May 1862 AD: J.H. Merle d'Aubigne Preaches in Royal Chapel at St. James at Queen Victoria's Invitation

May 1862 A.D.  J.H. Merle d’Aubigne preaches in the Royal Chapel at St. James at the invitation of Queen Victoria.  Anglo-Tracto-friendly Operatives (TFOs) groused and whined.

From Mr. d’Aubigne’s Vol. 1, The Reformation in England.  “Introduction” by S. M. Houghton, 1961. He gives a brief biography on the historian.

Jean Henry Merle d’Aubigne was born in a canton of Geneva in 1794. His family were Huguenot expatriates from France after the loving and tolerant Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Under divine judgment and with the usual depraved governmental energies of Romanism, 1000s of France’s finest fled. France’s loss and other countries gains. d'Aubigne’s family was one of 1000s. In time, he studied at the University of Geneva and took his Arts degree. But though a descendant of a French Reformed family, the corrosions within and advances of Unitarianism in the Swiss Reformed Churches would prove killing, chilling, and murderous. Theological defamation does that--steals and kills.

Mr. d’Aubigne then entered the Theological Faculty which, by 1816, was Unitarian…probably worse than Romanism and that too from a so-called Reformed outfit. Here, he met Frederick Monod, a fellow student and future French Reformed Pastor and founder of the Free Churches of France (not state-supported). He would also meet Louis Gaussen, another famed name from this school and collaborative associations.

The trio of students—Merle d’Aubigne, Frederick Monod, Louis Gaussen—and 20-30 other theological students encountered a London born Scotsman, Robert Haldane, a Calvinist “of the old sort.” A man who drank from deep and old wells. Though not on the Faculty of Theology, he labored in Geneva. He began to “plow and sow the barren field” in 1816 (4). He lectured from his "apartment." He “arranged chairs on both sides of a long table” inside his apartment. The table had copies of the English, French, and German Bibles. He also placed Greek and Hebrew Testaments on the table (I'm still marveling over a recent conversation with a TEC cleric with zero language training, just bizarre). They fed him [Haldane] questions and he provided answers. “One of the professors” from this Reformed Geneva Faculty “paced up and down” in a high dudgeon and with high displeasure “noting their names in his pocket book” (4). One must--one really must--wonder where the Devil attends Seminary. It would be the principal places of attack! Which ones he’s been at? Which Cathedral Churches too? Jesus said he [that wicked Devil] would be sowing his tare-seeds in the field alongside the wheat; we should not be surprised.

Mr. Houghton offers a quote from Mr. Frederick Monod’s view of the Mr. Robert Haldane:

"What struck me most, and what struck us all, was Mr. Haldane’s solemnity of manner. It was evident he was in earnest about our souls, and the souls of those who might be placed under our pastoral care, and such feelings were new to us. Then his meekness, the un-wearying patience with which he listened to our sophisms, our ignorant objections, our attempts now and then to embarrass him in difficulties invented for the purpose and his answers to each and all of us! But what astonished me, and made me reflect more than anything else, was his ready knowledge of the Word of God and implicit faith in its divine authority…We had never seen anything like this. Even after this lapse of years, I still see presented to my mind’s eye his tall and manly figure, surrounded by the students; his English Bible in his hand, wielding as his only weapon that word which is the sword of the Spirit; satisfying every objection, removing every difficulty, answering every question by a prompt reference to various passages, by which objections, difficulties, and questions were all fairly met and conclusively answered. He never wasted his time in arguing against our so-called reasoning’s, but at once pointed with his finger to the bible, adding the simple words, `Look here—how readest thou?’ `There it stands written with the finger of God.’ He was, in the full sense of the word, a living concordance…He expounded to us the Epistle of Romans which several of us had probably never read, and which none of us understood…I reckon it as one of my greatest privileges to have been his interpreter…being almost the only one who knew English well enough to be thus honoured and employed” (5).

Mr. d’Aubigne was as impressed with Mr. Haldane as was Mr. Monod. Mr. d’Aubigne says:

"I met Robert Haldane and heard him read from an English Bible a chapter from Romans about the natural corruption of man, a doctrine of which I had never before heard. In fact I was quite astonished to hear of man being corrupt by nature. I remember saying to Mr. Haldane, `Now I see that doctrine in the Bible’ `Yes,’ he replied, ‘but do you see it in our heart?’ That was but a simple question, yet it came home to my conscience. It was the sword of the Spirit: and from that time I saw that my heart was corrupted, and knew from the Word of God that I can be saved by grace alone. So that, if Geneva gave something to Scotland at the time of the Reformation, if she communicated light to John Knox, Geneva had received something from Scotland in return in the blessed exertions of Robert Haldane” (5).

Mr. d’Aubigne would graduate from the Swiss school, move north, and attend lectures at Berlin and Leipzig, studying under the famed Mr. Neander, the church historian. He also travelled in the land of Luther—a man [Bruder Martin] who would remain a “life-long inspiration” to Mr. d’Aubigne.

Ultimately, he returned to Geneva and started a seminary for ministers. Louis Gaussen would join him. Mr. d’Aubigne held his post as Professor of Church History until his death in 1872. He visited all the chief libraries of Europe. He read the primary documents in their original languages. At her royal invitation, he spoke at Queen Victoria’s invitation at the Royal Chapel of St. James in May 1862.

Vol. 1 on "The Reformation in England" (above) covers the period to Cardinal Wolsey’s death in 1530. Vol. 2 covers the period of 1530 to Henry VIII’s death in 1547. The anticipated Vol.3 was interrupted by his unexpected death in 1872.

A few distinctives:

• He was “an expert in the field”

• Though an “expert” he did not write for “fellow experts but for ordinary Christian public” (4)

• He was a “potent factor in holding thousands to Protestant and Biblical truth” in England in the 19th century “at a time when Rome was making a fresh effort to repair the ravages of centuries” (9)

• He was a “stimulator of interest in the mind” (10)

• As a “Confessor” or “Confessing Churchman” (with propositions to confess) he actually believed—repeat, actually believed—in divine providence and God ruling, over-ruling, hiding His power, and openly intervening in history

• He leaned on John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments

• He viewed the Reformation “not as a mere `act of state’ but as a movement on a great scale of the Spirit of God, a work of divine initiative, a testimony of the truth as exemplified in the lives and deaths of many 16th century men and women” (16). Right here, you can hear the groans of the Tractarians and others like Misters Iker, Ackerman, Sutton and their followers; of course, Mr. d'Aubigne is the historian of record and insight.

Mr. Houghton affords a detour on Mr. John Foxe, that godly Reformed, Protestant, and Evangelical Anglican, a man who “detested royal cruelty” and who was an “Anglican Puritan.” Yet, even as a "non-conformist," Mr. Foxe would ever retain Queen Elizabeth’s affection; he was a gentleman and not an obnoxious Puritan; she called him “our beloved Father Foxe.”

But, back on point: Mr. Houghton in his detour draws attention to Mr. Foxe’s victimization by some historians. Mr. (Sir) S.R. Maitland, a librarian at Lambeth, poured scorn on Foxe in 1837. J.S. Brewer and James Gardiner followed suit, but Mr. J.F. Mozley successfully rebutted the Maitland-school-of-vandalism and Foxe emerged “as a man of undoubted integrity and was of immense value” (13).

Mr. Houghton brings in a quote from Mr. (Prof.) C.S. Lewis who reviewed Mr. Mozley’s scheme of rehabilitation (and thereby rehabilitation of Mr. d’Aubigne indirectly who gets his stream of criticism also). Here’s Mr. Lewis on Mozley’s Foxe :

"Maitland had many successors, and the nineteenth-century traditions represents Foxe as an unscrupulous propagandist who records what he knows to be false, suppresses what he knows to be true, and clams to have seen documents he has not seen. In 1940, however, Mr. J.f. Mozley reopened the whole question and defended Foxe’s integrity, as it seems to me, with complete success. From his examination, Foxe emerges, not indeed as a great historian, but as an honest man. For early Church history he relies on the obvious authorities and is of very mediocre value. For the Marian persecution his sources are usually the narratives of eyewitnesses…There seems no evidence that Foxe ever accepted what he did not himself believe or ever refused to correct what he had written in the light of fresh evidence. The most horrible of all his stories, the Guersney martyrdoms, was never refuted, though violently assailed; in some ways the defence may be thought scarcely less damaging than the charge. And in one respect—in his hatred of cruelty—Foxe was impartial to a degree hardly paralleled in that age” (14). Lewis, C.S. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954. No page given by Mr. Houghton.

21 Oct 1872: Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) Merle d'Aubigne Passes to New Jerusalem

21 October 1872. J.H. Merle d’Aubigne died. A man the British and American Anglicans have not, but should, add to the lectionary. But, being an ex-Anglican with thanksgiving and gratitude, we hope to remedy the busted-broken-biased lectionary, God willing. John Henry Newman and his Gospel-perverters profoundly disliked Mr. d'Aubigne.

Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (16 August 1794 – 21 October 1872) was a Swiss Protestant minister and historian of the Reformation.

D'Aubigne was born at Eaux Vives, a neighbourhood of Geneva. A street in the area is named after him. The ancestors of his father Robert Merle d'Aubigné (1755–1799), were French Protestant refugees. The life Jean-Henri's parents chose for him was in commerce; but in college at the Académie de Genève, he instead decided on Christian ministry. He was profoundly influenced by Robert Haldane, the Scottish missionary and preacher who visited Geneva and became a leading light in Le Réveil, a conservative Protestant evangelical movement.

It was in small extra-curricular groups led by Haldane, that d'Aubigne and his peers studied the Bible; according to church historian John Carrick, no classes were offered in the Christian scriptures at the school at that time, their having been replaced by the ancient Greek scholars.[1]

When d'Aubigne went abroad to further his education in 1817, Germany was about to celebrate the tercentenary of the Reformation; and thus early he conceived the ambition to write the history of that great epoch. Studying at Berlin University for eight months 1817–1818,[2] d'Aubigne received inspiration from teachers as diverse as J. A. W. Neander and W. M. L. de Wette.

In 1818, d'Aubigné took the post of pastor of the French Protestant church at Hamburg, where he served for five years. In 1823 he was called to become pastor of the Franco-German Brussels Protestant Church[3] and preacher to the court of King William I of the Netherlands of the House of Orange-Nassau.[4]

During the Belgian revolution of 1830 d'Aubigne thought it advisable to undertake pastoral work at home in Switzerland rather than accept an educational post in the family of the Dutch king. The Evangelical Society had been founded with the idea of promoting evangelical Christianity in Geneva and elsewhere, but a need arose for a theological seminary to train pastors. On his return to Switzerland, d'Aubigné was invited to become professor of church history in such a seminary, and he also continued to labor in the cause of evangelical Protestantism. In him the Evangelical Alliance found a hearty promoter. He frequently visited England, was made a D.C.L. v Oxford University, and received civic honors from the city of Edinburgh. He died suddenly in 1872.

The first portion of d'Aubigne's Histoire de la Reformation - History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century - which was devoted to the earlier period of the movement in Germany, i.e., Martin Luther's time, at once earned a foremost place among modern French ecclestical historians, and was translated into most European languages. The second portion, The History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, dealing with reform in the French reformer's sphere, exhaustively treats the subject with the same scholarship as the earlier work, but the second volume did not meet with the same success. It is part of the subject d'Aubigne was most competent to discuss, and was nearly completed at the time of his death. Such was the scope d'Aubigne's scholarship and his level of dedication, states church historian John Carrick, that d'Aubigne " visited the major libraries of Central and Western Europe in order to read original documents in Latin, French, German, Dutch, and English."[1]

Among minor treatises authored by d'Aubigne, the most important are his vindication of the character and the aims of Oliver Cromwell, and his sketch of the trendings of the Church of Scotland.

d’Aubigne, J.H. Merle. The Reformation in England, Vol.2. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994. D’Aubigne, Merle.

There are two volumes. Volume 1 goes to the death of Wolsey in 1530. Volume 2 follows this story to the death of Henry VIII in 1547. Volume 3 was planned, but never completed due to Mr. d’Aubigne’s unexpected death in 1872.

Volume 1 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-1/dp/0851514863/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-13&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne

Volume 2 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-2/dp/0851514871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-1&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne .

His History of the Reformation is available in kindle, mobi, epub and pdf formats at:

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/reformation/history_reformation.html

English Reformation: A Damning Parliament of November 29, 1529

d’Aubigne, J.H. Merle. The Reformation in England, Vol.2. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994. D’Aubigne, Merle.

There are two volumes. Volume 1 goes to the death of Wolsey in 1530. Volume 2 follows this story to the death of Henry VIII in 1547. Volume 3 was planned, but never completed due to Mr. d’Aubigne’s unexpected death in 1872.

Volume 2 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-2/dp/0851514871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-1&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne .

Chapter One, Vol. 2 : England Begins to Cast Off the Papacy:  The end of this post on Mr. d'Aubigne's argument is powerful

1. The Nation and Its Parties (Autumn 1529), 3-9. The fall of Wolsey in 1529 “divides the old times from the new” (3). Mr. d’Aubigne notes that the Holy Scriptures had been translated, were circulating and being read since the 14th century. We are not sure how influential Lollardy was throughout the 14th-15th century. But there were developments with Tyndale, Fryth (Frith), Latimer and others at Cambridge in the 1520s. Indubitably. Cambridge had the roilings. The Continent was under fire. John Calvin had no part in this as a youngster (b. 1509, 20 years Cranmer’s junior and 26 years Luther’s junior) while the 1520s were underway. (Although Calvin would be influential by way of letters to Edward VI, Regent, Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir William Cecil (Burghley).

“External and “internal” influences. We would add that it’s often claimed that the English Reformation was a “mere act of State.” Or, that the Reformation came "in by the back door." We’ve heard Tractarians sniffily claim this in order to dismiss Edwardean and Elizabethan England (3.0 and 5.0 versions) and to re-introduce, advance and establish their Tractarian, 2.0 version, of Anglicanism. That is, Non-Papal Romanism or the period of the undivided church without an English Reformation. There were “internal” forces at work—theology, Bible, justifying faith, the Triune God, the work of the Holy Spirit. To deny that is sheer blindness. On the other hand, the “external factors” do exist—legal deeds and acts of King and Parliament.

Notably, on November 3, 1529 a Parliament is convened. We would insert that this is three months after Mr. Cranmer’s fateful meeting at Waltham Abbey with Fox and Gardiner, but we digress. Henry had issued a writ on September 25, 1529 for the Assembly. Wolsey’s wide unpopularity led Henry to seek support from the “elected representative of the Commons,” a body that had increased prestige in this period.

The Papal party, notably Mr. (Bishop) Fisher, was “alarmed”, “uneasy,” and “disturbed at seeing laymen called to give their advice on religious matters” (5).

Beneath all this was a simmering anti-clericalism that Henry was willing to indulge; the rest of this post underscores this; it was not new to England (or other countries either).

Mr. (Bishop) Du Bellay, a French bishop of Bayonne and later Paris, wrote from London to the Grand-master of France, Mr. Monmorency, “I fancy that in this parliament the priests will have a terrible fight” (emphasis added, 6). We would add that this is a compelling quote for the current dilemma facing the Roman Anglican apparatchiks, more practical, financial and political than theological…although theology was also simmering too in some precincts. Clearly, this particular French Roman bishop foresaw Parliamentary challenges to the Papal Roman Anglican Church.

Mr. d’Aubigne says that Mr. (bp.) Fisher was “learned, intelligent, bold and slightly fanatical” (6). Mr. Bromiley outrightly stated, contrastingly, that Fisher was not “brilliant” and was not “an outstanding scholar.” But, we'll leave that to the side. Mr. Fisher was pleased that Mr. Thomas More was the new Chancellor and replacement of Wolsey, although he would have preferred an Ecclesastic rather than a Layman; Fisher may have desired that for himself, but that is theory at this point; after all, he [Fisher] had done the yeoman's heavy-lifting of writing against Luther and was party to book burnings at Cambridge; after all, he [Fisher] was a senior statesman linked to the days of Henry VII and Cambridge. But, this much, be that as it may, Fisher saw an ally in Thomas More, a loyal 1.0 Anglican, a Papalist. Mr. d’Aubigne calls this the “hierarchal party.” We would add that Mr. Harpsfield, a Roman Papal Anglican, jailed under Elizabeth, noted this specific More-Fisher axis of power; they were both close and collusive. Shortly, Mr. d'Aubigne will add Canterbury, London, Lincoln, St. Asaph and Rochester to the anti-Reformers in the "hierarchal party" of prelates.

Mr. d’Aubigne postulates a “political party” in opposition to the “hierarchal party” consisting of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sir William Fitz-Williams, the Royal Comptroller, opposing “ecclesiastical domination.” Little evidence is offered here.

A third party was found in the villages, towns, and smaller units of governance, the “lowly men, artisans, weavers, cobblers, and shop-keepers” who read the Scriptures (7). Mr. d’Aubigne offers little evidence here.

However, Mr. d’Aubigne scores large points--big points--in pp.8-14, to wit, that there was widespread hostility to the Papal Roman Anglican Church, a hostility that Henry helped to foster.  A hostility he would harness in his quest for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Mr. d’Aubigne notes that the nobility were “openly critical of clerics” (8). The French bishop noted above, Mr. Du Bellay, first of Bayonne and later of Paris, will report [from London] hearing these things at varied sumptuous courtly banquets.

• “There are, even in London, houses of ill-fame for the use of priests, monks, and canons” (8). In essence, whore-houses. A subculture. This may be the idea behind the accusation of Cranmer being an "ostler," a frequenter of hotels where female services were offered. No one seems to clearly identify this, but we digress.

• “They would force us to take such men as these our guides to heaven”

• “Witty and biting remarks” by noblemen openly

• “Since Wolsey has fallen, we must forthwith regulate the condition of the Church and of its ministers”

• Mr. Du Bellay in a letter about this Parliament states: “I have no need to write this language in cipher; for the noble lords utter it at open table. I think they will do something that they have talked about” (8)

This evidence offered by Mr. d’Aubigne is forceful.

“Parliament and its Grievances” (November 1529), 10-14

Mr. d’Aubigne hits a homerun with the following evidence. Watch as it develops in this important Parliament. [We’ll use bullets to summarize it:

• The Parliament and its Grievances (November 1529)

• Setting. On November 3, 1529, Henry VIII mounted his barge and went to his Palace at Bridewell. He robed up. He formally proceeded to the Blackfriars Church [central London] where the Parliament met. Mass was heard. Thomas More explained the reasons for the convocation. Thomas Audley was appointed the Speaker of the House.

• There was a “firm resolve to introduce the necessary reforms of both Church and State.” The first day dealt with “abuses of clerical domination” (11).

We'll bring the grievances followed by the telling response to Henry from the Canterbury-Roman Anglican bishops-axis-of-power. Here’s a list of the grievances from the Commons to Henry:

• “First, the prelates of your most excellent realm, and the clergy of the same, have in their convocations made many and divers laws without your royal assent, and without the assent of your lay subjects” [code = state within a state with their own laws]

• "And also many of your said subjects, and especially those that be of the poorest sort, be daily called before the said spiritual ordinaries or their commissaries, on the acccusement of light and indiscreet persons and be excommunicated and put to excessive and impostable charges”

• “The prelates suffer the priests to exact divers sums of money for the sacraments, and sometimes deny the same without the money paid first”

• Also the said spiritual ordinaries do daily confer and give sundry benefices unto certain young folks, calling them their nephews or kinfolk, being in their minority and within age, not apt nor able to serve the cure of any such benefice…whereby the said ordinaries accumulate to themselves large sums of money, and the poor silly souls of your people perish without doctrine or any good teaching”

• “Also a great number of holydays be kept throughout your realm, upon the which many great, abominable, and execrable vices, ideal and wanton sports be used, which holydays might by your Majesty be made fewer in number”

• “And also the said spiritual ordinaries commit divers of your subject to ward, before they know either the cause of their imprisonment, or the name of their accuser”

• “If heresy be ordinarily laid unto the charge of the person accused, the said ordinaries put to them such subtle interrogatories concerning the high mysteries of our faith, as are able quickly to trap a simple unlearned layman. And if any heresy be so confessed in word, yet never committed in thought or deed, they put the said person to make his purgation. And if the party so accused deny the accusation, witnesses of little truth or credence are brought forth for the same and deliver the party to secular hands”

The King listened to the presentation. But the response from the clerics defending the clerics...if unchecked, on our view, this is the beginning of the end; the Papal Roman Anglican responses end up condemning themselves while thinking they are defending themselves, but we get ahead of ourselves briefly. “The King listened to the petitions with his characteristic dignity and also a certain kindliness” (12). The “Royal communication [wanting answers from Canterbury] was a "thunderbolt to the prelates” as apostolic successors of Petrine supremacy (12). Archbishop Warham and fellow prelates were put on the spot—Warham and the bishops of London, Rochester, Lincoln, and St. Asaph. Some were more fanatical about it. The response is worth reproducing; it actually works against them; Mr. (Canterbury) represented an “inflexible hierarchy” and issued the famous statement non possumus or "we are not able" [to comply].

Here’s Papal Roman Anglicans (1.0-ers) defending themselves while condemning themselves:

• “Sire, your Majesty’s Commons reproach us with uncharitable behavior…On the contrary, we love them with hearty affection, and have only exercised the spiritual jurisdiction of the Church upon persons infected with the pestilent poison of heresy. To have peace with such had been against the Gospel of our Saviour Christ, wherein he saith, I came not to send peace, but a sword. [insert the 1520s; insert Lutheran books and ideas with book burnings in London and Cambridge; insert that Lutheran sympathizers are in the Commons]

• “Your Grace’s Commons complain that the clergy daily do make laws repugnant to the statutes of your realm. We take our authority from the Scriptures of God, and shall always apply diligently to conform our statutes thereto; and we pray that your Highness will, with the assent of your people, temper your Grace’s laws accordingly; whereby shall ensure a most sure and hearty conjunction and agreement” [code = leave us alone please; insert non possumus]

• [code = damned Lutherans to follow; note the abusive terms and "Germany"] “They accuse us of committing to prison before conviction such as be suspected of heresy…Truth it is that certain apostates, friars, monks, lewd priests, bankrupt merchants, vagabonds, and idle fellows of corrupt intent have embraced the abominable opinions lately sprung up in Germany; and by them some have been seduced in simplicity and ignorance. Against these, if judgment has been exercised according to the laws of the Church, we be without blame”

• “They complain that two witnesses be admitted, be they never so defamed, to vex and trouble your subjects to the peril of their lives, shames, costs and expenses…To this we reply, the judge must esteem the quality of the witness, but in heresy no exception is necessary to be considered, if their tale be likely. This is the universal law of Christendom, and hath universally done good”

• “They say that we give benefices to our nephews, and kinsfolk, being in young age or infants, and that we take the profit of such benefices for the time of the minority of our said kinsfolk. If it be done to our own use and profit, it is not well; but if it be bestowed to the bringing up and use of the same parties, or applied to the maintenance of God’s service, we do not see but that it may be allowed” [in other words, non possumus and we'll do as we please, thank you]

• “We entreat your Grace to repress heresy. This we beg of you, lowly upon our knees, so entirely as we can see” (13-14)

We would add this. The reason many modern Anglican leaders avoid the Reformation? They would have to engage with “Lutheran theology” and then “Reformed theology.”

That’s is verboten with many, said to include, but not limited to: Misters Iker, Ackerman, Paul Hewitt, and associates.

There really was a Protestant and Evangelical Reformation in England. 

Really, there was one.

Really.

Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) J.H. Merle d'Aubigne: Outline of "Reformation in England, Vol. 2"

d’Aubigne, J.H. Merle. The Reformation in England, Vol.2. Edinburgh:  The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994. 

The picture of William Tyndale (1494-1536) comes from Hertford College, Oxford.

There are two volumes.  Volume 1 goes to the death of Wolsey in 1530.  Volume 2 follows this story to the death of Henry VIII in 1547.  Volume 3 was planned, but never completed due to Mr. d’Aubigne’s unexpected death in 1872.

Volume 1 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-1/dp/0851514863/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-13&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne 

Volume 2 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-2/dp/0851514871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-1&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne

 

Book One: England Begins to Cast Off the Papacy

1.  The Nation and Its Parties (Autumn 1529), 3-9

2.  Parliament and its Grievances (November 1529), 10-14

3.  Early Reforms (End of 1529), 15-19

4.  Ann Boleyn’s Father Meets the Emperor and the Pope (Winter 1530), 20-26

5.  Oxford and Cambridge Debate the Divorce (Winter 1530), 27-34

6.  Henry Appeals to Foreign Opinion (January to September 1530), 35-40

7.  Latimer at Court (January to September 1530), 41-47

8.  He King Seeks Tyndale (January to May 1531), 48-54

9.  The King of England—“Head of the Church” (January to March 1531), 55-60

10.  The King Puts Catherine Away (March to June 1531), 61-65

11.  “Not Sparing the Flock” (September 1531 to 1532), 66-70

12.  The Martyrs (1531), 71-78

13.  The King Despoils the Pope and Clergy (March to May 1532), 79-83

14.  Liberty of Preaching and Inquiry (1532), 84-94

15.  Henry VIII Attacks Romanists and Protestants (1532), 95-103

16.  The New Primate of All England (February 1532 to March 1533), 95-103

17.  Queen Catherine Descends from the Throne, and Anne Boleyn Ascends it (November 1532 to July 1533), 104-113

18.  Fryth in the Tower (August 1532 to May 1533), 114-124

19.  A Reformer Chooses rather to Lose his Life than Save it [sic] (May to July 1533), 125-134

20.  The Isolation of England (1533), 135-145

21.  Parliament Abolishes Papal Usurpations in England (January to March 1534), 146-155

Book Two: England Breaks with Rome

1.  A Conspiracy against the Reformation (March to April 1534), 156-164

2.  The Church Becomes a Department of State (Christmas 1533 to June 1534), 179-187

3.  Tyndale and his Enemies (1534 to August 1535), 188-199

4.  Henry VIII as King-Pontiff (1534-1535), 200-207

5.  Henry Destroys his Opponents (1534-1535), 208-217

6.  Two Notable Executions (May to September 1535), 218-229

7.  The Dissolution of the Smaller Monasteries (September 1535 to 1536), 230-250

8.  Henry Negotiates with German Lutherans (1534-1535), 251-261)

9.  The Accusation of the Queen (1535 to May 1536), 262-283

10.  The Execution of Anne Boleyn (May 1536), 284-302

11.  Catholicism versus Protestantism (Summer 1536), 303-318

12.  Henry Enforces “Catholicism Minus the Pope” (Autumn 1536), 319-326

13.  The Pilgrimage of Grace (October 1536), 327-336

14.  The Martyrdom of Tyndale (From 1535 to October 1536), 337-352)

Book Three: Reformation, Reaction, Relief

1.  Three Parties Divide England (1536-1540), 353-366

2.  An “Appeal to Caesar” and its Outcome (1538), 367-378

3.  The “Whip of Six Strings” (1538-1540), 379-394

4.  The Bitter Cup for Henry VIII (1539-1540), 395-406

5.  The Disgrace and Death of Thomas Cromwell (1540), 407-422

6.  The Divorce of Anne of Cleves (1540), 423-429

7.  Catherine Howard, the Fifth Queen (1540), 430-448

8.  Cranmer Pursues His Task (1542), 449-459

9.  The Last Martyrs of Henry’s Reign (1545), 460-471

10.  Death Casts its Shadow over Catherine Parr (1546), 472-482

11.  The Last Days of Henry VIII (1546 to January 1547), 483-493

Index

Illustrations

William Tyndale (Hertford College, Oxford)

Henry VIII (National Portrait Gallery)

Catherine of Aragon (National Portrait Gallery)

Sir Thomas More (Royal Library, Windsor Castle)

Royal Palace at Hampton Court

Anne Boleyn (National Portrait Gallery)

Thomas Cromwell (National Portrait Gallery)

Thomas Cranmer (National Portrait Gallery)

Jane Seymour (Royal Library, Windsor Castle)

Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester (National Portrait Gallery)

Latimer’s Church and Pulpit at West Kington

Martyrs at Smithfield and the Burning of Anne Askew (Guildhall Library)

Modern Smithfield –Commemorative Plague at the Site of the Martyrdoms

John Foxe the Martyrologist (National Portrait Gallery)

Matthew’s Bible (British and Foreign Bible Society)

Death-bed Scene of Henry VIII (National Portrait Gallery)

J.H.M. d'Aubigne's "Reformation in England:" Outline and Biography of d'Aubigne

        d’Aubigne, J.H. Merle. The Reformation in England, Vol.1. Edinburgh:  The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994.  D’Aubigne, Merle. 

        Volume 1 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-1/dp/0851514863/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-13&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne 

        Volume 2 is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reformation-England-Volume-2/dp/0851514871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375919662&sr=8-1&keywords=Merle+d%27Aubigne . 

Introduction by S.M. Houghton

Book One: England Before the Reformation:

1.  Christ Mightiers than Druid Altars and Roman Swords (2^nd-6^th centuries)

2.  Iona versus Rome (6^th-7^th centuries)

3.  Rome Converts Britain (7^th centuries)

4.  Conflict with Papal Supremacy (7^th-11^th centuries)

5.  Iron Age of Spiritual Slavery (11^th-13^th centuries)

6.  Grossteste and Bradwardine (13^th-14^th centuries)

7.  Light Streams from Lutterworth (1329-1380)

8.  Morning Star of the Reformation (1380-1384)

9.  Lollard Burnings (15^th century)

10.  New Learning and New Dynasty (1485-1512)

11.  War, Marriage, and Preaching (1513-1515)

12.  Wolsey’s Rise to Power (1507-1518)

13.  Need for Reformation (1514-1517)

Book Two: Revival of the Church:

1.  Origin of the English Reformation (1516-1519)

2.  Greek New Testament Awakens the Dead (1516-1521)

3.  Persecutions and Intrigue (1518-1520)

4.  Storm at Sodbury Hall (1522-1523)

5.  Onslaught of Luther (1517-1521)

6.  Early Days in Lincolnshire (1521-1522)

7.  All England Closed to Tyndale (1523-1524)

8.  Bluff Hugh Latimer (1485-1524)

9.  Wolsey’s Hopes and Fears (1523-1525)

10.  Exile’s Toil for a Nation’s Life (1524-1526)

11.  Awakenings in Cambridge (1524-25)

Book Three: English New Testament and Court of Rome:

1.  Year of Grace (1526)

2.  Oxford’s Baptism of Suffering (1526-1528)

3.  Severities of Popery (1526-1528)

4.  Tempest Against the Truth (1526)

5.  Divorce Question Opens (1526-1527)

6.  Ann Boleyn (1522-27)

7.  Bilney in Strength and Weakness (1527)

8.  Campaign for Henry’s Divorce (1527)

9.  Dilemna and Duplicity of Clement VII (1527-1528)

10.    Royal Threats Counter Papal Cunning (January to March 1528)

11.    Wolsey’s Desperate Demands (April to July 1528)

Book Four: Two Divorces

1.  “A Thousands Wolseys for One Anne Boleyn” (1528)

2.  Scripture and Spreading Revival (1527-1529)

3.  Campeggio Arrives in England (July to November 1528)

4.  Search for William Tyndale (1528-1530)

5.  Pope Burns His Bull (November 1528)

6.  Wolsey Between Scylla and Charybdis (1529)

7.  More and Tyndale: Theological Duel (1528-1529)

8.  Queen’s Pleadings Convict a Court (1529)

9.  Trial Ends in Farce (July 1529)

10.  Tyndale Received in a King’s Palace (1529)

11.  Wolsey Alone and Facing Ruin (Summer 1529)

12.  To Introduce Thomas Cranmer (1489-1529)

13.  Dethronement of Wolsey (October 1529)

14.  New Leaders and New Policy (October and November 1529)

15.  “They That Will Live Godly…” (1529-1531)

16.  Wolsey Falls Like Lucifer (1530)

Introduction by S. M. Houghton, 1961

Jean Henry Merle d’Aubigne was born in a canton of Geneva in 1794. His family were Huguenot expatriates from France after the loving and tolerant Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Under divine judgment and with depraved governmental energies, 1000s of France’s finest fled.  France’s loss and other countries gains. d'Aubigne’s family was one of 1000s. In time, he studied at the University of Geneva and took his Arts degree.

Mr. d’Aubigne then entered the Theological Faculty which, by 1816, was Unitarian…probably worse than Romanism and that too from a so-called Reformed outfit. Here, he met Frederick Monod, a fellow student and future French Reformed Pastor and founder of the Free Churches of France (not state-supported). He would also meet Louis Gaussen, another famed name from this school and collaborative associations.

The trio—d’Aubigne, Monod, Gaussen—and 20-30 other theological students encountered a London born Scotsman, Robert Haldane, a Calvinist “of the old sort.”  Though not on the Faculty of Theology, he labored in Geneva.  He began to “plow and sow the barren field” in 1816 (4). He “arranged chairs on both sides of a long table” inside his apartment.  The table had copies of the English, French, and German Bibles.  He also place Greek and Hebrew Testaments on the table. They fed him questions and he provided answers.  “One of the professors” from this Reformed Geneva Faculty “paced up and down” in a high dudgeon and with displeasure “noting their names in his pocket book” (4).  One must wonder where the Devil attends Seminary.  Which ones he’s been at? Which Cathedral Churches too?  Jesus said he’d be sowing his tare-seeds in the field alongside the wheat; we should not be surprised.

Mr. Houghton offers a quote from Mr. Monod’s view of the Mr.  Robert Haldane:

What struck me most, and what struck us all, was Mr. Haldane’s solemnity of manner.  It was evident he was in earnest about our souls, and the souls of those who might be placed under our pastoral care, and such feelings were new to us.  Then his meekness, the unwearying patience with which he listened to our sophisms, our ignorant objections, our attempts now and then to embarrass him y difficulties invented for the purpose and his answers to each and all of us! But what astonished me, and made me reflect more than anything else, was his ready knowledge of the Word of God and implicit faith in its divine authority…We had never seen anything like this.   Even after this lapse of years, I still see presented to my mind’s eye his tall and manly figure, surrounded by the students; his English Bible in his hand, wielding as his only weapon that word which is the sword of the Spirit; satisfying every objection, removing every difficulty, answering every question by a prompt reference to various passages, by which objections, difficulties, and questions were all fairly met and conclusively answered. He never wasted his time in arguing against our so-called reasoning’s, but at once pointed with his finger to the bible, adding the simple words, `Look here—how readest thou?’ `There it stands written with the finger of God.’ He was, in the full sense of the word, a living concordance…He expounded to us the Epistle of Romans which several of us had probably never read, and which none of us understood…I reckon it as one of my greatest privileges to have been his interpreter…being almost the only one who knew English well enough to be thus honoured and employed” (5).

Mr. d’Aubigne was as impressed with Mr. Haldane as was Mr. Monod.  Mr. d’Aubigne says:

I met Robert Haldane and heard him read from an English Bible a chapter from Romans about the natural corruption of man, a doctrine of which I had never before heard. In fact I was quite astonished to hear of man being corrupt by nature.  I remember saying to Mr. Haldane, `Now I see that doctrine in the Bible’ `Yes,’ he replied, ‘but do you see it in our heart?’ That was but a simple question, yet it came home to my conscience.  It was the sword of the Spirit: and from that time I saw that my heart was corrupted, and knew from the Word of God that I can be saved by grace alone. So that, if Geneva gave something to Scotland at the time of the Reformation, if she communicated light to John Knox, Geneva had received something from Scotland in return in the blessed exertions of Robert Haldane”[1] (5).

Mr. d’Aubigne would graduate and attend lectures at Berlin and Leipzig, studying under Mr. Neander, the church historian.  He also travelled in the land of Luther—a man who would remain a “life-long inspiration” to Mr. d’Aubigne.

Ultimately, he started a seminary for ministers.  Louis Gaussen would join him.  Mr. d’Aubigne held his post as Professor of Church History until his death in 1872.  He visited all the chief libraries of Europe. He spoke at Queen Victoria’s invitation at the Royal Chapel of St. James in May 1862.

Vol. 1 on The Reformation in England covers the period to Cardinal Wolsey’s death in 1530.  Vol. 2 covers the period of 1530 to Henry VIII’s death in 1547.  The anticipated Vol.3 was interrupted by his unexpected death.

A few distinctives:

·        He was “an expert in the field”

·        Though an “expert” he did not write for “fellow experts but for ordinary Christian public” (4)

·        He was a “potent factor in holding thousands to Protestant and Biblical truth” in England in the 19^th century “at a time when Rome was making a fresh effort to repair the ravages of centuries” (9)

·        He was a “stimulator of interest in the mind” (10)

·        As a “Confessor” or “Confessing Churchman,” he actually believed—repeat, actually believed—in divine providence and God ruling, over-ruling, hiding His power, and openly intervening in history

·        He leaned on John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments

·        He viewed the Reformation “not as a mere `act of state’ but as a movement on a great scale of the Spirit of God, a work of divine initiative, a testimony of the truth as exemplified in the lives and deaths of many 16^th century men and women” (16).

Mr. Houghton affords a detour on Mr. John Foxe, that godly Reformed, Protestant, and Evangelical Anglican, a man who “detested royal cruelty” and who was an “Anglican Puritan.”  Yet, Mr. Foxe would ever retain Queen Elizabeth’s affection; he was a gentleman and not an obnoxious Puritan; she called him “our beloved Father Foxe.” 

But, back on point: Mr. Houghton in his detour draws attention to Mr. Foxe’s victimization by some historians.  Mr. (Sir) S.R. Maitland, a librarian at Lambeth, poured scorn on Foxe in 1837. J.S. Brewer and James Gardiner followed suit, but Mr. J.F. Mozley successfully rebutted the Maitland-school and Foxe emerged “as a man of undoubted integrity and was of immense value” (13).

Mr. Houghton brings in a quote from Mr. (Prof.) C.S. Lewis who reviewed Mr. Mozley’s scheme of rehabilitation (and thereby rehabilitation of Mr. d’Aubigne indirectly who gets his stream of criticism also).  Here’s Mr. Lewis on Mozley’s Foxe[2]:

Maitland had many successors, and the nineteenth-century traditions represents Foxe as an unscrupulous propagandist who records what he knows to be false, suppresses what he knows to be true, and clams to have seen documents he has not seen.  In 1940, however, Mr. J.f. Mozley reopened the whole question and defended Foxe’s integrity, as it seems to me, with complete success.  From his examination, Foxe emerges, not indeed as a great historian, but as an honest man. For early Church history he relies on the obvious authorities and is of very mediocre value.  For the Marian persecution his sources are usually the narratives of eyewitnesses…There seems no evidence that Foxe ever accepted what he did not himself believe or ever refused to correct what he had written in the light of fresh evidence.  The most horrible of all his stories, the Guersney martyrdoms, was never refuted, though violently assailed; in some ways the defence may be thought scarcely less damaging than the charge.  And in one respect—in his hatred of cruelty—Foxe was impartial to a degree hardly paralleled in that age” (14).

---

[1] Haldane, Alexander. Lives of Robert and James Haldane. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1991), 398-407.  Written by an "Evangelical Anglican." Alexander Haldane writes of his father and his famous uncle, Robert Haldane; the latter was responsible for "planting and sowing" the omnipotent seed of the Word of God amongst dead men at the Theological School of the University of Geneva in 1816. Little did Mr. Robert Haldane foresee from his faithful exposition of the perspicuous and regeneratively-powerful Scriptures. Mr. Merle d'Aubigne, though a seminarian and dead in his sins and trespasses, was "made alive together with Christ" (Eph. 2.1-4ff.).

Mr. d'Aubigne's academic work would influence 1000s of English Protestant, Reformed, and Evangelical Anglicans when the 2.0 Anglicans, the Tractarians, were making their fresh bids for power, influence, and dominion in England. Queen Victoria had Mr. d'Aubigne preach at the St. James Royal Chapel to the groans of the Non-Papal Roman Anglicans--ever-greedy from Roman dominionism, then, like now in the ACNA. As Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) James Packer called the 2.0ers or Tractarians in 1977, they are "Roman Trojan Horses."

Here is a quote from the webpage about Alexander Haldane's "Lives of Robert and James Haldane."

"Written by one of the Anglican evangelical leaders of the last century, this volume tells the remarkable story of the author's father, James Haldane and uncle, Robert Haldane. Members of the Scottish aristocracy, James was a captain with the East India Company and Robert the owner of Gleneagles and other estates in Perthshire when they were converted in the last decade of the 18th century. Thereafter the two brothers became identified for the next fifty years with many of the foremost evangelical enterprises. After selling a major part of his lands in 1798, Robert Haldane was prevented by the East India Company from proceeding with his hope of a mission in Bengal. Instead he gave himself to the spread of the gospel in Scotland and in Europe. His remarkable visit to Geneva in 1816 led to a widespread awakening and, ultimately, to the publication of his Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. A director of the British and Foreign Bible Society at the time when it was split by controversy, it was due to Robert Haldane 'more than to any man' )in the opinion of Principal John MacLeod) that the Apocrypha 'was ousted from our English Bible'. James Haldane, pre-eminently a preacher, was an itinerant evangelist and, through 52 years, an influential pastor in Edinburgh. Both men believed that the blessing of God on their labours 'was designed as an encouragement to those who should cast away worldly policy, and setting before them nothing but the glory of God, rest boldly on the blessing promised, both to the written and spoken word'. These pages open up a little-known but important era and introduce the reader to many of the foremost Christian leaders of the early 19th Century. it is not, however, wholly a story of success. The brothers secession from the Church of Scotland and their consequent struggle to recover a church life more faithful to the New Testament is frankly, and at times critically, told. Firm adherence to different views of church government brought some tensions and divisions. How these dangers were faced as both men grew in grace and wisdom is a valuable part of this inspiring book."

[2] Lewis, C.S. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954. No page given by Mr. Houghton.