The Book of Religions Part 48

After he was created master of arts, he taught philosophy, most probably as a regent in one of the colleges of the university. His cla.s.s became celebrated, and he was considered as equalling, if not excelling, his master in the subtilties of the dialectic art. About the same time, although he had no interest but what was procured by his own merit, he was advanced to clerical orders, and ordained a priest before he reached the age fixed by the canons of the church. At this time, the fathers of the Christian church, Jerome and Augustine, attracted his particular attention. By the writings of the former, he was led to the Scriptures as the only pure fountain of divine truth, and instructed in the utility of studying them in the original languages. In the works of the latter he found religious sentiments very opposite to those taught in the Romish church, who, while she retained his name as a saint in her calendar, had banished his doctrine as heretical from her pulpits. From this time he renounced the study of scholastic theology; and, although not yet completely emanc.i.p.ated from superst.i.tion, his mind was fitted for improving the means which Providence had given for leading him to a fuller and more comprehensive view of the system of evangelical religion. It was about the year 1535, when this favorable change commenced; but it does not appear that he professed himself a Protestant before the year 1542. He was converted from the Romish faith by Wishart, and became a zealous preacher of the new doctrines. Having been compelled to take shelter in the castle of St. Andrews, he fell into the hands of the French in July, 1547, and was carried with the garrison to France, where he remained a captive on board of the galleys till 1549. Subsequent to his liberation, he was for a short time chaplain to Edward VI., after which he visited Geneva and Frankfort, and, in 1555, returned to his native country. After having for twelve months labored actively and successfully to strengthen the Protestant cause in Scotland, he revisited Geneva, where he remained till 1559. During his residence in Geneva, he published his "First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous Government of Women"-a treatise which was levelled against Mary of England, but which gave serious offence to Elizabeth. From April, 1559, when he once more and finally set foot on Scottish earth, till his decease, which took place November 24, 1572, the reformed church was triumphant, and he was one of its most prominent, admired, and honored leaders.

When his body was laid in the grave, the regent of Scotland emphatically p.r.o.nounced his eulogium, in the well-known words, "There lies he who never feared the face of man."

Knox has been styled the intrepid reformer; and that character he unquestionably deserves. In personal intrepidity and popular eloquence he resembled Luther. His doctrinal sentiments were those of Calvin; and, like Zuinglius, he felt an attachment to the principles of religious liberty.

He effected much in the great work of the reformation; but his manners were so severe, and his temper so acrid, that whilst he may be equally respected with Luther and Melancthon, he is not equally beloved. Knox was, however, known and beloved by the princ.i.p.al persons among the reformed in France, Switzerland, and Germany; and the affectionate veneration in which his memory was held in Scotland after his death, evinced that the influence he possessed among his countrymen, during his life, was not constrained, but founded on the high opinion which they entertained.

Banatyne has thus drawn his character, and it is unquestionably ent.i.tled to consideration:-"In this manner," says he, "departed this man of G.o.d; the light of Scotland, the comfort of the church within the same, the mirror of G.o.dliness, and pattern and example to all true ministers, in purity of life, soundness of doctrine, and boldness in reproving of wickedness; one that cared not for the favor of men, how great soever they were."

John Calvin.

A celebrated reformer, born at Noyon, in Picardy, 10th July, 1509. His family name was _Cauvin_, which he Latinized into _Calvinus_. He was first intended for the church, and, subsequently, for the profession of civil law. Having embraced the principles of Protestantism, he was under the necessity of quitting France; and he settled at Basle, where he published his celebrated "Inst.i.tutions of the Christian Religion." After having visited Italy, he was returning by the way of Geneva, in 1536, when Farel and other reformers induced him to take up his abode in that city. He was chosen one of the ministers of the gospel, and professor of divinity. A dispute with the city authorities soon compelled him to leave Geneva, and he withdrew to Strasburg; whence he was recalled in 1541. From the time of his recall, he possessed almost absolute power at Geneva; and he exerted himself vigorously in establishing the Presbyterian form of church government. The reformer, who so loudly exclaimed against the tyranny of Rome, directed the whole torrent of his persecution against Servetus, a physician, who had in an ambiguous style written upon the Trinity; and his vengeance was not appeased till the unfortunate heretic had expired in the flames. He died May 26, 1564; and, though he had long enjoyed a high reputation and exercised an unbounded authority, he left only three hundred crowns to his heirs, including his library, the books of which sold afterwards at a great price. The works of Calvin were printed in twelve volumes, folio, Geneva, and in nine, Amsterdam, in 1667.

Jerome Zanchius.

A native of Alzano, who entered in the congregation of the Lateran canons.

He embraced the tenets of the Protestants by the conversation of Peter Martyr, who was of the same establishment; and, afraid of persecution, he retired, 1553, to Strasburg, where he taught divinity and the philosophy of Aristotle. He quitted Strasburg, in 1563, for Chiavene, and, in 1568, removed to Heidelberg, where he was appointed professor of theology, and where he died 19th November, 1590, aged eighty-four. He was author of "Commentaries on St. Paul's Epistles," and other works, published together at Geneva, in eight volumes, folio, 1613. In his character he was a man of moderation, learned, benevolent, and pious.

Theodore Beza.

one of the most eminent of the reformers, was born at Vezelai, in the Nivernois, in 1519, and was originally a Catholic, and intended for the law. At the age of twenty, he gained an unenviable reputation by the composition of Latin poetry which was at once elegant and licentious, and which, some years afterwards, he published under the t.i.tle of "Juvenile Poems." Though not in orders, he possessed benefices of considerable value. These, however, he abandoned in 1548, and retired to Geneva, where he publicly abjured Popery. To this he was induced by his having meditated, during illness, upon the doctrines which he had heard from his Protestant tutor, Melchior Wolmar; and perhaps also, in some measure, by his attachment to a lady, whom he carried with him to Geneva, and married.

He now accepted the Greek professorship at Lausanne, which he held for ten years. It was while he was thus occupied that he produced his tragedy of "Abraham's Sacrifice," his version of the New Testament, and his hateful defence of the right of the magistrate to punish heretics. In 1559, he removed to Geneva, and became the colleague of Calvin, through whom he was appointed rector of the academy, and theological professor. Two years after this, he took a prominent part in the conference at Poissy, and was present at the battle of Dreux. He returned to Geneva in 1563, succeeded Calvin in his offices and influence, and was thenceforward considered as the head of the Calvinistic church. After an exceedingly active life, he died on the 13th of October, 1605.

Leo X.

Pope JOHN DE MEDICI, the son of the ill.u.s.trious Lorenzo, was born in 1475, at Florence, and was nominated a cardinal in his thirteenth year. In 1505, he was made governor of Perugia; was intrusted with the command of the Papal army in 1511; and was made prisoner, in the following year, at the battle of Ravenna. He attained the Papal crown in 1513, on the death of Julius II. He died in 1521. Leo was one of the most munificent patrons of learning and of the arts; but he was prodigal, and on some occasions grossly violated the principles of justice. To his shameless sale of indulgences, to raise money to complete St. Peter's Church at Rome, and other extravagances, the world is indebted for the reformation of the church by Luther and others.

Justin.

Surnamed the MARTYR, one of the fathers of the church, was born at Neapolis, anciently Sichem, in Palestine, and was a philosopher of the Platonic school. He is believed to have preached the gospel in Italy, Asia Minor, and Egypt. He was beheaded at Rome, in 165. Of his works, the princ.i.p.al are two Apologies for the Christians.

Arius.

Founder of the sect of the Arians, was an African by birth. Disappointment made him a sectary. He propagated the opinion that the Word was not a divine person; and the heresy, though condemned by various councils, gained followers, and excited schisms in the Roman empire. The Nicene creed was drawn up to combat his errors. He was a violent enemy of Athanasius. He died at Alexandria, 386.

Athanasius.

The celebrated patriarch of Alexandria was born in that city about 296. At the council of Nice, though then but a deacon of Alexandria, his reputation for skill in controversy gained him an honorable place in the council, and with signal ability he exposed the sophistry of those who pleaded on the side of Arius. Six months after, he was appointed the successor of Alexander. Notwithstanding the influence of the emperor, who had recalled Arius from banishment, and, upon a plausible confession of his faith, in which he affected to be Orthodox in his sentiments, directed that he should be received by the Alexandrian church, Athanasius refused to admit him to communion, and exposed his prevarication. The Arians upon this exerted themselves to raise tumults at Alexandria, and to injure the character of Athanasius with the emperor, who was prevailed upon by falsehoods to p.r.o.nounce against him a sentence of banishment. In the beginning of the reign of Constantius, he was recalled to his happy people, but was again disturbed and deposed through the influence of the Arians. Accusations were also sent against him and other bishops from the east to the west; but they were acquitted by Pope Julius in full council.

Athanasius was restored a second time to his see, upon the death of the Arian bishop, who had been placed in it. Arianism, however, being in favor at court, he was condemned by a council convened at Arles, and by another at Milan, and was a third time obliged to fly into the deserts. His enemies pursued him even here, and set a price upon his head. In this situation, Athanasius composed writings full of eloquence to strengthen the faith of believers, and expose the falsehood of his enemies. He returned with the other bishops whom Julian the Apostate recalled from banishment, and, in A. D. 362, held a council at Alexandria, where the belief of a consubstantial Trinity was openly professed. Many now were recovered from Arianism, and brought to subscribe the Nicene creed. But his peace was again interrupted by the complaints of the heathen, whose temples the zeal of Athanasius kept always empty. He was again obliged to fly to save his life. The accession of Jovian brought him back. During the reign of Jovian, also, Athanasius held another council, which declared its adherence to the Nicene faith; and with the exception of a short retirement under Valens, he was permitted to sit down in quiet and govern his affectionate church of Alexandria, until his death, in 373. Of the forty-six years of his official life, he spent twenty in banishment.

Athanasius (says the Encyclopedia Americana) is one of the greatest men of whom the church can boast. His deep mind, his n.o.ble heart, his invincible courage, his living faith, his unbounded benevolence, sincere humility, lofty eloquence, and strictly virtuous life, gained the honor and love of all. In all his writings, his style is distinguished for clearness and moderation.

Moses Maimonides.

Moses son of Maimon, commonly called Moses Egypticus, because physician to the sultan of Egypt, was a Jewish rabbi, born at Cordova, in Spain, 1131.

He opened a school in Egypt, and as his skill, not only in languages, but in all branches of science and of philosophy, was very great, his instructions were attended by numerous and respectable pupils. Thus eminently distinguished as a scholar, as a physician, and also as a divine, so as to be called inferior only to the legislator Moses, he beheld with indifference, and even contempt, the fables and traditions of his countrymen, and applied all the powers of learning, and the vast resources of his mind, in the cause of truth, virtue, and philosophy. Some of his works were written in Arabic, but are extant now in Hebrew only.

The most famous of these are his Commentaries on the Misna; Jad, a complete pandect of the Jewish law; More Nevochim, a valuable work, explaining the difficult pa.s.sages, phrases, parables, and allegories, in Scripture, and several other works. This great and learned man died in Egypt at the age of seventy, and was buried with his nation in the land of Upper Galilee. His death was mourned for three whole days by Jews and Egyptians, and the year in which he died, in respect of his great virtues and learning, was called Lamentum Lamentabile.

John Agricola.

A German divine, born at Isleb. He was the friend and the disciple of Luther, but afterwards violently opposed him, and became the head of the Antinomians, a sect which regarded faith as the whole of the duties of man. He was also engaged in a dispute with Melancthon; but, with the most laudable motives, he endeavored to effect a reconciliation between the Catholics and Protestants. He died at Berlin, 1566, aged seventy-four.

Michael Servetus.

A native of Villanuova, in Arragon, son of a notary. He studied the law at Toulouse, but afterwards applied to medicine at Paris, and took there his doctor's degree. The boldness and pertinacity of his opinions created him enemies, and he left the capital to settle at Lyons, but afterwards he retired to Charlieu. On the invitation of the archbishop of Vienne, in Dauphiny, he was prevailed upon to fix his residence there, and he might have lived in peace and respected, had he been satisfied to seek celebrity in medical pursuits alone. Eager to publish his Arian opinions on religion, he sent three questions to Calvin on the Divinity of Christ, on Regeneration, and on the Necessity of Baptism, and, when answered with civility, he reflected on the sentiments of his correspondent with arrogant harshness. This produced a quarrel, and ended in the most implacable hatred, so that Calvin, bent on revenge, obtained, by secret means, copies of a work in which his antagonist was engaged, and caused him to be accused before the archbishop as a dangerous man. Servetus escaped from prison; but, on his way to Italy, he had the imprudence to pa.s.s in disguise through Geneva, where he was recognized by Calvin, and immediately seized by the magistrate as an impious heretic. Forty heretical errors were proved against him by his accusers; but Servetus refused to renounce them, and the magistrates, at last yielding to the loud representations of the ministers of Basle, Berne, and Zurich, and especially of Calvin, who demanded the punishment of a profane heretic, ordered the unhappy man to be burnt. On the 27th October, 1553, the wretched Servetus was conducted to the stake, and, as the wind prevented the flames from fully reaching his body, two long hours elapsed before he was freed from his miseries. This cruel treatment deservedly called down the general odium on the head of Calvin, who ably defended his conduct and that of the magistrates. Servetus published various works against the Trinity, which were burnt in disgrace at Geneva, and other places.

Simonis Menno.