Beza

Theodore Beza began at the Geneva Academy as a Greek professor, but when John Calvin died, he assumed the responsibility of leading the school. On this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols tells the story of how God directed Beza’s life at every unexpected turn.

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. Last week, we talked about Theodore Beza and his role in Calvin's Geneva. It dawned on me that all of this time in 5 Minutes in Church History, we have not devoted an episode to Theodore Beza. Well, it is time to right that wrong. Beza was born in Burgundy. Early on, he had a teacher who also taught John Calvin. From 1534 to 1539, Beza studied law, and then he moved to Paris. He practiced law, but he loved poetry and he actually wrote a number of poems. And in 1548, he published what would be his first book. It was a book of poems.

That same year, he had a spiritual religious crisis. Out of that, he denounces Catholicism and aligns with the Reformation and professes his faith. That same year, he makes a trip to Geneva, but he didn't stay at Geneva. He ended up moving on to Lausanne and there he taught from 1550 to 1558. In 1558, Calvin invited him to come to Geneva to this new academy. Originally, he invited him simply to be a professor to teach Greek. But once Beza got there in 1559, Calvin had him installed as the rector of the academy. It was only five years later that Calvin died in 1564, and the mantle of the leadership—not only of the academy at Geneva, but of the church there in Geneva and in many ways of the Reformation in the Swiss city states—that mantle of leadership fell upon Beza. In that same year, 1564, Beza published his biography of Calvin, The Life of Calvin.

Well, here's a good moment to start tabulating all of Beza's writings. When it comes to the biblical languages and the text of the Bible, he wrote a Greek grammar. He published a Greek New Testament that by all accounts was far better than Erasmus' and became the key standard Greek text. He published his annotations on the New Testament, and he was also one of the contributors and one of the editors of the Geneva Bible. When it comes to theological texts, here are some of his titles: Confessions of the Christian Faith; a book on predestination; I love this book—the Book of Christian Questions and Answers. When it comes to history, I've already mentioned his biography of Calvin. He also wrote his so-called Beza's Icons, which are short biographies of many of the reformers. And he wrote a history of the Reformed church in France. So, he is very busy from 1564 until his death of 1605 writing and teaching and being a college administrator.

Beza was a classic Reformed scholastic. We mentioned this last week with the academy at Geneva, a Reformed scholastic is one who applied the rigorous approach of analysis and logic to his work as a theologian, all the while grounded upon an unwavering commitment to Scripture and the Reformed confessions and Reformed theology. Beza was a churchman, heavily involved in the affairs of the church, not only in the Swiss city-states, but also in France. In 1572, following the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre, he argued that lesser magistrates could indeed revolt against the monarchy. He opposed tyranny in religion and in civil life.

I mentioned his trip to Geneva back in 1548 while it was in that same year, a very busy year for him, that Beza married Claudine Denosse. They were married for forty years. They had no children. He did remarry another widow, Catharina del Piano.

A fascinating moment comes near the end of Beza's life. On December 11, 1602, there was the Escalade. The Duke of Savoy was attacking Geneva by night. The plan was to send soldiers over the wall. They would go in, unlock the city gates, and the Duke of Savoy's troops would march right in. Well, one lady was up late making soup. She saw the soldiers trying to scale the wall, and she poured her hot soup on them. That caused a huge clamor. The night watch came along, sounded the alarm, and routed the troops of the Duke of Savoy and they foiled their attack. And Beza, deaf at this time, slept through the entire event of that night.

Well, that is the life of Theodore Beza and I'm Steve Nichols. And thanks for joining me for 5 Minutes in Church History.