The Pope. ‘Since piety, alas, has grown cold, men are naturally prompted to pass over from a faith too severe to one more lax, from a more continent religion to one more voluptuous, and from submission to independence.’
Calvin. ‘Who could endure such a piece of impudence? Whence, then, has come the ruin of religion which all pious men mourn? Whence comes the contempt of God and of sacred things? Whence, but from the apathy, the ignorance, and the malice with which Rome has buried Christ’s truth, or rather has banished it from the world! Every one knows what these pontiffs have been for four or five hundred years past. It is easy, says the pope, to get men to pass from a continent life to a voluptuous one. Who can hear such things without laughing? Every one knows in what sort of continence and austerity the Roman court lives, and all who are trained in it. Men who have corrupted the whole world by their waywardness, and defiled the earth with every kind of debauchery, have the impudence to reproach others with effeminacy and self-indulgence. Is it not known that the dissoluteness of Rome has been shameless, that luxury, incontinence, and a fabulous licentiousness which has burst all bonds, prevail in the midst of its creatures? And such men dare to exhibit themselves as guardians of obedience, of continence, and of severity!‘[[65]]
Who Profanes Religion?
The Pope. ‘Not only do they lead men astray, but they pillage the churches, drive away the bishops, profane religion, and all this with impunity.’
Calvin. ‘Those do not lead men astray who bring them back from deadly errors to Jesus Christ. Those do not pillage churches who snatch them from the hands of plunderers in order to put true pastors in them. Those do not drive away bishops who establish the religion of the Gospel. Those are not guilty of profanation whose work is to restore. What is the doctrine of these men, but that we should trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and live for him; while those of the pope’s party would have us trust in the saints, their bones and their images, in ceremonies and in human works? Where is the parish, where is the abbey, the bishopric, or the rich benefice, which is not held by men whose only accomplishments are hunting, seduction, and other follies and iniquities? Men who, when they become bishops, to be consistent with their profession as now understood, show themselves to be hunters, epicures, haunters of wine-shops, libertines, soldiers, and gladiators? This, verily, is sacrilege and pillage of churches! Has it been possible for Protestants to drive away a bishop, seeing it is so rare a thing to find a man that can fairly pass for one?’
The Pope. ‘It is not the business of particular assemblies but of a general council to deal with religion; and if, without consulting France, Spain, Italy, and the other nations, any new doctrines should be established in Germany, unity no longer existing, we should have in the body of Christ a great monster.’[[66]]
Calvin. ‘What! if doctrine and preaching be regulated according to the apostolic institution so that the people may be edified, it is a monster! But if in the whole of Christendom there be nothing but ceremonies without intelligence, prostituted to purposes of impious gain; if there be no reading of Scripture, no exhortations from which the people can gather any fruit; if foolish monks or extravagant theological quibblers (théologastres) do nothing but plunge men in darkness—this is no monster!
‘If Christians are taught to offer to God legitimate worship, to cast off all confidence in their own virtues, and to seek in Christ alone full salvation and all hope of blessings to come, this is a monster! But if the worship of God be turned upside down by innumerable superstitions; if men be taught to place their confidence in the vainest of all vanities, to call upon dead men instead of upon God; if new sacrifices without end are invented, new expiations and new mediators; if Jesus Christ be hidden and almost buried under a mass of impious imaginations; this is no monster, and we may walk in this way without fear!
‘If the sacraments are brought back to their primitive purpose, which is that faithful souls may enter more completely into communion with Jesus Christ and devote themselves to a holy life, this is a monster! But if petty priests abuse these mysteries; if they substitute for the holy supper a profane ceremony, which annuls the benefit of Christ’s death, and buries the sacred feast under a confused medley of rites, some of them without meaning, others puerile and ridiculous, there is nothing monstrous in all this!
True Ministers.