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CCLV. – To Wolfgang Musculus. ²⁶⁵

Prohibition of the Vaudois Conferences – remonstrances on the intolerance of the Bernese ministers towards those of France

Geneva, 28th Nov. 1549.

If your senate had reasons for forbidding the ministers to assemble in future, according to their custom, to confer upon the Scriptures, it seems to me that I have formed a correct opinion of them. But I deny that this was a useful remedy. I have heard that there were never any contentions at Lausanne until that madman resolved upon perpetually harassing the Church. Every one will admit that such meetings are an excellent institution; and experience has hitherto shown that they have not been without a tolerable amount of fruit. The negligence of those who attend more to other things than to sacred literature, is there best detected. Such are at least stimulated by shame, and all derive benefit. It is certainly unjust that for one man's fault – for the wantonness of one idler – men are to be deprived of a beneficial exercise. It is wronging the brethren also, to visit upon all the transgression of one individual. Haller once saw an appearance of quarrelsome wrangling. But who fanned the flame? who supplied the fuel? It is well known that as long as Zebedee was allowed to rage there with impunity, the brethren were harassed with perpetual contentions.²⁶⁶ Why was there not a check put to his fury, as there might quickly have been? Whence arose his shameless audacity? If you do not know, there are too many among ourselves who have helped thus to puff up his arrogance. What now, if those very men, who long took advantage of his rashness that they might continue to harass the brethren, are the cause of the meetings being prohibited? When you inveigh so bitterly against all the ministers of our country, you seem to me to be forgetful both of your mildness and your modesty. As those grievously err who, with the same chalk, as they say, whiten the innocent and the guilty; so, where is the justice of blackening all with the same coal? I admit the great deficiencies of many, and I would that the proper amount of strictness were exercised. I know that many are wicked, wanton, and virulent; but, believe me, such are now permitted to throw off the reins. In the meantime forgive me, if I am indignant, that the whole French name is thus cruelly condemned. Although I make no distinction of nations here, nor am I one who shows indulgence to the vices of my friends, yet it is natural that I should be better acquainted than you are with their virtues. As to those scripture conferences which have hitherto been customary, grant us at least that old proverb, "Experience teaches fools." We have now for a long time had sufficient proof that the brethren are benefited by the exercise of this style of interpretation. Now the less the interchange of opinion, the greater will be the danger from pernicious dogmatisms. The slothful will sleep undisturbed; many will somehow or other grow godless, or become degenerate. This also has very great weight with me, that all good men are groaning under this edict, and the wicked are rejoicing. And when you see the College of Lausanne (to omit others) suffering so much on this account, it is surely your duty to alleviate their holy anxiety, as far as words can do so. In other respects also, your being very closely united is not more for their interest than for your own, if you wish to benefit the Church of God. For, to be frank with you, I was vexed a little lately by the rejection of Hotman, as I suspected that my connection with him had done him harm.

From my confidence in your friendship, I expostulate the more freely with you and my friend Haller. For I am persuaded that some things which trouble me are displeasing to you also. But however that may be, I hope you will put a just and friendly interpretation on these complaints. Adieu, most excellent and accomplished man, and my revered brother in the Lord. May God keep you and your family, and be ever present with you and guide you! – Yours,

John Calvin.

My colleagues heartily salute you.

I thought I had given this letter with others to the messenger, but after he left I discovered my mistake when it was too late. I suppose you have not heard that the marriage of the Duke of Mantua with the daughter of Ferdinand has been celebrated at Papia. It is yet uncertain who is to succeed Paul.²⁶⁷ War is expected in Italy. God grant that we may seek peace with himself!

[Lat. orig. autogr. – Library of Zoffingue. Vol. i. p. 14.]

CCLVI. – To Monsieur de Saint Laurens. ²⁶⁸

Statement of leading articles of the Reformed Faith

From Geneva, … [1549?]

Monsieur, – Although I am personally unknown to you, still I believe you will not think it strange that I make so bold as to write to you, having been requested to do so by two persons who ought to insure me free enough access, – I mean Monsieur de Saint-Martin and your daughter. Wherefore, also, I shall forbear making further excuses, and likewise because I have heard that my letters would not be unwelcome to you, but that you would have the patience to read and think over the contents, which gives me good hope that you have the true seed of God in you, which only needs to be cultivated in order to sprout and produce its fruit. Now, as that is the end I propose to myself, that we may attain it, I beseech you above all chiefly to consider, that it is the duty of every Christian, not to consent to the abuses which reign in the world, but rather to ascertain what is the pure truth of God, with the purpose of adhering to it; further, that you would listen to me, touching the doctrine which we hold, – not that I would make full and entire declaration of it to you, but I shall merely state in few words the summary of the whole, in such wise that it will be easy for you to perceive what is our principal object. As to the first, there are very many who settle down in their ignorance and superstition, because they will not take the trouble to open their eyes when the clear light is presented to them. Inasmuch as I do not hold you to be of that number, without further exhortation, it suffices me that I have warned you of the fact. There is much reason that all Christians should take care how they live towards God, so as not wilfully to deceive themselves, above all in a matter of such importance as is the salvation of the soul. It is notorious that Christianity has been much corrupted and depraved, as well by the negligence of prelates, as by that of governors, and that by their stupidity, or avarice and ambition. I do not consider that this corruption is only in manners or morals, but what is worse, doctrine and truth have been turned into a lie. The service of God has been polluted by endless superstitions. The order of Church government has been turned upside down, the signs and symbols of the sacraments so jumbled together, that all is confusion. If everybody does not perceive that, it is because they have not brought back all things to the true standard; but if we compare the religion and doctrine held under the Papacy, with the pure ordinance of God, we shall therein discover more contradiction than between day and night. Therefore, to form a right notion, we must not pause to lay stress upon either the authority of princes, or an ancient custom, or on one's own understanding, but rather look above all, to what God has commanded or forbidden, for he has not spoken in secret, but has desired that his will should be known both of great and small. When you have once settled this point of submitting yourself to be taught of God, to acquiesce in what his word contains, desiring to know what is the right way of salvation, that will be already a good step towards arriving at the full knowledge of what it is for our advantage to know.

The second request that I have said I had to make, is that you consider calmly the sum of our doctrine, when I shall have shortly stated it to you; for there are many who at once reject and condemn it, without having heard what it is, because they are prejudiced against us, which warps their judgment. I pass over the imputations and crimes which they lay against us, to make us odious to all the world; but do what they will, they cannot reproach us with having any other end than to gather in the people who have long been going astray, and to bring them back to their standard, which is the pure word of God. We demand, however, that all differences of opinion be determined by an appeal to that, and that every one abide by what we know to be the will of God. Our adversaries make themselves a buckler of the name of the Church, which they falsely assume. And it is the same conflict which in their time the prophets and apostles had with those who usurped pre-eminence in the Church, belying in all things the duties of their office. But we know that the Church is founded on the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, and that she ought to be united to Jesus Christ, her head, who is without variableness. So therefore it is but a bastard church where God's doctrine does not reign as the rule. Following that rule, we desire that God may be served according to his commandments, and we reject all new-fangled ways invented to suit the appetite of men; for it is not lawful for men to impose law or statute upon conscience, and God moreover has reserved to himself this privilege, to ordain for us whatsoever seemeth good unto himself. Therefore it is, that we are accused of having abolished and trampled under foot the ordinances of our mother, holy Church, for example when we say with Isaiah and Jesus Christ, that it is in vain we think to find out God by means of human traditions; then, when we say with St. James, that there is but one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Well, then, when you had searched to the very utmost, you would find that all which is among them called the worship of God, is nothing but pure invention forged at their own pleasure. In like manner, because the Holy Scripture, treating of our salvation, and wherein rests our whole trust and confidence in regard to it, sends us back to the sole grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, declaring that we are poor wretched sinners, utterly lost and useless for good, we endeavour to bring all the world to partake of this grace; and that it may be acknowledged and magnified as it behoves to be, and which cannot be done without casting down the false belief that we can do aught to merit paradise. They take occasion on this account to accuse us of making no account of good works, whereby they do us wrong; for we are far more careful to recommend holy living, than are any of our adversaries. But in order that men may not deceive themselves by an overweening confidence, we teach that we are able to do nothing whatever in our own strength, unless God guides us by his Holy Spirit, and that even when we had done all, this would afford a far too feeble ground whereon to found our justification; that we must therefore have continual recourse to the mercy of God, and to the merit and passion of Jesus Christ; and that it is there that we must rest our hope, making no account of all the rest. Thence it comes, that we say likewise, that we ought to address God in all our prayers, for he calls us to himself, and forasmuch as we of ourselves are too vile and unworthy to draw near to him, he hath given us his Son Jesus Christ for our Advocate. Therefore it is, that they reproach us with our hostility to the saints of both sexes, and that we forbid the honouring of them. But this is absurd, for we render to the saints the honour which God assigns them. Only we cannot bear that they should be made idols of, being set up instead of God, or of his Son our Saviour, which besides they do not ask, but on the contrary take to be a great wrong; for those things which, under shadow of devotion, are done with the view of pleasing them, they seek vengeance before God.

The sacraments, which ought to serve for our confirmation in the truth of God and in his fear, have been strangely perverted. When we set ourselves carefully to restore them to their true use and first original, they would have it believed that we are going to destroy them. But would they only look to the ordinance as it has been instituted by the Master, it would then be quite evident that the manner of observance which we practise, does not derogate in anything from what he has prescribed. True it is, we have not the mass as among them, but we have the Supper such as Jesus Christ has left it to us, and our adversaries can say nothing to the contrary, only they object their custom as a reason for everything, but we have another kind of buckler altogether, which is the commandment that must endure inviolable to the end of the world. Do this, saith the text, until I come. Whereby it follows, that whosoever attempt to change anything until the coming of our Lord Jesus, prove themselves rebels against him. I should be over-tedious were I to follow out the other details which I omit mentioning to you, because it shall well suffice me, if it please God to lead you to concur in what I have herein lightly handled, in the hope that by more ample reading you may be yet more confirmed in the same purpose. And now, therefore, Monsieur, having humbly commended me to your kind favour, I beseech our good Lord to guide you by his Spirit, to make you conformable in everything to his will, and to send what he knows to be good and wholesome for you. – Your servant,

Charles D'Espeville.

[Fr. Copy, Library of Geneva. Vol. 107.]

CCLVII. – To the Protector Somerset. ²⁶⁹

Congratulations on the royal favour shown to the Duke of Somerset – use to be made of his influence for spreading the Gospel in England

January 1550.

Monseigneur, – That I have so long delayed to write to you, has been from no want of good-will, but to my great regret I have refrained, fearing lest, during the troubles which have been of late, my letters should be the occasion of annoyance. I thank my God that he has now afforded me the opportunity which hitherto I have been waiting for. It is not I alone who rejoice at the good issue which God has given to your affliction, but all true believers, who desire the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, forasmuch as they know the solicitude with which you have laboured for the re-establishing of the Gospel in all its purity in England, and that every kind of superstition might be abolished. And I do not doubt that you are prepared to persevere in the same course, in so far as you shall have the means. On your own part, Monseigneur, not only have you to acknowledge the favour God has shown you in stretching out his hand for your deliverance, but also to bear his dealing with you in remembrance, that you may profit by it.²⁷⁰ I know the regret which you may well entertain, and how you may be tempted to render the like to those whom you reckon to have meditated greater mischief against you than what has come to pass. But you know the admonition which Saint Paul has given us on that head, that is, that we have not to fight against flesh and blood, but against the hidden wiles of our spiritual enemy. Wherefore let us not waste our energies upon men, but rather let us set ourselves against Satan to resist all his machinations against us, as there is no doubt whatever that he was the author of the evil which impended over you, in order that the course of the Gospel might thereby be hindered, and even that all should be brought to confusion. Therefore, Monseigneur, forgetting and pardoning the faults of those whom you may conceive to have been your enemies, apply your whole mind to repel his malice who thus engaged them to their own destruction in setting themselves to seek your ruin. This magnanimity will not only be pleasing to God, but it will make you the more loved among men; and I do not doubt that you have such regard to that as you ought. But if your humane disposition itself impels you to this course, so much the more may I be confident that you will receive kindly what I say, knowing that nothing induces me to tender such advice to you, but the love I bear you, and the care which I have for your honour and welfare. And besides, it is so difficult a virtue so to overcome our passions as to render good for evil, that we can never be too much exhorted to do so. Moreover, seeing that the Lord has directed the issue so much better than many expected, keep in mind, Monseigneur, the example of Joseph. It would be difficult to find in our day such a mirror of integrity. For he, seeing that God had turned to good the evil which they had plotted against him, is unwearied in showing himself the minister of the goodness of God towards his brethren who had persecuted him. This victory will be more glorious than that which God has already given you, when he saved and secured your person, and your property, and your honours. However, Monseigneur, you have also to consider that if God has been pleased to humble you for a little while, it has not been without a motive. For although you might be innocent in regard to men, you know that before this great heavenly Judge there is no one living who is not chargeable. Thus, then, it is that the saints have honoured the rod of God, by yielding their neck, and bowing low their head under his discipline. David had walked very uprightly, but yet he confessed that it had been good for him to be humbled by the hand of God. For which reason, as soon as we feel any chastisement, of whatsoever kind it may be, the first step should be to retire into ourselves, and well to examine our own lives, that we may apprehend those blessings which had been hidden from us: for sometimes too much prosperity so dazzles our eyes, that we cannot perceive wherefore God chastises us. It is but reasonable that we should do him at least as much honour as we would to a physician, for it is his to heal our inward maladies, which are unknown to ourselves, and to pursue a course of healing, not according to our liking, but as he knows and judges to be fitting. What is more, it must needs happen sometimes that he makes use of preservative remedies, not waiting till we have already fallen into evil, but preventing it before it comes. God, besides your native rank, having assigned you a high dignity, has performed great things by your hand, and which shall possibly be more applauded after your death than they are duly appreciated during your lifetime. Moreover, he has caused his name to be magnified by you. Now, the most virtuous and excellent persons are in greater danger than any others of being tempted to forget themselves. You are aware, Monseigneur, of what is written concerning the good King Hezekiah, that after having performed such memorable actions, as well for religion and the worship of God as for the common weal of the country, his heart was lifted up. If God has been pleased to prevent that in you, it is a special favour he has shown you. Were there no other reason for it, save that he would be glorified in your deliverance, and that he would be recognized by you, as well as by all in your person, as the true protector of his own, that alone ought to be all-sufficient to you.

It remains, Monseigneur, that since he has thus given you the upper hand, you do render homage to him for this benefit, as is due. If we are recovered out of a dangerous sickness, we ought to be doubly careful, and to honour this merciful God, just as if he had bestowed a new life upon us. You may not do less in your present circumstances. Your zeal to exalt the name of God, and to restore the purity of his Gospel, has been great. But you know, Monseigneur, that in so great and worthy a cause, even when we have put forth all our strength, we come very far short of what is required. However, if God, in thus binding you to himself anew, has meant, in this way, to induce you to do better than ever, your duty is to strive to the uttermost and with all your energy, so that so holy a work as that which he has begun by you may be carried forward. I doubt not that you do so; but I am also confident, that knowing the affection which induces me to exhort you thereunto, you will receive all my solicitation with your wonted benignity. If the honour of God be thus esteemed by you above all else, he will assuredly watch over you and your whole household, to pour out his grace there more abundantly, and will make you know the value of his blessing. For that promise can never fail, – Those who honour me, I will render honourable. True it is, that those who best do their duty are oftentimes troubled the most by many violent onsets. But this is quite enough for them, that God is at hand to succour and relieve them. Now, although it is enough for you to look to God and to feel the assurance that your service is pleasing to him, nevertheless, Monseigneur, it is a great comfort to you to see the king so well disposed that he prefers the restoration of the Church, and of pure doctrine, to everything else, seeing it is a virtue greatly to be admired in him, and a peculiar blessing for the kingdom,²⁷¹ that in a youth of such tender age the vanities of this world do not hinder the fear of God and true religion from ruling in his heart. This also ought to be a great help and confirmation, that you discharge the principal service which he desires and asks, in serving our heavenly King, the Son of God.

Monseigneur, having very humbly commended me to your kind favour, I beseech our good Lord, that, upholding you in his holy keeping, he would increase in you yet more and more the gifts of his Holy Spirit, for the furtherance of his own glory, so that we may all have whereof to rejoice.

Your very humble servant,

John Calvin.

[Fr. orig. minute. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 107, a.]