CHAPTER XIV.
THE PEOPLE OF GENEVA DESIRE TO LIVE ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL.
(March to June 1536.)
An entire people is not converted to God in a body. The pagan religions were identical with the nation; but the Christian Church is distinct from it. Even the Apostolic Church soon extended beyond the narrow limits of the tribe of Judah; it was founded at Jerusalem irrespective of temple, sanhedrim, and Jews, and subsequently was established among all nations unconnected with the state. A prince cannot decree a religion by a cabinet minute; a people cannot elect it by a majority of votes. There is, however, something grand in seeing an assembled nation declare without constraint that they will take the Gospel as the rule of their faith and the source of their life. This is what Geneva was about to do.
=EVANGELIZATION BY ORDER.=
The communities which extended from the foot of the Jura to the Alps of the Voirons and the Mole, had recognized the councils of Geneva as their legitimate lords, reserving their own customs and franchises. But, in the opinion of the Reformers, this territory would only be an embarrassment, unless a new life were communicated to its inhabitants and spread over the whole nation. Commerce, manufactures, liberty, and letters do much for the prosperity of a people, but cannot be their life. If the Word of God, if the light of the world, does not enlighten them, they fall sooner or later. These opinions were sufficiently common in Geneva for an unknown poet to say to the united parishes in this unpolished strain:
Vaut-il pas mieux dire à Dieu nos secrets,
Qu'à un grand tas d'idiots indiscrets?
Vaut-il pas mieux au pauvre et au débile
Donner habit, pain, vin, chandelle et huile,
Qu'aux marmots d'or, d'argent, pierre, et bois,
Rendre l'honneur défendu tant de fois?[739]