en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_de_NavarreCalvin at Angouleme was not far from Nerac, and his eyes were often turned to that city. He longed to see Lefevre before the old man was taken from the world, and was uneasy about Roussel, whom he feared to see yielding to the seductions of greatness. One of the christian thoughts that had laid the strongest hold on his mind, was the conviction that the wisdom from on high ought to reject every compromise suggested by ambition or hypocrisy. Ought he not to try and bring back Roussel into the right path from which he appeared to be wandering? Calvin left Du Tillet’s house probably about the end of February, and called upon Roussel as soon as he arrived at Nerac. The most decided and the most moderate of the theologians of the sixteenth century were now face to face. Calvin, naturally timid and hesitating ‘would never have had the boldness so much as to open his mouth (to use his own words); but faith in Christ begot such a strong assurance in his heart, that he could not remain silent.’ He, therefore, gave his opinion with decision: ‘There is no good left in Catholicism,’ he said. ‘We must reestablish the Church in its ancient purity.’ — ‘What is that you say?’ answered the astonished Roussel; ‘God’s house ought to be purified, no doubt, but not destroyed.’ — ‘Impossible,’ said the young reformer; ‘the edifice is so bad that it cannot be repaired. We must pull it down entirely, and build another in its place.’ — Roussel exclaimed with alarm: ‘We must cleanse the Church, but not by setting it on fire. If we take upon ourselves to pull it down, we shall be crushed under the ruins.’ Calvin retired in sorrow. Type of protestant decision in the sixteenth century, he always protested freely and boldly against everything that was contrary to the Gospel. He displayed this unshakable firmness not only in opposition to catholic tendencies, but also against rationalistic ideas. It would not be difficult to find in Zwingli, in Melanchthon, and even in Luther, some sprinkling of neology, of which the slightest traces cannot be found in Calvin. Nerac, as we have said, sheltered another teacher — an old man whom age might have made weaker than Roussel, but who under his white hair and decrepit appearance concealed a living force, to be suddenly revived by contact with the great faith of the young scholar. Calvin asked for Lefevre’s house: everybody knew him: ‘He is a little bit of a man, old as Herod, but lively as gunpowder,’ they told him. As we have seen, Lefevre had professed the great doctrine of justification by faith, even before Luther; but after so many years, the aged doctor still indulged in the vain hope of seeing Catholicism reform itself. ‘There ought to be only one Church,’ he would frequently repeat, and this idea prevented his separation from Rome. Nevertheless, his spiritualist views permitted him to preserve the unity of charity with all who loved Christ. When Calvin was admitted into his presence, he discerned the great man under his puny stature, and was caught by the charm which he exercised over all who came near him. What mildness, what depth, what knowledge, modesty, candor, loftiness, piety, moral grandeur, and holiness, had been said of him! It seemed as if all these virtues illuminated the old man with heavenly brightness just as the night of the grave was about to cover him with its darkness. On his side, the young man pleased Lefevre, who began to tell him how the opposition of the Sorbonne had compelled him to take refuge in the south, ‘in order,’ as he said, ‘to escape the bloody hands of those doctors.’ Calvin endeavored to remove the old man’s illusions. He showed him that we must receive everything from the Word and from the grace of God. He spoke with clearness, with decision, and with energy. Lefevre was moved — he reflected a little and weeping exclaimed: ‘Alas! I know the truth, but I keep myself apart from those who profess it.’ Recovering, however, from his trouble, he wiped his eyes, and seeing his young fellow countryman ‘rejecting all the fetters of this world and preparing to fight under the banner of Jesus,’ he examined him more attentively, and asked himself if he had not before him that future reformer whom he had once foretold: ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘you will be one day a powerful instrument in the Lord’s hand. … The world will obstinately resist Jesus Christ, and everything will seem to conspire against the Son of God; but stand firm on that rock, and many will be broken against it. God will make use of you to restore the kingdom of heaven in France.’ In Luther, being of the same age as Calvin in 1534, heard a similar prophecy from the mouth of a venerable doctor. Yet, if we may believe a catholic historian, the old man did not stop there. His eyes, resting with kindness on the young man, expressed a certain fear. He fancied he saw a young horse which, however admirable its spirit, might dash beyond all restraint. ‘Be on your guard,’ he added, ‘against the extreme ardor of your mind. Take Melanchthon as your pattern, and let your strength be always tempered with charity.’ The old man pressed the young man’s hand, and they parted never to see each other again. Did Calvin see the Queen of Navarre also? It does not appear that Margaret was living at Nerac at that time; but he had some relations with her. It has been said that she felt an interest in his exile; and it is possible that she had some share in the resolution he soon formed of quitting the south. She may have assured him that he had nothing to fear in Paris, if he committed no imprudence. But we have found nothing certain on these points.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 21:57:33 +0000
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