1. The Reformed branch of the Protestant Reformation was the initial work of French theologians. In 1512, five years before Martin Luther, Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples published his Latin commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, in which he defends the authority of Scripture and justification by faith. In 1525, Guillaume Farel (after whom our seminary is named) published in French in Turin, Italy, A Summary and brief declaration of certain theological points necessary to all Christians. This is one of the first Christian summaries of doctrine in Reformation times. Farel, who was from the French Alps, went on to preach in French speaking Switzerland. In 1530, Neuchâtel became reformed under the preaching of Farel. By 1530, there were already in France a number of small groups of believers who are edifying one another by reading Scripture, translated by Lefèvre, and joining in prayer. Books circulated discreetly. In the same year, Marguerite de Navarre encouraged the poet Clément Marot (1496-1546) to put the Psalms into French rhyme. A first edition was published in 1541 with the protection of Marguerite. This work was later completed with the help of another great French poet Théodore de Bèze in Geneva. In 1536, Geneva became Reformed under the preaching of Guillaume Farel. And in August, Calvin, returning from Italy, was retained in Geneva by Farel, to help with the Reformation. In 1545, after Calvin and Farel are invited back to Geneva after a short exile, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion was published in French in Geneva. Four years later a French catechism was published, called the Catéchisme de Genève. It became the catechism of the Reformed Churches in France through the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1555 the first Reformed Churches were organized in France. In five years about one thousand churches were organized. Ministers were trained in Geneva and were often sent by the Company of Pastors of that city. In 1559, from May 25-29, the first Synod of the Reformed Churches of France met in Paris. The Synod adopted La Discipline des Églises réformées, a book of Church Government, which set the groundwork for Presbyterianism. The Synod also adopted a Confession of Faith which in 1571 became known as the Confession of La Rochelle, when the Synod met in that city. However, the Reformation in France knew the full fury of the devil’s persecution. The Church of Rome and the Monarchy were generally in accord to suppress the Gospel. There were many massacres and Civil Wars, called the Wars of Religion in France between 1562 and 1598, the year when King Henri IV signed the Edict of Nantes. This Edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685. It is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 Huguenots fled France at the risk of their lives from 1680 to 1700. French Protestants did not receive full civil rights until the French Revolution. Ever since then, the work of the Gospel in French-speaking lands has been slow and requires much support from outside. The mission of La Faculté de théologie réformée FAREL Reformed Theological Seminary in Montréal, Québec, Canada is to train pastors, missionaries and church workers for the spread of the gospel in French speaking lands, beginning with Québec. As all French missions, the seminary needs your support. This is one way to show God you are grateful for the sacrificial work of the French Reformers in the 16th Century. If you would like an American tax receipt you may send a check to The Huguenot Fellowship, P.O. Box 877, Glenside, PA 19038; include a note that this is for FAREL seminary. If you do not need an American tax receipt you may go to the seminary website www.farel.net and make a contribution on the website. Or you may mail a cheque to the seminary: FAREL, 2085, rue Bishop, Montréal, QC H3G 2E8 Canada.
