Protestants in France today

After 1598, religious peace was assured for 87 years due the Edict of Nantes.  Catholicism and Protestantism were both allowed.  Louis XIII had some protestant revolts during his reign. Louis XIV was more harsh and persecuted them.  Many, many Protestants left the country. They went to America and brought their "protestant work ethic" with them. This blessed and prospered the colonies and later, the United States. Due to all the persecution in France, there was a loss of artisans, skilled workers and entrepreneurs.  Some Protestants brought fortunes with them to the new world. 

   The Protestants who remained in France would have to wait until the French Revolution and "The Declaration of The Rights of Man" in 1789 before they saw more liberty.

    Such a complex history makes religion in France a touchy subject. According to Francoscopie, 2007:

73% of French people say they have a religion.

62% say they are Catholic.

2% of the country calls themselves Protestant. These live mostly in the eastern part of France and are divided into the denominations of Calvinists, Lutherians, Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Methodists, 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. 

A survey indicated 1, 000 parishes and 2,000 pastors.  According to the same survey, 60% of the Protestants interviewed said they did not attend church regularly. 

      This is the situation facing us as we go to serve in France. May God touch hearts and open eyes!

Protestants in France today

   After 1598, religious peace was assured for 87 years due the Edict of Nantes.  Catholicism and Protestantism were both allowed.  Louis XIII had some protestant revolts during his reign. Louis XIV was more harsh and persecuted them.  Many, many Protestants left the country. They went to America and brought their "protestant work ethic" with them. This blessed and prospered the colonies and later, the United States. Due to all the persecution in France, there was a loss of artisans, skilled workers and entrepreneurs.  Some Protestants brought fortunes with them to the new world. 

   The Protestants who remained in France would have to wait until the French Revolution and "The Declaration of The Rights of Man" in 1789 before they saw more liberty.

    Such a complex history makes religion in France a touchy subject. According to Francoscopie, 2007:

73% of French people say they have a religion.

62% say they are Catholic.

2% of the country calls themselves Protestant. These live mostly in the eastern part of France and are divided into the denominations of Calvinists, Lutherians, Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Methodists, 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. 

A survey indicated 1, 000 parishes and 2,000 pastors.  According to the same survey, 60% of the Protestants interviewed said they did not attend church regularly. 

      This is the situation facing us as we go to serve in France. May God touch hearts and open eyes!

There were 8 wars of religion in France. This was a bloody time - all over religion and mixed in with politics. It really explains why the French think your personal beliefs should be personal.

First war- 1562-1563: It began with a massacre at Wassy. Françoise de Guise charged with his troops and killed a lot of Protestants. The country was divided and Catherine de Médecis tried to bring about some peace. In 1563, the Edit d'Ambroise said that the Protestants could worship in a few reserved places.

Second war - 1567-1568: This came about because the Protestant worship service was only for the nobles. There was great rivalry  in the royal court between the prince of Condé and Henri duc d'Anjou. Both took up arms and fought until the Edit d'Ambroise was re-established.

Third war - ( 1568-1570): Peace was fragile. The Protestant and Catholic armies fought over western France and in the southern Loire valley. The Protestants fortified themselves on the coast at La Rochelle and waited for some help from the English. Le Prince de Condé was killed in a battle and Coligny became the leader of the Calvinists. L'Edit de Saint-Germain was signed and the Protestants felt safe in La Rochelle.

Fourth war - ( 1572-1573) : This was brutal. During the marriage of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Bouron, there was an attempt on the life of Coligny. The Protestants wanted revenge.

The king and his government decided to surround the leaders of the Protestants and execute them. The doors of the city were closed and the Protestants were trapped. Le Massacre dela Saint- Barthlémy left 300, 000 dead in Paris. The rest of the Protestants fled to the south of France where they organized a republic.

Fifth war- ( 1574-1576): A plot by the Malcontents opened the war and there were many revolts and protests. People were angry over the absolute power of the king. The Malcontents and the Protestants fought the government of Catherine de Médicis until another edict brought freedom of worship for all.

Sixth war - (May 1577- September 1577): This time the king was all along against the Protestants, the Catholics and the political men of his kingdom. He was trying to get back absolute power and was suspicious of everyone.

Seventh war- (1579-1580): Catherine de Médecis gave the Protestants places of safety for worship. But then the Protestants didn't want to give them back! The Catholic family of Les Guises governed most of France.  Henri de Navarre, was a Protestant and could understand the problems. But he was leading a party life with his wife, Marguerite de Valois.

Eighth war- (1585-1598): Things got very complicated and this was a long war for power. Henri III did not have any children, so the throne went to Henri de Navarre. Since the latter was a protestant, the Catholics refused to have him as king. The Guise family tried to take over the power. Henri III tried to align himself with the Guises, but then he tried to kill them. That made the Catholics angy, so Henri III took the side of Henri de Navarre. In the end Henri III was assassinated by a monk and Henri de Navarre became Henri IV, king of France. He converted to Catholicism in order to do this and the Protestants didn't support him.

         Henri IV established some religious peace through l'Édit de Nantes. This gave everyone a liberty of conscience to choose what religion they wanted. It gave limited freedom to Protestant worship and equal civil liberties with the Catholics. There were safe places established for the Protestants, but after all the fighting, there weren't many left.

      With all this fighting, you can see why religion, especially supported by politicians, makes the French nervous. They get upset when our leaders ( no matter which party) declare, "God bless America". The French believe church and government should be completely separate with no mention of either one by the other. 

Change of blog address

If you are following this blog ( and I am so glad that you are!!!), please go to :

http://mission2france.blogspot.com

   I will continue blogging more info about our trip there.

Main players

   When the protest movement got going, it came to be called the Protestant Reformation. The main players were:

John Wyclif - He translated the gospel into English at the end of the 14th century. He introduced the idea that God is Sovereign and everyone must bow to Him - even the Pope.

John Hus - He translated the Bible into czech and encouraged everyone to read the Bible for themselves. He was ex communicated from the church and burned as a heretic.

Martin Luther - He started out as a monk and found in Romans that the just shall live by faith.

In 1515 Luther posted his 95 theses. Léon X condemned his ideas and burned his writings. Luther was ex communicated, but the idea of Reform spread throughout Germany.

Ulrich Zwingli worked in Switerland.  He was more interested in Predestination, than justification by faith.

Martin Bucer was in Strasbourg, France. He found a compromise between the Swiss and the German Lutherans. 

John Calvin studied in paris and then went into Law. In 1536 , he formed the doctrine of predestination, believing that if God knows all and controls all, then He calls men to Himself.

Calvin took charge of the Reformation and directed from Geneva. Many French refugees and persecuted protestants came to study with him.

The need for change

 Over the years, Christianity became solidified in the Catholic church. The church was a religious force, but also a political force. During the Middle Ages, the system became more and more corrupt. The wealthy people could "buy" a seat in Heaven by purchasing "les reliques" or indulgences. For example, l'électeur de Saxe, Frédéric le Sage owned 17, 443 reliques which were supposed to spare him  128, 000 years in purgatory. The poor did not have these means.  They had to pay taxes to the government and taxes to the church. When the Plague swept through Europe, it  left many questioning about life after death. 

    People wanted to turn to the Bible for answers. But there was no Bible in the common language of the people .  With the invention of the printing press in the 1400's, more Bibles were printed in French for the people to read for themselves.  This led to a personal faith.

    On the political side, the individual kings and princes wanted more control over their territories. Grégoire VII proclaimed the universal authority of the Pope in 1075. The Pope could make decisions, raise taxes and gather an army from the entire Catholic world. The individual leaders wanted more independence.

     Everyone was a ready for a change. The religious people, the poor and the powerful began to protest.