Asa H. Craig, (Asa Hollister), 1847-1934
Outside of Martin Luther and Henry VIII, John Calvin was the most noted character in the days of the Reformation. The nature of John Calvin was aristocratic, rather than democratic. He taught reform in laws as well as religion, but in practice governed with absolute despotism. He was dictatorial, demanding the observance of his views, and harsh in the denunciation of opposition. He obstinately adhered to his own opinions, but did not hesitate to modify them if by so doing he could gain advantage. He introduced the gospel of his faith by despotism, not by conversion. To disobey meant punishment. Civil officers were instructed to suppress every Catholic manifestation, and to destroy every “unnecessary’’ practice of faith. He was violently opposed to the observance of abstinence from eating meat on Friday, and appointed detectives to go among the people and report their observation. A peasant who did not eat meat on Friday was arrested for the violation of law and cast into prison. The views of Calvin towards Catholics was one of malicious hatred. He declared that all Catholic kings, princes, rulers, and those engaged in government and teaching were the enemies of God, and should be removed. Like Luther, he could see only his own theology, and while Luther denounced him as a heretic, yet Calvin pitied him for his ignorance. His language was often abusive, and he was filled with deep contempt, with harshness, and bitterness. He was an implacable enemy of the Catholic Church and constantly sought to denounce the Pope. In France he was driven from place to place because of his insolence to Church authority, and his rabid utterances finally compelled him to leave his native State to avoid arrest and punishment.
John Calvin was born in Noyon, France, July 10, 1509, He became an early advocate of Reformation, and was so intemperate in his assaults against Catholics that he was obliged to leave the country. In 1535 he went to Switzerland, where he prepared a new code of worship. Like Martin Luther, he had been a priest and studied theology, and in the zeal for furthering his own philosophy he founded the Calvinistic doctrine of faith. At Ferrara he taught the Duchess Renata, who became an ardent advocate of Calvin and rendered much assistance in the spreading of his teachings.
Before continuing with the history of John Calvin, we will return to the political and religious history of Switzerland at the time he first appears upon the stage of action. Switzerland was being aroused by other would-be reformers and Calvin found a fertile soil in which to sow his seeds of reformation. Previous to the appearance of John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli the people of Switzerland were strongly Catholic, but by the exhortations of Zwingli this new sect, called Zwinglianism, had obtained a foothold in several cantons and was made the law of these commonwealths. The proposed creed was new to the people, somewhat novel in its departure, and pleasing in its promises of universal faith. It declared the Catholic religion an unnecessary burden, and a power over civil authority which should be abolished. The followers of Zwingli were shrewd in their management, and sought to please through the advancement of that most likely to give satisfaction. It could picture defects and at the same time show by exhortation that the “true gospel’ was the gospel of Reformation.
Huldrych Zwingli.
In 1518 the story of Martin Luther’s open hostility to the Catholic Church by attaching his famous ninety-five theses to the church door of Wittenberg, reached Switzerland, and Zwingli, who had been studying theology, immediately saw an opportunity to attract attention by advocating a special reform of his invention. He was ambitious, active, and energetic in his proposed line of action. He saw his opportunity and deliberately prepared his translation of faith and advocated the establishment of a new creed. Being a man of wonderful power of expression, in both written, and spoken language, he deftly prepared a doctrine of worship after the general principles of Martin Luther, but differing in some minor matters.
Having prepared his innovations, he proceeded to introduce them in the great church of Zurich, where he had already become famous for his great learning and ability. This new reformation, coming from the source it did, was received with marked attention, and although the people were somewhat skeptical as to Zwingli being a proper person to present a new religion, on account of the character’ of his private life, yet they listened with interest, and when, in 1519, Bernhardin Sampson appeared and publicly preached indulgences, he attacked the Franciscan priest with all the power of his eloquence, denouncing the practice as beneath Church rights and its relation to humanity. He denounced the doctrine as unchristian and unholy. His powerful protests were received with favor among the authorities, and in 1520 the Great Council of Zurich became so enamored with his doctrine that they issued a decree demanding that all the priests of the canton
should preach only such doctrine as they could prove by the Bible. Zwingli had said the principal tenets of’ the Catholic Church were not founded on the Bible, and now, to be safe in their instructions, the authorities demanded an exposition of faith only in accordance with what could be proved by the Holy Scriptures. They were not positive that Zwingli was correct and the Catholic religion wrong, but if they were confined to the Word of God there could be no mistake. They believed in the exhortation of this reformer, but would leave themselves on a sure footing by demanding a proof through the words of the Bible.
Bishop Constance sought to oppose this heresy, but was met with determined resistance, and his efforts were in vain. The doctrine was something new and unique, and being freed from moneyed exactions the people were attracted by its seeming popularity, and preferred its easy disposition of Church regulations. It demanded less Church restrictions and more freedom of action. It was to be more the government of each individual than the obedience to a powerful head. It was strict in the observance of the Sabbath, but not in the exactions of the Church. It placed the code of government as a law of each community, and when this was fulfilled there was no other obligation to meet.
In 1522, Zwingli, who had disgraced his private life, demanded that the bishop and those in authority should permit the clergy to marry. He saw that his teachings of morals were not in accordance with his known conduct, and to cover his sins he demanded the right of marriage for the priests.
On January 23, 1523, Pope Adrian VI wrote a very kind and affectionate letter to Zwingli admonishing him of his evil conduct, and earnestly beseeched him to renounce his public utterances, and become an honest, upright, and obedient priest. He pointed out the errors of his ways, his life of moral dissipation, and his disobedience of God’s laws and the principles of the Church. The letter was one of advice and entreaty. The Pope was considerate in his denunciation of wrong, his explanation of errors, and his appeal to Christian virtue. He understood the fiery nature of this priest reformer and sought to subdue his ambition by a personal appeal to his manhood, his vows, and his duty to the Church and obedience to those who were in authority. But alas! the kindness of the Pope was bestowed upon a stubborn and unappreciative mind.
The letter was received with ill-favor. Zwingli exhibited extreme folly in denouncing the entreaty in harsh and abusive language. The Pope had sought, through the mildest means possible, to convince him of his unjust denunciation, and as man should treat man, he was entitled decent respect. Instead of creating thought and consideration, the disobedient priest was more determined than ever to denounce the Pope and expand his own theology. His theories of religion must not be questioned, even by the Church, against which he threw his venomous declarations. It was no longer, Am I right? but, how can I overthrow the power of the Pope and establish my creed?
On January 29, 1523, a conference was held in Zurich to consider the differences existing between the Pope and Zwingli, which now had become a positive open revolt. This conference must decide between these contending forces. At this meeting Zwingli presented his sixty-five theses in defense of his position and demanded a careful analysis of them. These theses were so complicated the conference was unable to thoroughly understand them, and while he was convicted of error in openly opposing, or rebelling against the Pope, yet the conference did not declare him wrong in his declarations of a proposed reformation.
A second conference was called in October following, and although the friends of the Church worked hard to sub- due the advancement of Zwinglianism, yet this second council would not condemn. As a result of this decision the reformer became bolder in the denunciation of the Pope’s authority, and more aggressive in the dissemination of his new doctrine. He advised his clerical adherents to disregard the established law of the Church in regard to celibacy and become married men, and he, himself, married Anna Reinhard, a widow, with whom he had for years been in sinful intercourse.
The decisions of the second conference was a great victory for Zwingli. ne had openly defied the Pope of Rome. He had controlled the two councils, established a line of new ideas of worship, created religious power for himself, enthused his followers, and to further his own selfish desires had disobeyed the laws of the Church and was now a married priest. Zwingli was now outside the Church. He had declared against every distinct feature of worship. He had denounced the observance of Friday, the benefits of confession, the practice of penance, the veneration of the Virgin Mary and, above all, the power of the Pope as the head of all the Churches of the Catholic faith. He would destroy the form of prayer, the blessing, the Holy Mass, the clerical raiment, the emblems of Christ and his crucifixion, the altar and incense, the celibacy of priests, the monasteries, and in strong terms denounced the Jesuits as an order of no Christian value, which should no longer be an incubus upon the body of the Church.
It may seem strange that the authorities of Zurich should tolerate the professions of Zwingli against the Church, but when we consider that there were large possessions of Church lands, vast numbers of gold and silver vessels, and other valuable property, it is easy to see that through the mercenary motive of confiscation the commonwealth could retain those lands, and all other property, and thus obtain greater revenues for the benefit of the office holders, or those having charge of the government of the State. It was the same then as now. Money was the price of faith, the motive-power of the worship of God, and the instrument by which men weigh their honor, their happiness, and their immortal life. Revenues for benefits to the individual only, not
revenue for the building of churches, chapels, and missions of God, but revenue for selfishness, for power, and for the splendor of court. It was this plea of Zwingli that won the council of Zurich. By the overthrow of the Church, and confiscation of its property, there would be an increase of revenue, and at the same time an individual worship not under control of a higher authority. These individual favors won for this new apostle of reform the protection he desired, and the religious power he sought to confer upon himself.
The protestation made by the Bishop of Constance was not heeded, and no attention was paid to the assembly that met at Lucerne to denounce the action of the council of Zurich in confiscating Church property and allowing the spread of the reform heresy. By the influence of Zwingli, the council issued a decree of religious persecution, by which the people were forbidden to recognize the Catholic worship in any of its forms. Not only had they confiscated the property of the Church but they would confiscate the conscience of their people. They would destroy their established modes of worship, the principles of their faith, and seek to establish a new decree.
In 1526 this council forbade the sacrifice of the Mass, and ordered a destruction of all the Church emblems of worship. The altars, pictures, raiment, crucifixes, images, music, and other church property of this description was ordered destroyed, and in place Zwingli introduced his version of the Lord’s Supper as a chief discipline of worship. The observances of this new creed were cold and formal. There were no requirements of self-sacrifice or humiliation. Penance and confession were unnecessary humiliation and repentance, and would be discarded. Observe the moral law and you have observed the laws of the new church. It was the worship of God according to the dictates of conscience. You obey the edict of the commonwealth and you have fulfilled the requirements of your confession, your faith and your obligations to God and man.
So strong was the requirement that all should serve God in the participation of the Lord’s Supper, that a severe penalty, or punishment, was meted out to all who refused to surrender their form of worship and accept the new. So, imperative became the law or mandate that, in 1529, attendance at Mass was forbidden in Zurich and adjoining cantons. The people refused to surrender this great privilege of worship, and a constant persecution was enforced to deprive them of it. On absolutely refusing, they were imprisoned, fined, scourged, and in many ways were made to suffer the penalty of disobedience. In many instances it was but a repetition of the old barbaric line of treatment. Caesar was right and Caesar must be obeyed. Zwingli was the gospel of salvation, and by it all men must be saved.
Zwingli was made master of the religious situation, and, like Martin Luther, sought to uphold Christian discipline by a formula of how to worship, what to denounce in the Church of Rome and in whom was delegated power to maintain this new religion. In his sixty-five theses he pictured the faults of the Pope and his Church, the inconsistency of its requirements, and the “true gospel” as discovered by his study of philosophy and theology.
At Basle the same spirit of intolerance found free expression, although at first it was opposed by the authorities, but in 1527 Zwinglianism overcame all opposition, and, as in Zurich, its Great Council excluded Catholics from member- ship, broke in their churches, destroyed their evidences of worship, and forced the people to become followers of their faith. It was the work of a religious despot. It was toleration only as it obeyed their mandates. The new gospel of Christ should be applied to all men without regard to favor, feeling, or conscience. It had denied the Pope and his Church, and in this denial, all must unite in praising God for its overthrow.
This heresy was preached at various other places and was victorious over the established Church of Rome. In Berne, the Great Council gave resistance, but in so feeble a manner that the followers of Zwingli became doubly aggressive and demanded the adoption of their reform. In 1528 a religious conference was called to decide what should be done with this heresy. By the action of several apostate priests the new religion was adopted, and immediately there was begun a persecution against the rights of Catholics to worship according to their faith. The whole canton of Berne was declared in favor of Zwingli, and toleration was no longer acknowledged by that government.
The defeat of the Pope and the Church was a sad thing for them. They were robbed of that God-given right to worship according to the dictates of conscience. But here no conscience was allowed. It was an imperative mandate. The new religion was to be enforced without regard to its origin, the character of the founder, or the divine authority of its establishment. The philosophy of Zwingli must be enforced, the Pope denied, and the Church of Rome scandalized, vilified, condemned, and made to suffer the most degrading persecutions that force could invent. Not only were their churches desecrated by the hand of the vandal, but all forms of Christ’s crucifixion, his Blessed Mother, the holy vessels, the remembrances of the Apostle Peter, and all features that gladden the heart of the true Catholic were spit upon, trampled upon, destroyed or confiscated in the mad desire to rid the canton of all things that represented the faith of the Church of Rome. Not content with the destruction of church embellishments and the sanctity of the altar, they would, in many instances, burn the churches, imprison the priests, and terrorize the people. Fathers and mothers were threatened with imprisonment, their property confiscated, their lands deeded to new adherents, and in many instances publicly scourged for failing to comply with the new force. Where they were stubborn and refused to comply with the demand, their children were taken from them and placed under influences which would mold the new belief as the true religion into their hearts and minds.
While the people were not massacred, as in the days of Nero, or the French Reign of Terror, yet the methods were almost as brutal in their compulsion, in their despotic denunciation of free worship, and in their encroachment upon every right of the people. It was the rehabilitation of every feature of the persecution of early Christianity except the penalty of death. Its encroachments upon other cantons caused a furious war to ensue. It was a war resulting from the fiery exhortations of Zwingli to prostitute the whole Catholic Church in Switzerland. Not content with his reformation in the cantons where he had obtained authority, he must dominate over all the Churches, and wipe out what he called a stench upon the religion of the world.
The war raged with the desperation of uncontrolled fury. On the one side was the aggression of this new religious force. It was wild with fanatic persecution. It had become a religious craze in which all men were wrong except themselves. They were the true apostles of faith, and the great salvation of God must be accepted by force, if not by willingness of heart. There could be no question, no remonstrance, no deviation from the law laid down. By Zwingli they had found the right and all men must be saved whether they wanted to be or not. On the other side were the devout Catholics, earnest in their faith, true to the teachings of their Church and determined in the defense of their rights. They had borne this persecution until its hardships were beyond endurance. They had suffered the destruction of their churches, their altars, pictures and relics. They had seen the images of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary torn down and blasphemed against. They had seen all that was most near and dear to the Catholic heart ruthlessly destroyed, or defiled, by the hand of the religious assassin, and now they were ready to lay down their lives rather than longer submit to the desecration of their family worship. It had reached the last point of endurance, the die was cast, the further encroachment of religious intolerance must cease, or they die in battle as martyrs to their convictions of right.
In this struggle the cause of Zwingli was unsuccessful in forcing his faith beyond the provinces he then controlled. Zwingli, himself, was slain, and in the peace which followed there was greater moderation in the enforcement of hateful forms of worship. The battle of Cappel, on October 11, 1531, will ever be remembered by Catholics as a grand victory over the encroachments of this new Protestant Reformation. It was instituted by the ambition of a restless and impetuous apostate priest — a priest of low moral character, who, to cover his sins, sought to invent excuses, by parading as a great humanitarian. He would excite the ambition of others to vilify the Catholic Church, to destroy the power of the Pope, and to make himself powerful in the establishment of a proposed reform. His death was the downfall of oppression and further persecution by his followers.
JOHN CALVIN.
After the battle of Cappel the Canton of Berne sought to influence the city of Geneva to adopt this new faith, not so much from a religious standpoint as from a political one. These provinces were allied politically and now Berne sought to make closer the relations by adopting the same religion. The Council of Geneva finally yielded to the entreaties of Berne and the Catholic religion was formally renounced and Zwinglianism was declared the religion of this rich and powerful city. The Council now permitted a desecration of all Catholic Churches, and, as in the other cantons, all articles of faith and worship were destroyed, and the people forced to bow to the hand of the vandal. It was but a repetition of what has been described in Zurich, Berne, and other Catholic places. The emblems of faith, such as altars, relics, paintings, sculptured images, holy vessels, and all articles of Christian worth were destroyed, and the power of the Council made supreme. It was a declaration of intolerance, or persecution, and to protest was imprisonment, punishment, confiscation, and ruin. Ministers were accompanied by armed troops to forcibly take possession of churches, rid them of emblems, and force the people to attend worship against the dictates of their own conscience. Every opposition made by the people and priests was suppressed by the power of the troops. To refuse to obey was to sleep in a dungeon, to suffer the spoliation of property, to be exiled from family and friends, and to bear the indignities of a cruel persecution.
We may sometimes think ill of those honest people who submitted to the destruction of their religion and mode of worship, but when we consider their position, their long continuance in obedience, and their lack of education, we cannot blame them too severely, for who of you, dear readers, could stand this force of law and government? Consider, then, these persecutions, and see an armed force enter your church, destroy your emblems of worship, cast you into prison for disobedience, threaten the removal of your children, the confiscation of your property, and at the same time know their ability and disposition to carry out their edicts, and you would not be human if you did not protect your home, your family, and yourself. It is but human nature to defend loved ones, home, and its sacred influences. Few could resist the demands of this force, and no one should be condemned for seeking his personal protection. It was not the same condition that surrounded the Christians at the time of Nero. Then the Church was seeking its foundation, its basis of endurance, and its rock of salvation. It was the establishment of Christ’s Church by the Apostle Peter. It was a time when to falter meant everlasting defeat. It meant that the pagan world was lost to human agency. It must be the sacrifice of liberty, of all things earthly, and of life. It was to prove that the crucifix was stronger in God’s hands than was persecution in the hands of murderers and assassins. It was the order of God that men should lay down their lives that Christ might be glorified. It was to prove to the pagan rulers that Christ could not be dethroned, nor faith in him shaken by crucifixion. At the time of John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli it was not a question of Christ, but how best to serve him. These reformers had no fight with the Catholic Church as to the divinity of Christ, or the future existence of man. It was the faith, the creed, the church. It was whether the Pope should be at the head of all Christendom, or whether the worship of God should be at the will of any one who should choose a new theology. They preached salvation through Christ crucified, and through their version of a “true gospel’’ and a true religion, while the people protesting against the forms of reformation were submissive, because they were still allowed to worship their Savior and venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Had they been compelled to worship idolatry these reformers could never have gained control over them. The people were made to believe that the Church of Rome had degenerated from the true religion, and being powerful in exhortation, they obtained ready concessions, from many of their followers.
One of the effects of this new innovation was to destroy discipline, destroy the observance of religious government, the true character of faith, and the careful consideration of sin. It had destroyed Penance and Confession, and in its place had grown up the weeds of a licentious disposition. Nature had not been curbed and the evil influences of a lustful nature were destroying the groundwork of purity, the reverence of truth, and the protecting influence of the teachings of the Church. These elements of man’s nature being freed from the restraint of the Church, grew stronger and stronger, and more dangerous to the morals of the people, until it became the ruling passion of society. The leaders sought in vain to stay the tide of immorality, but were powerless to check its way. Catholic restraint was gone, and with its absence the vile passions of men became uncontrollable, dangerous to government and dangerous to the welfare of society, of religion, and of order.
At this critical point of the Reformation of Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin entered Geneva with his doctrine of worship, his new power of expression, and his new version of the Gospel of Repentance. The people became interested in this new leader, were easily seduced from following Zwingli, and accepted the faith as now laid down by John Calvin.
Soon after the arrival of Calvin in Geneva he married the widow of an Anabaptist of Strasburg. In 1541 he was given almost absolute control over the ecclesiastical government. His worship was cold and formal, consisting in special prayers, psalm-singing, catechetical instructions and sermons. All ornaments, raiment, images, or pictures were removed from the church. The finery of dress was considered sinful, and mirth must be subdued, as this was one of the great agencies
of the devil. Calvin saw the benefits of confession and desired to introduce it into his service, but owing to the Zwinglian influence he adopted open confession during church services. This confession was only the admission that the individual had received Christ in his heart, and desired to stand upon the faith of this new creed. It was not the admission of any particular sin* but a declaration of repentance, and the desire that God will forgive.
For the maintenance of moral discipline, a church tribunal was established to keep watch over individuals, or families, and ascertain if they were proper in conduct, and were regular attendants at church worship. This tribunal was composed of preachers and laymen, and was allowed to encroach upon the sacred rights of the home. They were allowed to listen at the keyhole, to enter as spies, or in any way whatever to obtain the secrets of the household. It was a most infamous inquisitorial machine. They had not only the right to enter the house at any hour, but were empowered to question the individuals, ask for evidence, and in their judgment, they were guilty of misconduct, to declare a punishment. The most stringent measures were adopted to enforce the rules of the Church and the ordinances of the city. Some of the most innocent pleasures were denied, as the somber faces of the leaders could scarcely permit anything that would provoke mirth or jollification. Even family festivals were forbidden, and to dance was an abomination unto the Lord.
The old residents were unwilling to submit to these restrictions upon their innocent pleasures. They were not raised with apparent sadness and sorrow in their faces. Theirs had been a life of pleasant recollections, and pleasant expectations for the future, and now to wrinkle the forehead in deep meditation, and to frown and scowl at every feature of worldly pleasure, was too much for their forbearance, but to rebel meant punishment, and in many instances execution. Civil officers received strict orders to suppress every Catholic demonstration. If a Catholic refused to obey the mandates of this new religious law he was punished according to the enormity of the proclaimed sin. If he refused to eat meat on Friday it meant imprisonment until his public confession declared this sacrifice as an unworthy observance, and should be abolished. The authority of Calvin was most despotic, and his inhuman severity in the enforcement of his religious laws was degrading, offensive, and intolerant. His abuse of all things Catholic was but the natural overflow of his unconcealed hatred. He was devoid of conscience in the execution of penalties, and for Catholic human life there was no justice, shame, or remorse. To be a Catholic was to be an enemy of God, and as God was the great central figure of worship, there must be no
opposition to his appointed time, place, and manner. It is from John Calvin, we find, that the strict and extremely orthodox Covenanters of Scotland, and the Puritans of New England descend. These people have ever been the closest disciples of a stem and unforgiving religion. They seem to inherit the enmity of all things Catholic, and are opposed, in a great measure, to all things not strictly in conformity with their belief of life and its eternity.