Reformation on the Rhine

Many significant events in the Reformation happened along the Rhine River, and you can listen to a talk Dan gave at hour house here:



You can download the slideshow here.

Rhine Cruise - Day 5, Rudesheim

Grape vines

We arrived in Rudesheim while eating breakfast, then we boarded a tram and took a short walk to the gondola station. It was rather cool and windy, but our first sunny day, which Kendra appreciated. We rode over the grape vineyards to see the Germany Unification Monument, then we walked through the vineyards to town, then walked back to the ship. The history and torture museums were not open, but we enjoyed our walk.

Germany Unification Monument

Vineyards & Monument

Vineyards with house & old tower

We had traditional German food for lunch after returning to the ship, then we started cruising the scenic castles along the Rhine, which were built to display the wealth of the landowners and collect tolls along the river. The river was the main way to transport goods. The Rhine Valley is known for its grapes and wines, predominantly Rieslings. This was Kendra's favorite day of the cruise, and the afternoon cruise was her favorite part. We were on the sundeck of the ship, it was very chilly, but beautiful. We got to try the new audio linked to the GPS with our headsets. It could have used more historical details, but it was a good idea.

Oldest standing castle on the Rhine. They put chains across the river to stop boats for tolls.

Most glorious rainbow we have ever seen. We saw both ends on the ground. Actually a double rainbow.

We arrived in Koblenz about dusk and had a quick walking tour.

Rhine Cruise - Day 4, Speyer/Heidelberg

View of Heidelburg from Castle

Today we arrived in Speyer while we slept, so after breakfast we boarded our tour bus for Heidelberg, Germany. We toured the Heidelberg Castle, which is sliding down the hill toward the university town. The town is where the Heidelberg Confession was written.

View of Heidelburg from Castle

Monument opposite town from Castle

View of Castle from University Square

Cathedral in Heidelburg

Oldest building in Heidelburg

After dinner we walked to the Speyer Cathedral and through the old town. I think Speyer is where the Reformers were first called Protestants.

Speyer Cathedral in the rain

Pilgrim statue

Rhine Cruise - Day 3, Strasbourg

Strasbourg Cathedral

Today we arrived in Strasbourg, France while eating breakfast, and started our bus tour after breakfast. Strasbourg has transferred from German to French rule many times, and now houses the European Union Parliament and Place de la Republique. We visited the Cathedrale de Notre Dame, or Strasbourg Cathedral, with the famous astronomical clock. Dan climbed the 335 steps to the spire of the cathedral while Kendra went shopping. We saw a couple of other cathedrals where some famous reformers preached, ate a pretzel for lunch instead of going back to the ship, then boarded the boat for our canal cruise. This was Dan's favorite day of the trip.

On the way up the cathedral spire

City Gate Towers

Tanner's business & house on left

Gutenburg Statue

View from Church Spire

Rhine Cruise - Day 1, Basel

Map of our Itinerary

To celebrate 25 years of marriage, Dan & Kendra took a one week cruise on the Rhine River. The posts will be written by Kendra, but edited & posted by Joshua. We drove to Baltimore, MD on the Monday immediately after the NCFIC Worship of God conference and flew to London, where we spent about 5 hours in the airport before our flight to Basel, Switzerland. It was cool and rainy when we arrived at our ship, and we had about an hour before the welcome aboard celebration. The ladies were presented with a rose, we were introduced to the ship's crew, then onto dinner. We were very well fed and had friendly service all week.

Source.

After dinner we walked along the river to the cathedral in Old Town Basel, where we were surprised to see a carnival, possibly leftover from the Octoberfest. Erasmus died in Basel, on his way from Frieburg to Brabant. He is famous for many writings, most notably his Greek New Testament translation, which later became known as the Textus Recptus.

Blogging the Reformers: John Elector of Saxony

John was born June 30th, 1468 to the Elector of Saxony. His brother was Fredrick the Wise, who ruled Saxony for 39 years. Fredrick was Protestant, and supported Martin Luther and the Reformation. After Fredrick died in 1525, John succeeded him as the Elector. He was Protestant as well and was one of the political leaders of the Reformation in Germany. At the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 he stood up the the Emperor and refused to abolish the preaching of the word of God in Saxony. He was called John the Steadfast, and God used him to defend the Reformation in Germany. He died on August 16th, 1532, and was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Blogging the Reformers: Jean Merle D’Aubigné

D'Aubigne

Jean-Henri Merle D'Aubigne was born on August 16th 1794. He lived in Geneva, where the great reformer John Calvin had lived 250 years before. But by the 1800s Calvin's reformation was gone and had been replaced by Unitarianism and other heresies. He was saved while studying for the ministry, and was ordained in 1817. In 1817 on the 300th of anniversary of the Reformation he visited Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther was kept. There he decided that he eventually wanted to write a history of the Reformation. He was a preacher in Hamburg and Brussels until 1831 when he returned to Geneva. There he assisted the establishment of a reformed theological seminary in Geneva. He was professor of Church History there for 41 years until his death. He was a great preacher in Geneva and was one of the leaders of the the reformation there. While he was in Geneva he wrote his two major books on the Reformation, a five volume History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and an eight volume History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin. He traveled all over Europe to study the original source documents. These books were very important in the history of the church. “For the first time, the Reformation, with all the various and boundless benefits which it has conferred upon the world, is beginning to be, in some measure, comprehended by mankind.” 1 A historian wrote that his writings “had a wider circulation, at least in the English translations, than any other book on church history.”2 D’Aubigne’s writings are still a great way to learn about church history. You can buy them here.

Geneva Today

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, The Life and Writings of J. H. Merle D'Aubigne – The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2001) volume 1, p. XV
2 http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/articles/2005-04-14_001.aspx

Blogging the Reformers: Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer was born in England in 1489. He attended Jesus College in Cambridge, and later taught there. He assisted King Henry VIII in 1527 to make a theological argument for why he could divorce the queen. In 1532 Henry appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury to assist him in reforming the church. The king was not a Christian, but to increase his own power he broke from the Pope and appointed himself as head of the church. At some points he would lean toward the Reformation, and at others toward the Catholics. During his 22 years as Archbishop, Cranmer worked to advance the Reformation, but he was timid and at times went along with the king against the Reformation. In 1553 he was arrested by the Catholic Queen “Bloody” Mary and was tried for heresy. He was convicted to be burnt, but eventually recanted all Lutheran doctrine and acknowledged the pope as head of the church. Instead of absolving him, Mary commanded him to be burnt anyway. Before his execution, he was given the opportunity to preach. He wrote a sermon in which he again recanted, but instead of giving the sermon he renounced the recantations and said that he would rather be burnt than recant. He was pulled from the pulpit and taken to be burnt. As he was burning, he stuck his right hand into the fire because it was the one which he used to sign the recantation. He died March 21, 1556.

D'Aubigne on Cranmer

“Cranmer moved forward slowly: he modified an evangelical movement by a clerical concession. When he had taken a step forward, he stopped suddenly, and apparently drew back; not from cowardice, but because his extreme prudence so urged him. The boldness of a Farel or a Knox is in our opinion far more noble; and yet this extreme moderation saved Cranmer and protestantism with him. ... God gives to every people and to every epoch the man necessary to it. Cranmer was this man for England, at the time of her separation from the papacy.” 1

Cranmer's Last Sermon

“And now forasmuch as I am come to the last end of my life, whereupon hangeth all my life past, and all my life to come, either to live with my master Christ for ever in joy, or else to be in pain for ever with the wicked in hell, and I see before mine eyes presently, either heaven ready to receive me, or else hell ready to swallow me up; I shall therefore declare unto you my very faith how I believe, without any color of dissimulation: for now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I have said or written in times past.

First, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, etc. And I believe every article of the Catholic faith, every word and sentence taught by our Savior Jesus Christ, His apostles and prophets, in the New and Old Testament.
And now I come to the great thing which so much troubleth my conscience, more than any thing that ever I did or said in my whole life, and that is the setting abroad of a writing contrary to the truth, which now here I renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might be; and that is, all such bills or papers which I have written or signed with my hand since my degradation, wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall first be punished; for when I come to the fire it shall first be burned.

And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy, and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine."2

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 5, book viii, p. 54

2 Foxe, John Foxe's Book of Martyrs (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1911) Google Books. p. 384-385

Blogging the Reformers: John Alasco

John Alasco was born into one of the most influential families of Poland in 1499. At the age of 25 he was a Roman Catholic, but had heard of the Reformation and wished to examine it more fully. Therefore he traveled to Europe, and arrived in Zurich in 1525 to see Zwingli. He said to him, “Apply yourself, to the study of the sacred writings.”1 He later went to see Erasumus, and stayed in his house while he was there. Erasmus also gave him the advice to study the scriptures. Alasco therefore learned Hebrew and Greek and studied the scriptures. But when the king of Poland heard that he was with Erasmus, he ordered him to return to Poland and associate with nobility, since he was the heir to the throne. While in Poland, he was convinced to sign a document saying that he was a Catholic, but later he became a clear Protestant. He lost the kingdom and left Poland for the sake of Christianity. D'Aubigne said, “Alsco does not stand in the first rank of the men of the Reformation. But in one respect he surpassed them all ... He knew better than any one what it was to sacrifice for Jesus Christ the world...”2 He left Poland, and ministered in Friesland, the Netherlands, England and other places. He died on January 8th, 1560.

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 7, book xiii, p. 435

2 Ibid, p. 451

Blogging the Reformers: Peter Viret

Peter Viret was born in Orbe, Switzerland in 1511. At twelve years of age he went to the University of Paris to study as a Catholic. There he met William Farel, who he would later work with in Geneva. When he returned to Orbe, the city was in conflict between Roman Catholicism and the Gospel. There he was saved and preached the gospel. In 1534 he went to Geneva, and was one of the leaders of the Reformation there along with William Farel, Antonio Froment and John Calvin. He suffered persecution there from the Catholics. At one point he was badly wounded during a riot by the Catholics, and then became very ill after they convinced a woman to poison his soup. He recovered after almost dieing, but felt the effects of the poison his entire life. He became the pastor of Lausanne in 1541, and continued there for 22 years. At different times he was also a pastor at Berne, Geneva, Orbe, and other towns. One man said, “He handled the Scripture well, and he was gifted with eloquence which charmed the people.”1 He died in Switzerland in 1571.

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 7, book xi, p. 12

Blogging the Reformers: Baudichion de la Maisonneuve

Baudichion de la Maisonneuve was one of the leading men of Geneva in the 16th century. He was very influential in bringing the Reformation to Geneva and defending the city's liberty. He was one of the first men in Geneva to be converted to the Reformed religion. Later in the Reformation his house became one of the meeting places for the Huguenots. The Reformation in Geneva was not peaceful. Several times mobs attacked the Huguenots in Maisonneuve's house. In 1534 he was arrested in France and sentenced to be executed, but finally after the request of the town of Berne, Switzerland the king ordered him to be released and allowed him to return home. He was appointed captain-general of Geneva, and led the army to battle against their enemies. D'Aubigne said that he was “a man of noble and exalted character, bold, welcome everywhere, braving without measure all the traditions of old times, often turbulent, and the person who, more perhaps than any other, served to clear in Geneva the way by which the Reformation was to enter.”1

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 1, book I, p. 142

Blogging the Reformers: Aime Levet

Aime Levet was an apothecary in Geneva in the 16th century. When Antoine Froment first came and brought the Gospel to Geneva, Levet was against it, but eventually his heart softened. In 1533 he was won over to Christianity by his wife, and he became one of the leading Huguenots. The religious meetings were frequently held in his house. When Froment was attacked by a mob, Levet hid him in his house. A few months after Levet’s salvation the bishop of Geneva forced him and many other Huguenots to flee, but a troop of soldiers pursued and caught him. After beating him, they threw him in prison without a trial. After the overthrow of the bishop, he was released and continued to spread the Reformation. In 1536 he was elected one of the four syndics, or magistrates, of Geneva.

Blogging the Reformers - Alexander Alesius

Alexander Alesius, or Ales, was born in Scotland on April 23rd, 1500. He graduated from St. Leonard's University in St. Andrews at the age of 15. He was convinced of Catholic scholastic theology and he desired to debate with the Reformers. For this purpose he visited Patrick Hamilton, who had been a student in St. Andrews. After many debates, he said, “I thought that I should bring Hamilton back to the doctrine of Rome, and instead of that he has brought me to acknowledge my own error.”1 After watching Hamilton be burned at the stake for his beliefs a short time later, he became thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Reformation. The prior at St. Andrews tried to trap Alesius by having him preach, afterwards he brought in soldiers to arrest him. When Alesius begged him not to shed innocent blood he was about to stab him, and then when he fell on the ground and pleaded for mercy the prior kicked him so hard that he fainted. The prior then threw him in the dungeon. The king himself ordered him to be released and the prior promised to do so, but as soon as the king left he threw him into prison again. Eventually his fellow canons were able to get in the prison and release him, and he fled to Europe. He spent the rest of his life in Germany and England, continuing to teach the reformed truth. He died on March 17th, 1565.

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 6, book x, p. 52

Blogging the Reformers - Hugh Latimer

Hugh Latimer was born in a poor family in England somewhere between 1480 and 1494. He attended Cambridge University and became a priest. At some point in his life he accepted the Reformed doctrine and became one of the leaders of the movement in England. King Henry VII made him one of his chaplains. He preached boldly before the king and his court, and even rebuked the king in his sermons. He said to the king, “Would you have me preach nothing concerning a king in the king's sermon?”1 Eventually after a time there he decided to leave the court and go to his parish, which he did. He was a great preacher, a powerful orator, and he effected many people through his preaching. He was appointed bishop of Worcester by the king, but he resigned years later after he opposed the king's Catholic false doctrine. The king threw him into prison until he died, and then his son Edward released him and he continued to preach. However when Bloody Mary came to the throne, she tried him for his beliefs and he was burned on October 16th, 1555 along with two other leaders of the English Reformation, Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley. As he was about to be burnt, he said to Nicholas Ridley, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”2

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) vol. 3, book vi, p. 51
2 John Foxe. Foxe's Book of Martyrs (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1911) p. 309

Blogging the Reformers: John Calvin

John Calvin was born on July 10th, 1509 in a humble family. He began by studying for the priesthood, but his father later transferred him to the study of law. When he was at the University of Orleans God saved him when he was about 23 years old through the study of the scriptures. When he was saved he would study the Bible at night after studying law during the day. In 1533 he returned to Paris, and continued teaching those around him. The same year he was forced to flee because of a bold sermon he wrote for his friend Nicholas Cop, a Protestant who was rector of the university. He moved on to Switzerland, where he published the first edition of his great work, Institutes of the Christian Religion in March, 1535. In it he gave a systematic theology of the Christian religion. He continued to revise it throughout his life. He then went to Italy, and after a time was captured by the Catholics. He was rescued by some friendly soldiers, and then he traveled north again. On his was he stopped by Geneva for the night. Geneva had been recently reformed through the work of William Feral and others. Feral asked him to stay in Geneva instead of going on to Strasbourg to study. He said, “Ought the servants of Jesus Christ to be so delicate as to be frightened at warfare? ... May God curse your repose ! may God curse your studies, if in such a great necessity as ours you withdraw and refuse to give us help and support!”1 Calvin agreed, and he became a pastor at Geneva. He helped continue to work for the reform in Geneva. At that time he also helped defend true doctrine in other churches. He was an able debater against heretics. In 1538 he was banished from Geneva for three years by the enemies of the reformation, but after that time he returned. While he was banished he married Idelette de Bure. When he returned to Geneva he continued to teach and preach. He had a great effect on other reformers from other nations, and Geneva sent out hundreds of missionaries to places as far as Brazil.2 He was the most able defender of the Reformed faith from all its enemies. He died in 1564. He was one of the most prominent reformers, and he has had a great effect on many people through his writings, even to this day.

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 3, book ix, p. 460-461

2 Ray Van Neste John Calvin on Evangelism and Missions. Web. http://reformed-theology.org/html/issue04/calvin.htm Accessed December 22nd, 2009

Blogging the Reformers: Mathurin Cordier

Mathurin Cordier was born in 1540. He was a French teacher. He did not just teach because of ambition, he desired for his students to actually learn. He was one of the best teachers in France. He taught John Calvin when he was fourteen. Calvin later said, “O Master Mathurin, O man gifted with learning and great fear of God! When my father sent me to Paris, while still a child ... it was God's will that I should have you for my teacher, in order that I might be directed in the true path and right mode of learning; and having first commenced the course of study under your guidance, I advanced so far that I can now in some degree profit the Church of God.”1 Though neither of them were saved at the time, Cordier later was saved and fled to Geneva where Calvin was the preacher. The professor then studied under his former pupil. He died in Geneva in 1564, the same year as Calvin.

Blogging the Reformers: Queen Joanna

Joanna was born to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain in 1479. Her parents were Catholics and persecuted the Christians in their kingdom. Her parents married her to Phillip, Archduke of Burgundy. Around this point in her life she began to move toward the Christian religion that her parents persecuted. She refused to participate in the Roman Catholic services. In 1500 she had a son, who would later be Emperor Charles V. He would be one of the great persecutors of the Christians. In 1504 her mother Isabella died, leaving Joanna as the next heir to the throne. But since she was a Christian, her husband and father conspired to keep her from taking the throne by claiming that she was insane. She was kept in a cruel prison until her death in 1555, at the age of 76. As she was dying she refused the Roman rites, and her last words were, “Jesus Christ crucified, be with me.”1

She was buried at Granda, Spain. We visited that castle on our trip to Europe this spring. Here are a few pictures.



1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin(Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 4, book XIV, p. 139

Blogging the Reformers: Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex

Thomas Cromwell was the servant of Henry VIII, king of England. He was born in lowly estate in 1485, and was raised by the king to be one of the principle men of the kingdom. He was a Protestant, and worked to establish the true religion in England. He was the king's chief minister for eight years, and served him faithfully. His main mistake was to be to faithful to Henry even when he turned against the gospel. Henry was very inconsistent and variable throughout his reign. At one point Henry would incline towards the Protestants, and at another toward the Catholics. In 1540 the Catholics convinced him to arrest Cromwell because he was one of the best proponents of the gospel. The charges presented against him were clearly falsehoods, so the Catholics decided to proceed without trial. Even though Cromwell had always been faithful to him, Henry ordered him to be beheaded. As his hour of death drew near, Cromwell wrote, “Lord! Into thy hands I commend my soul; Lord Jesu! Receive my Spirit! Amen.”1 He was beheaded on July 28th, 1540. Henry later realized that he had executed his most faithful servant, and regretted it until his death.

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 4, book XV, p. 224

Reformation Celebration Dinner

On Friday October 31 our church had a dinner celebrating the reformation at Forks Cafeteria, in Wake Forest. We ate dinner and then five of the young men at our church talked about the five Solas of the Reformation, which are: Sola Scriptura, which means by Scripture alone, Solo Christo, which means by Christ alone, Soli Deo Gloria, which means Glory to God alone, Sola Fide,which means by Faith alone, and Sola Gratia, which means by Grace alone. After one of them talked, Mr. Brown led us in a song about the Sola, and then Daddy talked about how it effects us today. After that we had a time where the people could share what they were thankful for, and then people fellowshipped until it was time to leave.

One way that we have benefited from the reformation is that we can have assurance of our salvation by the gift of faith, and not live in superstition and fear like the Roman Catholics. We can be thankful that we do not have to rely on our good works for salvation, because we would never be sure we had done enough. Daddy also said we have light bulbs and electricity today because of the Reformation.

Blogging the Reformers: Pierre Olivetan

by Joshua Horn

Pierre Olivétan was born in France in 1506. He was three years older than his cousin and friend, John Calvin, the famous reformer in Geneva. He knew Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was converted to Protestantism by Calvin. He was one of the first to bring the gospel to Geneva, and was expelled from the city along with William Feral and others. It was Feral who convinced him to translate the Bible into French. His translation was published in 1535, with a preface by Calvin. It was the first translation into French from the original languages. This translation was very influential in the Reformation. Olivétan died suddenly in 1538 at 32 years of age. Some said he died by poison, but this is probably not true. Calvin was very sad when he heard of his death. D'Aubigne said of Olivétan, “Pierre Robert Olivétan ... was gifted with a solid mind, great perseverance in the discharge of his duties, unshaken fidelity to his confections, and a holy boldness when it became necessary to combat error.” 1

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 1, book ii, p. 388