HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE LORD'S SUPPER AT GENEVA.
(JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1533.)
[Sidenote: THIRST FOR THE GOSPEL.]
Froment's departure did but increase the love of the Gospel in serious
minds. Deprived of what they considered their right—hearing the Gospel
preached—they suffered from the want, and were determined to free
themselves from the spiritual destitution to which they were reduced by
the clerical system. Others felt no less decided aspirations for
liberty, and were unwittingly the instruments of a greater revolution
than they had imagined. These Genevans felt, as if by inspiration, that
at the beginning of the sixteenth century society was passing through a
crisis, and that a new phase was opening for mankind. They did more than
observe it: they were personally the chief actors in the revolution that
was about to be accomplished in the world. Leaving the barren nations in
their lifeless stagnation, the men of this little city shouted
'Forward!' and rushed into the arena.
Froment had hardly left Geneva before the partisans of the reformation
raised their heads. The Romish Church had on its side the bishop-prince,
the clergy, the Friburgers, and even the majority of the council and
people; but if the friends of reform were in a minority as regards
material force, they surpassed their adversaries in moral strength. The
historian asserts that from this moment the two parties were nearly
equal in power.[619] The grey friar Bocquet, who 'had managed with so
much address,' says a manuscript, 'that both parties went to hear him
with equal eagerness,'[620] now began to preach the christian truth more
openly. The astonished priests were still more exasperated against the
monk than they had been against the reformer, and solicited that he
should be silenced.
The hands of the clergy were ere long strengthened by a powerful ally.
On February 23, six Friburg councillors, stanch catholics, entered
Geneva, the bearers of a threatening letter. 'If you wish to become
Lutherans,' said they to the council, 'Friburg renounces your alliance.'
The syndics answered to no purpose that they desired to live as their
forefathers had done: the Friburgers made a great disturbance about the
grey friar's sermons, and the council decided, 'for the love of peace,'
that Bocquet should leave Geneva.
[Sidenote: BAUDICHON DE LA MAISONNEUVE.]
The friends of the Gospel, seeing that even the Franciscan was taken
from them, did not lose heart. The Holy Scriptures remained: they read
in their homes Lefèvre's New Testament, and formed meetings at which the
Word of God was explained. The assemblies 'which took place in the
houses here and there were multiplied,' and the number of believers
increased every day.[621] They met ordinarily at the end of the Rue des
Allemands, at the house of Baudichon de la Maisonneuve, who henceforward
became a most zealous protestant. Sprung from a noble and powerful
family in the republic, he had a decided character and some talent, and
carried to extremes his convictions and his desire to make them succeed.
Individual life had prevailed during the feudal times; in the sixteenth
century the social element was growing stronger every day. There were,
however, certain natures which still maintained their independent
individualism, and Baudichon was one of them. Accordingly, so long as it
was only a question of destroying the old order of things, he acquitted
himself valiantly; but he was less useful, when it was necessary to
build up the new order. He seems, however, to have been aware of his own
insufficiency. His arms were a house (_maison_), and above the crest an
open hand with these words: _Except the Lord build the house, they
labour in vain that build it_.
The Lord did build: assemblies were formed, and Baudichon's house became
the _catacombs_ (says an old author) in which the new Christians held
their humble meetings.[622] They arrived, saluted each other
fraternally, sat down in a large room, and remained a few moments in
silence. They knew that though they were many, they had all one sole
Mediator, present in the midst of them although unseen. Then one of them
would read a portion of Scripture, another of the better informed
explained and applied it, and a third prayed.... The believers departed
edified from their meetings, 'which were so different (they said) from
the pope's mass.'
Sometimes a great treat was granted them. Some evangelical foreigner
passed through Geneva; the news spread immediately to every family; the
place and time were named when he would preach, and the believers
flocked thither from every quarter. 'What is his name?' they asked one
day. 'Peter Maneri.' 'What is he?' 'A minister.' 'Where is he staying?'
'At Claude Pasta's.' And Claude Pasta's rooms were filled immediately.
These first evangelicals of Geneva were not content merely with being
taught sound doctrine; they knew that a cold knowledge of God can save
no man, and that it is necessary to live with the Spirit of Christ, and
as He lived. They had formed a fund among themselves, and Salomon was
the treasurer. Every one brought his mite for the relief of the poor,
whether Genevans or foreigners. Thus these christians learnt at once to
believe, to love, and to give.
Two kinds of protestantism were already beginning, however, to appear in
Geneva, which have not ceased and perhaps never will cease to exist—an
external and an internal protestantism. The pious and humble Guerin had
a servant who, full of admiration for his master's sermons, was also a
great talker. One day, wishing to do the same as his master, he began to
preach in the open street before a number of people. 'Why do you go to
mass?' he said: 'you are idolaters.... Instead of worshipping God, you
adore a wafer!' The poor orator was taken up and compelled to leave the
city in consequence of his sermon. Another day some huguenots entered a
pastrycook's shop: it was a Saturday in Lent. They asked for a plate of
meat. 'Impossible,' said the master. 'Not so much ceremony,' rudely
returned the huguenots. The pastrycook ran off to inform against them,
and they were condemned to pay a fine of sixty sous each, which
occasioned some disturbance. 'Lutherans, huguenots, heretics!' shouted
one party; 'Pharisees, mamelukes, papists!' answered the other.[623]
[Sidenote: OLIVETAN'S WORK.]
In the midst of these disturbances the most important work of the
reformation was progressing at Geneva. The pious Olivetan was labouring
night and day at the translation of the Bible. He believed that nothing
was more necessary for the Church of his time, and in his great love for
it, he determined to do all in his power to supply the want. 'O poor
little Church,' he said, 'although thou art desolate, mis-shapen, and
rejected, and countest for the most part in thy family the blind, the
lame, the maimed, the deaf, the paralytic, orphans and strangers, simple
and foolish ... why should we be ashamed to make thee such a royal
present? Do we not all need the consolation of Christ? For whom does the
Lord destine his Scripture, if not for his little invincible band, to
whom, as the real leader of the war, he desires to impart courage and
boldness by his presence?'[624]
Nothing disturbed Olivetan so much as the sight of the Church of his
day. The more he studied it, the more he was grieved by its misery and
convinced of the necessity of a total reformation, accomplished by the
Word of God. Never perhaps had its condition caused so profound and keen
a sorrow in any one. When he was alone in his room and seated at his
table, these bitter recollections would recur to him: 'I love thee,' he
exclaimed; 'I have seen thee in the service of thy hard masters; I have
seen thee coming and going, worried and plagued; I have seen thee
ill-treated, ill-dressed, ill-used, ragged, muddy, torn, dishevelled,
chilled, bruised, beaten, and disfigured.... I have seen thee in such
piteous case, that men would sooner take thee for a poor slave than the
daughter of the universal Ruler, and the beloved of his only Son.
Listen,' added he, 'thy friend calls thee; he endeavours to teach thee
thy rights and to give thee the watch-word, that thou mayest attain to
perfect freedom.... Stupified and bewildered by so many blows, bowed
down by so many cares brought upon thee by thy rough masters, wilt thou
persevere? wilt thou go thy ways and complete the foul and grievous task
with which they have burdened thee?'[625]
[Sidenote: TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.]
But Olivetan soon stopped in the midst of his work and asked himself
whether 'the humble translator' (as he calls himself) was capable of
performing such a task. He looked upon himself as the meanest of
believers, 'as one of the smallest toes on the lowly feet of the body of
the Church.'[626] But his very humility induced him to increase in
diligence. He procured the best copies of the Scriptures and compared,
as he tells us, 'all the translations, ancient and modern, from the
Greek down to the Italian and German.' Above all, he made great use of
the French translation by Lefèvre of Etaples, but rendered certain
passages differently. He studied the various texts, the use of the
Masoretic points, marks, consonants, aspirates, and unusual expressions.
He deliberated whether he should preserve in French certain Greek terms,
such as _apostle_ and _bishop_, or express them by the corresponding
word in French. 'If I preserve the Greek word,' he said, 'the thing
which it signifies will remain unknown, just as it has been to the
present day.' He therefore translated the Greek word _apostle_ by the
French word _envoyé_ (sent); instead of _bishop_ he wrote _surveillant_
(overseer); and _ancien_ (elder) instead of _priest_. Then he added
mischievously: 'And if any one is surprised at not finding certain words
in my translation which the common people have continually on their
lips, imagining they are in Scripture, such as _pope_, _cardinal_,
_archbishop_, _archdeacon_, _abbot_, _prior_, _monk_, he must know that
I did not find them there, and for that reason I have not changed
them.'[627]
On the 13th March the printer De Vingle asked permission to print the
Bible in French. The council was much divided, for the friends of the
clergy opposed his prayer. On the one side they called out _Scripture!_
and on the other _Church!_ The syndics thought it their duty to steer a
middle course, and granted permission to reprint Lefèvre's Bible without
adding or retrenching a word. They were afraid of Olivetan's
translation, and we shall see by and by where he was forced to get it
printed.[628]
Another desire absorbed the evangelicals of Geneva about this time. When
Guerin, Levet, Chautemps, and others met together in some humble room,
they expressed the happiness they should feel at assembling round the
Lord's table to commemorate his death. They had long ceased to take part
in the communion of the Romish Church, defiled as they thought it by
wretched superstitions; and desired earnestly to see the Lord's Supper
re-established among them in its apostolic purity. The christians of
Geneva asked for the Bible in the first place, and for the Sacrament in
the second. That is in the regular course. The Word of God creates the
christian: the Lord's Supper strengthens him. Christ first imparts to
his disciples the knowledge of the truth, which He does by the ministry
of the Word. Then He desires them to understand that he gives not only
christian ideas to believers, but that he gives himself, his own
life—that he comes (in his own words) to _abide in them_.[629] This is
the second phase of faith, and the Lord's Supper is its sign.
[Sidenote: GUERIN.]
The christians of Geneva, enlightened by Scripture, desired the Holy
Communion. But, said they, who will give it us? They had no ministers.
Had not Luther declared ten years before that in order to avoid
irregularity, the assembly, making use of its right, ought to elect one
or more believers to exercise the charge of the Word, in the name of
all.[630] They turned their eyes on Guerin. Few of the reformed were so
much esteemed as he was. Being an evangelical christian and not a
political huguenot, he had 'an ardent love for his brethren' and a zeal
full of boldness to profess the Gospel. It required some courage to
preside at the Lord's Supper in Geneva in the presence of the Romish
mass. 'The flesh is always cowardly,' said a christian of Geneva, 'and
pulls backwards, like an aged ass; and accordingly it needs the goad and
spur as much as he does.'[631] Guerin possessed, moreover, a cultivated
understanding, and was learned in theology.[632]
There remained one question: Where should the communion be held?—'At
Baudichon's,' answered one of them. 'No,' said the more prudent; 'not in
the city for fear of the opposition of the priests, who are very
irritated already.' Upon this Stephen d'Adda said, 'I have a little
walled garden near the city gates, where nobody can disturb us.' The
place was selected, the day named, and an hour fixed which would permit
them to meet without disturbance. It was early in the morning, as it
would appear.[633]
[Sidenote: FIRST SACRAMENT AT GENEVA.]
When the day arrived, many persons went out of the city and quietly
directed their steps towards D'Adda's garden, situated in a place called
Pré l'Evêque, because the bishop had a house there. A table had been
prepared in a room or in the open air. The believers as they arrived
took their seats in silence on the rude benches, not without fear that
the priests should get information of the furtive meeting.[634] Guerin
sat down in front of the table. Just at the moment (we are told) when
the ceremony was about to begin, the sun rose and illumined with his
first rays a scene more imposing in its simplicity than the mountains
capped with everlasting snow, above which the star of day was beginning
his course. The pious Guerin stood up, and after a prayer he distributed
the bread and wine, and all together praised the Lord. The communicants
quitted D'Adda's garden full of gratitude towards God.
It was not long, however, before their peace was troubled. Their enemies
could not contain themselves, and threatened nothing less than
excommunication and imprisonment. There were disputes. The priests
shrugged their shoulders at the sight of those paltry assemblies. They
said that the reformed, by busying themselves so much about _Christ_,
deprived themselves of the _Church_; while Olivetan and Guerin
maintained that the catholics, by speaking so much of the _Church_,
deprived themselves of _Christ_. The meeting of a few souls endowed with
a lively faith, who came to glorify Jesus Christ, was (they believed) a
truer church than the pope, cardinals, and all the pomps of the Vatican.
The exasperated priests vented their anger specially on Guerin, and the
danger which threatened him was so great, that he had to leave the city.
Hurrying quickly away, he took refuge at Yvonand with his friend
Froment, from whom he had received so much enlightenment.[635]
Thus Farel, Froment, and Guerin were compelled, one after another, to
quit Geneva; but the catholics laboured in vain: 'the reformed met every
day in houses or gardens to pray to God, to sing psalms and christian
hymns, and to explain Holy Scripture. And the people began to dispute
with the priests, and to discuss with them publicly.'[636]
Thus there were two winds blowing in different directions at Geneva—one
from the north, the other from the south. They could not fail to come
into violent collision and to engender a frightful tempest.
[619] Ruchat, iii. p. 186.
[620] Berne MS., ascribed to Bonivard, _Hist. helv._ v. 12.
[621] Froment, _Gestes_, p. 47.—'Domatim conventus habere.'—Turretini MS.
[622] 'In Domonovani Baudichonii ædibus, quæ concionum ordinariarum
_crypta_ erant.'—Spanheim, _Geneva restit._ p. 58.
[623] Council Registers, 4th and 26th March. Froment, _Gestes_, p.
47.
[624] Olivetan's Bible, _Dedication_.
[625] Olivetan's Bible, _Dedication_.
[626] 'Comme l'un des plus petits orteils des humbles pieds du corps de
l'église.'—Olivetan's Bible, _Apologie du translateur_.
[627] Olivetan's Bible, _Apologie du translateur_.
[628] Council Registers, Bellard, 1533.
[629] St. John xv. 4, 5.
[630] 'Wie man Kirchen Diener wählen und einsetzen soll.'—Luth.
_Opp._ lib. xviii. p. 433.
[631] Calvin.
[632] Spon, _Hist. de Genève_.
[633] It seems clear from Froment's narrative (p. 48) that the first
communion took place before the riots (p. 51), and therefore probably
before the middle of March. Spon confirms Froment's account (i. p. 481).
On the other hand Sister Jeanne de Jussie says that a sacrament was
celebrated after the first riot, on Holy Saturday, April 10th (_Le
Levain du Calvinisme_, p. 61). The only way of reconciling these two
statements is to admit (as we have done) two different celebrations (in
March and April), and not one only.
[634] 'Furtivo conventu.'—Spanheim, _Geneva restit._ p. 45.
[635] Froment, Gestes, pp. 48-51. Gautier MS. Spon, _Hist. de
Genève_, i. p. 481.
[636] _Vie de Farel._ Choupard MS.