Pierre Viret: Forgotten Giant of The Reformation. The Apologetics, Ethics & Economics of the Bible

by Jean-Marc Berthoud

This little book bears with it a grand subject: the historical and literary resurrection of one of the major figures of the Reformation, the long forgotten Reformer of French-speaking Switzerland, Pierre Viret (1511–1571). Viret was a life-long companion of the better known figures of Guillaume Farel and John Calvin. After his studies in Paris Viret, amid the bonfires of first martyrs of the French Reformation, was won over to the renewed Evangelical Faith, and returned to his native country of Switzerland. Before the coming of John Calvin, Viret labored with Farel to establish the Reformation in Geneva. However his main ministry was for some 33 years in Lausanne. There he founded the first properly Reformed academy, later to be the model of the Genevan seminary. In 1559 he was exiled by the Bernese sovereign over Vaud for his defense of the local Church’s disciplinary autonomy from the State. He then undertook a fruitful ministry in France, ending his life in Béarn where, under its famed queen, Jeanne d’Albret, he reorganized the nascent Reformed Churches and set up a new theological academy.

Viret, a man of great mildness and persistence – he was called “the Angel of the Reformation” – was in his own time a renowned preacher, evangelist and theologian. A prolific author, his abilities in the fields of ethics, apologetics and symbolic and pastoral theology puts him in lithe company of the great Reformers. His massive Christian Instruction in the Doctrine of the Law and the Gospel contains the finest exposition of the Ten Commandments brought out by the Reformation. His apologetics based on the authority of God’s Word on every aspect of creation and the certitude that the meaning of all reality was given by God and revealed in his written and incarnate Word, leads his writings to have an incomparable freshness and present applicability. Indeed, as this book briefly shows, his careful application of God’s Law to the economic realities of his time sheds light even on the financial issues of our troubled times. The present renewal of interest in Pierre Viret’s indefatigable labours for the advancement of the Kingdom of God comes indeed at its proper time!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: Brief Life of Pierre Viret
CHAPTER 2: Pierre Viret's Place in the Reformation
CHAPTER 3: Viret as Ethicist
CHAPTER 4: Viret as Apologist
CHAPTER 5: Viret as Economist
CONCLUSION: The Spirit of Viret's Thinking
APPENDIX: Bibliography of the French Works of Pierre Viret

Genres: Biography, History, Theology

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Né en 1939 en Afrique du Sud de parents missionnaires, Jean-Marc Berthoud est diplômé de l'Université de Witwatersrand à Johannesburg en littérature et histoire anglaise. De 1960 à 1964, il poursuit des recherches en histoire coloniale à la Sorbonne et à Londres.

Président de l'Association vaudoise de parents chrétiens, il est l'auteur de nombreux livres sur la défense de la foi chrétienne face à la montée de la sécularisation et du modernisme.

Éditeur de la revue Résister et Construire et Documentation chrétienne, il vit à Lausanne.

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really pleased with this book, and very excited about the project associated with it -- that of getting Viret's work back into print. The growth of Reformation studies is really encouraging.

[Fabrício Tavares De Moraes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berthoud é certamente um dos pensadores reformados mais eruditos da contemporaneidade. Neste livreto ele retoma a vida, obra e pensamento de um dos principais ícones da Reforma e amigo íntimo de João Calvino, o suíço Pierre Viret, que infelizmente muitos historiadores e teólogos relegaram ao esquecimento. Apresentando um trabalho rigoroso de pesquisa histórica e análise teológica, Berthoud nos mostra algumas faces de Viret: economista, apologista, filósofo e pensador político -- facetas que foram fundamentais para a consolidação do pensamento reformado não somente nos rincões da Suíça, mas também na própria Genebra de Calvino. Curiosamente, Viret fundou o primeiro centro acadêmico de preparação e ensino da teologia reformada: a Academia de Lausanne, cujos alunos e professores, anos depois e por pressão política externa, constituir-se-iam os fundamentos para a Academia de Genebra.

[Felipe Sabino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belo relato sobre um gigante esquecido, “o melhor amigo” de Calvino.

[Mark Nenadov · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short look at a very interesting and yet almost totally overlooked Reformer. It’s like an appetizer to a full biography.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good history, but very badly written (or rather translated).

[JonM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little booklet is really good, especially as a primer to develop interest in this forgotten reformer. If you like this book, check out the much larger biography by the same publisher.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une très intéressante introduction à Pierre Viret.

[Rodrigo Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Após ler essa obra, penso que o título do livro é assertivo, porque realmente, Pierre Viret é um personagem “esquecido” mas com uma participação vital na história da igreja. Recomendo a leitura para conhecimento de mais um personagem importante da história do cristianismo.

[Yessica]

Very good. a precious jewel.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Através de uma pesquisa bibliográfica impecável — abrangente e de fontes primárias — o Jean-Marc Berthoud apresenta ao mundo cristão atual o pensamento de um verdadeiro gigante esquecido da reforma Protestante. O autor faz isso mostrando escritos diversos, revelado a sabedoria, clareza e ortodoxia de Pierre Viret em áreas como apologética, filosofia, economia e teologia. É um livro excelente e muito encorajador!

Também é necessário destacar que o autor traz uma discussão excelente e muito pertinente aos nossos dias no apêndice 1. Nele se apresenta uma análise e uma discussão a respeito da aplicabilidade da lei mosaica aos nossos dias.

Este livro é un trabalho belíssimo e de alta qualidade!