Printing Declared Abolished

King Francis I had delighted to gather scholars from every country to his court. But in his fresh zeal to stamp out heresy, this patron of learning issued an edict abolishing printing all over France! Francis I is one among the many examples on record showing that intellectual culture does not prevent religious intolerance and persecution.LF 96.1

The priests demanded blood to atone for the insult offered to High Heaven in the condemnation of the mass. January 21, 1535, was chosen for the awful ceremony. In front of every door was a lighted torch in honor of the “holy sacrament.” Before daybreak the procession formed at the king's palace.LF 96.2

“The bishop of Paris carried the host under a magnificent canopy, ... supported by four royal princes.... After the host walked the king.... Francis I on that day wore no crown nor robe of state.”^{12James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 13, chapter 21.} At every altar he bowed in humiliation, not for the vices that defiled his soul nor the innocent blood that stained his hands, but for the “deadly sin” of his subjects who had dared to condemn the mass.LF 96.3

In the great hall of the bishop's palace the king appeared. In words of moving eloquence he lamented “the crime, the blasphemy, the day of sorrow and disgrace,” that had come upon the nation. And he called upon every loyal subject to aid in stamping out the deadly “heresy” that threatened France with ruin. Tears choked his voice, and the whole assembly wept, all exclaiming together, “We will live and die for the Catholic religion!”^{13J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, book 4, chapter 12.}LF 96.4

“The grace that brings salvation” had appeared, but France, illuminated by its radiance, had turned away, choosing darkness rather than light. They had called evil good and good evil, till they had fallen victims to their own chosen self-deception. The light that would have saved them from deception, from staining their hearts with the guilt of innocent blood, they had deliberately rejected.LF 96.5

Again the procession formed. “At short distances scaffolds had been erected on which certain Protestant Christians were to be burned alive, and it was arranged that the wood should be lighted at the moment the king approached, and that the procession should stop to witness the execution.”^{14James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 13, chapter 21.} There was no wavering by the victims. When he was urged to recant, one answered: “I only believe in what the prophets and the apostles preached long ago, and what all the company of saints believed. My faith has a confidence in God which will resist all the powers of hell.”^{15J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, book 4, chapter 12.}LF 96.6

When they reached the palace, the crowd dispersed and the king and the church officials withdrew, congratulating themselves that the work would continue until the “heresy” had been completely destroyed.LF 96.7

The gospel of peace that France rejected was indeed to be rooted out, and terrible would be the results. On January 21, 1793, another procession passed through the streets of Paris. “Again the king was the chief figure, again there was uproar and shouting, again there was heard the cry for more victims, again there were black scaffolds, and again the scenes of the day closed with horrid executions. Louis XVI, struggling hand to hand with his jailers and executioners, was dragged forward to the block and held down by force till the axe had fallen and his severed head rolled on the scaffold.”^{16James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 13, chapter 21.} Near the same spot twenty-eight hundred human beings died by the guillotine.LF 96.8

The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible. Infinite Love had unfolded to humanity the principles of heaven. When France rejected the gift of heaven, she sowed seeds of ruin. The inevitable outworking of cause and effect resulted in the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.LF 97.1

The bold and zealous Farel had been forced to flee from the land of his birth to Switzerland. Yet he continued to exert a strong influence on the reform in France. With the help of other exiles, he translated the writings of the German Reformers into French, and together with the French Bible these were printed in large quantities. Traveling book salesmen sold these works widely in France.LF 97.2

Farel began his work in Switzerland in the humble role of a schoolmaster, cautiously introducing the truths of the Bible. Some believed his teachings, but the priests came forward to stop the work, and they stirred up superstitious people to oppose it. “That cannot be the gospel of Christ,” urged the priests, “since the preaching of it does not bring peace, but war.”^{17James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 14, chapter 3.}LF 97.3

From village to village Farel went, enduring hunger, cold, and weariness, and everywhere risking his life. He preached in the marketplace, in the churches, and sometimes in the pulpits of the cathedrals. More than once he was beaten almost to death. Yet he kept on working. One after another he saw towns and cities that had been strongholds of Catholicism opening their gates to the gospel.LF 97.4

Farel had wanted to plant the Protestant banner in Geneva. If this city could be won, it would be a center for the Reformation in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Many of the surrounding towns and hamlets had already become Protestant.LF 97.5

With just one companion he entered Geneva. But he was permitted to preach only two sermons. The priests called him before a church council, and they came to it themselves with weapons hidden under their robes, determined to take his life. They gathered a furious mob to make sure of his death if he managed to escape the council. However, the presence of magistrates and an armed force saved him. Early the next morning he was taken across the lake to a safe place. This is how his first effort to evangelize Geneva ended.LF 97.6

The next attempt involved a lowlier instrument—a young man so humble in appearance that even the professed friends of reform treated him coldly. But what could someone like this do where Farel had been rejected? “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27).LF 97.7