Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance

512

Erik de Boer

The Genevan School of the Prophets

The

congrégations

of the Company of Pastors and their Influence in the 16th Century Europe

LIBRAIRIE DROZ S.A.

11, rue Massot

GENÈVE

2012

Mentions légales

Résumé

Au seizième siècle, la Bible fut également étudiée de manière collective. Développant le modèle zurichois, les prédicateurs genevois se réunissaient, chaque semaine pour étudier les textes bibliques en lectio continua. Lors de ces congrégations qui se tenaient à huis clos, chaque ministre présentait à tour de rôle un exposé sur des questions de doctrine et d’éthique à ses collègues. Grâces aux documents qui nous sont parvenus, les voix de ministres moins connus se font entendre.

La première partie du présent ouvrage décrit la structure et les activités de cette institution ecclésiastique sur la base de documents d'archives. La deuxième partie analyse ensuite la façon dont les études bibliques hebdomadaires ont interagi avec la mise en œuvre du programme des prêches de Calvin. La troisième partie retrace enfin l'influence de Genève dans le passage du « prophétisme » comme juste exposition de l’Écriture vers le piétisme, jusqu'à ce que d'autres formes d’ « école de prophètes » se développent en France, en Angleterre et dans les églises du refuge.

*
**

Abstract

In the 16

th

Century, the Bible was also studied collectively. Developing the Zurich model, the preachers of Geneva met weekly to study biblical books in lectio continua. In these congrégations every minister took his turn to present an exposition to his colleagues. In closed meetings, the ministers held disputations on matters of doctrine and ethics and the voices of lesser known ministers are heard in surviving documents. In these collective studies, inspired exposition of Scripture was regarded as prophecy, fundamental to preaching of the Word.

The first part of this book describes the structure and activities of this ecclesiastical institution on the basis of archival documents. The existence of a large body of manuscript texts on Joshua testifies to the esteem in which the congrégation’s work was held. The second part analyses how the weekly Bible studies interacted with the implementation of Calvin’s expository program. The third part traces the influence of Geneva until the ‘prophesyings’ in Puritanism, as other such forms of ‘schools of the prophets’ developed in France, England and the refugee churches.

*
**

Book published with the support of Stichting Afbouw in Kampen, Stichting Jagtspoel Fonds in Renkum and the Stichting Fundatie voor Hervormden in Tubbergen

www.droz.org

*
**

Références papier

ISBN-10 : 2-600-01611-2

EAN : 9782600016117

ISSN : 0082-6081

Copyright (2012) by Librairie Droz S.A., 11, rue Massot, Genève.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission.

Distribué en France par Erudist :

www.erudist.net

*
**

Références numériques

EAN ePUB : 9782600316118

EAN PDF : 9782600116114

ISSN : 0082-6081

Copyright (2021) by Librairie Droz S.A., 11, rue Massot, Genève.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission.

*
**

Où trouver ce livre ?

En librairies numériques ou sur le

site de la Librairie Droz

.

*
**

Comment citer ce livre ?

Afin que les lecteurs des différentes formes de cet ouvrage aient des références communes et puissent citer ce livre de la même façon, les numéros de pages de la version papier ont été conservés dans le flux du texte sous la forme {p. AAA} et les numéros de notes conservés à l'identique. Ce livre numérique peut donc être cité de la même manière que sa version papier.

Dans cette version en ligne un clic sur l'icône de droite « Citer ce livre » vous permet d'enregistrer la référence bibliographique dans vos signets (page « Mes citations »). La sélection d'une portion du texte fait apparaître en rouge, à droite, une icône « Citation » qui vous permet d'enregistrer cette citation et sa référence à la page près.

Les références de ce livre sont également intégralement prises en compte dans l'outil de gestion références bibliographiques Zotero.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

11

Introduction

13

PART I

FIRST CHAPTER. THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE STUDIES IN GENEVA

1. A visitor’s view

20

2. The ‘Prophezei’ in Zurich and Strasbourg

22

3. First Corinthians, chapter 14, in Geneva

25

4. The gift of the languages

28

5. Sermons presented as prophecy

30

6. Preaching as prophecy

32

CHAPTER 2. THE

CONGRÉGATION

AS AN ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTION

1. Regulations and structure

35

2. The Church Order in Geneva

37

3. The Lausanne

classis

41

4. Time and place

44

5. Structure or liturgy?

46

6. Exposition of biblical books

48

7. Homiletical training

50

8. Postils and pericopes

51

9. Brotherly censure

56

10. Multiple functions

58

11. Conclusion

68

CHAPTER 3. PREACHERS AND THEOLOGICAL PROPOSITIONS

1. Texts and context

71

2. Academic disputations

76

3. The form of propositions

78

4. Genevan disputations

79

5. Institutes and

Loci communes

82

6. Villages and visitations

85

CHAPTER 4. PRESENCE AND PARTICIPATION OF LAY PEOPLE

1. A majority of church members

93

2. Artisans

95

3. Religious loners

97

4. The Bolsec case

98

5. Geneva born Citizens

99

6. Prominent refugees

100

7. Lawyers

102

8. Friends and deacons

103

9. Teachers and physicians

104

10. Printers

105

11. The rich and the poor

106

12. A popular initiative

109

13. Conclusion

111

CHAPTER 5. A SPECIAL CONGREGATION: THE

CONSENSUS GENEVENSIS

ON ELECTION

1. Maistre Hierosme Bolsec

113

2. The special

congrégation

116

3. An earlier

consensus

119

4. The dedication of the book

121

5. Censured by the Sorbonne in 1553

123

6. Publication in 1562

125

7. Beza’s

Tabula

, a systematic answer to Bolsec

127

8. The Consensus Genevensis

128

9. Calvin’s

Disputatio de providentia et praedestinatione

133

10. A doctrine under discussion

135

11. A double doctrine of predestination?

141

PART II

CHAPTER 6. CALVIN’S EXPOSITORY PROJECT (1539-1559)

1. The early years until 1550:

Expositions

and Commentaries (1541-1549)

145

2. Hebrews and the Catholic epistles (1549-1550)

148

3. The Gospel of John (1550-1552)

149

4. Harmony of the Gospels (1553-1555)

154

5. The Book of Psalms (1555-1559)

159

CHAPTER 7. HARMONY OF THE LAW: EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY (1559-1562)

1. Focus on the law

164

2. The master plan

166

3. No running commentary

168

4. Again a harmony of the Gospels (1559-1564)

170

5. Harmony of the laws

172

6. The structure of the Mosaic Harmony

176

7. Shared sources

178

8. Following the master’s example

183

9. Conclusion

185

CHAPTER 8. GALATIANS, JOSHUA, AND ISAIAH (1562-1564)

1. Galatians: an interlude (1562-1563)

189

2. Friday’s catechism and fraternal correction

192

3. Joshua: a rich source (1563)

194

4. The last attempt at Isaiah (1564)

205

5. In the company of colleagues

211

PART III

CHAPTER 9. FROM GENEVA TO FRANCE:

CONGRÉGATIONS

AND

PROPHÉTIE

(1564-1610)

1. From Normandy to Bordeaux

217

2. Jean Morély, a “dissident disciple”

220

3. Antoine du Pinet, man of the middle

225

4. Jean Morély and Antoine du Pinet in Lyon

230

5. Antoine de la Roche Chandieu

232

6. Geneva after Calvin’s death

235

CHAPTER 10. THE REFUGEE CHURCHES, ENGLAND, AND THE NETHERLANDS (1564-1610)

1. The refugee Churches in London

244

2. Guy de Bres, training for the ministry

248

3. Knox and the Scots in Geneva

249

4. The Wesel articles (1568/1571)

251

5. Puritan prophesyings

256

6. Translations as indicators of change

258

Conclusion

265

APPENDICES

Appendix I. Text of the

Ordonnances ecclésiastiques

(1541, 1561, 1576)

269

Appendix II. Sequence of

congrégations

and commentaries

270

Appendix III. Chronology of the

congrégations on Joshua

271

Appendix IV. Translation of propositions

273

Appendix V. Translation of Calvin’s Disputatio de providentia et praedestinatione

302

Abbreviations

305

Bibliography

307

Indices

323

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Sárospataki Református Teológiai Akadémia in Hungary awarded me the honour of an honorary professorship on 21 October 2009 for my work on the legacy of the late Professor Bárnabas Nagy in editing the first volume of Jean Calvin’s Sermons inédits on the prophet Ezekiel (

SC

X/3). I dedicate the present book to this academic and ecclesiastical institution in gratitude for this token of appreciation. The lecture, presented at the ceremony of acceptance of this honour which I was privileged to share with dr. I. John Hesselink, is given place of pride within Chapter 1 (‘The Gifts of Prophecy, of Tongues, and of Interpretation. Preparation and Preaching in the Company of Pastors in Geneva’, in:

Sárospataki Füzetek

2009/4, 41-60 (English and Hungarian).

An invitation to the 2003 Calvin Studies Society allowed me to prepare the material for Chapter 2 (‘The

Congrégations

: In-Service Theological Training of the Preachers to the People of Geneva’, in:

Calvin and the Company of Pastors. Calvin Studies Society Papers 2003

, ed. David Foxgrover (Grand Rapids MI: Calvin studies Society, 2004), 57-87).

In a seminar during the International Congress of Calvin Research in Princeton in 2002 I had the opportunity to study some of the disputations (‘Calvin and Colleagues: Propositions and Disputations in the Context of the

Congrégations

in Geneva’, in:

Calvinus praeceptor ecclesiae. Papers of the International Congress on Calvin Research Princeton, august 20-24, 2002

, ed. Herman J. Selderhuis [THR 388] (Genève: Librairie Droz, 2004), 331-342). This formed the basis for Chapter 3.

Chapter 4 was published as the beginning of my studies on the

congrégations

: ‘The Presence and Participation of Lay People in the

Congrégations

of the Company of Pastors in Geneva’, in:

Sixteenth Century Journal

35 nr. 3 (2004), 651-670.

Chapter 5 was prepared in part by a study, published in honour of the south-African Calvin scholar ‘oom Ludi’ Schulze (‘The ‘Consensus Genevensis’ Revisited. The Genesis of the Genevan Consensus on Divine Election in 1551’, in:

Ad fontes. Historiese, teologiese en wetenskapsfilosofiese studies binne reformatoriese kader. Festschrift vir Ludi Schulze

, ed. Erik A. de Boer – Victor E. d’Assonville [Acta theologica 2004, Supplementum 5] (Bloemfontein, 2004), 51-78). Further explorations were added (‘John Calvin’s Disputatio de praedestinatione. The relevance of a manuscript on his doctrine of Providence and Predestination’,

Nederduits Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif

50 (2009), 580-94).

Preliminary studies for part II are included in Chapter 6 (‘

Harmonia legis

: Conception and Concept of John Calvin’s Expository Project on ExodusDeuteronomy (1559-63)’, in:

Church History and Religious Culture

87 (2007), 173-201; ‘Origin and Originality of John Calvin’s “Harmony of the Law”, the Expository Project on Exodus-Deuteronomy (1559-1563)’,

Acta Theologica Supplementum

10 (2008), 41-69).

The editors have gracefully granted permission to use the material from these articles in the present book. I feel honoured that dr. Max Engammare,

savant éditeur

and ‘bibliopola’ in Geneva, is willing to include my work in the distinguished series

Travaux d´Humanisme et Renaissance

.

I thank Dr. Jon Balserak, lecturer in theology and Religious Studies of Bristol University, who as peer was willing to read the manuscript and warmly recommended publication.

Erik A. de Boer

Lecturer in Ecclesiology at Theological University Kampen, the Netherlands

Chair in history of the Reformation at Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Affiliate Professor in Patristics at Free State University Bloemfontein, South-Africa.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this book is to describe the so-called

congrégations

, the weekly meetings in which all ministers of Geneva and her neighbouring villages gathered to study the Scriptures, and the influence of this institution in the European Reformation until the beginning of the 17

th

century.

The book forms a diptych with another volume to be published shortly, the critical edition of all theological texts related to the

congrégations

in the new blue series of Calvin’s French and Latin works (

Congrégations et disputations

, in the series

Opera exegetica

, vol. 21). The contents of the critical edition is mirrored in this sister volume.

COR

II/21 will contain Calvin’s first French commentary on the Epistle of Jude (which he later replaced by a Latin commentary), followed by the first

congrégation

on the Gospel of John, the famous

Congrégation sur l’élection éternelle de Dieu

of 1551 (also called the Consensus Genevensis), the first text of the Mosaic Harmony, two texts on Galatians 2, a series of twenty nine expositions of Joshua, and Calvin’s final approach of Isaiah in 1564. The doctrinal section will contain forty sets of Latin propositions on dogmatic questions and ethical issues by the less well-known pastors of Geneva, the text of Calvin’s

Disputation on providence and predestination

, and a rare exposition of Lord’s Day 43 from the Genevan Catechism.

By means of introduction I would like to make some strong statements to warn and inform the reader. My first warning is against the seemingly omnipresence of John Calvin. The sources of the critical edition are highly misleading. Some thirty texts stemming from these meetings are transcriptions from what John Calvin said. Yet, all other ministers presented as many expositions of biblical texts. Their words were hardly ever recorded. The surviving manuscripts distort the image of the importance of the participants. Therefore the very title of this book omits Calvin’s name in order to focus on the Company of pastors and the individual colleague ministers.

It comes as a surprise to hear some ministers (other than Calvin) address their hearers as ‘My brothers and sisters’, a non-inclusive form of address.

1

These gracious ministers are identified as Michel Cop and Jean Pereri. This suggests that also women participated in the

congrégations

. Yet the exact character of the

participation of women remains unclear. In the same meetings in which two ministers addressed their ‘brothers and sisters’, the other colleagues used the inclusive ‘Brothers’. There are only two more moments when the sources hint at the female part of Geneva’s population. The first is the occasion when a man is accused of sexually harassing a woman in her workshop, which took place while her husband was away from his shop, attending a Friday morning meeting for Bible study with the ministers. The second and last moment in which the sources address the female sex is when the ministers discuss the question ‘If it is permitted to men only or also to women to administer baptism?’

2

Only when often negative eventualities happened do the sources give a glimpse into aspects which interest the modern reader. This cautions us to reads the scraps of paper, pertaining to the

congrégations

, with utmost care.

Part one explores in five chapters the

congrégations

as seen from various perspectives. Chapter 1 explores the origin of the Bible study meetings on Friday mornings in ‘die Prophezei’ in Zurich. How did the Genevans explain St. Paul’s teaching on prophecy and the gift of languages as found in 1 Corinthians 14? Chapter 2 paints a picture of the

congrégations

, the regulations and practicalities concerning time and place. What were the primary aims and what the secondary functions? Confessional formulation, brotherly critique, censure of ministers, and homiletical training enter the spotlight. Chapter 3 is focused on a form of collegial studies, not proscribed in the

Ordonnances ecclésiastiques

, the Latin disputations. Why and how did the ministers concentrate on discussions of doctrine, ethics, and church polity? Visitation of the churches in the country was a policy to further the reformation in “the lands belonging to the Seigneury de Genève”. The difference between being a pastor in the city or serving a parish in the surrounding villages, and thus possible tensions among colleagues, is brought into the picture.

Chapter 4 is dedicated to the people who were not duty bound to attend the Bible studies, but frequented these occasions anyway. Also non-theologians could participate and take part in the discussion of Scripture. A prosopographic analysis of the sparse sources revealing some names is given. This helps to describe the identities of those listed as present and to analyze their social and economic status in Geneva. The fifth chapter of part I sees the ministers and the people coming together in a very special

congrégation

dedicated to the specific doctrine of divine election. Again, although Calvin has the lead, twelve ministers speak out in defense of this doctrine.

A second warning, pertaining in particular to part II, is in order. John Calvin stands out as biblical expositor ‘par excellence’. He wrote an impressive series of commentaries on nearly all books of the New Testament and on most of the Old Testament ones too. Our thesis is, however, that the full body of colleague expositors facilitated him to do so. The series of Genevan commentaries, though bearing his name, profited throughout the years from the expository insights and studies of his fellow preachers. They remained happily in the background, while Calvin held the limelight of the great expositor and publicist. They took notes and shared their insights, while he wrote the books.

Part II, comprising chapters 6-8, explores the role of the weekly

congrégations

in the project of biblical exposition, led by John Calvin. The surviving transcripts of the Bible studies help us to reconstruct phases of that plan as accepted and accommodated by the whole Company. The sequence of the chapters is chronological. Chapter 6 begins in the 1540s, when the records of sermons, lectures, and

congrégations

are sparse and when Calvin decided on the course of his publications. Chapter 7 highlights a somewhat forgotten major undertaking of the year 1559, the Harmony of the last four books of Moses, here characterized as the

harmonia legis

, the major source of Calvin’s and Genevan ethics. Chapter 8 brings the second part to a close by relating some events from of the moderator’s final years. The rich source of manuscripts on the exposition of the book Joshua is explored, as it is a unique document from a few months before his death, and finally a third try at expounding the prophet Isaiah.

Part III also comes with a warning. When tracing the influence of this form of collegial Bible studies the scarcity of documentary evidence becomes even greater. Records from the years of the Wars of religion and of the Refugee churches were often destroyed. On the regional and local level much work remains to be done.

In chapter 9 the research question is if the ministers, sent out of Geneva to France, also set up weekly Bible studies. What was the influence of Jean Morély, dissident disciple of Geneva, and the conflict around his person on the participation of the people in the local churches? The story of France comes back full circle in Geneva when we trace the development of the

congrégations

in Geneva after Theodore de Bèze took over as moderator and scholastic method gains prominence. The tenth and final chapter follows the line of the ‘prophecy’ in the churches of the French and Dutch speaking refugees in England, and through Emden and other cities along the Rhine to the Netherlands. For it is there that this study on Genevan origins was undertaken.

The weekly study meetings can be approached as an form of Church polity. The Company of Pastors was an ecclesiastical body, distinguished from but participating in the Consistory, with great influence on Geneva. Older literature

paid some attention to the

congrégations

in relation to theological education at an Academy and to the advancement of Bible study in the Churches.

3

Recently Leon van den Broeke took stock of the various types of regional Church government that lead to the classis and started his history of the regional polity with the Swiss forms, including the

Vénérable Compagnie des Pasteurs

.

4

More recently two small publications presented rich material on the ‘prophecy’ in condensed form. Philippe Denis gave in a clear outline of a history of the prophecy in the 16

th

century. Fred van Lieburg concentrated on the lines leading to prophecy in the Dutch Churches and followed these through the late 16

th

and early 17

th

century and later forms.

5

In the field of Reformation and especially Calvin studies two publications stimulated our research. Elsie McKee’s paper at the International Congress on Calvin Research, Princeton 2002, on the ‘collegial ministry’ of Word and sacrament in Geneva provided inspiration. The painstaking research yielded fresh insights, for example on the pairing of ministers and their rotation in the various Churches of Geneva. The 2003 colloquium of the Calvin Studies Society was devoted to

Calvin and the Company of Pastors

and addressed many facets of the pastoral office.

6

p.13

1

CO

7, 130f.

p.14

2

RCP

I, 170. See on baptism by midwives Karen E. Spierling, “Daring Insolence towards God? The Perpetuation of Catholic Baptismal Traditions in Sixteenth Century Geneva”,

Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte

31 (2002), 97-125; id.,

Infant Baptism in Reformation Geneva. The shaping of a Community, 1536-1564 [St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History]

(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), 61-83.

p.16

3

Herman Huber Kuyper,

De opleiding tot de dienst des Woords bij de gereformeerden

, vol. 1 (’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1891), thesis defended at the Free University Amsterdam (see p. 123-133); J.D. de Toit,

De zestiende-eeuwse profetie en haar betekenis voor onze tijd. Rede gehouden bij de aanvaarding van het hoogleraarsambt in de theologie aan de Theologische School te Potchefstroom op zaterdag 15 april 1911

(Potchefstroom: A.H. Koomans, 1911); translated into Afrikaans by prof. Herzog Venter and printed in

Totius Versamelde Werke

, red. H. Venter (Kaapstad: Tafelberg, 1977), vol. 6, 75ff. Totius received his degree as doctor of theology at the Free University, Amsterdam, in 1903 on a thesis on the

Mistisisme in die kerklike praktyk van die Methodisme

with H.H. Kuyper as his promotor (see V.E. d’Assonville,

Dit is Totius. J.D. du Toit 1877 – 1953

(Lynnwoodrif: Marnix, 1993), 96f (on Totius’ promotion), 117f (on his inauguration).

4

Cornelis van den Broeke,

Een geschiedenis van de classis. Classicale typen tussen idee en werkelijkheid (1571-2004) [Theologie en geschiedenis]

(Kampen: Uitgeverij Kok, 2005), 48-65.

5

Philippe Denis, “La prophétie dans les églises de la Réforme”,

Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique

72 (1977), 289-316; F.A. van Lieburg,

De reformatorische profetie in de Nederlandse traditie [Reformatorische stemmen 01/1]

(Apeldoorn: Willem de Zwijgerstichting, 2001), 94 p. See also F.G.M. Broeyer, E.M.V.M. Honée eds.,

Profetie en godsspraak in de geschiedenis van het christendom. Studies over de historische ontwikkeling van een opvallend verschijnsel

(Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 1997).

6

Elsie McKee, “Calvin and his Colleagues as Pastors: Some New Insights into the Collegial Ministry of Word and Sacraments”, Herman J. Selderhuis ed.,

Calvinus Praeceptor Ecclesiae.

Papers of the International Congress on Calvin Research Princeton, August 20-24, 2002

[THR 388] (Genève: Librairie Droz, 2004), 9-42; David Foxgrover ed.,

Calvin and the Company of Pastors. Papers Presented at the 14

th

Colloquium of the Calvin Studies Society

(Grand Rapids MI: Calvin Studies Society, 2004).

PART I

FIRST CHAPTER
THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE STUDIES IN GENEVA

The purpose of this first chapter is to explore the history, background, and intellectual origins of the Genevan ecclesiastical institution called

la congrégation

. The purpose of the

congrégation

is briefly described in the Genevan church order: “to maintain purity and unity in doctrine” (

pour conserver pureté et concorde de doctrine

). When we look at the extant documents, the working method in the

congrégation

seems to be no more than a training in exegesis. How does the emphasis on doctrine correspond to the working method of expounding Bible books? Feeling that he had to defend the discussions on biblical passages against the perception of chaotic disputes, John Calvin wrote in a letter:

I know that there are pious men here who, having no reason to be humble about their learning, would rather miss two sermons than one exposition of Scripture such as are being heard.

1

This strong quote raises a question: how Calvin could condone absence from two Sunday worship services in exchange for attendance at a

congrégation

, which was held only once a week?!

The secondary literature on the Genevan Reformation and on Calvin’s life and work offers every now and then a glimpse of the nature of the

congrégations

, especially when the case against Jerome Bolsec (1551) is considered. Two publi cations in the early 1960s stand out in stimulating research into this unique institution: the edition of the

Registres de la Compagnie des Pasteurs de Genève

,

2

and that of Calvin’s

Deux congrégations et exposition du Catéchisme

. With the latter work the Strasbourg scholar Rodolphe Peter rescued this ecclesiastical institution from the obscurity into which it had fallen by publishing two of Calvin’s surviving contributions on Galatians. It is preceded by a lucid, twelve-page introduction which gives an overview of what was known at that time about these Bible study meetings.

3

The depictions of the

congrégations

in secondary literature are hardly clear, limited as they are for the most part to rather vague descriptions. Robert M. Kingdon, for example, labeled it as “a type of adult Bible class.”

4

Other authors regard the

congrégations

as a kind of church service (Heyer, Holtrop) in which a sermon was presented (Neuser).

5

Bernard Cottret gives the following definition: “These congregations involved preaching and what we would call today a Bible- reading society, permitting an exchange of views.”

6

The general nature of these statements indicates that it will be a worthwhile endeavour to follow in the footsteps of Rodolphe Peter and to submit the

congrégations

to a fuller study.

1. A VISITOR’S VIEW

What would a sixteenth-century visitor experience at these Bible study meetings, and how would he describe them? The former Italian bishop Pier Paolo Vergerio visited Geneva in 1550 and reported on his impressions of the Reformed city.

7

This “letter”, which in fact constituted no less than a eulogy, was published by Conrad Badius, a printer whom Vergerio may well have met at the Bible studies.

8

The following laudatory passage concerns his attendance at the

congrégation

held in Geneva’s main church, St-Pierre:

Every week, on Fridays, a conference is held in the largest church [St-Pierre] in which all their ministers and many of the people participate. Here one of them reads a passage from Scripture and expounds it briefly. Another speaks on the matter what to him is according to the Spirit. A third person gives his opinion, and a fourth adds some things in his capacity to weigh the issue. And not only do the ministers do so, but everyone who has come to listen. In this way they follow what Paul found in the Church of Corinth, and of which he said that when the brothers gathered, every one of them could speak what the Spirit revealed to him; then he was silent, sat down and another began to speak [1 Cor 14, 29-30].

9

Several elements from this description of the

congrégation

are worth noting. The first is the prominence of the ministers and their various contributions. The second is the participation of lay members in these Bible studies. A third element to be noted is the clear allusion to Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 14, and to the gift of prophecy. Did Vergerio, however, present an adequate impression of these Genevan Bible studies?

A second description of the weekly Bible studies comes...