October
1548 A.D. Calvin writes Edward Seymour to suppress subversives.
John Calvin Encourages Lord Protector Edward Seymour to
Suppress Subversives
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Lord Protector Edward Seymour
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Edward Seymour (1506-1552) was
the uncle of Edward VI. When Edward VI came to the throne of England at a very
young age, the Royal Council established Edward Seymour as Lord Protector of
England for two years (1547-1549).
During his protectorate,
Seymour—who became the Duke of Somerset—worked to abolish images and other Roman Catholic
influences on worship. Augustus Toplady
writes that Somerset was, "in concert with Cranmer, the main instrument in
conducting the reformation."[1]
On October 1548,
John Calvin wrote him the following to encourage his efforts at reformation,
particularly in suppressing subversives:
That I may address myself more
particularly to you, most noble lord, I hear that there are two kinds of
subversives [in England] who connive against the king and the head of
the realm. There are first demented
folk who in the name of the Gospel stir up disorder and secondly those who are hardened in the superstitions
of Anti-Christ. Both deserve to
be coerced by the avenging sword which the Lord has committed to you because they rise up not only against the
king but against God Himself, who has set the king upon his throne and
installed you as Protector not only of his person but of his kingly majesty. [2]
Notes
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[1] Augustus Montague Toplady, The
Works of Augustus Toplady: A New Edition, Complete in One Volume (London:
J. Chidley, 1837), 159.
[2] Cited in Roland H. Bainton, The
Age of the Reformation (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1956),
138.
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