Ghostwriter?

Ghostwriter?

It was the first academic presentation of Protestantism in France, and it wasn’t well received.

NICHOLAS COP, a professor of medicine and a good friend of twenty-five-year old John Calvin, a rising theologian, had just been elected rector of the University of Paris. On All Saints Day, November 1, 1533, Cop delivered his inaugural speech to the faculty and students assembled at the Chapel of the Franciscan Observantines for the opening of the academic year. Under the guise of the topic “Christian Philosophy,” what Cop actually delivered was an evangelical sermon. Using the first beatitude as his text, he passionately and convincingly stated that forgiveness of sin and eternal life are free gifts of God’s grace that cannot be earned by good works. This was a shocking and bold statement by the rector, for this was a Roman Catholic university, and the convocation took place in a Catholic monastery! Never before in French academia had anyone publicly advocated the views of the Reformation. Despite the fact that Cop gave the traditional Catholic salutation to the Virgin Mary in his speech, the audience was not fooled. The theology of Luther and Zwingli clearly shone through. The university crowd was in an uproar, the faculty was furious, and the Franciscan monks went immediately to the Parliament of Paris crying heresy.

Cop was summoned to court to answer the charges brought against him. On his way to the court, a friend warned him that his life was in danger, and he quickly fled from Paris.

On December 10, 1533, Francis I, the king of France, issued orders for the capture of Cop and for the punishment of the person who had warned him to flee. A reward of three hundred crowns was offered for the return of Nicholas Cop—dead or alive! He successfully fled to Basel, Switzerland.

This incident and similar ones convinced the king of France that Lutheran doctrines were spreading too quickly throughout France. He therefore adopted new, stricter measures to halt the Reformation and persecute its adherents. However, the march of Protestantism was growing and could not be stopped. The Reformers were not afraid to speak their beliefs and fight the system, even in the face of persecution and death.

Meanwhile John Calvin also fled Paris in the aftermath of the Cop affair. Calvin found a safe haven in Angoulême at the home of Louis de Tillet, where he was able to resume his theological studies and writing.

In 1575 Theodore Beza, John Calvin’s successor in Geneva, published a biography of Calvin in which he suggested that Calvin had actually written Nicholas Cop’s infamous speech. A copy of the speech, although missing several pages, was found written in Calvin’s handwriting among his papers. Whether Calvin wrote part or all of the speech remains an open question, but at the least he had strongly influenced Cop.

Reflection

Why do you think it was so scandalous for Nicholas Cop to preach that forgiveness of sin and eternal life are free gifts of God’s grace? To what extent do you think his audience considered his propositions to be possibly true? What was your initial reaction when you first heard the gospel message?

The Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote. Because of this, I will do wonders among these hypocrites. I will show that human wisdom is foolish and even the most brilliant people lack understanding.”

Isaiah 29:13-14