Letters of John Calvin, Volume II

CCCXXVI. – To Bullinger

With respect to the letter, I had no doubt but that you made a faithful endeavour, so far as it was your duty, to send it to me in safety. That Jew has deceived you however; at least he has not done what you expected of him. He at length arrived here, but alleged that he had been robbed at Fribourg: he could give no definite account of the letter. As circumstances did not turn out here according to his wishes, he crossed over to England. I informed him that matters were in a disturbed state in that country, and endeavoured to deter him from his design. It was of no avail, however; but he may take his own way.

We have good reason to feel anxiety – yea even torment – regarding that nation [England].444 What is to become of so great a multitude of pious men, who have betaken themselves to voluntary exile in that country?445 There is danger, also, that we shall hear very sad news ere long, of the many native English who have already embraced Christ, if the Lord do not in his mercy send help to them from heaven. Besides, the same rumour is gathering strength here with respect to Cardinal Pole.446 Moreover, as, I have always heard that she is a very haughty animal who now succeeds to the crown, and cruel withal, there sometimes steals over me a prophetic conjecture, that her audacity will carry her all lengths. You are aware of the rash daring peculiar to her family. She will prove troublesome to almost all parties in the long run. Should she make a weak attempt to alter the existing constitution, she will find opponents not a few. Meanwhile, the Church of God will be in a manner buffeted by manifold tempests. Let us, therefore, as you say, commend this very troubled state of affairs to God.

Our Council will, on an early day, send the opinions of Servetus to your city, to obtain your judgment regarding them. Indeed they cause you this trouble, despite our remonstrances;447 but they have reached such a pitch of folly and madness, that they regard with suspicion whatever we say to them. So much so, that were I to allege that it is clear at mid-day, they would forthwith begin to doubt of it. Our brother Gualter [will tell you] more;448 for I am compelled to conclude, as there are many here whom I found on returning home from dinner.

Adieu, therefore, most accomplished sir, and honourable brother in the Lord. Salute your fellow-ministers, your sons-in-law, and your whole family. May Christ preserve, guide, and bless you all. Amen. My colleagues – all very dejected – salute you earnestly. – Yours,

[Lat. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 107, a.]

CCCXXVII. – To Sulzer. 449

As Michael Servetus, twenty years ago, infected the Christian world with his virulent and pestilential opinions, I should suppose his name is not unknown to you. While you may not have read his book, yet you must have heard something of the sort of doctrines contained in it. It was he whom that faithful minister of Christ, Master Bucer of holy memory, in other respects of a mild disposition, declared from the pulpit to be worthy of having his bowels pulled out, and torn to pieces. While he has not permitted any of his poison to go abroad since that time, he has lately, however, brought out a larger volume, printed secretly at Vienne, but patched up from the same errors. To be sure, as soon as the thing became known, he was cast into prison. He escaped from it some way or other, and wandered in Italy for nearly four months. He at length, in an evil hour, came to this place, when, at my instigation, one of the Syndics ordered him to be conducted to prison. For I do not disguise it, that I considered it my duty to put a check, so far as I could, upon this most obstinate and ungovernable man, that his contagion might not spread farther. We see with what wantonness impiety is making progress everywhere, so that new errors are ever and anon breaking forth: we see how very inactive those are whom God has armed with the sword, for the vindication of the glory of his name. Seeing that the defenders of the Papacy are so bitter and bold in behalf of their superstitions, that in their atrocious fury they shed the blood of the innocent, it should shame Christian magistrates, that in the protection of certain truth, they are entirely destitute of spirit. I certainly confess that nothing would be less becoming, than for us to imitate their furious intemperance. But there is some ground for restraining the impious from uttering whatever blasphemies they please with impunity, when there is an opportunity of checking it. As respects this man, three things require to be considered. With what prodigious errors he has corrupted the whole of religion; yea, with what detestable mockeries he has endeavoured to destroy all piety; with what abominable ravings he has obscured Christianity, and razed to the very foundation all the principles of our religion. Secondly, how obstinately he has behaved; with what diabolical pride he has despised all advice; with what desperate stubbornness he has driven headlong in scattering his poison. Thirdly, with what proud scorn he at present avows and defends his abominations. For so far is he from any hope of repentance, that he does not hesitate to fling this blot upon those holy men, Capito and Œcolampadius, as if they were his companions. When the letters of Œcolampadius were shown him, he said that he wondered by what spirit they had been led away from their former opinion. But as I hope you will see to it that the impiety of the man be represented in the character it merits, I shall not add more. Only there is one thing I wish to say to you, viz., that the treasurer of this city, who will deliver to you this letter, takes a correct view of this case, so that he at least does not avoid the issue which we desire. Would that your old disciples were animated by the same spirit!450

I write you nothing regarding French matters, as I do not think there is anything new here, which is not equally known among yourselves, except that there were three pious brethren burnt at Lyons on Sabbath last; a fourth was sent to a neighbouring town to suffer a similar fate.451 It is scarcely credible, seeing that they were illiterate men, how they were, as far as it appeared, enlightened by the Spirit of God to the highest perfection of doctrine, and with what courage they were supported to maintain an inflexible firmness. One at first, overcome by fear, had swerved from a genuine confession. When the judges resolved upon releasing him, he, having asked forgiveness for his insincerity, eagerly offered himself to the flames. Similar fires are kindled, also, in other parts of France; nor is there any hope of relief. – Adieu.

[Calvin's Lat. Corresp. Opera, tom. ix. p. 70.]

CCCXXVIII. – To a Captive Lady. 452

Mademoiselle and very dear Sister, – I am much grieved by your affliction, not only because the children of God ought to bear each other's burdens, but because I feel the cause for which you suffer to be a common one; for, as I am told, they afflict and detain you captive for having wished to follow Jesus Christ. You have, however, whereof to rejoice in the good testimony which your conscience renders you in the sight of God, that you do not suffer on account of evil doing, but because Satan cannot endure that you should break loose from the bonds of the servitude in which you have hitherto pined. Notwithstanding, you must call upon God, beseeching him to have compassion upon you, and committing yourself entirely into his hand, to hope for such deliverance as he shall please to send you. Nevertheless, if there were any right and lawful means of escaping out of the hands of him who detains you, you should ask counsel from God, so that by his Spirit he might teach you to take advantage of it. As I am not thoroughly acquainted with the facts, nay, as I do not even know your person nor your rank, I shall write upon the report of the gentlemen who are the bearers of the present letter. They have told me that as you were preparing to come hither, nay, actually on your way, the thing being discovered, some priest who is related to you, seized upon you, and now detains you as in a prison, from whence you have no means of getting free, unless you pretend to be willing for a while to live in that neighbourhood. Now, they promise to harbour you in their house, where you will be free to serve God purely, without mixing yourself up with the idolatries which prevail throughout the country. Before giving you any advice as to this, I protest that on no account would I induce you to flinch, or to seek out any by-way which might turn you out of the strait path which God points out to you in his word. Although I have heard that God has endowed you with admirable constancy, for which I bless and magnify his name, I would yet rather strive to increase you still more in such courage than in any degree lessen it. For when we are brought to such an extremity as to have no way of deliverance from the tyranny of the enemies of the truth, save by subterfuges which draw back and estrange us from the right path, there is no doubt but that God calls us to seal with our blood the confession of faith which we owe to him. For which reason if it were a question as to declining either on one side or the other, it were better to die. And in order that you may not be shaken by threatenings or by anything whatsoever, look to the Son of God, who did not spare his own life for the sake of our salvation, in order that we might not reckon our life too precious when needed to further his glory. Look to that heavenly crown which is prepared for those who have fought courageously. And above all, beware of drawing back, rather than which, we ought to use our utmost endeavours to press forward to the mark which God sets before us. But if the means be offered you of withdrawing with your brethren, who desire with you to worship God with one accord, I do not think that you ought to refuse. In conclusion, you have to pray God, as I shall also do, that he would bestow on you a spirit of counsel and prudence, to decide what is right and fit for you to do; a spirit of discretion, that you may not be deceived and take evil for good; a spirit of steadfastness to be constant in wholly conforming yourself to his will.

[Copy. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 107.]

CCCXXIX. – To the Believers in the Isles. 453

Very dear Brethren, – We have to praise God that in the captivity wherein you are, he vouchsafes you the strength you ask, to worship him in purity, fearing more the being deprived of his grace, than exposing yourself to the dangers which may perhaps be about to occur to you, owing to the malice of the adversaries; for the brother who is bearer of the present letter,454 has declared to us that you have requested him to return to you whenever he could; and that you desire to be by all means exhorted to what is right, and confirmed in the faith of the Gospel; and, indeed, now-a-days, there is greater need of this than ever. It remains that this holy zeal of yours be firm, so that you may continue to advance in the path of salvation. As for the man, you know him; and on our part, seeing he has here approved himself a God-fearing man, has had his conversation among us holy and without reproach, and has also always followed good and wholesome teaching, we doubt not that he will comport himself faithfully among you, and labour for your edification. As to the advice which he has asked of us in your name, this is the order which it appears to us you have to maintain, both as to prayer to God in beginning, and as to being taught by him and others that God shall give you, and to whom he has bestowed grace to minister to you. Thereupon, see that you take courage to separate yourselves from idolatries, from all superstitions, which are contrary to the service of God, and to the acknowledgment and confession which all Christians owe to him, for to that are we called. When, in course of time, God has so prospered you, that you are, as it were, an ecclesiastical body maintaining the order already mentioned, and that there are some resolved to withdraw themselves from prevailing pollutions, then you may have the use of the sacraments. But we are nowise of opinion that you should begin by them, or even that you should be in a hurry to partake of the holy Supper, until you have some order established among you. And indeed it is much better for you to abstain from it, so that thus you may be led to seek the means which will render you capable of receiving it. That is, as we have already said, that you may be accustomed to meet together in God's name, being as it were one body; and that you may be separated from the idolatries which it is not lawful to mix up with things holy. Nay, it would not be lawful for a man to administer the sacraments to you, unless he recognized you as a flock of Jesus Christ, and found among you the form of a church. Meanwhile, take courage and devote yourselves wholly to God, who has purchased us so dearly by his own Son, and yield him the homage of body and soul, showing that you account his glory more precious than all besides; and that you set a higher value upon the eternal salvation which is prepared for you in heaven, than you do on this transitory life.

Wherefore, very dear brethren, making an end for the present, we shall pray this merciful God to complete what he has begun in you, to increase you in all spiritual blessings, and to have you in his holy protection.

[Fr. copy. – Arch. of the Company of Geneva. Vol. A.]

CCCXXX. – To Farel

I cannot find words, my dear Farel, in which to thank you for the extraordinary interest you take in us, and for your equal regard for this Church. I purposely abstained from, or at all events was more sparing in writing you, as I was afraid to take horseback immediately as you have done. Indeed I did not care for troubling you until the very last, as you said that it would not be acceptable to you if I should spare you. I certainly know well enough, and indeed have experienced how you like, yea, desire to undertake labour in behalf of the Church of God, and how prompt you are in rendering us assistance. Of the present state of things here I suppose you have been informed by Viret, or rather by my letter to him, which I wrote with the intention that you should get a reading of it. Our enemies are making general exertions to have some hasty decree passed at the meeting of the greater Council, about the middle of November. I was thinking that it would be well to have Viret here about that time. Yourself, indeed, I am desirous to see here sooner, viz., on occasion of the final sentence of Servetus. This will take place, I hope, before the end of next week.455 As, however, the son of Claude Bernard has invited Viret to his marriage on Sabbath next, I have no doubt whatever but that Viret will accompany you if you come by Lausanne. Yet I am unwilling, when there is no pressing necessity for it, that you should move a foot unless it suit your convenience.456 I have no doubt but that Viret will write you his mind on the matter, if he can secure in time a trustworthy messenger, for I asked him to do so. Earnest salutations from all, especially our friend the Marquis,457 Normandie, and my restored friend. Adieu, most upright and very dear brother. Salute earnestly your fellow-ministers, and your whole family. May the Lord Christ ever guide, preserve, and bless you all. – Yours,

[Lat. copy. – Library of Zurich. Coll. Simler, tom. 80.]

CCCXXXI. – To Farel. 458

Behold what will give you some gratification. Instead of an epistle, here is a summary which will not occupy long time. The messenger has returned from the Swiss Churches. They are unanimous in pronouncing that Servetus has now renewed those impious errors with which Satan formerly disturbed the Church, and that he is a monster not to be borne. Those of Bâle were judicious. The Zurichers were the most vehement of all; for they not only animadverted in severe terms on the atrocity of his impieties, but also exhorted our Senate to severity. They of Schaffhausen will agree. Also to an appropriate letter from the Bernese is added one from the Senate, in which they stimulate ours not a little. Caesar, the comedian, after feigning illness for three days, at length went up to the assembly in order to free that wretch from punishment. Nor was he ashamed to ask that inquiry might be made at the [Council of the] Two Hundred. However, he was without doubt condemned. He will be led forth to punishment to-morrow. We endeavoured to alter the mode of his death, but in vain. Why we did not succeed I defer for narration until I see you. Adieu, most upright brother, and distinguished minister of Christ. May God ever guide and preserve you. Much health to all friends. Ours salute you again.

[Calvin's Lat. Corresp. Opera, tom. ix. p. 71.]

CCCXXXII. – To Madame De Pons

Madame and good Sister, – If God had given you a husband who had been loyal to you, and had lived in concord with you, there would be need to comfort you at present, and to exhort you to patience. But since he who ought to have considered you as dear to him as the half of himself, has been, while he lived, a very severe scourge, you have occasion rather to acknowledge that in removing him our gracious God has acted in mercy towards you. Furthermore, the annoyances which you have undergone ought to teach you to humble yourself under the hand of Him who has thought fit thus to try you, in order to make you feel the value of his help, and how his faithfulness never fails his people. But all the ill-treatment under which you have pined away, has been nothing at all compared to that wretched captivity by which you were kept back from the worship of God, and kept away from the Son of God, so as to be unable to keep faith in the holy and sacred marriage which he has contracted with you; and now you must all the more consider, to what end he has set you so much at liberty. Call to mind, I beseech you, the continual sighs you have been heaving for so long a time. Although you had many kinds of grief, I doubt not that your chief regret was that of not being permitted to devote yourself entirely to the service of God. Consider well, whether you have not vowed daily before God, that you wished for nothing but the means of getting rid of the servitude in which you were held. Now that your wish is granted, rely upon it that God holds you to your promise. It is for you to anticipate him, even as your conscience prompts you, without incitements from without. And yet further, call to remembrance that Saint Paul, in saying that married persons are as it were divided, but that widows have nothing to do but to apply themselves entirely to God, takes away from you the excuse which hitherto you could have alleged. It is certain that nothing whatever ought to hinder us from the discharge of what is due to our heavenly Father, and to that kind Redeemer whom he has sent to us; but the better the opportunity of each, so much the more guilty does he become if he does not the more readily discharge his duty. I am well aware that you have regard to your children, and I do not say but that this is right, provided that the sovereign Father of both you and them be not left out. But consider that the greatest benefit which you can confer upon them, is to shew them the way to follow God. However that may be, it will no longer be permitted you to allege that you are under compulsion, and forced to offend, seeing that God has opened a door to you which might have been shut. What remains for you then but to take courage, yea even so as to strive to the very utmost to surmount all the difficulties which keep you back: for I know very well that you cannot without great opposition dedicate yourself fully to our Lord Jesus. But to come to the point, make a right use of the knowledge which he has for a long time past vouchsafed you; and do not allow the zeal which he has at one time imprinted by the Holy Spirit upon your heart to die away; and do not knowingly quench the holy desire which has burned within you in bygone times. Behold how God allows those to slip away who grow careless little by little, and how easily he permits them to be so utterly depraved that they go to perdition; and it is just that the Lord should thus avenge himself upon those who have preferred the vanities of the world to the treasure of his Gospel. Now, while many allow themselves to be seduced by such examples, let this serve as a warning to you, to keep all the more closely fenced about in fear and solicitude. Finally, let the adversity which you have passed through, during a part of your life, make you ponder all the more seriously that true happiness and perfect glory which is prepared for us in heaven, that we may not beguile ourselves with worldly repose, which can only be fleeting and highly seasoned with never-ceasing care and troubles, and, worse than all, which makes us unmindful of that soul-rest which alone is blessed. But that I may not seem to distrust your good-will, I shall conclude for the present, after having affectionately commended me to your kind favour and prayers, and having besought our merciful God that if, in times past, he has poured forth upon you the graces and virtues of his Holy Spirit, he would not only continue them, but would increase you therein, and never allow you to decline from the straight path, but advance you therein still more and more, while in the meantime he holds you under his protection. I do not know whereabouts your brother is, or if I should give him pleasure by writing to him, which withholds me from doing so. Nevertheless, I desire that God would hold him with a strong hand, so that he may not be estranged from him.459 From what I hear, he is a little gone out of the way in some things, and has much need to be brought back into the straight path; but as I do not know how to effect this, I reserve it for a better opportunity. Once more I commit you to the love of our merciful God. – Your humble brother and servant,

[Fr. copy. – Impl. Library. Coll. Dupuy, Vol. 102.]

CCCXXXIII. – To Viret. 460

Those Englishmen, on leaving this place to resort to you, requested me to give them an introduction, in order that by your assistance they might secure suitable lodgings. Indeed they were anxious to live with yourself or M. Beza, but they will not urge this, especially as they were informed that they could scarcely expect it. You will, however, receive them as a good and kind host should; for I understand that they are pious and honourable men, and am confident that they will be easily accommodated. The elder, the father of the young man, is a person of good birth, and was wealthy in his own country. The son merits higher praise for piety and holy zeal; for, under the reign of King Edward, seeing that the Church suffered from want of pastors, he undertook voluntarily the labours of that office. Add to this, that they, with a generous liberality assisted with their entire property our French brethren, who, on account of the Gospel, had crossed over to England. We must on no account, therefore, deny to these exiles at least a similar friendship. You will also inform our friend Beza of the intended visit of a friend, who will, I expect, be with him to-morrow or soon afterwards. He is brother to Luzarch, whom he had formerly at his house – older than he, however, although not the eldest of the family. Our bold leaders have dined together several times since you left.461 I have not as yet witnessed any proof of that intrepidity of which they were boasting. Adieu, very worthy brother. Salute M. Beza and the rest of the brethren, also your wife, and little daughters at home. May the Lord guide and watch over you. – Yours,