The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

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II. The Religious Situation on the Continent

Whereas Single’s work was mostly confined to the German part of Switzerland, Calvin had planted the Reformation firmly in Geneva, what is now French Switzerland. He is generally considered, next to Luther, the greatest Protestant figure of the sixteenth century. In some ways his influence was more wide spread, because it extended into the countries that became great colonizing powers—England and the Dutch Republic. The movement in French Switzerland appeared somewhat later in time, but in essentially the same form. PFF2 432.2

Calvin was a Frenchman, and although his teaching had a marked influence upon France, the Reformation, however, never became a mass movement there as in northern Germany. The political situation under Francis I was averse to such a development. Spain in the Iberian Peninsula, the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, as well as Austria, were under the firm rule of the emperor Charles V of Hapsburg, a loyal Catholic. Moreover, the Inquisition was holding these countries in its merciless grip so that it was practically impossible for any group of dissenters to organize themselves into a church. Besides, the Latin mentality in general seems to be more in favor of an outward display in matters of religion, which the Roman church, of course, amply provided. In Austria the Reformation had certain success at first. But a Catholic reaction soon started, sponsored mostly by the newly formed order of the Jesuits, and the Reformation was practically rooted out. Through the influence of this order among princes and ruling houses, large sections of southern and western Germany were led back to the Catholic fold. PFF2 432.3

The Netherlands were well prepared spiritually to receive the seed of the Reformation by the Brethren of the Common Life, who had long established their schools in the Low Coun tries, and politically by the strong urban communities, which enjoyed a large degree of freedom. Since the country belonged to the crownlands of the Hapsburgs, the Inquisition was established by Charles V in 1522, 12 and a ruthless persecution began, which, however, could not quench the flame of evangelical truth. PFF2 433.1

In Poland, under the enlightened kings Sigismund I and II, Cracow became the center of Humanistic ideas and Renaissance art. The doctrine of the Reformation influenced Poland’s intellectual life, and soon a movement for a Reformed Polish State Church was under way. Protestants of all shades, persecuted elsewhere, streamed into Poland. Not many years later Protestants had won a majority in the diet and elected a Calvinist to be their marshall. But, hopelessly divided in matters of doctrine, they could not consolidate their gains, and political emergencies gave way to a new upsurge of Catholicism. 13 In Ireland, Protestantism was imposed by the English Crown and later became the state religion, but never had any hold on the Irish people generally. PFF2 433.2