In The Netherlands the papal tyranny very early called
forth resolute protest. Seven hundred years before Luther's
time the Roman pontiff was thus fearlessly impeached
by two bishops, who, having been sent on an embassy to
Rome, had learned the true character of the "holy see": God
"has made His queen and spouse, the church, a noble and
everlasting provision for her family, with a dowry that is
neither fading nor corruptible, and given her an eternal
crown and scepter; . . . all which benefits you like a thief
intercept. You set up yourself in the temple of God; instead
of a pastor, you are become a wolf to the sheep; . . . you
would make us believe you are a supreme bishop, but you
rather behave like a tyrant. . . . Whereas you ought to be
a servant of servants, as you call yourself, you endeavor to
become a lord of lords. . . . You bring the commands of
God into contempt. . . . The Holy Ghost is the builder of
all churches as far as the earth extends. . . . The city of our
God, of which we are the citizens, reaches to all the regions
of the heavens; and it is greater than the city, by the holy
prophets named Babylon, which pretends to be divine, wins
herself to heaven, and brags that her wisdom is immortal;
and finally, though without reason, that she never did err, nor
ever can."--Gerard Brandt, History of the Reformation in
and About the Low Countries, b. 1, p. 6.
Others arose from century to century to echo this protest.
And those early teachers who, traversing different lands and
known by various names, bore the character of the Vaudois
missionaries, and spread everywhere the knowledge of the
gospel, penetrated to the Netherlands. Their doctrines spread
rapidly. The Waldensian Bible they translated in verse into
the Dutch language. They declared "that there was great
advantage in it; no jests, no fables, no trifles, no deceits, but
the words of truth; that indeed there was here and there a
hard crust, but that the marrow and sweetness of what was
good and holy might be easily discovered in it."-- Ibid., b. 1,
p. 14. Thus wrote the friends of the ancient faith, in the
twelfth century.
Now began the Romish persecutions; but in the midst of
fagots and torture the believers continued to multiply,
steadfastly declaring that the Bible is the only infallible authority
in religion, and that "no man should be coerced to believe,
but should be won by preaching."--Martyn, vol. 2, p. 87.
The teachings of Luther found a congenial soil in the
Netherlands, and earnest and faithful men arose to preach
the gospel. From one of the provinces of Holland came
Menno Simons. Educated a Roman Catholic and ordained
to the priesthood, he was wholly ignorant of the Bible, and
he would not read it for fear of being beguiled into heresy.
When a doubt concerning the doctrine of transubstantiation
forced itself upon him, he regarded it as a temptation from
Satan, and by prayer and confession sought to free himself
from it; but in vain. By mingling in scenes of dissipation he
endeavored to silence the accusing voice of conscience; but
without avail. After a time he was led to the study of the
New Testament, and this, with Luther's writings, caused him
to accept the reformed faith. He soon after witnessed in a
neighboring village the beheading of a man who was put to
death for having been rebaptized. This led him to study the
Bible in regard to infant baptism. He could find no evidence
for it in the Scriptures, but saw that repentance and faith are
everywhere required as the condition of receiving baptism.
Menno withdrew from the Roman Church and devoted
his life to teaching the truths which he had received. In both
Germany and the Netherlands a class of fanatics had risen,
advocating absurd and seditious doctrines, outraging order
and decency, and proceeding to violence and insurrection.
Menno saw the horrible results to which these movements
would inevitably lead, and he strenuously opposed the erroneous
teachings and wild schemes of the fanatics. There
were many, however, who had been misled by these fanatics,
but who had renounced their pernicious doctrines; and there
were still remaining many descendants of the ancient Christians,
the fruits of the Waldensian teaching. Among these
classes Menno labored with great zeal and success.
For twenty-five years he traveled, with his wife and
children, enduring great hardships and privations, and
frequently in peril of his life. He traversed the Netherlands
and northern Germany, laboring chiefly among the humbler
classes but exerting a widespread influence. Naturally
eloquent, though possessing a limited education, he was a man
of unwavering integrity, of humble spirit and gentle manners,
and of sincere and earnest piety, exemplifying in his
own life the precepts which he taught, and he commanded
the confidence of the people. His followers were scattered
and oppressed. They suffered greatly from being confounded
with the fanatical Munsterites. Yet great numbers were
converted under his labors.
Nowhere were the reformed doctrines more generally
received than in the Netherlands. In few countries did their
adherents endure more terrible persecution. In Germany
Charles V had banned the Reformation, and he would gladly
have brought all its adherents to the stake; but the princes
stood up as a barrier against his tyranny. In the Netherlands
his power was greater, and persecuting edicts followed each
other in quick succession. To read the Bible, to hear or preach
it, or even to speak concerning it, was to incur the penalty
of death by the stake. To pray to God in secret, to refrain
from bowing to an image, or to sing a psalm, was also
punishable with death. Even those who should abjure their
errors were condemned, if men, to die by the sword; if
women, to be buried alive. Thousands perished under the
reign of Charles and of Philip II.
At one time a whole family was brought before the
inquisitors, charged with remaining away from mass and
worshiping at home. On his examination as to their practices
in secret the youngest son answered: "We fall on our knees,
and pray that God may enlighten our minds and pardon our
sins; we pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be
prosperous and his life happy; we pray for our magistrates, that
God may preserve them."--Wylie, b. 18, ch. 6. Some of the
judges were deeply moved, yet the father and one of his sons
were condemned to the stake.
The rage of the persecutors was equaled by the faith of
the martyrs. Not only men but delicate women and young
maidens displayed unflinching courage. "Wives would take
their stand by their husband's stake, and while he was
enduring the fire they would whisper words of solace, or sing
psalms to cheer him." "Young maidens would lie down in
their living grave as if they were entering into their chamber
of nightly sleep; or go forth to the scaffold and the fire,
dressed in their best apparel, as if they were going to their
marriage."-- Ibid., b. 18, ch. 6.
As in the days when paganism sought to destroy the gospel,
the blood of the Christians was seed. (See Tertullian,
Apology, paragraph 50.) Persecution served to increase the
number of witnesses for the truth. Year after year the
monarch, stung to madness by the unconquerable determination
of the people, urged on his cruel work; but in vain.
Under the noble William of Orange the Revolution at last
brought to Holland freedom to worship God.
In the mountains of Piedmont, on the plains of France
and the shores of Holland, the progress of the gospel was
marked with the blood of its disciples. But in the countries
of the North it found a peaceful entrance. Students at
Wittenberg, returning to their homes, carried the reformed faith
to Scandinavia. The publication of Luther's writings also
spread the light. The simple, hardy people of the North
turned from the corruption, the pomp, and the superstitions
of Rome, to welcome the purity, the simplicity, and the
life-giving truths of the Bible.
Tausen, "the Reformer of Denmark," was a peasant's son.
The boy early gave evidence of vigorous intellect; he thirsted
for an education; but this was denied him by the circumstances
of his parents, and he entered a cloister. Here the
purity of his life, together with his diligence and fidelity, won
the favor of his superior. Examination showed him to possess
talent that promised at some future day good service to
the church. It was determined to give him an education at
some one of the universities of Germany or the Netherlands.
The young student was granted permission to choose a
school for himself, with one proviso, that he must not go
to Wittenberg. The scholar of the church was not to be
endangered by the poison of heresy. So said the friars.
Tausen went to Cologne, which was then, as now, one of
the strongholds of Romanism. Here he soon became disgusted
with the mysticisms of the schoolmen. About the
same time he obtained Luther's writings. He read them with
wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy the personal
instruction of the Reformer. But to do so he must risk giving
offense to his monastic superior and forfeiting his support.
His decision was soon made, and erelong he was enrolled
as a student at Wittenberg.
On returning to Denmark, he again repaired to his cloister.
No one as yet suspected him of Lutheranism; he did not
reveal his secret, but endeavored, without exciting the
prejudices of his companions, to lead them to a purer faith and a
holier life. He opened the Bible, and explained its true
meaning, and at last preached Christ to them as the sinner's
righteousness and his only hope of salvation. Great was the
wrath of the prior, who had built high hopes upon him as
a valiant defender of Rome. He was at once removed from
his own monastery to another and confined to his cell under
strict supervision.
To the terror of his new guardians several of the monks
soon declared themselves converts to Protestantism. Through
the bars of his cell Tausen had communicated to his companions
a knowledge of the truth. Had those Danish fathers
been skilled in the church's plan of dealing with heresy,
Tausen's voice would never again have been heard; but
instead of consigning him to a tomb in some underground
dungeon, they expelled him from the monastery. Now they
were powerless. A royal edict, just issued, offered protection
to the teachers of the new doctrine. Tausen began to preach.
The churches were opened to him, and the people thronged
to listen. Others also were preaching the word of God. The
New Testament, translated into the Danish tongue, was
widely circulated. The efforts made by the papists to overthrow
the work resulted in extending it, and erelong Denmark
declared its acceptance of the reformed faith.
In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk from the
well of Wittenberg carried the water of life to their countrymen.
Two of the leaders in the Swedish Reformation, Olaf
and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a blacksmith of Orebro,
studied under Luther and Melanchthon, and the truths
which they thus learned they were diligent to teach. Like
the great Reformer, Olaf aroused the people by his zeal and
eloquence, while Laurentius, like Melanchthon, was learned,
thoughtful, and calm. Both were men of ardent piety, of
high theological attainments, and of unflinching courage in
advancing the truth. Papist opposition was not lacking. The
Catholic priest stirred up the ignorant and superstitious
people. Olaf Petri was often assailed by the mob, and upon
several occasions barely escaped with his life. These
Reformers were, however, favored and protected by the king.
Under the rule of the Roman Church the people were
sunken in poverty and ground down by oppression. They
were destitute of the Scriptures; and having a religion of
mere signs and ceremonies, which conveyed no light to
the mind, they were returning to the superstitious beliefs
and pagan practices of their heathen ancestors. The nation
was divided into contending factions, whose perpetual strife
increased the misery of all. The king determined upon a
reformation in the state and the church, and he welcomed
these able assistants in the battle against Rome.
In the presence of the monarch and the leading men of
Sweden, Olaf Petri with great ability defended the doctrines
of the reformed faith against the Romish champions. He
declared that the teachings of the Fathers are to be received
only when in accordance with the Scriptures; that the essential
doctrines of the faith are presented in the Bible in a clear
and simple manner, so that all men may understand them.
Christ said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me"
(John 7:16); and Paul declared that should he preach any
other gospel than that which he had received, he would be
accursed (Galatians 1:8). "How, then," said the Reformer,
"shall others presume to enact dogmas at their pleasure, and
impose them as things necessary to salvation?"--Wylie, b. 10,
ch. 4. He showed that the decrees of the church are of no
authority when in opposition to the commands of God, and
maintained the great Protestant principle that "the Bible
and the Bible only" is the rule of faith and practice.
This contest, though conducted upon a stage comparatively
obscure, serves to show us "the sort of men that formed
the rank and file of the army of the Reformers. They were
not illiterate, sectarian, noisy controversialists--far from it;
they were men who had studied the word of God, and knew
well how to wield the weapons with which the armory of the
Bible supplied them. In respect of erudition they were ahead
of their age. When we confine our attention to such brilliant
centers as Wittenberg and Zurich, and to such illustrious
names as those of Luther and Melanchthon, of Zwingli and
Oecolampadius, we are apt to be told, these were the leaders
of the movement, and we should naturally expect in them
prodigious power and vast acquisitions; but the subordinates
were not like these. Well, we turn to the obscure theater of
Sweden, and the humble names of Olaf and Laurentius Petri
--from the masters to the disciples--what do we find? . . .
Scholars and theologians; men who have thoroughly mastered
the whole system of gospel truth, and who win an easy
victory over the sophists of the schools and the dignitaries of
Rome."-- Ibid., b. 10, ch.4.
As the result of this disputation the king of Sweden accepted
the Protestant faith, and not long afterward the national
assembly declared in its favor. The New Testament
had been translated by Olaf Petri into the Swedish language,
and at the desire of the king the two brothers undertook the
translation of the whole Bible. Thus for the first time the
people of Sweden received the word of God in their native
tongue. It was ordered by the Diet that throughout the
kingdom, ministers should explain the Scriptures and that the
children in the schools should be taught to read the Bible.
Steadily and surely the darkness of ignorance and
superstition was dispelled by the blessed light of the gospel. Freed
from Romish oppression, the nation attained to a strength
and greatness it had never before reached. Sweden became
one of the bulwarks of Protestantism. A century later, at a
time of sorest peril, this small and hitherto feeble
nation--the only one in Europe that dared lend a helping
hand--came to the deliverance of Germany in the terrible struggle
of the Thirty Years' War. All Northern Europe seemed
about to be brought again under the tyranny of Rome. It
was the armies of Sweden that enabled Germany to turn
the tide of popish success, to win toleration for the
Protestants,--Calvinists as well as Lutherans,--and to restore
liberty of conscience to those countries that had accepted the
Reformation.