Inseparable: The Reformation’s Principles of Persecution and its Gospel, Part One
You can’t separate the gospel of the Reformation from New Calvinism, and you can’t separate that gospel from its practice. Part and parcel with the Reformation gospel is the insistence that church and state be united for the purpose of purifying “the realm.” The church is over the spiritual and the sacraments, and the civil magistrate should enforce the edicts of the church. The civil authorities may have oversight of practical matters, but to not enforce the edicts of the church in spiritual matters is to override God’s “power of the keys.” Ultimately, the state is the servant of the church. Be sure of this: the present-day New Calvinist movement sees America as a rogue government unwilling to submit to the power of the keys. They will gravitate towards any party willing to get in bed with the church as opposed to a government that is contra principles of persecution. The Reformation was predicated on principles of persecution.
What we need to understand in situations like the SGM class action lawsuit is that Mahaney et al think they are being subjected to authority that God has not approved. They will improvise as much as possible in creating a persecuting sub-culture while working to bring America into the beginnings of a church/state government, and any kind of ugliness thereof would be better than what we have now. Also, the outright rejection of an idea that the New Calvinist tsunami is a segue to remarriage with Rome and the prophesied coming super church/state empire of the antichrist is a naïve out of hand dismissal.
The persecuting principles of the Reformers were its first cries coming forth from the womb; specifically, in Scotland where the Reformation first found formidable life. This series of posts are based on William Marshall’s The Principles of the Westminster Standards Persecuting (William Marshall, D.D., Coupar – Angus. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co. 1873).
The book’s inside cover quotes contemporaries of the Reformation to frame the thesis of the book:
Persecution is the deadly sin of the Reformed churches, that which cools every honest man’s zeal for their cause, in proportion as his reading becomes more extensive—Hallam.
In regard to this thesis, every holocaust has had its cowardly bystanders wearing the uniform of the prosecutors while raising a safe objection. The following statement by John Owen exemplifies such:
I know the usual pretenses for persecution. “Such a thing is blasphemy,” but search the Scriptures, look at the definitions of divines, and you will find heresy, in what head of religion soever be, and blasphemy very different. “To spread such errors will be destructive to souls.” So are many things which yet are not punishable with death. Let him who thinks so go kill Pagans and Mahometans. “Such a heresy is a canker,” but is a spiritual one, let it be prevented by spiritual means; cutting off men’s heads is no proper remedy for it. If state physicians think otherwise, I say no more, but I am not of that college—Owen.
So, I disagree, but if the state agrees with the church, well, then I have to bow to their authority, but I disagree. And such will be the commentary of some New Calvinists if they ever obtain force from the state which apparently makes the sin sanctified—the fact that there are some goodhearted souls within the movement. Good men should keep their peace while heads roll because to label the movement as tyranny would be a “generalization.” The ideology is not to blame, only the men who don’t see things exactly the way we see them. The persecuted should also understand this and shrug their shoulders in agreement while gladly placing the noose around their own neck voluntarily.
In regard to the Scottish Reformers, Marshall stated the following:
The Protestant Reformers in leaving Rome did not leave all Romanism behind them. In particular, they brought with them the prosecuting principles of Rome, and worked them freely and vigorously in support of the Reformed faith. They changed the Pope but not the popedom,
And….
Rightfully and nobly did the Protestant Reformers claim religious liberty for themselves; but they resolutely refused to concede it to others.
John Knox, the vaunted Scottish Reformer, though primarily concerned with Catholicism, made it clear that no aberration of Reformed doctrine should be tolerated by the state. According to Marshall:
Knox, the father of the Scottish Reformation, and the presiding genius of it, brought with him to his native country the Geneva theocracy; and it was copied as closely as the differences between the Swiss republic and the Scottish monarchy would permit….Such was the Church and State system of the Scottish Reformers in those days; and hence the melancholy selections from their history which I have now to offer.
The first Parliament, in which the Reformers became ascendant, was held in 1560. It adopted a Protestant Confession; a “summary of tenets constituting the essence of the Reformed religion;” one of the “tenets” being the theocratic one, “that to kings and rulers it belongs to reform and purify religion.”
Marshall continued to state that the same Confession prohibited the practice of Catholicism or any other aberration of the Reformed gospel, and such violations would entail confiscation of goods for the first offence, “suffering” and “banishment” for the second, and “death” for the third violation. Marshall then concludes:
Thus the very first legislation of the Scottish Reformers was deeply tainted with persecution.
Marshall continues:
The same year [1561] the First Book of Discipline was framed by a Committee of the Kirk, of which John Knox was a leading member….”Seeing that Christ Jesus is He whom God the Father hath commanded onely to be heard and followed of His sheepe, we judge it necessary that His gospell be truly and openly preached in every church and assembly of this realme; and that all doctrine repugnant to the same be utterly repressed, as damnable to men’s salvation….that the obstinate maintainers and teachers of such abominations ought not to escape the punishment of the civill magistrate….We dare not prescribe unto you what penalties shall be required of such, but this we fear not to affirm, that the one and the other deserve death.”
Apart from this committee, according to Marshall, Knox stated the following in a public sermon:
None provoking the people to idolatry ought to be exempted from the punishment of death.
I will conclude this first part with Marshall’s assessment of how the Scottish Reformers took control of the Scottish press:
Our early Reformers claimed like control over the press. “Immediately after the Reformation, the General Assembly took particular notice of the four printing presses then in Scotland, and they were careful that nothing should be published, at least by ministers, till it was communicated to the brethren, and revised by persons appointed by them.”
Marshall’s book is widely available and cites extensive sources. It should have its own place on every Christian’s bookshelf. In part two, we will look at Marshall’s assessment of persecuting principles found in the Westminster Confession.
paul
Free download: tancpublishing.com
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
[…] Inseparable: The Reformation’s Principles of Persecution and its Gospel; Part One. […]
LikeLike
Paul, I had never really paid attention to John Knox in my reading of history as it was usually a passing reference in whatever general history I was reading. he sounded mean but that was about it. And there are a few church sprinkled about using his name. Then when the internet exploded, I kept seeing references to John Knox from the likes of Doug Wilson (Blog and Mablog and pasha of Moscow, Idaho) and Doug Phillips of Vision forum.
They loved to quote his “Monstrous Regiment of Women”, etc. So I decided to go a bit deeper with the particulars of Knox. What a shocker. The man was a thug in image of Calvin. He plotted the murder of Lord Darnley with others and then wrote a sermon on why it was ok! Also, in his 50’s he married a 16 year old which even creeped out his parishioners (who would be punished if they did not attend church to hear him preach)
Can you even imagine being forced to attend church and listen to “the man of God” preaching on why it is a good thing to murder the Queen’s husband? (or anyone for that matter). It was not even a fair fight. They developed this whole plan of deception to entice their victims. (They also plotted to murder someone else at court)
All in the Name of Jesus, of course.
When people extol the virtues or teaching of these thugs like Calvin, etc, it should be a red flag for us. Hopefully enough people will become educated enough to realize where all this is leading us.
LikeLike
“Part and parcel with the Reformation gospel is the insistence that church and state be united for the purpose of purifying ‘the realm.'”
Which goes back to Augustine and Constantine and the declaration that the Donatists are heretics for opposing the merger of church and state (and for not wanting to fellowship a church that allows clergymen who deny Christ during persecution back to their posts after the persecution ends). I saw on a Calvinist blog yesterday (but don’t remember which one) that someone was complaining about people who bash Calvinists for following a man who flagrantly broke the 6th commandment as Calvinists count them (i.e. “thou shalt not murder”), and this guy complained saying that such people are Donatists and Pelagians for taking such an attitude. So it really all goes back to there. Do Christian leaders have to live sanctified lives, or can they kill and commit adultery all they want? The Catholics said its all gravy, and the Donatists said no it isn’t. The divide begins that far back.
LikeLike
http://chalcedon.edu/
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/winter/casting-stones
“Anyone who says that Biblical law is too restrictive or burdensome, they will be counted as enemies of the Lord and they will be destroyed by him, whether they are liberal or conservative,” Morecraft said.”
Lots of other neat-o nuggets found in searches of these type of groups. Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Guess what every last one of them has in common?
LikeLike
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/cor/notes_on.htm
Chilling.
LikeLike
“So, I disagree, but if the state agrees with the church, well, then I have to bow to their authority, but I disagree.”
Yeah, it is easy to see how that one will become the mantra. As it is so common for people to stand aside during abuse of any kind. To rationalize it away.
James, Have you read Leonard Verduin’s book on the Radical Reformers? The book starts out with the Donatists. First I had ever heard of them was when I read that about 9 years ago and did a bit more research. Amazing how their history has been rewritten from that mongeristic crowd as I went to find out more about them. I can remember them being insulted as a heretical group about 6 years ago on Challies’very Reformed blog in comments. Seriously?
Boy, Augustine railed against them for daring to call the church corrupt and refusing to take communion from corrupt priests. Some also think his theory of just war came from wanting to wipe them out….which makes sense in his writings.
LikeLike
I haven’t read Verduin’s book. But I might do that now. In fact when I went to lookup the book, I noticed another book of his called “Somewhat Less Than God: The Biblical View of Man.” That title reminded me of something I forgot. In Psalm 8:5 the “a little lower than the angels” we are familiar with comes from the paraphrase of the Septuagint. The Hebrew says “a little lower than God.” And Luther complains that freewill would make us too “divine” — it says right there we were made only a little lower than God. But I guess Luther and Calvin were Darwinian atheists.
LikeLike
I’m going to see if I can download it to my Kindle.
LikeLike
Paul, if you haven’t already, you also need to read Leonard Verduin’s earlier book “Anatomy of a Hybrid”. It is more difficult to find but it is a must have for your library. I’ve read it over the long weekend and have just about completed it.
LikeLike
Ryan,
I will check it out.
LikeLike
Thanks Lydia for the info on Knox. I’m going to do some more research into him.
LikeLike
Ryan, I just ordered Anatomy of a Hybrid used on Amazon which is all they have. Strange, I tried to find it a few years back and there was nothing.
He is one of those treasures of the Body. You know, he researched Stepchildren on a grant from the Calvin Foundation back in the early 50’s, I guess. One of the things I did not realize about this subject is that many state church archives were not really widely accessible until after WW2 when they were really opened up to research scholars. There were some like the European Zweig who dug into Calvin’s letters and the documents from Geneva at that time. If you have not read his “Right to Heresy”, do so. you can read it for free online:
http://www.gospeltruth.net/heresy/heresy_toc.htm
Zwieg was a novelist, journalist and also an agnostic Jew who died in 1942. I tend to seek out secular books on the history of this time to read around a subject that is heavily influenced because the victors write their own history. Lots of rewriting history going on. Too bad Calvin did not burn his letters!
LikeLike
Lydia,
The Resolved conferences by Johnny Mac et al were specifically designed to rewrite church history concerning the Reformation. It was the specific purpose.
LikeLike
Lydiasop, Both “The Anatomy of a Hybrid” and “Reformers and their Stepchildren” is an awesome work. Verduin wrote in a style that is easy to read. :o) In a way WW2 allowed the US and others to occupy some European nations for a short time to allow state archives to be opened. It is no surprise that state churches had secrets to hide. It is ironic that Verduin, who was a Calvinist, was the one to shed more light upon the brutality of state churches in Europe. I think Verduin was genuinely shocked at the brutality he uncovered – stuff they never taught him about in his church history classes at Calvin Seminary. You can sense deep regret and sorrow in his writing.
Verduin’s two books are among my favourites. Also, not to be missed is Verduin’s other very important work, his translations of “The Complete Writings of Menno Simons”. In it you’ll find Menno’s description of the very un-Christlike character and behaviour of the Lutherans and Zwinglians he was familiar with.
LikeLike