Hero of Faith THE TIRELESS PREACHER

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Literature REVELATION, AN OPEN BOOK

THE TIRELESS PREACHER HERO OF FAITH

Emma Bevan

Guillaume Farel is a remarkable role model of active Christianity from the 16th century. As a powerful instrument of Christ, he worked nonstop for four decades in the valleys and mountains of Switzerland to spread God’s Word.

At some point in his childhood, Guillaume decided to learn and study to gain enough knowledge to write books and preach the Word. In 1509, he persuaded his father to send him to study to the University of Paris and he also took private classes of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. This is how he met Jacques Lefèvre, theologian and humanist who despised the idolatry of the traditional church.

Guillaume Farel was born in 1489 into a Christian family in Gap, a commune in southeastern France. He knew Jesus through his parents and proved to be eager to follow in the steps of the Lord since a very young age. He was a righteous man who sought no greater honor than to be a servant of the Lord and no greater joy than to lead others to worship Him.

At some point in his childhood, Guillaume decided to learn and study to gain enough knowledge to write books and preach the Word. In 1509, he persuaded his father to send him to study to the University of Paris and he also took private classes of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. This is how he met Jacques Lefèvre, theologian and humanist who despised the idolatry of the traditional church.

Amazed by Lefèvre’s stance against sin, Guillaume listened to his conferences, attended his classes and became one of his closest disciples. In March 1517, Farel acquired the degree of Master of Arts. As Faber’s disciple, he witnessed how his master discovered the true doctrine of the Savior through faith and started to spread the Gospel.

The influence of Lefèvre’s worships and the study of the Bible brought the future reformer to believe in the true, unappealable foundations of Christianity. He read the history of the beginnings of Christianity and discovered the transforming power of Christ’s message. This led him to rebel against the Catholic Church, which encouraged paganism with invented traditions and rites and the worshipping of images, saints and virgins.

PROMOTER OF THE GOSPEL Inspired by God to spread the truth, the French missionary started his evangelistic work in 1521, in Meaux. There he shared the bread of life on the streets and markets and announced with a thunderous voice

that humankind had to walk away from evil and follow Jesus-Christ. His preaching aroused the hatred of the ecclesiastical authorities and he was forbidden to preach in 1523.

After leaving Meaux, the preacher returned to Paris and openly denounced the deviations of the Catholic Church. He went to Gap and spread the Word in streets, fields, mills, farmyards, riverbanks and mountainsides. Wherever two or three could gather to listen to him, Guillaume would show up to speak about the King of kings.

As people found his doctrine very strange and he was declared heretic by local monks and priests, Guillaume left Gap. He was persecuted and travelled from one place to another, hiding in forests and mountains. In December 1523, he arrived to Basel, Switzerland, and was received by theologian Johannes Hausschein. During this period, he made a visit to Zurich and became acquainted with theologian Ulrich Zwingli, the most important Swiss reformer of the time, whom he held in high regard. He was also invited to preach the Gospel in the commune of Montbéliard, which belonged to the German Empire. Unfortunately, his active ministry against the worshipping of images attracted the attention of the authorities and prompted his exile. HERO OF FAITH

REFORMER OF SWITZERLAND His exile forced him to go to Strasbourg, an important center of communication that today belongs to France. There he found his master, Lefèvre. Later on, in October 1526 Guillaume was again in Switzerland and settled there for a while, at the advice of Berthold Haller, an exegete friend of Zwingli who lived in Bern.

With the support of Haller, Farel moved to the town of Aigle, located south-east of the lake of Geneva, and became a school teacher. For four years, besides teaching how to read and write, he spoke to the poorest about the love and grace of Jesus and warmly introduced them to the Savior they had never met until then. The locals looked unto Christ during those days. Convinced that the Almighty had sent him to Switzerland to attract more believers to His flock, Farel was blessed by God with a faithful preaching that helped him save many people. Souls thirsty for the Lord would come to him from different places across the country to feel the presence of the one and only Redeemer. Just like in the times of the Apostles, a number of people joined the Lord’s ranks and the Good News spread from town to town.

Guillaume, when not teaching, preaching or praying, would thoroughly study the Bible. In January 1528, he participated in a public disputation between

He was persecuted and travelled from one place to another, hiding in forests and mountains. In December 1523, he arrived to Basel, Switzerland, and was received by theologian Johannes Hausschein.

Catholics and Reformers in Bern. The disputation marked a milestone in the history of the Reformation in Helvetian territory. As the last speaker in the event, Guillaume contributed with his solid arguments for the abolition of mass.

GLORIOUS PREACHER After leaving Aigle in 1530, the preacher continued doing his best to bring the Gospel to new places such as Orbe, Saint-Blaise and Grandson. Nevertheless, his efforts were not well received and his message provoked the wrath of monks, priests and bigoted women who refused the Sound Doctrine, and he was more than once threatened with death.

Despite the obstacles, Farel experienced the joy of witnessing the salvation of sinners in several Swiss cities and towns thanks to his preaching. A great number of men and women were thus protected from the clutches of evil and devoted themselves to the true God. Wearing the sword of the Holy Spirit and the helmet of salvation, Guillaume fought against the blasphemous and idolatrous ceremonies of the Roman cult.

In October 1532, the messenger of Jesus went for the first time to Geneva to spread the Scriptures. In that moment, Geneva was amidst a fight for its freedom. Although attacked as soon as he entered the city, he paved the way for the faith in the Gospel. Later on, Guillaume met French theologian John Calvin, whom he urged to become a renowned representative of the Reformation.

Guillaume worked nonstop for almost forty years in the mountains and valleys of Switzerland to spread God’s Word. He died on September 13, 1565 at the age of 76. Few men have done as much as this beloved servant of Jesus-Christ, who prevailed over hatred, disdain and repression to preach about eternal life and redemption.