French Reformation
175
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 undertaken 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 Romish 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 Zwingle had begun the work of reform, Lefevre wrote:
“It is God who gives us, by faith, that righteousness which by grace
justifies unto eternal life.” 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 curse, and the curse 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.”
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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.”
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
son of pious parents, and educated to accept with implicit faith the
teachings of the church, he might, with the apostle Paul, have declared