Geneva's Use of Lies, Deceit, and Subterfuge, 1536-1563: Telling the Old, Old Story in Reformation France(Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)

Geneva was hated and loved in sixteenth-century France. Representing those who hated them were the French Catholic government, who tried desperately to eradicate Genevan Calvinism from its borders--for good reason, as it was growing significantly within France between 1540 and 1563. This book presents a new reading of the battle that raged between the Genevan ministers and the French government during this period. It argues that Calvin, after fleeing France in 1534, began during his wanderings to devise plans to establish Christ's kingdom in his homeland, rescuing it from the "idolatrous" Catholicism imposed on the French people by their monarchs. It shows that Calvin's plans entailed the systematic use of lying and deception which were necessary in order to evade detection from the French authorities. These mendacious means were employed by the Genevans to hide their support of the French Reformed congregations, to conceal political maneuvering among the French nobility who could open France to reform, and to cloak their assisting of the Huguenots during the first French civil war. Jon Balserak sets out the character of Calvin's plans and argues that even the formation of the Genevan company of pastors and the Bourse française were, in part, designed to assist Calvin with his proselytizing goals. The last third of this volume examines the ways in which Calvin adapted Geneva's missionary efforts to deal with three unexpected circumstances that arose between 1559 and 1563: the rise to the throne of Francis II, the assuming of the regency government by Catherine de Medici, and the beginning of war. Though they continued their clandestine operations in support of the Reformed faith in France, these challenges called forth from the Genevans' new efforts, which Balserak analyzes. Calvin's call to the Huguenots to cease fighting and humble themselves before God following Louis of Condé's disastrous signing of the 1563 Peace of Amboise brilliantly illustrates the complex godliness that characterized this entire operation.

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Preface I. Introduction 1. What this Study Argues 2. Review of Scholarship 3. Lies, Self-Presentation, and Early Modern Culture II. Devising and Implementing Calvin's Plans, 1536-1560 4. Why did Calvin Write his Prefatory Letter to King Francis I? 5. Deception and Clandestine Ministry III. Negotiating Three Challenges, 1559-1563 6. King Francis II's Reign (and Youth); Political Plotting up through 1560 7. Catherine's Policy of Toleration; Growing the Church and Fighting the Devil 8. The Advent of War; Establishing Christ's Kingdom in France in Wartime Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Jon Balserak is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of Bristol. He earned his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2002 and his research focuses on Christian history and thought in the Renaissance and Early Modern periods, with an emphasis on the Reformations in France and Geneva, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, dissimulation and lying, divine accommodation, the history of prophecy, and the interpretation of the Bible. His prior publications include Calvinism: A Very Short Introduction (2017) and John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet (2014).

Review :
This provocative study challenges existing views of John Calvin's ethics and raises important questions about dissimulation in Reformation Geneva. Jon Balserak shows just how carefully Calvin shaped his public image, and he draws attention to the contradictions between the reformer's condemnation of Nicodemism and his use of subterfuge to spread the evangelical gospel. Geneva's Use of Lies, Deceit, and Subterfuge, 1536-1563 demonstrates the importance of looking at actions as well as words when looking at Calvin's dealings with France. Meticulously examining the correspondence of Calvin and others from the period leading up to the first war of religion in France, Balserak replaces the common view of Calvin as a morally rigorous and lifelong opponent of active resistance to tyranny with a persuasive account of Calvin's sustained subterfuge and deliberate deception in service of the evangelization of France. Balserak's book is truly a judicious exercise in revisionist history at its best. Through a careful reading of John Calvin's correspondence and other writings, Jon Balserak reveals an almost Machiavellian Calvin, for whom the end of advancing Christ's kingdom on earth justified a variety of morally questionable means. Thanks to Balserak's painstaking research and daring willingness to challenge the dominant image of Calvin, we will never be able to look at the reformer or Reformation Geneva the same way again. Balserak's work makes a remarkable and novel contribution to the existing scholarship of Reformation studies and provides readers with a fuller picture of Calvin and his contemporaries. In doing so, the book humanizes both Calvin and the movement he helped shape, offering a more nuanced perspective on his leadership and influence. It rescues him from the often-one-dimensional stereotype that too frequently dominates discussions of Calvin and the early Genevan reformers. The work is very readable and serves as a valuable resource for anyone interested in the topic, as well as for Christian ethicists contemplating questions of practical ethics.