THE GREAT CONTROVERSY: Audio & Pull Quotes- Chapter 12

The French Reformation

Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/y9XDdW_3Db4?list=PLA5C7629D1527F981

Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest.
Lamentations 5:5
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.....he had undertaken to prepare a history of the saints and martyrs as given in the legends of the church. ... 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 Roman 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.
Farel, as zealous in the cause of Christ as he had been in that of the pope, went forth to declare the truth in public. The sister of Francis I, then the reigning monarch, accepted the reformed faith.
Calvin was making his way from house to house, opening the Bible to the people, and speaking to them of Christ and Him crucified.
*The French Reformers, eager to see their country keeping pace with Germany and Switzerland, determined to strike a bold blow against the superstitions of Rome, that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly placards attacking the

 mass were in one night posted all over France. Instead of advancing the reform, this zealous but ill-judged movement brought ruin, not only upon its propagators, but upon the friends of the reformed faith throughout France. It gave the Romanists what they had long desired--a pretext for demanding the utter destruction of the heretics as agitators dangerous to the stability of the throne and the peace of the nation. By some secret hand--whether of indiscreet friend or wily foe was never known--one of the placards was attached to the door of the king's private chamber. The monarch was filled with horror....Then his rage found utterance in the terrible words: "Let all be seized without distinction who are suspected of Lutheresy. I will exterminate them all."  The die was cast. The king had determined to throw himself fully on the side of Rome. The victims were put to death with cruel torture, it being specially ordered that the fire should be lowered in order to prolong their agony.