Fathers of the Reformed Church Following the First Foundation of Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin Prepared for Trinity Covenant Church, RCUS Colorado Springs, CO
Rudolph Gualther 1575-1885	1. Son-in-law of Zwingli. Raised in Bullinger’s family after the death of Zwingli. 2. Named pope as anti-Christ, defeated attempts to restore Zurich to Rome. 3. Escaped assassination attempt
John Jacob Bretinger 1613-45	1. Was on vacation when plague broke out and was accused of fleeing. He did not know of the plague, but on his return attended to the pastoral care of the sick. Became very popular for his calls. 6000 died in the plague. He was leader of the church at Zurich during the Thirty Years’ War. 2. Arminian controversy: Synod of Dordt. He attended and was royally received by the Dutch, and was very influential at the Synod. He opposed Armininism, but also opposed the rigorous measures of the Dutch government against the heresy.
John Henry Hottinger Professor at Zurich	1. The foremost Hebrew scholar of his day. Was visiting teacher at Heidelberg for a few years. 2. Returned to Zurich and taught a number of years. 3. Called to teach at Leyden in the The Netherlands; he drowned just before he was ready to move.
John Henry Heidegger Professor J. Casper Lavater John Jacob Hess	1. Led in the forming of the Helvetic Consensus in 1675, meant to replace the 2^nd Helvetic Confession. Gernler, Francis Turretin, and Heidegger wasnted a new creed to combat the School of Saumur in France and Amyraldianism, which held that the atonement was for all men: election was unto moral ability. 2. There were many struggles against rationalism for most of the 18^th centuries. Men like A. Turretin [son of Francis] with others brought about the rejection of the high Calvinism. Levater boldly preached against it. He also preached against the French conquest and occupation of Switzerland, and was slain by a wounded French soldier whom he was trying to assist. 3. Led the church during the dangerous and awful days of the French Occupation. (Napoleon I)

Copyright, C. W. Powell, New Geneva Seminary, Colorado Springs. 2004. Permission to copy in any form, electronic or written, must be obtained in writing from C. W. Powell, New Geneva Theological Seminary, Colorado Springs, CO.

The Reformed Church in Germany Writing of the Heidelberg Catechsim
John á Lasco. 1488-1560	He founded the first Reformed church in Germany at Emden, 1526. His uncle was head of the Catholic church of Poland, and John was marked to succeed him. Instead, John was educated in Switzerland and became a humanist through Erasmus. This failed to satisfy, and he adopted the evangelical doctrine of Zwingli. Introduced the simple worship of the Reformation, organized the first Coetus [synod] in 1544. This Coetus is still in existence and meets regularly at Emden. He went to England to aid the Reformation, but was driven out by Bloody Mary. Refused safety in Denmark, he went to Frankford to pastor the Dutch Reformed Church there. Then, because Poland was opening up for the Reformed Faith, he went home to Poland, founded its Reformed Church, and translated the Bible into Polish.
Lutheran Squabbles in Germany Zacharias Ursinus and Casper Olevianus	High Lutherans led by Flacius contended with Low Lutherans led by Melanchthon. The Low Lutherans, wearied by conflict, were attracted to the Reformed Faith. The first prince to do so was Frederick III of the Palatinate. These two young professors at the University of Heidelberg were only 26 and 28 years old respectively when they authored the famous catechism. It was immensely popular and went through four editions in the first year. Lutherans and Catholics joined to suppress it, and Frederick was endangered.
Great Confession of Frederick III	In 1566, the Emperor of German summoned Frederick to appear before the Diet of Augsburg to answer for his catechism. He was warned by his brother not to go, but he went, prepared to suffer martyrdom if necessary. On the day appointed he entered the chamber followed by his son Casimir, who was carrying a Bible. Frederick asked to be shown where his catechism was contrary to the Word of God. It was a wonderfully eloquent and able defense and won everyone over. He was exonerated and made the Palatinate a model of the Reformed Faith. He died in 1576
Events following Frederick III: the spread of the Reformed Faith in Germany	Frederick’s son Lewis reintroduced Lutheranism and Ursinus and Olevianus fled from Heidelberg, but the Reformed continued to spread. The Dutch who fled from the persecution of Philip II in the Netherlands found refuge in Germany and adopted the Heidelberg Catechism in 1568. Two large provinces of Germany became Reformed: Hesse Cassel and Brandenburg. They began to celebrate the Lord’s supper with common bread and not wafers. Brandenburg became the protector and defender of the Reformed Faith after the loss of the Palatinate due to the unfortunate decision of Frederick V [the Winter King] to accept the crown of Bohemia.
Devastation of the Palatinate during the Thirty Years’ War.	Upon the deposition of Frederick V, Spanish armies appeared to take possession of the Palatinate for the HRE. [See previous charts on the Thirty Years’ War. Quoting from J. I . Good: “Tilly … began besieging Heidelberg and stormed it on September 15, 1622. That day the cruel Croatians burst into the city murdering men and women and also burning it. The Reformed professor of theology, Henry Alting, started to escape through a back door of his house, when he was met by an Austrian soldier, who said: ‘With this club I have killed ten men today. If I knew where Professor Alting was, he would be the eleventh.” Providence spared the life of the professor. The Reformed suffered terribly. 250 ministers were driven away. The new Catholic elector called all the citizens of Heidelberg to the city hall and ordered them to give up their faith; they refused. Whole trades were willing to give up their property and everything rather than deny the Lord. There was respite for a time with the victories of Gustavus Adolphus, but after his death, the persecutions became much greater. The Bavarians recaptured Heidelberg from the Swedes, and the whole country was ravaged by both armies, people were plundered and killed. There was famine and pestilence. Only 200 farmers were left in the Palatinate. There were more wolves than men around Heidelberg. Other parts of German suffered likewise. The Peace of Westphalia recognized the Reformed Church by name and guaranteed its liberty.
Catholic Persecutions in the Palatinate after 1685	Louis XIV [the Sun King] claimed the Palatinate after the 1685 death of Elector Charles, the last Reformed Elector. After Heidelberg fell in October, 1588, Louis gave the order to “Ravage the Palatinate.” It began in January 18, in the dead of winter. Villages were burn in all directions. The city of Heidelberg itself was torched and the 600 year old castle was blown up. The French General Melac sat astride his horse observing the devastation from the central square of the city, laughing at the sufferings of the people. Some of the lower officers of the French allowed the people to burn damp straw in the windows which produced a dense smoke and so saved their houses. Manheim was completely destroyed. Twelve hundred villages and towns were destroyed with their houses and churches. In 1693 the French returned to destroy anything that had been left before. In Heidelberg the Reformed were locked in the Church of the Holy Cross, which was set on fire. They all expected to die, but at the last minute, they were released [some had died of fright], only to be herded into the square to watch the utter destruction of the city again. One hundred Reformed Churches west of the Nile were in the hands of Catholics. 200 Reformed ministers were driven out. Professor J. L. Fabricius of Heidelberg sacrificed everything for the church and traveled to other lands seeking offerings for the Reformed Church in Germany. The Reformed minister of Manheim, Schmidmann, did not desert his people, but even preached in the ruins of the churches, and divided his last bit of bread for the starving people. The sufferings came to an end by the Peace of Ryswick in 1697
Peacetime Persecutions under Catholic Electors 1697-1783	Rights were taken away. Reformed Cemetaries were expropriated; Reformed church bells were rung for Catholic festivals; finally the churches themselves were taken. Salaries of Reformed ministers and teachers were withheld. The “host” was carried through the streets and the Reformed were forced to kneel before it. The Evangelical rulers of England, Prussia, and others retaliated by closing Catholic Churches and some of the liberties were restored to the Palatinate in 1705. Even though it had been used for over 150 years by this time, in 1719, another Catholic Elector took offense at Question 80 in the catechism as a pretext to once again take Reformed Churches and forbid the use of the Heidelberg Catechism Their largest church, the Church of the Holy Ghost was taken by force. The Evangelical rulers again retaliated and the Elector backed down, but abandoned Heidelberg and moved his capital to Manheim. After this other persecutions were launched, even more subtle. The church-courts were enlarged by the Elector and corrupt men were added to it. Simony was practiced. When the godly protested, the Elector forbade them the courts to meet and for 34 years [from 1655-1689) no synods were held. For almost 200 years [almost the age of the United States] the Reformed had suffered persecution. Thousands had died, whole lands had been laid waste and huge amounts of wealth destroyed. But even so, in 1783 there were 240 Reformed parishes and 140,000 members in the Palatinate. These were a sturdy people. But it also shows why so many of them came to America.