History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 5 (of 8)Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
History
History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 5 (of 8)
Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
Reformation
The second fact concerns William Farel. The author said in his History
that this Reformer, the most zealous evangelist of that period, had
imbibed the evangelical doctrines at Paris from the lessons of his
master, Le Fèvre of Etaples, and that he was converted between 1512 and
1514—before the beginning of the Reformation properly so called. That
point having been denied, the author proved it by the positive
declarations of Le Fèvre and Farel. The latter says pointedly: 'This
took place in the time of Louis the Twelfth.' Now Louis XII. died in
1515.
The third fact relates to Thomas ab Hofen, the friend of Zwingle, and
deputy from Berne to Geneva in 1527. The author wrote in his History
that this layman was, properly speaking, the first who labored to spread
the Gospel in Geneva. As that statement had been impugned, the author
proved it by the German and Latin letters of Zwingle and of Ab Hofen
himself.
The fourth fact concerns Robert Olivetan, Calvin's cousin, and author of
the first translation of the Bible into French. It has been doubted
whether he was tutor in the family of a Genevese councillor in 1532, and
whether he 'evangelized' at that time in Geneva. The author proved his
statement by the positive testimony of the reformer Froment, in his
_Actes et Gestes de Genève_, and by extracts from the official records
of the Genevese Council. He has demonstrated that Olivetan preceded in
Geneva as a preacher of the Gospel, not only Calvin but Farel and
Froment.
Lastly, the fifth fact relates to Calvin. A Genevese writer denied a few
years back that Calvin, when returning from Italy, passed through Aosta,
where there exists, however, a monument erected to commemorate his
flight. The author hopes he has proved that the universal opinion, which
makes the Reformer pass through that city, is well founded, and that the
contrary opinion has no weight.
This last point is discussed in the Preface to the French edition of
this volume: the four others are examined at length in an article
entitled _Critique d'une Critique_, published in the _Revue Chrétienne_
of Paris.
There are individuals who, when they meet with facts in a history that
have not been previously discussed in an archæological dissertation, or
with circumstances that had hitherto been unknown, immediately imagine
that such facts have no foundation. This is a curious aberration. If an
historian writes—not according to second-hand authorities, but after
original materials—it is quite natural that he should come upon things
that have not been noticed before. This has happened to the author of
the _History of the_ _Reformation_. True history, no doubt, possesses
coloring and life; but it describes such events only as are founded on
the firm basis of truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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