Gods Generals: The Roaring Reformers by Liardon Roberts

Author:Liardon Roberts
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion
Publisher: Whitaker House
Published: 2003-07-01T22:00:00+00:00

But the plans were altered. Francis I and Emperor Charles V were in the opening stages of their third major war, and the road to Strasbourg was blocked. Calvin, his brother, and his sister were forced to head for Geneva, but they planned to remain there only one night.

The events of that night would change the course of Calvin's life.

The Radical Redhead

The year was 1536, and it was late August. Calvin was spending the night in a little inn nestled in the heart of Geneva. He had been traveling under an assumed name, but his friend du Tillet had earlier settled in Geneva, and he discovered Calvin was there. Du Tillet disclosed Calvin's location to a wild, redheaded evangelist named Guillaume Farel.

Farel had been born in an elite family and was granted the privilege of studying under Lefevre. In fact, Farel was his most aggressive student. Lefevre prophesied to Farel in 1512, "God will renovate the world, and you will live to see it." 22

Farel was not a teacher; his scholarly abilities were minimal. But he was an explosive evangelist who spread the Gospel of Reform wherever he could. Farel had been so radical that he had been forced to flee France as early as 1523. He had written three small books and had converted a Paris-trained scholar by the name of Pierre Viret, who would later be an instrumental Reformer and close friend to Calvin. Under his influence, the prosperous city of Bern had become Protestant, and Farel had other cities on his list.

Being an evangelist, he was a very persuasive and dramatic preacher. Because of his fervent and radical nature, Farel easily ignited many angry mobs against him. In spite of many death threats, he managed to escape with only a few scars.

Farel entered Geneva in 1531 and set his heart on the city becoming Protestant. The city was experiencing both political and religious revolution. Having been expelled from Geneva several times because of his dramatic preaching, Farel made sure that others invaded the city in his absence, Viret being one of them. Finally, in 1533, after Viret had made additional progress toward reform, Farel reentered Geneva and attempted to organize the Protestant believers in order to form a school and church. He made significant steps in discipleship, worship, and education; but he wasn't a teacher or an administrator. Farel lacked organizational and administrative skills, so confusion began to brew. The people were willing and ready, but Farel was a visionary with very little ability to distill it all into long-term leadership. He openly confessed his inability and lack of skill in this area.

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