Chapter 13
The Netherlands
and Scandinavia
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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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