Background
He was born of a noble family near Gap in Dauphine in 1489.
(This collection of texts recalls the climate of the theol...)
This collection of texts recalls the climate of the theological background of the Reformation in Geneva. Although there is only one among the five treatises (the Confession of Faith of 1537 by William Farel) which relates directly to the events of 1536, nevertheless all five have the same orientation. The Epistle to all lovers of Jesus Christ (1536), Calvin's Reply to Sadolet (published here with the Cardinal's Epistle), the Little Treatise on Holy Communion (1541) and the Treatise on Relics (1543) emphasise the same group of ideas. Calvin and Farel take great trouble to convince the public at large of the need for the Reformation is still not acknowledged and are engaged in putting the faithful on their guard against the abuses of the Church of Rome. Their wish is to preach "true piety", which for the Reformers means piety which depends as little as possible on any "human manufacture".
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He was born of a noble family near Gap in Dauphine in 1489.
His parents meant him for the military profession, but his bent being for study he was allowed to enter the university of Paris.
Here he came under the influence of Jacobus Faber (Stapulensis), on whose recommendation he was appointed professor in the college of Cardinal Lemoine.
The reform movement’s slow pace clashed with Farel’s impatient temperament, and he returned to Paris in 1523. Persecution of Reformers there soon forced him to flee to Basel, Switzerland, but a dispute with the humanist Desiderius Erasmus brought about his banishment. For two years Farel preached in Montbéliard, Strasbourg, Basel, and Bern, finally settling in Aigle, Valais, where he preached from 1526 to 1529. In 1530 he moved to Neuchâtel and then to Geneva (1532), which declared its support for the Reformation in 1536. He had become the leading French reformer, and he persuaded John Calvin, who was passing through Geneva in October 1536, to remain there and become his assistant. In 1538, by which time Calvin had gained equal stature to that of Farel, both men were expelled from Geneva. Farel went to Neuchâtel and after some further wandering returned to Neuchâtel in 1543, making it the centre of his activities for the rest of his life.
He became increasingly influenced by Calvin. An evangelical with a vigorous preaching style, Farel was held in considerable respect by his contemporaries, including Theodore Beza, the French reformer and successor to Calvin at Geneva, who said Farel’s word was like thunder. Even the independent-minded Calvin had shuddered and obeyed when Farel declared his life of study accursed by God. He died at Metz on the 13th of September 1565.
A monument to him was unveiled at Neuchatel on the 4th of May 1876.
(This collection of texts recalls the climate of the theol...)
Farel was fanatically devoted to Catholicism, but reading the Bible gave rise to some doubts on him. He began to study Greek and Hebrew languages to get acquainted with the Holy Scriptures in the original, and soon completely fell away from Catholicism. He was informed of Sorbonne and the Parliament, and in 1521 he fled to Mo to Bishop Brisson, who patronized the Protestants. Here he with such fervor began to preach against the Catholics, that the bishop had to remove him. He went to Basel (1524), where he publicly defended 13 theses against Catholics.
