Freedom6: Bavaria, Netherlands, France

      This continues from Part 5 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting an English translation of J. C. W. Lindemann's 1876 essay "Religious Freedom." — In this segment, we go from Poland to Bavaria, the Netherlands, and France. And the Savior's words "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake" (Matt. 10:22) ring true.

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Religious Freedom. 

[by J. C. W. Lindemann] (cont'd from Part 5)

In Bavaria, too, Luther's teachings had found much acceptance among the nobility and in the cities. Admittedly, Duke Albrecht V (1550-79) had formally barred his country against the Reformation, — even the craftsmen were not allowed to travel to the heretics; but the new spirit nevertheless came across the border. His son William II (1579-97) ruled in the same spirit, under whom the Jesuits did as they pleased. In his time the rich inhabitants of Munich moved to the Lutheran imperial cities to escape the continued heresy and extortion. Then, when he ceded the government to his son Max in 1597 (1597-1651), the Jesuits attained still greater dominion, so that even the Catholic nobility complained of them. In 1607 he compelled the town of Donauwörth to become Catholic again, and in 1620 he helped the Emperor Ferdinand to suppress his Lutheran subjects. — The Jesuits had gradually brought the provincial university (Ingolstadt) and all the grammar schools of the country into their hands; the whole country was governed according to their will, and for the most part became Catholic again.

In Würzburg, Bamberg and Hildesheim, too, everything that was Protestant was exterminated in the last quarter of the 16th century. Jesuits and Capuchins were faithful servants of the Pope, who performed this meritorious work in honor of the Blessed Virgin. —

Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, was raised Lutheran. Out of bitterness that the Elector Johann Sigmund of Brandenburg had slapped him in the face in 1613, he became a Catholic, and when he came to power in 1614, the entire Neuburg region, which had been Lutheran until then, had to become Catholic as well. This was helped in particular by the Jesuit Jakob Reihing, the Palatine's court preacher, who of course later (1620) became a Protestant himself. —

In the Netherlands, the Zwinglian and Calvinist doctrine had spread, but there were also many Lutherans there. Charles V had already decreed that "all heretical men should be burned, and all such women buried alive"; but his procedure was by no means as cruel as that of his son Philip II. When the latter sailed across the sea during a storm in 1559, he vowed, if he escaped happily, "to exterminate all heretics for the glory of God." This he did first in Spain, where all who were only suspected of being evangelical were burned; he did it also chiefly in the Netherlands through the Cardinal Granvella. The latter, "in order to give the orthodox church a stronger support," created at once fifteen bishoprics instead of the former four, and persecuted all Protestants with relentless severity. When the Dutch asked the king to be a little more lenient in punishing heretics, he declared that "he would rather give up his life a hundred thousand times over than give way in it"! 

 

He now even introduced the atrocious Inquisition in the Netherlands, which pursued the alleged "heretics" and tormented them to death with unspeakable tortures. Execution followed execution. The king was promised the most complete obedience if he would only grant liberty of conscience; but that was just what he did not want. When the noble union of the Geuses was formed (1556) to resist the tyranny, and when at last the people also began to revolt against such a regiment, the king sent the cruel Duke of Alba into the country to establish peace there. Six years this regent remained, and in that time he put to death 18,600 people as heretics and rebels. To further encourage him in his blood-work, the pope gave him a "consecrated sword." — But enough of this terrible story, which had its proximate cause even in the king's believing that he was also a master of consciences. — 

France was governed by the same principles. Lutherans and Calvinists were killed because, as the papists claimed, they had fallen away from the "true faith". Already Francis I († 1547) exterminated the "heretics" in his country, whom he favored in Germany in order to weaken the emperor. Thus, for example, fourteen Protestants were burned alive at Meaux in 1546. His son Henry II, seduced by his godless wife, Catherine de Medicis, entered the same path. Under him, the so-called "Fire Chamber" came into being, a court specifically set up to seek out and punish all those who deviated from the Catholic faith. It received its name because it usually pronounced "death by fire." One burning followed the other, and the Catholic mob finally became quite fond of such "splendid spectacles".

After various peace agreements and persecutions beginning again and again, then occurred under Charles IX (1560-74) the "Parisian Blood Wedding" took place on August 24, 1572, during which about 40,000 Huguenots (as the local Protestants were called) were miserably murdered throughout the country for the sake of their faith alone. Philip II of Spain rejoiced, and Pope Gregory XIII celebrated a great feast of thanksgiving to glorify this brilliant victory of the Church. 

When King Henry III was murdered by the Dominican Jacob Clement in 1589, Pope Sixtus V delivered a flattering eulogy of the murderer, comparing the misdeed with the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ in view of its greatness and blessing. The Jesuit Mariana said: "Clement has acquired immortal fame through this deed!

Although in 1598 by the Edict of Nantes all Protestants had been promised free exercise of religion and participation in all civil rights, yet on May 14, 1610, King Henry IV was assassinated by Ravaillac because he was Protestant; and in 1670 all Protestants who held public offices were expelled from them and deprived of their livelihood.

In 1685 the Edict of Nantes was completely revoked and now the cruelest persecutions began again. At that time 1600 Protestant churches were torn down, thousands of Protestants were forged into the galleys, robbed of their children and executed, hundreds of thousands had to leave their homes. — As late as 1762, [Pg 21] John Calas was executed at Toulouse for being a Protestant. His innocence was so evident that a monk present at the place of execution exclaimed, "Here is a righteous man dead." — Yes, even at the beginning of this century the persecutions of Protestants had not ceased in southern France. —

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Lindemann covers a lot of ground and people in this narrative, but he always highlights just the most important of these in relation to the spread of the Gospel. The various scholarly journals, e.g. Renaissance and Reformation, that cover this same history invariably minimize, or ignore, the very real limitations of religious freedom, while maintaining an air of "objectivity" and "truth." — In the next Part 7…

Walther and sex education, "secret sins" (Der Lutheraner 1886)

      This subject matter was covered briefly in a small blurb by Walther in Der Lutheraner.  It was of interest to me – how would he handle it?  What specific sexual sins were covered? Walther gives brief comments on the books of two authors, one from the opponent Iowa Synod, one from Germany. One is "wretchedness", one has some merits. From Der Lutheraner, vol 42 (1886), p. 100-101 [EN]:

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I. America.

“Know Thyself, or Our Secret Sins, by Dr. Ossian Hartmann, Iowa City, Iowa.” Under this title a pamphlet appeared at the beginning of this year, which, as it says on the back of the title page, “is dedicated to all chaste hearts, and all (?!) who wish to live chastely and purely and happily,” but against which, rather, all chaste hearts are to be warned. A more miserable work, both in terms of its medicinal and its religious content, has hardly ever been written about self-abuse. We would not have mentioned it at all if it were not for the Herold und Zeitschrift. This paper writes incomprehensibly and irresponsibly: “Written for the instruction of the youth (!). This booklet, written by a pastor of the Iowa Synod, who is also a medical doctor, can be highly recommended.” On the contrary, we must say that the pamphlet is written in such a way that, if one wanted to prove its wretchedness by excerpts from it, one would have to put all shame out of one's eyes. The religious material, however, is nothing but the most miserable rationalistic gibberish. Therefore, young and old be warned against it. — The so-called silent secret sins are a subject about which a book that could be put into the hands of the youth is an urgent need. The sin of unnatural fornication, which corrupts body and soul, is spreading like a cancer among the youth of our time. It is more widespread than many parents and teachers realize.  

As much good as [Sixt Karl] Kapff's [Wikipedia (de)] “Warning of a Friend of the Youth” [German book; Google Books] contains about this subject [see WorldCat listing for the specific Subject], this booklet also contains some things, the reading of which is not suitable for every young man and for every young woman. *) We believe, however, to be able to give hope that a similar writing from the pen of a godly, experienced man, well-grounded in pure doctrine, will make its appearance in the not too distant future. W. [Walther]

__________________

*) A good English translation of Kapff's booklet has just been published in the second edition by Schäfer and Koradi in Philadelphia under the following title: Admonitions of a Friend to Youth.

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      Walther did not avoid the matter of sex education, rather he promoted it if handled in a Christian manner.  Walther clearly disapproved of the Iowa Synod's Pastor/Doctor Hartmann, but Walther only specified general areas of disagreement with the medical and religious content.  The specifics in each area are not given, but it can be assumed that Hartmann did not hold to Scriptural teaching. What were the "shameful" portions?  Walther remained silent about this with his readers. Hartmann's book does not show up in WorldCat to research it. We are however given a clue to Walther's position on Hartmann by his mild approval ("as much good as…") of another book on the same subject by a German pastor, Sixt Karl Kapff. His book is entitled (in English) “Warning of a Friend of the Youth” and deals with this subject. (Google Books copy here) Since Kapff's book is available online, (Google Books copy here)  I took some time to polish at least the first 25 pages of the German text so that a rough translation could be made.  One finds that the "unnatural fornication" that Walther refers to is sometimes referred to as "Onanism" which is more popularly called masturbation. It does not appear to refer to homosexuality, although much of the religious instruction would be the same. — It is not known yet whether or not Walther's hope for a better book than Kapff's book, one "well-grounded in pure doctrine", was ever made available that he approved of, or would have approved of.  In lieu of this, I wonder that Kapff's book is one of the better books available for Christian "sex education".  It is truly ghastly what Christian children are subjected to in state supported schools, where most LCMS children attend, because congregational schools have largely disappeared.

Freedom5: Hungary's persecutions; Poland accepts Reformation, then suppresses

      This continues from Part 4 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting an English translation of J. C. W. Lindemann's 1876 essay "Religious Freedom." — We pick up the fate of the Lutherans in Hungary, their persecutions and slavery (and Dutch release); then we learn of Poland's persecutions: the Reformation spreads, followed by persecutions.

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Religious Freedom. 

[by J. C. W. Lindemann]

At Komorn and other Hungarian fortresses they were thrown into stinking holes underground, and there they were given the worst food, which was hardly edible. During the day they were led out and then had to carry water in buckets or remove rubble with wheelbarrows, etc. In the process they had to suffer ridicule and beatings; no one was allowed to speak to them or otherwise alleviate their hard lot.

Once a pitiful woman dared to secretly put bread and bacon into a wheelbarrow. She was discovered, however, and the executioner put her head through a board, in which position she had to endure "to her shame" for several hours in the fiercest cold.

When these unfortunate preachers had done their day's work, they were bound together in a long chain and led back to prison. There they lay at night on the bare floor; a beam was their pillow; their feet lay in a stick. — This is how Jesuits convert where they have the power! 

Finally these men were sold piece by piece for 50 crowns to Naples to work on the galleys (penal  ships). The way there they had to cover on foot, and yet they were loaded with heavy chains and locks. Soldiers went in front and behind, so that they would be regarded as criminals everywhere, and they had to keep up with them. If they remained behind, they were beaten; no one paid any attention to the fact that they were starving and sick, and in some cases even old people. Those who fell down dead remained lying and were eaten by the birds.

In May 1675 the survivors arrived in Naples, and were now forged [by chain] among the most godless men and vilest criminals at the oars. But if they did not have to drive the ships, they had to carry heavy beams and do similar work on the land. In doing this the overseers were after them sharply and often beat them mercilessly. Several of them succumbed to such efforts and left this valley of misery. 

But God did not let this great tribulation last too long. The Dutch Admiral Ruyter came into the waters of Naples, which was then Spanish, and brought a relief fleet against France. As soon as he heard of his suffering co-religionists, he took up their cause earnestly, and effected their deliverance. In February, 1676, they were delivered, and now hastened on Dutch ships to the Netherlands, where they were received with great joy, and cared for with extraordinary love. Some of them remained in Holland, others went to Switzerland and Saxony.

In Hungary, the godless fathers of the Society of Jesus raged against the shepherdless congregations; they placed soldiers in the houses, who committed nameless cruelties in order to "wear down" the Protestants. And for many more years this tyranny continued, until at last Joseph II put an end to it. — 

In Poland, Luther's doctrines and books became known as early as 1518, and even bishops soon had the reputation of being completely devoted to the new teachings. But in 1520, at the Diet of Thorn, it was decreed that anyone who brought Luther's books into the country, or sold or read them, should lose his property and be expelled from the country. Nevertheless, Luther's teachings became more and more widespread; clergymen, monks, knights and whole cities fell to them. Polish students went to Wittenberg, came back as Lutherans, and preached the pure Gospel. Even in Krakow, the old capital of the country, this was the case.

Although King Sigismund I decreed in 1534 that no one should study in Wittenberg, and the synod of Petrikau decided that the bishops should keep a careful watch on Lutheran heresy and suppress it with diligence, there were no general measures of violence, and under King Sigmund August († 1572) Luther's teachings continued to spread, even though bishops and Jesuits were fiercely zealous against them. When Stephen Bathory came to the Polish throne in 1576, he immediately invoked the previously drafted religious settlement, in which all Christian religious parties promised themselves equality and complete compatibility. This prince used to say, "Three things God has reserved for Himself: to make something out of nothing; to rule over consciences, and to know beforehand what is to come." 

He died as early as 1587, and under his successor, Sigmund III, the persecutions of the Protestants now began. The latter had been educated by the Jesuits, and remained under their influence all his life. He gave all high offices only to Catholics; therefore many nobles fell away from the Protestant faith and became persecutors of their Lutheran subjects. They snatched the churches from them and forced them to become Catholics as well. All Protestants were gradually excluded from the Senate by the king, and he himself was present when the Reformed church at Cracow was destroyed. His son Vladislav IV (1633-48) was more tolerant again, but under his successors the Protestant Church was more and more completely suppressed. In 1716 they were forbidden to build new churches; in 1724 the Lutheran president and mayor [Johann Gottfried] Rösner was cruelly executed in Thorn; 5) in 1733 the Protestants were excluded from all state services; they were deprived of the right to vote in all imperial negotiations, and the penalty of high treason was imposed if they complained about these oppressions to foreign powers. One church after another was taken from them, and they were not allowed to repair the damaged ones. It is true that on December 1, 1767, through the emphatic mediation of Empress Catherine II of Russia, a treaty was concluded which was to grant the Protestants recognition, toleration, and [Page 20] security; but they did not really enjoy this peace. Only when the partition of Poland took place in 1772 did better times come.

5) See the story of this incident under the title "The Bloodbath of Thorn" in the Der Lutheraner, Year X, p. 4 ff [EN].

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      The somewhat extensive coverage of this topic by Lindemann caused me to compare it to the large CPH/LCMS book The Church from Age to Age (CPH, 2011).  The writers for this book were not all Lutherans, and they made a rather strange period division, not at Luther's 1517 beginning year, but at the year 1600.  While the scope of this CPH book is different than Lindemann's, yet as a Lutheran production, it should have given prominence to the affect of the Reformation.  But many (most?) of the people mentioned in Lindemann's history are not mentioned in this book. And the writers for the years of the Reformation and/or the Age of Orthodoxy were not Lutheran! All their judgments of "Historical Theology" are therefore suspect because they equate the Reformed sects with Lutheranism, as "Protestants", in subtle ways. Not so Lindemann and Old Missouri.  CPH still sells this book, even though the name of General Editor Edward A. Engelbrecht has been stricken from their online listing since 2019.  — So, to get the best history, read on in the next Part 6.

Freedom4: Bohemia, Silesia, Hungary: death, torture threatened

      This continues from Part 3 (Table of Contents in Part 1), a series presenting an English translation of J. C. W. Lindemann's 1876 essay "Religious Freedom." — We move from Austria to nearby lands including Bohemia and Hungary, lands that heard the Gospel and suffered for it.

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Religious Freedom. 

[by J. C. W. Lindemann]

From Bohemia under Ferdinand II. (the "Catholic") 30,000 citizens and country people were expelled because of their Protestant faith. As in Salzburg, the Jesuits were especially active there.

In 1628 the Protestants in Silesia were so cruelly persecuted for the sake of their religion that even the Catholics were filled with profound abhorrence of such a proceeding. —

Students from Hungary, who studied in Wittenberg, brought Luther's teachings to their homeland. Already in 1525, five royal free cities declared themselves for the pure Gospel, and even in the capital (Ofen, Buda) Vitus Winshemius and Simon Grynäus proclaimed it. They were, of course, expelled; a Lutheran preacher and a school teacher were burned on the pretext that they had caused a riot, and in 1527 King Ferdinand issued a sharp decree against the followers of Luther and other heretics, according to which their books were to be suppressed and they themselves punished in life and limb; but all this was of no avail, the Gospel nevertheless found more and more acceptance. Matthias Devay [DE] did the most for the spread of the gospel in the following years, who is therefore well called the "Hungarian Luther", but later adopted the erroneous Zwinglian doctrine of the Lord's Supper. In 1545, 29 Protestant preachers held a meeting at Erdöd [Ardud], in which they drew up 12 articles, which, as far as we know, are entirely in agreement with the Augsburg Confession. In the following year, five associated towns held a similar meeting at Eperis, in which they expressly declared, in 16 articles adopted at that time, that they wished to adhere to the faith presented in the Augsburg Confession and in Melanchthon's textbook. Luther's teaching had taken firm root.

Now, however, King Ferdinand I commanded in 1548 that worship and religion should be restored to their former constitution and all heresies suppressed; in 1561 the Jesuits were also brought to Hungary for this purpose, and the bishops expended much effort and diligence to eradicate the pure doctrine again; but it was all in vain. 

Under Maximilian II, Protestant knowledge spread even more completely in Hungary. He resisted the bishops and advocated the general reintroduction of the lay chalice. The commander of his troops, Lazarus von Schwendi, a faithful Lutheran, also encouraged the Protestant preachers and congregations. 

Even Rudolph II did not disturb the Hungarian Lutherans during the first twenty years of his reign; but from 1597 he appeared decidedly hostile. But it was not until 1604 that open force was used against them. An imperial general took away the church at Caschau and forbade worship in the houses. Archbishop Colocza expelled the Protestant preachers from the churches of the county of Zips [now Spiš].

The Protestant cities sent deputies to the emperor, but they were not even allowed to come before him; when they tried to complain at the Diet of Bratislava, their complaint was rejected as confused and unfounded; all the laws enacted for the protection of the Roman Church were solemnly confirmed at that time; but the Lutherans were forbidden, under the severest penalties, to make religious complaints at the Imperial Diet. In the same year war broke out against the Turks and against Stephen Botskai, Prince of Transylvania. A terrible confusion arose, in which Catholics fought against Catholics, Protestants against Protestants. The Peace of Vienna in 1606 put an end to this state of affairs; it was at the same time to be a religious peace for Hungary. The emperor promised all Hungarian estates free religious practice, their clergy and churches were to be protected, and what both parties had taken away from each other in church property during the last unrest was to be returned. 

Until 1619, the Lutherans in Hungary had a tolerable situation, although they had gained a clever enemy in the Jesuit Peter Pazmany since 1612. But when Ferdinand II took over the government, they too, like their brothers in Austria, were persecuted again. They had to surrender their churches to the Catholics, because the latter, as Pazmany claimed, had built them. But they were also deprived of those they had built themselves. Through the cunning of the Jesuits and the seductive arts of the court, many Protestant lords became Catholics again, who now, to prove their zeal, in part became fierce persecutors of their former co-religionists. — Under Ferdinand III (since 1637) they received some peace, because George Rakotzi, the Protestant Prince of Transylvania, caused him much trouble. A settlement was reached in 1645, which was also recognized as imperial law in 1647 in Bratislava; only 90 of the 400 churches that had been stolen from the Protestants were restored to them, along with permission to build a few new ones. It was not long before some of these were taken from them again. Protected by the Catholic Emperor and King, the Jesuits could still continue in secret or open persecution.

In 1671, a conspiracy against Emperor Leopold I was discovered, in which mostly only nobles, Catholics as well as Protestants, had taken part. This gave the Jesuits the most beautiful opportunity to completely corrupt the Protestants. They were all accused of rebellion and began to persecute them in an inhuman manner.

In 1674 all Protestant clergymen received the order to appear in court in Bratislava. About 300 presented themselves. They were now designated as the main instigators of the outrage, and without their cause being further investigated, three proposals were made to them: 1. they should resign their office and henceforth live only as private persons; 2. or they should immediately go into exile voluntarily; or 3. preferably become Catholic immediately, in which case they would receive honor and goods. One of these three demands should be signed by every one, with the express addition: [Page 19] "that this is done by them in order that they may avoid the punishment well deserved by their rebellion."

Some allowed themselves to be frightened and signed one of the points presented; but by far the greater majority remained faithful, pleaded innocence, and refused to sign anything. Now the sentence of death was pronounced upon them; but if they would become Catholics, they should be granted life. They remained firm, however, and confessed that they would gladly die. Then their tormentors said to them, "You must not yet die, lest you should have occasion as soon as possible to boast of martyrdom; you will probably be tormented otherwise and more grievously than by a speedy death.” 

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      In the LCMS today, the general teaching on Roman Catholicism and the Pope is that it changed for the better after Vatican II – "post-Vatican II". One prominent pastor calls it "glasnost".  The LCMS uses the term "catholic" and "catholicity" as positive terms without distinction.  But we see in Lindemann's history the real Papal Church, a bloodthirsty Church that has not changed its Doctrine of Justification since Luther's time, not one bit.  But it has been suppressed by America's First Amendment so that it cannot carry out its real nature. — In the next Part 5…