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The Great Controversy
In France, before the name of Luther had been heard as a Reformer,
the day had already begun to break. One of the first to catch the light
was the aged Lefevre, a man of extensive learning, a professor in the
University of Paris, and a sincere and zealous papist. In his researches
into ancient literature his attention was directed to the Bible, and he
introduced its study among his students.
Lefevre was an enthusiastic adorer of the saints, and he had un-
dertaken to prepare a history of the saints and martyrs as given in the
legends of the church. This was a work which involved great labor;
but he had already made considerable progress in it, when, thinking
that he might obtain useful assistance from the Bible, he began its
study with this object. Here indeed he found saints brought to view,
but not such as figured in the Roman calendar. A flood of divine light
broke in upon his mind. In amazement and disgust he turned away
from his self-appointed task and devoted himself to the word of God.
The precious truths which he there discovered he soon began to teach.
In 1512, before either Luther or Zwingli had begun the work of
reform, Lefevre wrote: “It is God who gives us, by faith, that righ-
teousness which by grace alone justifies to eternal life.”—Wylie, b.
13, ch. 1. Dwelling upon the mysteries of redemption, he exclaimed:
“Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,—the Sinless One
is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the
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curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the
dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing
but confusion of face is clothed with glory.”—D’Aubigne, London ed.,
b. 12, ch. 2.
And while teaching that the glory of salvation belongs solely to
God, he also declared that the duty of obedience belongs to man. “If
thou art a member of Christ’s church,” he said, “thou art a member
of His body; if thou art of His body, then thou art full of the divine
nature.... Oh, if men could but enter into the understanding of this
privilege, how purely, chastely, and holily would they live, and how
contemptible, when compared with the glory within them,—that glory
which the eye of flesh cannot see,—would they deem all the glory of
this world.”—Ibid., b. 12, ch. 2.
There were some among Lefevre’s students who listened eagerly to
his words, and who, long after the teacher’s voice should be silenced,
were to continue to declare the truth. Such was William Farel. The