6. Severer Persecution Looms
In Lucca, near the coast of Italy west of Florence, it is likely that there were more followers of the Reformed faith than in any other Italian city. This was due to the labours of Peter Martyr. He had been given a supervisory position in the Augustinian order, but his attempts at reform led to him being transferred to Lucca. He preached publicly on the Gospels and on the Epistles;
1A further part of a Theological Conference paper, somewhat enlarged. The previous part, last month, focused on Pietro Carnesecchi, who was one of the martyrs of the Italian Reformation. Page numbers in the text refer to Thomas M’Crie, History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Italy in the Sixteenth Century, Edinburgh and London, 1856.
this led to the formation of a new church, of which Martyr became the pastor. Preachers came from Lucca to the city of Pisa, where some of the inhabitants received Reformed doctrine. In 1543, the Protestants in Pisa formed themselves into a church and the Lord’s Supper was observed among them.
Ochino was a native of Sienna and often preached there, and many accepted the Reformed faith. This was largely due to the efforts of Aonio Paleario, who was a philosopher and a writer, but held no position in the Church. After he had laughed at a rich priest who knelt every morning at the shrine of a priest but would not pay his debts, it was claimed that, if Paleario remained alive, nothing would remain of religion – Roman Catholic religion – in a particular city. This was said because Paleario had insisted that Christ is “the first ground on which men should rest their salvation”, but also the second ground and the third ground of salvation (p 82).
More serious was his writing of a little book called, The Benefit of the Death of Christ.2 Let us note two quotations from the book. First, Paleario is speaking of people’s good works as the result of their salvation rather than the cause of salvation. He states, “If they have not Christ’s Spirit are none of Christ’s and, consequently, no Christians at all. But, if they have the Spirit of Jesus Christ to rule and govern them, we must not doubt but that, although they know well that they be made righteous through faith only, yet, for all that, they will become never the more slothful to do good works. For Christ’s Spirit is the Spirit of love; and love cannot be idle, nor cease from the doing of good works. But, if we will say the truth, a man can do no good works except he first know himself to be become righteous by faith; for, before he knoweth that, his doing of good works is rather to make himself righteous than for the love and glory of God; and so he defileth all his works with self-love, for the love of himself and for his own profit. But he that knoweth himself to . . . become righteous by the merits and righteousness of Christ (which he maketh his own by faith) laboureth happily, and doth good works, all only for the love and glory of Christ, and not from love of himself, nor to make himself righteous.”3
Our second quotation is: “As Jesus Christ hath endured all the persecutions and spites of the world for the glory of God, so must we with all patience
2Paleario’s authorship of this book has been disputed. For a discussion of the question, see M Young, The Life and Times of Aonio Paleario, vol 1, London, 1860, pp 323-8. On page 285 of this volume, Young indicates her strong confidence that Paleario was indeed the author.
3Paleario, The Benefit of Christ’s Death, or, The Glorious Riches of God’s Free Grace, Which Every Believer Receives by Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified, London, pp 59-60. This edition was printed by 1848, and the title page states, “Now reprinted from an ancient English translation”.
cheerfully bear the persecutions and reproaches that are done by false Christians to all such as will live faithfully in Jesus Christ; who gave His life for His enemies, and prayed for them upon the cross; and so must we also pray always for our enemies, and willingly spend our lives for their welfare”.4
Paleario was brought before the Senate of Sienna, and defended himself effectively. He did not recant, but stated, “I am not only willing to be accused, to be dragged to prison, to be scourged, to be hung up by the neck, to be sewn up in a sack, to be exposed to wild beasts. Let me be roasted before a fire, provided only that the truth is brought to light by such a death” (p 83). He was acquitted, but shortly afterwards he had to leave Sienna to escape further persecution. He escaped with his life on this occasion, but later he suffered at the stake for his faith.
Sadly controversy arose in Italy over the Lord’s Supper, especially in the territories belonging to Venice. Some followed the teaching of Zwingli, who may have leaned too much in the direction of viewing the Supper as no more than a memorial of Christ’s death, while others followed Luther, who maintained that the Saviour’s body and blood were present in, with and under the bread and wine in the Supper. Luther was ever inclined to use exaggerated language and inflamed the situation in Italy by claiming outrageously, in a letter to the Protestants in Venice, that “the Popish tenet of transubstantiation is more tolerable than that of Zwingli”. No wonder M’Crie exclaims, “Alas, what is man?” (p 93).
One of the most serious heresies in Christianity had its roots in Italy. This was Socinianism, named after Lelius and Faustus Socinus, uncle and nephew. The former dealt more in raising questions about the doctrine of the Trinity than in actual opposition to it. The younger Socinus, however, was much more explicit in opposing that doctrine, and also the teachings of Scripture about the person of Christ and His atonement. He was to cause tremendous damage to the Reformation in Poland, where he later settled. Prospects for the Reformation, in its early stages in that country, seemed very hopeful, and by 1544 Calvinism became the most influential form of Protestantism in the country. The year 1565 brought about a split in the Reformation movement there over the doctrine of the Trinity and, through being thus weakened, the Protestants were ultimately not able to resist a resurgent Roman Catholicism which was to become absolutely dominant in the country.
M’Crie described Lavinia della Rovere as “one of the greatest female ornaments of the Reformed Church in Italy”. He says that, even while living in Rome itself, she “not only kept her conscience unspotted by idolatry”, but also persuaded her father to use his considerable influence with the Pope and
4Paleario, The Benefit of Christ’s Death, p 76-77.
other important figures, on behalf of Protestants who were in the hands of the Inquisition. M’Crie goes on to point out that “a cup of cold water, or even a kind message sent to a prisoner in the cells of the Inquisition, a word spoken on behalf of the truth, or a modest refusal to be present at a superstitious festival, afford . . . a stronger and more unequivocal proof of a devoted soul than the most flaming professions, or a fortune expended for religious purposes, by one who lives in a free country and is surrounded by persons who are friendly to the gospel” (p 100).
Young sums up the operations of the Roman Inquisition: “The increasing demands of the Protestants for liberty of conscience accelerated the papal desire to erect an impassable barrier which might stem the flood of spiritual light, fast threatening to engulf the authority of Rome. For this purpose nothing could be more suitable than the Inquisition. Its machinery was formed for deeds of darkness; in silence, secrecy, and solitude it fulfilled its office, and laid its destructive hand on every dissident from the Romish creed. False principles must inevitably produce erroneous actions. Men who ignored the spirit of the Christian religion so far as to pin their faith on traditional legends of human origin, who extolled Mary the mother of Christ above the divine Saviour, and who worshipped a material wafer instead of [the] invisible Lord, who had laid down His life for His people, were naturally ready to impose their tyrannical creed on a world just awakening to a sense of its religious responsibilities. Believe or die, was the watchword of Rome while brandishing the sword of extermination.
“Never had those consoling words of [the] merciful Saviour reached their hearts, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. Their zeal for the Church was harsh and unholy, and their instruments cruel and perfidious. Unhappy victims were tortured to make them reveal the names of places and persons where prayer was wont to be made; in the agony of suffering, the tenderest ties of humanity were snapped asunder, and a moment of weakness gave to the flames the dearest objects of affection. Conscience was forsworn, and the wretched culprit abandoned to the torments of a remorse so overwhelming as to destroy the empire of reason.”5
There were learned men who continued Roman Catholics although they were more or less favourable to Reformed thinking. M’Crie divides them into three groups. First, some of them were convinced of the great corruptions in the Church and, although they did not believe Reformed truth, they hoped that the division which had arisen would force Rome to put its house in order morally. Second, others believed the leading teachings of the gospel but wished to hold on to Roman Catholic forms of worship, while
5M Young, The Life and Times of Aonio Paleario, vol 1, London, 1860, pp 496-7.
desiring to have them purified from their grosser superstitions. Third, there was a further group who held the same opinions as the Reformers, who, because of a lack of full commitment, fear of persecution, or despair of success, kept back from becoming out-and-out Protestants (pp 102-3).
Cardinal Caraffa, who was to become Pope Paul IV, admitted that “the whole of Italy was infected with [what he called] the Lutheran heresy, which had been extensively embraced both by statesmen and ecclesiastics” (p 112). One friend of the Reformation exclaimed, “See how the gospel advances, even in Italy, where it is so much borne down, and exults in the near prospect of bursting forth, like the sun from a cloud, in spite of all opposition”. That optimism was to be short-lived. It took till 1542 for the Vatican to become concerned about the progress of the Reformation in Italy, but in that year, local clergy throughout the country poured out complaints about the dangers to which the faith of the Church was exposed and the increase of what they described as conventicles. Leading these protests was Caraffa.
It was decided to proceed first against churchmen, such as Ochino and Martyr, who held Reformed views. These two men were very popular and still held office in the Church, but they were put under surveillance and their past was investigated, to provide evidence of heresy. Ochino’s preaching had been very popular in Venice and the citizens petitioned the Pope for a further opportunity to hear him. This was granted in 1542 and the people flocked to hear him. But the Pope directed that he be watched, and a hostile report came back indicating that Ochino was preaching “false doctrines”, particularly on justification. He defended himself successfully before the Pope’s representative.
Ochino realised that he was being spied on and became more careful about what he said. But when he heard that a Protestant whom he knew well in Naples had been imprisoned, he cast away all restraint. He was at once forbidden to preach, but after three days, following protests from the people of Venice, he was again permitted to preach. Before long, he was summoned to Rome to answer charges related to lectures he was giving, in Verona, on Paul’s Epistles. He set off for Rome but heard in Florence that the intention was to put him to death in Rome. He quickly fled from Italy and reached Geneva safely. John Calvin believed him to be “a pious and holy man” (p 227) and, after examining him carefully as to his doctrine, found him to be orthodox. Yet, sadly, some published works of his latter years indicate that he was no longer sound on vital doctrines of the faith.