings. He was also a Bible scholar. In 1512 he published in Latin a Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, in which he denied that good works can earn salvation. He taught that man is justified by faith. He wished the people to know the Bible, and so he translated most of the New Testament into French. He was especially interested in reaching the common people. He wanted the Church to preach Christ in a simple way. Le Fevre has some­times been called "the little Luther."

However, Le Fevre and his fol­lowers would never have brought about the Reformation in France. They had no intention of breaking with Rome. They wished to keep most of the old forms and beliefs, and bring about a reform simply by correcting the most glaring abuses.

3. Luther Has Wide Influence in France A certain Jean Bouchet summed up the situation in France very neatly and also very exactly when he said: "The key of heresy in France was made of the fine iron of Germany." The Reformation in France was a result of what had happened in Germany.

Luther gave the impetus to the Reformation in France first by means of his writings. A book con­taining nearly all that Luther had published up to October, 1518, was imported into France. This book aroused wide-spread interest. Two years later a student in Paris said that no books were bought more than those of Luther. Writings of Luther kept pouring in from Frankfort, Strassburg, and Basel. They were written in Latin and could be read only by the learned. But soon they made their appear­ance in French translations. A Roman Catholic bishop said that the common people were led astray by the lively style of the heretic. The Catholic theologians in France became alarmed. They started to publish tracts to counter­act the reformatory movement. The Greek New Testament of Erasmus and Le Fevre’s transla­tion into French were condemned as blasphemies against Jerome (ch. 6, sec. 6) and the Holy Ghost. But the reformatory movement could not be stopped. It found fol­lowers first of all in the cities. The early recruits of the Reformation in France were merchants and artisans. But the reading of the Bible and the books of Luther soon became a practice among the mid­dle and higher classes. Under the inspiration of Margaret, the king’s sister, small, private groups were organized at the royal court to read the Bible in secret. Many short tracts which made propa­ganda for Luther’s ideas continued to be published. The "Lutheran contagion" con­tinued to spread. It found advocates among all classes except among the great nobles. No exact figures are available, but in 1534 it was estimated that there were thirty thousand followers of Luther in Paris alone. So far it was chiefly Luther who inspired the reformatory move­ment in France. But Zwingli and other German and Swiss Re­formers also exercised some influ­ence. Protestantism in France was still weak. As yet it was not more than a protest against the deforma­tion of the Roman Church. The fol­lowers of Luther lacked all organi­zation, and there was no unified leadership. For a while it seemed as if Farel (ch. 27, sec. 2) might supply the much-needed leadership. He was learned, eloquent, and full of fiery zeal. He persuaded Olivetan, a rela­tive of Calvin and an excellent Greek scholar, to make a French translation of the New Testament. This translation was a great help. Nevertheless the reformatory movement in France remained con­fused.

Suddenly the year 1536 saw a great change.

4. Calvin Provides the Necessary Leadership In 1536 Erasmus and Le Fevre died. Their death spelled the end of the Christian Renaissance move­ment, the aim of which had been reform but not a reformation of the Church. But also in the same year, 1536, Calvin published his Institutes (ch. 27, sec. 1), and began his labors in Geneva (ch. 27, sec. 3). As we have seen, the publication of the Institutes was an event of highest importance in the history of the Reformation. With the publication of this small volume Calvin, the French refugee in Basel, in one leap took his place at the head of the reformatory movement. With the publication of the Institutes the reformatory movement in France received in Calvin its leader and organizer.

5. The Reformation in France Comes to Maturity

If an idea is to gain followers, it must be well presented. If the followers are to become a power, they must be well organized. Up to 1536 the Reformation in France had gained numerous followers through the writings of Luther and others. But not until Calvin settled in Geneva and began to write in French, were the ideas of the Ref­ormation presented in a form that appealed especially to Frenchmen. Calvin gave a better presentation of the cause than any of those be­fore him. He also furnished a defi­nite organization. He supplied a clear statement of doctrine, a form of public worship, and a system of church government.

Calvin was a born leader of men. He followed up his books with per­sonal appeals. He carried on a very extensive correspondence with Protestants in France. He took great pains with the composition of his letters, and displayed great skill in using this means of im­pressing his ideas more firmly upon the minds of his followers.

It was not long before there was a well organized church in Paris. To avoid persecution, its members met secretly in small groups in pri­vate houses. By 1559 there were many Protestant churches through­out the land, and it has been quite reliably estimated that by this time one-sixth of the population of France had become Protestant. Some of the foremost men of France joined the Reformation movement. In May, 1559 the Protestant churches of France held a synod in Paris. This synod adopted a creed known as the Gallic Confes­sion. This synod also organized the Protestant churches in France on a national scale. Here again Calvin provided the model. The country was divided into districts. At stated times the churches within a district were to hold meetings to which each church in the dis­trict was to send as its representa­tives a minister and an elder. Then there was to be a national synod to which every church in the coun­try was to send a minister and an elder.

It was also around this time that the Protestants in France came to be called by the name by which they are known to history. Up to this time they were called Luther­ans, and sometimes Calvinists. From this time on they were called Huguenots. The Reformation in France under the leadership of John Cal­vin had come to maturity and was now firmly established.

6. The Way Has Been Prepared for the Reformation in the Netherlands The same forces that prepared the way for the Reformation in Germany and in France (ch. 22) were at work also in the Nether­lands. But there was besides these an activity peculiar to the Nether­lands, namely, that of the Brethren of the Common Life (ch. 22, sec. 11). You will recall how the Breth­ren in their work to reform the church preached to great multi­tudes and also established excel­lent schools where Christian train­ing was given. John of Wessel, who received his early training in one of these schools, attacked indul­gences and taught that justifica­tion comes by faith alone, just as Luther did later on. The writings of Luther and his heroic example became known in the Netherlands at an early date, and the number of his followers in the Low Countries multiplied rapidly. But the reformatory movement in the Netherlands was for a long time even more con­fused than it had been in France. Of those that joined the Reforma­tion some were Lutherans, some were Zwinglians, and others were Anabaptists (ch. 32, sec. 2). In the Netherlands, as in France, there was for a long time no uni­fied leadership.

TOWER OF ST. JACOB’S CHURCH, THE HAGUE
Netherlands Information Bureau
Records show that this church was built prior to 1311. It was burned down in 1402 and rebuilt in 1434. Originally Roman Catholic, it was one of the earliest churches to be surrendered to the followers of the Reformation. The wedding of Princess (now Queen) Juliana and Prince Bernhard took place in this Hervormde (Reformed) State Church.

7. Calvin Becomes the Main Influ­ence Also in the Netherlands The man who with his clear mind and organizing ability brought order out of chaos in France, did the same thing in the Netherlands. Naturally the influ­ence of this greatest of the Re­formers was felt in the Nether­lands later than in France. A change occurred almost im­mediately in France, upon the pub­lication of the Institutes in 1536. It was not until about 1550 that the people of the Netherlands be­gan to feel the impact of Calvin’s superior mind. But when once Cal­vin’s ideas became known they achieved a swift victory. Before long Luther and Zwingli and the Anabaptists receded into the back­ground. At first many students from the Netherlands had gone to Luther’s university at Wittenberg, but after this they went to Geneva. All Protestants of the Reformed faith will always love and revere Luther for his heroic initiative in the mighty struggle for freedom from Rome; but they see their spiritual father not in Luther but in Calvin. The Church in the Netherlands also gave written expression to its faith. In 1561 Guido De Bres drew up a confession of faith, which is known as the Bel is Con ession and also as the ’Net erlandish Confession" or the "Thirty-seven Articles." Two years later Dathe­nus translated into Dutch the Hei­delberg Catechism, which had first been published in the German lan­guage. This, too, became one of the creeds of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. Dathenus also published a psalter, which was long used in the Reformed Church of the Netherlands.

All this time Charles V (ch. 24, sec. 13), who was lord of the Netherlands, was persecuting the Protestants (ch. 32, sec. 6). The persecution was so fierce that it was not safe to hold synodical meetings in the Netherlands. For

Built in the fifteenth century, this church is older than its name (New Church) would lead you to think. It became a Protestant house of worship at the beginning of the Reformation, and is one of the Hervormde or Reformed churches. The elaborate choir en­trance and organ front were built around 1650. Notice the high, vaulted ceiling and the great sounding board over the pulpit. this purpose they had to leave their own country. In 1571 a synod was held in Emden in East Friesland just across the border in Germany. Here a church order was adopted after the model of that of Geneva.

INTERIOR, NIEUWE KERK, AMSTERDAM With the adoption of creeds, psalter, and church order the or­ganization of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands was for the most part completed, and that Church was firmly established.