[391] _On the back_: "Answer to a certain _Curé_, which he had
written while the plague was at Geneva, wherein there are several
remarkable instructions--without date."--From the Council Registers
we see that the plague made its appearance at Geneva in 1542,
and that during several years it made great ravages in the town
and throughout the whole territory of Savoy. The number of sick
was immense. It was almost certain death to visit them. Three
ministers offered spontaneously to discharge that duty: Calvin,
Sebastian Castalio, and Blanchet. Castalio, who was the first person
designated by lot, appears to have declined that perilous honour.
Blanchet generously made the sacrifice of his life; and the urgent
solicitations of the Seigneury of Geneva, who were afraid to expose
the valuable life of the Reformer, could alone determine Calvin to
desist from undertaking the charge which he had himself solicited.
See Roset, _Chronique_, iv. 60, and Savion, 60.
Religious controversy occasioned by the plague at
Geneva--apologizes for the Reformation.
[1543.]
MONSIEUR LE CURÉ,--We acknowledge that point of your letter to be
very true, that the plague which we have in our town is a scourge
of God, and we confess that we are justly punished on account of
our faults and demerits. We do not doubt also, that by this mean
he admonishes us to examine ourselves, to lead and draw us to
repentance. Wherefore, we take in good part what you have said,
that it is time for us to return to God, to ask and to obtain
pardoning mercy from him. We likewise see that throughout the whole
of Christendom there is great trouble, that there is scarce a single
corner which is not in some way afflicted in that respect, from
whence we must conclude that the wrath of God is greatly kindled
against this poor world. And it is no wonder, for the causes are
evident, and they are not far to seek, while one sees that such
corruption everywhere prevails, and how vice of every kind is
carried to the utmost pitch and reigns paramount. We do not say
this to excuse ourselves, by hiding, as it were, in a crowd, but
inasmuch as the wrath of God ought to be all the more dreadful in
our apprehension when it is thus spread abroad over the whole earth,
like a kind of deluge. Besides, when we have well considered the
matter in every way, we can come to no other conclusion, except that
over and above the vice which reigns generally everywhere, there
are among Christians two things which specially provoke the wrath
of God; namely, that the one party of them dishonour him by their
idolatry and superstitions, and instead of receiving his holy word
to bring them back into the straight road, not only despise and
mock and flout, but have a hatred and horror of, and even persecute
the truth. On the other hand, we who know by his Evangel how we
ought to serve and honour him, do not make strict account in our
discharge of duty, so that the word of life is as if it were idle
and unproductive among us. We have no wish to justify ourselves by
condemning others. For in so far as it has pleased God to withdraw
us out of the horrible darkness wherein we were, and to enlighten
us in the knowledge of the right way of salvation, we are so much
the more blamable if we are negligent in doing our duty, as it is
written, "The servant knowing the will of his master, and not doing
it, shall be severely punished." (Luke xii.) So that we ought not to
be astonished if our Lord should visit us twofold, on account of our
ingratitude which is in us, when we do not walk as children of the
light, and produce no fruit of that holy calling to which he hath
called us. Moreover, he threatens that judgment shall begin at his
own house; that is to say, that he will correct his servants first
of all. (1 Pet. iv.) But, nevertheless, we would rather consider, on
the other hand, that seeing above all else he holds his own glory
in highest commendation, he hates and chiefly holds in detestation
the idolatries and superstitions by which he is dishonoured, and
which more grievously offend than every other thing. Think for a
little on what takes place among you. They adore stone and wood;
they invoke the dead; they trust in lying vanities; they would serve
God by ceremonies foolishly invented without the authority of his
word. The true doctrine is buried, and if any one wishes to have it
brought forth, he is cruelly persecuted. Do you think that God can
bear with such pollutions and blasphemies against his own honour?
St. Paul bears witness that God had sent the plague on Corinth,
because the holy Supper had not been so reverently treated there
as it ought. (1 Cor. xi.) Then what must we expect, seeing that
it has already, for so long a period, been converted into such an
execrable sacrifice as is your mass? There is no need for a long
proof of what we say. Consider attentively the institution of our
Lord, and make the comparison between it and your mass. You will
find a greater distance between them than between the heaven and the
earth. Thus, in truth, our duty would be, to give glory to God all
together with one accord, by confessing our offences, every one for
his own sin, according to his state and circumstances. (Dan. ix.)
This it is, that on our part we should feel how grievous a sin it
is for us not to receive his grace as it befits us to do, when he
presents it to us, and that we do not live in higher perfection,
considering the knowledge which he hath given us of his Evangel, and
the exhortations which are daily made to us by his commandment. Let
those who, instead of the word, follow their own fancies or human
traditions, consider that it is an abomination very displeasing to
God, that of corrupting his service, as they have done, of adhering
to false doctrine, of attributing the grace of his salvation to
creatures, of reversing the right use of the sacraments, turning
them quite upside down, of abusing and taking his name in vain, and
along with all that, of persecuting the witnesses of Jesus Christ,
who dare venture to open their mouth against such abuses. And if
some of them are at present in prosperity, let them by no means put
their trust in that. For it is ever the fashion of hypocrites, and
especially of idolaters, to glorify themselves when the hand of
God does not press upon them, as if this were because they have so
well deserved of God, while dishonouring him by their idolatrous
mummeries, and by that they harden themselves in their impiety,
flattering themselves and condemning others. But what says our Lord?
"I have done them," he says, "all the good which was possible, and
they have thought that this was the wages of whoredom with their
idols. Wherefore, I will take away all that I have given them, to
discover their vileness, and constrain them to return unto me."
Now, even at this very time, when we are seeking and searching to
find out the misdeeds on account of which God punishes us, and
in what we have offended, you allege against us, that we have
changed the divine service, and the order of the Church, which
had been so well established and observed in this town. This is
not any new reproach, for it was made against Jeremiah in his
time, as he relates in the forty-fourth chapter. It is, that the
hypocrites complain, that since they had left off the adoration of
the Queen of Heaven, they had had nothing but famine, war, and all
poverty. Lactantius also, an ancient doctor of the Church, and St.
Augustine, demonstrate that in their time all the afflictions which
had happened in the world were imputed to the Evangel, because it
had brought about the abolition of the Pagan superstitions, which
were thought to be service to God. You will reply, that it was not
all alike; we hold that it was. What then is to be done? We must
ascertain what is the truth upon the point, in order to pronounce a
sound and correct opinion. Well, then, besides that our consciences
speak peace to us before God as touching that, the thing itself can
clearly answer for us before men. For no one has hitherto shewn us
that we had changed anything which was commanded of God, nor that
we had introduced any novelty against his person, nor that we had
declined from the truth to lay hold on some evil doctrine. On the
contrary, it is notorious that we have reformed our Church according
to the pure doctrine of God, which is the rule to apply and to keep
up a healthy state. It is true, that it is rather an odious thing
to alter what has been hitherto received. But the order which our
Lord has once delivered to us ought to be for ever inviolable. Thus,
when it has been forsaken for a season, it ought to be renewed and
set up again, even should heaven and earth commingle. There is no
antiquity, no custom which can be set up or pleaded in prejudice
of this doctrine, that the government of the Church established by
the authority of God should be perpetual even to the end of the
world, since he has willed and determined that it should be so.
The reasons which have made us change are more than sufficiently
urgent. The first point in Christianity is the true adoration of
God. Now, we have come to know, that the form of adoration which
we have been in the habit of observing was false and perverted,
and, moreover, that it was not in the spirit of truth, (John iv.,)
but in external ceremonies, and even in superstitious practices.
It is certain that then we did not adore God alone, but wood and
stones instead of him, the pictures, the reliquaries of the dead,
and things of a like kind. To the adoration of God is conjoined the
rule of worshipping him aright. And in what manner is it that he
is invoked throughout the Papacy, except with doubt and distrust,
inasmuch as they know nothing about the office of Jesus Christ as
our Advocate and Intercessor, by whom we obtain our requests? (Rom.
viii.; 1 Tim. ii.; 1 John ii.; Heb. iv.) Besides, what are the
public prayers but murmurs and ululations, vain repetitions without
understanding? Thirdly, how many blasphemies are there in it, in so
far as the power of the sole Mediator is attributed to saints and
saintesses, to obtain grace in their name and by their merits? After
the invocation follows the service, as if we were instructed to
serve God by the vain traditions of men. On the contrary, he wills
and requires that we take for our rule his will alone throughout.
(Deut. xii.; 1 Kings xv.) As concerning the confidence and firm
persuasion of our salvation, which is like, as it were, the
foundation of all, instead of relying on his pure mercy, in order
to have our consciences at rest, and give to him the glory which
appertains to him, we were taught, like the rest of the world, to
put our trust partly in ourselves, and partly in other creatures.
There is no need, however, to rehearse all the rest, for there
would be no end of that. For, in short, it has come to this, that
the grace of Jesus Christ was, as it were, buried out of sight to
us. When we have understood so much, and that it has been clearly
proven to us, that all that was abomination in the sight of God,
what could we have done? Were we to withstand God, and to resist
his truth? Had it merely been a matter of Church order, if it had
been at all bearable, we might have been content to remain, but it
was such a Babel of confusion and disorder, that there remained
no other remedy but that of an entire renovation. What shall we
say of the Sacraments, the observance and use of which had been
altogether perverted from the ordinance of Jesus Christ our Lord?
How many silly baptismal ceremonies had been sought out and invented
by men, without the authority of God! And what is worse, the true
and pure institution of our Lord was, as it were, abolished by such
frivolous patchwork. In short, they set a greater value upon the
anointing chrism than the water, and at present it seems to be a
settled point with you, that our baptism is null, because we have
only retained what the Lord has commanded, and what the Apostles
have observed and held fast in practice. As for the holy Supper, it
has been much more profaned. Our Lord has left us that as a pledge,
on purpose that (we might be) certain that our souls are nourished
from his body and from his blood, to make us partakers of all his
benefits, and peculiarly so of his death and passion. In order that
we may do this, we ought to distribute it according to the terms of
his commandment, namely, in declaring the worth and efficacy of the
mystery. On the contrary, they have converted it into a sacrifice,
to make reconciliation anew with God by man's work, and not for the
living only, but also for the dead. The priest, to make what he
considers a due use of the sacrament, separates himself from the
Church. The whole is done and spoken in an unknown language, after
the manner of enchanters with their charms. When Easter comes, again
they only give to the people the half of the sacrament, depriving
them of the cup, against the express command of the Master. To
consent to such sacrilege as that, is not even to be thought of. And
yet, nevertheless, they reproach us with having let down and abased
this holy sacrament. But the thing speaks for itself, that we have
restored it in complete integrity, where it had been corrupted and
polluted in so many ways. St. Paul, wishing to correct an abuse
which had grown up among the Corinthians in reference to this
sacrament, sends them back to the first institution of the ordinance
by the Lord himself, as to an inviolable statute. (1 Cor. xi.) What
could we do, then, to correct the infinite abuses with which it had
been contaminated, except to follow that same rule? Let them shew
us, if they can, if there be anything in the manner of our worship
which is not conformable to the institution of our Lord, to the
usage of the Apostles, and we are ready to amend our fault. But when
they accuse us without either rhyme or reason, that will not in the
least disturb or excite us, so as to make us renounce the true and
settled institution. Wherefore, that which you impute to us as a
fault, we hold and take to be a work of God, the best which we had
been able to attain to. Yet nevertheless, we do not deny that we
have come very far short in many respects, for which our Lord has
good right to punish us, but it is in regard that our life does not
correspond with his holy doctrine of which we make a profession.
In like manner, where you exhort us to return back to God in order
to appease his wrath, you drive us back to the means which rather
serve to provoke and inflame it the more. First of all, you would
have us to present the oblation of the precious body and blood of
our Lord Jesus. We are well aware that it is a customary practice
among you; but in order to ascertain whether it is a work pleasing
to God, inquiry ought to be made if it is according to his will.
Besides, he does not say that we should offer his body, but that
we should receive it. (Matt. xxvi., Mark, Luke, Paul.) _Take_,
says he, _eat_. Instead of receiving the body of Jesus Christ, if
we wish to make God believe that it is a sacrifice which we offer
to him, where shall we find any approval of our phantasy? We would
pray you seriously to ponder this reason. You advise us to make
an offering of the body of Christ by a priest, for the purpose of
obtaining grace. We reply, that he never gave us his sacrament for
that end, but that it is in order to receive _him_, in the intention
of being partakers of that once-for-all and eternal sacrifice which
he alone has offered, according to his office. (Heb. vii.-x.) We
say, moreover, that it is to derogate from his dignity, inasmuch as
he has been consecrated sacrificial priest, without successor or
companion, to make offering of himself, because none other could
be worthy to perform an act of such excellency. For the office of
sacrificing is to be Mediator, to make reconciliation between God
and men. In whom shall we put our trust,--in Jesus Christ, or in
you? seeing that there is such contrariety. Then after that, you
hold forth to us the beautiful general processions. But what use is
there for that, except that with great pomp and ceremony one would
think of appeasing God? You will tell us that you would intend that
they should devoutly engage in them. And what devotion is there to
place reliance in candles and torches, in beautiful and sumptuous
equipage, in images, in reliquaries of the dead? Such, indeed, has
always been the use and wont of Pagans, as appears from history. How
such things comport with Christianity it is impossible to explain.
We make no question about assembling together to make solemn
prayer to God. But we ask what there is in these public general
processions, beyond the pompous accoutrements, lamps and luminaries,
relics, and other things of a like kind? All that sort of thing
smells of rank Judaism, and befits Pagan rather than Christian
worship. They shout well, indeed, and make an outcry, and they sing
prettily. But to what end? It is in an unknown tongue, and therefore
against the express command of the Holy Spirit, (1 Cor. xiv.,) who
wills, that the common prayers be made in the common language, on
purpose that the rude and uninstructed may take part in them, and
say Amen at the end. You further exhort us to invocate the Virgin
Mary and the saints, among whom you make special mention of Saint
Peter, as our patron. But God calls us to himself alone, forbidding
us to have recourse elsewhere, (Ps. xlix.,) and with good right,
for his chief glory lies in that we should call upon him alone in
the name of Jesus Christ. But even had there been no such reason
for it there, we have many exhortations in Scripture pressing our
return to God with prayer and supplication in time of pestilence,
of war, and famine. (Is. xliv., xlv.; Jer. iii.; Hos. ii.) Never
does there occur a single word about the invocation of the saints.
It would therefore be very inconsiderate on our part were we to
follow what you have told us, in turning away from the doctrine of
God. Touching that of your calling Saint Peter our patron, it is
the same thing with what the prophet speaks: _Israel, thy gods are
according to the number of thy towns_, (Jer. ii.,) and at that time
the intention of the people of Israel was not to invent many gods
in order to abolish the worship of the true God, the Creator of the
world. Forasmuch, however, as each town chose a patron in whom to
trust, they are reproved by the prophet, for that every town had its
own god. You would have us to do the like at present. But it does
not please God that we should take up with any other patron than
Jesus Christ, who has taken us into his keeping, to recommend us to
God his Father. If we have formerly been in this state of blindness
of mind, the darkness has passed away. (John x.) There is now an
end of transgression, now that we have the shining light before our
eyes. But you have known by experience, you say, how much that has
profited you. It is no new thing, as we have said, to attribute
God's benefits to our own foolish and perverted doings, as if by
our idolatry we had merited the good things which he has sent us.
The sorcerers, enchanters, soothsayers, and other like, could say
as much. But we have our certain rule, which is, that reason goes
before, and experience follows after. If we do thus, we shall not
wander away from the right path, and shall neither decline on this
side nor on that from what God commands us. And we shall find in
truth and without deceit, that his help is never wanting to those
who put their whole trust and confidence in him. On the contrary, in
seeking for other help, we shall sometimes think to profit by it,
but we shall be disappointed in the end.
Well, then, our Lord Jesus wishes to open your eyes to understand
and to see what it is that he would say, when he calls himself the
only Saviour, the only life, the only sanctification, the only
wisdom, the only confidence of men; that it is in order that we may
altogether acknowledge him to be such, that with good accord we
glorify him, as well in heart as with the mouth, and equally in all
our works, so that, as we have all received one baptism in his name,
we might have the same confession of our Christianity.
[_Fr. orig. autogr._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 107.]