Blogging the Reformers: Philibert Berthelier

J. H. Merle D'Aubigne

This year I am reading History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne because this year is the 500th aniversary of the birth of John Calvin. We are also planning on attending the Reformation 500 Celebration by Vision Forum Ministries. For a book report on this book, I am writing a paragraph on the important reformation figures that D'Aubigne writes about in his book. My first one is on Philibert Berthelier.


Philibert Berthelier

Philibert Berthelier was a Swiss Patriot in the town of Geneva in the 16^th century. He defended the liberties of the city of Geneva against the Duke of Savoy, who wished to unlawfully rule the city. When he was about the be arrested, he fled Geneva and went to Friburg, a Swiss city, to ask if they would protect Geneva. In this he was successful, and the city of Geneva made a treaty with Friburg. He later returned to Geneva, and was arrested by the bishop, who hoped that by killing him he would destroy the desire for independence in Geneva. Berthelier said,

I am accused of being a marplot because I ask for justice; - a good-for-nothing, because I defend liberty against the enterprises of usurpers; - a conspirator against the bishop's life, because they conspire against mine.¹

When he was about to be killed, he trusted in the Lord, even though he was a Catholic². He was beheaded by the bishop of Geneva on August 23, 1519, and his head was hung on a tree as a warning to the other Genevans. D'Aubigne says this, “[Bethelier's] death has not been useless to the universal cause of civilization.”3

1 As quoted in J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) v. 1 p. 143

2 Ibid, p. 191-192

3 Ibid, p. 198

Scotland - 2008 Trip Summary

Here is an outline of Scottish history, and is very similar to the one we used for a Scotland Reformation presentation we did at our church with pictures from the Scotland Faith and Freedom Tour.



1. The British Museum - The Meaning of History

2. Kilmartin Cairn, 1500BC-200AD – Danger from within and without - A Contrast and a Warning

3. Iona, 520AD-800AD – The Power of the Gospel reaching the entire world and the Perpetuity of the Church

4. Urquhart/Loch Ness, 540AD – Crossroads of History - visited by Columba who founded Iona, attacked by one of Wallace's generals, and by a Jacobite force.

5. Edinburgh Castle / Margaret's Chapel 1100AD – Contrasts with Popery

6. William Wallace, 1250-1305AD – The Importance of Jurisdiction. The English can not rule Scotland, they are a separate jurisdiction.

7. Robert Bruce, Battle of Bannockburn, Declaration of Arborath, (Reign 1306-1329) – Precursor to the American Revolution

8. Highland Games established in Ceres to commemorate the battle of Bannockburn, 1315

9. St. Andrews, (Scottish Reformation) 1528-1547 – The blood of the martyrs

10. John Knox, 1510-1572 – Fearing no man, fearing God alone

11. Covenants, 1620-1660 – God’s people banding together

12. Covenanters, 1660-1688 – “There’s nae joukin in the cause of Christ” - James Guthrie

13. Puritans and Jacobites, 1688-1788 - Examples of Righteous and Unrighteous Rebellion

14. Livingston, 1813-1873 – Worked for Evangelism, Exploration and Emancipation

15. Spurgeon, 1832-1892 – The power of preaching

16. What this all means – we must spend and be spent for the bride of Christ

Alba Gu Bra,

Joshua Horn

Charlie Zahm in Scotland

When we first signed up for the Faith and Freedom Tour, we thought that the only way that the trip could be better would be that Charlie Zahm would come as our balladeer. When we went to the 200 Year Plan conference, Mr. Phillips told us that they had arranged for Mr. Zahm to come! We were really excited. We ordered another CD (Scotland's Heroes) from him to prepare for the trip.

Charlie Zahm mostly sings Scottish, American and Irish folk songs. We first heard him at the National Constitution Party convention in 2004, but when we really learned about him was on the Faith and Freedom Tour in Philadelphia. We also heard him at the Jamestown Quadricentenial Celebration, where we bought a CD.

It was wonderful to hear Mr. Zahm sing Scots Wae Hae at Stirling Castle, Will ye no come back again? at Culloden, and Scotland the Brave at the closing dinner. He did three concerts during the trip, and at many stops along the way.


Here is Mr. Zahm singing Scots Wae Hae at Stirling Castle. Mommy and Rachel and in the background.

'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,

Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,

Welcome tae your gory bed,

Or tae Victorie!

'Now's the day, and now's the hour:

See the front o' battle lour,

See approach proud Edward's power -

Chains and Slaverie!

'Wha will be a traitor knave?

Wha will fill a coward's grave?

Wha sae base as be a slave?

Let him turn and flee!

'Wha, for Scotland's king and law,

Freedom's sword will strongly draw,

Freeman stand, or Freeman fa',

Let him on wi' me!

'By Oppression's woes and pains!

By your sons in servile chains!

We will drain our dearest veins,

But they shall be free!

'Lay the proud usurpers low!

Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty's in every blow! -

Let us do or dee!'

If you enjoyed this, you might want to visit his website, http://www.charliezahm.com/ where you can order CDs, and listen to samples.

Scotland Pictures - Day 4

Scotland Pictures - Day 2 & 3

Edinburgh Castle

Mr. Phillips speaking at Grassmarket, where many Covenanters were martyred

Parking space 23 in the St. Giles church parking lot where John Knox is buried

Scotland - Day 1

We are now in Scotland! We arrived a few days ago and have been on two days of the Faith and Freedom Tour, and have really enjoyed learning all the Scottish and Covenanter history.

We flew out of Charlotte after church. Our flight was delayed because of mechanical and weather problems, and we arrived in Philadelphia, and discovered that we had missed our connection to Glasgow. Kelly Bradrick, her baby Triumph and Blair Brown, who we were traveling with to Scotland, got an alternate flight through London. We walked to the gate of that flight, and they finally got us the last five seats on the plane. After the all-night flight we arrived in London, and we boarded our plane to Glasgow, but Mrs. Bradrick and Ms. Brown were not able to get through security. We arrived in Glasgow, got our car, and waited for them, but they had gotten on a flight to Edinburgh, where we were really headed. When they did not come, we drove to Edinburgh just in time for the opening dinner, and they arrived before we left Glasgow. Our luggage did not make it, since we barely got on the flight to London.

Us waiting for our plane in North Carolina

We really enjoyed the speeches that Mr. Doug Phillips and Mr. Potter made, and we also enjoyed Charlie Zahm's ballads.

Mr. Zahm

Scotland - Day 8

On Monday we first went to Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness. It has an incredible history, which includes the friends of Wallace, of the covenantors, of Cromwell and Bonnie Prince Charlie. When we arrived Mr. Phillips gave a speech on the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. He said that if we did find a Loch Ness monster, it would be a very serious problem for the evolutionists, because if their worldview is correct, all dinosaurs would have been dead for more than a million years. After this speech, we explored the castle. We went to this castle, and several of the other sites on our trip to Scotland two years ago. You can read our blog posts on it here.





After the castle we went to a little town about a mile away for lunch, and a Loch Ness exhibit if the families wanted to. We went to the exhibit, which is the 'original' exhibit that gives a more favorable view of Nessie's existence. We enjoyed this, as we had gone to the 'new' visitor's center on our previous trip. At the visitor center they had a couple bookcases of used books for only one pound each. ($2.17)

Our next stop was Culloden battlefield. Mr. Potter told us what happened there, Mr. Zahm sang, and we did a reenactment charge. After visiting the battlefield, we walked to the visitor center, which was updated since two years ago. One exhibit was a 360 view of the battle, and a map that showed the movements of the troops. We really enjoyed this, and could have spent more time there, but it closed.



After this we drove back to Fort William, and tried to find a place to eat, and we went to a bad Chinese restaurant, and then we back to the hotel.

Scotland - Day 9

We are skipping yesterday for sake of time.

Today we rode on the "The Jacobite" Railway, which runs from Fort William to a small fishing village called Mallaig. It is a steam train that goes through the beautiful Highland country, and passes the bay where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard at a place called Glenfinnan. We had a really fun time. Mr. Zahm sang some songs for us, and we talked with the others on our tour. We arrived in Mallaig and ate lunch (the normal fish and chips for some) and walked around the souvenir shops while we waited for the train to leave.

When we got back from the train ride, we walked down the street and  went to several shops, including the grocery and a used book store. There Daddy got around 15 books and I bought 3. We found four R. M. Ballantyne books there, which was exciting. The owner was nice enough to ferry the books to our apartment for us. After shopping we returned home to cook dinner and consider how to fit these purchases into our suitcases!

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Joshua

Scotland - Day 7

Yesterday was Sunday. We arrived in Fort William safely Saturday, and we got to sleep in Sunday morning. We walked to one hotel, and a bus was there to take us to the main hotel. There we had a worship service where Mr. Phillips preached from Hebrews 12:1, and talked about the life of Robert Bruce from that.

After church we had a lunch break, and so we got some food from a grocery. After that we got on the buses again to drive to Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland. We had a good time hiking part way up the mountain (in the rain) with the other people on the tour. There were beautiful views of the valley and mountains with the clouds around them.

Then we drove to Glencoe. It is where the famous massacare took place of the McDonalds. We had a short visit there, and walked on a few trails. By this time I was tired of being wet and cold.

Then we drove back to the hotel, and we had to eat quickly so we could hear Charlie Zahm sing the songs of Scotland and America. We got there and heard many songs, including Scotland the Brave, Glencoe, Flower of Scotland, and many more. We finally returned to our apartment to sleep and prepare for the next day.

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Joshua Horn

Scotland - Day 6

Here are some pictures.

Right now we are on the bus driving to Fort William, a town in the highlands of Scotland. Last night Stephen got sick, and he has not been feeling well today, but he persevered. Since Stephen was sick, we got a taxi which took some of us and our luggage to the bus. Our first stop was the town of St. Andrews. There there is a castle and cathedral, and many Christians were martyred there. We went to the graveyard at the ruined cathedral, and saw the grave of Samuel Rutherford, a famous early reformer who wrote the book Lex Rex. There is a tower that is not ruined, and there are great views of the castle from the top.


Next we went to where Patrick Hamilton was murdered. He was the first man killed in St. Andrews. Next we saw where George Wishart was killed in front of St. Andrew's Castle, before all the students of the college. These men were killed for things like not believing in purgatory and not praying to the Virgin Mary.

After seeing these places, we were able to go in the castle. At one time the English and French were besieging a group of covenanters in the castle. They dug a mine to try to destroy the wall. The defenders tried to reach their mine, and after several false starts, they were able to break through. We were able to go into the mine and counter mine. I enjoyed this very much.

After this we went to the Ceres Highland Games. These games are the oldest continuous games, being founded by Robert the Bruce himself. There were several bicycle races, running races, shot put, hay bale throwing, pole throwing and wrestling. We really enjoyed them.


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Joshua

Scotland - Comming up

Robert the Bruce statue at Stirling Castle

In about a week we are leaving for Scotland .... again! We went a couple years ago and are going again with the Vision Forum Faith and Freedom Tour. Some of the speakers will be Doug Phillips, Bill Poter and Joe Morecraft. We are really looking forward to it.

I am looking forward to the castles and battlefields..

We got a new SLR camera for Scotland. It is a Nikon D80. We really like it!



If you would like to see what we are doing, check back soon for pictures and updates. You can also go to Joshua Phillips's Blog or Doug Phillips's Blog.





Alba Gu Bra (Scotland Forever!)



--- Joshua

Faith and Freedom Tour - Day 3

On Wednesday morning we got up and walked a few blocks to the Plymouth waterfront. There they have what is called the Mayflower II. It is a re-creation of the original Mayflower. This year is it's 50th anniversary. Just before we got on the boat, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Potter told us about the journey of the Mayflower, and what it would have been like aboard. It was terrible. The Pilgrims were not allowed up on deck because of the storms and they were cargo on board. There was no privacy in the hold. The Mayflower II is run by Plymouth Plantation, so there are a few actors impersonating sailors and passengers on the Mayflower. Here are pictures from it:

Morning on the Mayflower II

Horn Family aboard the Mayflower II

On the Mayflower we talked to several sailors. After the ship, we picked up lunch and boarded the buses for Salem. Salem was about a 1 1/2 hour drive. Dr. Jehle gave us a walking tour of Salem. We saw the statue of Roger Conant, the peace-maker who was the founder of Salem:
We also went to the Salem witch memorial, where Dr. Jehle talked about the Salem Witch Trials. He said that they were not an example of how all Puritans were, but instead of how the Puritans made mistakes. The problems were gossip, disobedient children, and throwing out the important laws (innocent until proven guilty, etc.) We really enjoyed this speech. We also went by Nathaniel Bowditch's house, and also went in a museum very quickly to see his writing desk, cane and other items owned by him, and also to see two famous paintings of the witch trials.

We also went to Ye Olde Pepper Company - America's oldest candy store. We went down to the Salem wharf where many missionaries left from, and heard a speech by Mr. Phillips and Mr. Potter on missions. After this we headed back to Plymouth and ate dinner there.