The Nicodemites - Hidden Christians

My brother Brian was kind enough to send me a book on a group of Christians in France called the Nicodemites. The Nicodemites were people who believed in Biblical Christianity but because of the intense persecution taking place under the Roman Catholic church chose to keep their faith hidden. They saw themselves as being like Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to Jesus at night. The book contained several letters from John Calvin in the 1500s to these Christians addressing many of their questions about attending the Roman Catholic church.

On to some of the key points. First, Calvin treats the Nicodemites as truly Christians. He sees that Christians will live a very difficult spiritual life in the Roman Catholic church, but he acknowledges them as Christians. He also provides instructions on how best to deal with the dreadful prospect of being in a church where idolatry is being practiced.

"Whenever he goes to Mass, since he cannot correct the abuses and abominations which are done there, let him regularly pray the Lord that he would be pleased to put things in order there. Then as he has opportunity, let him show with all his might that he is not at all in favour of the idolatry and superstition found there, and that he is not al all willing to consent to things which are repugnant to scripture; rather he asks to serve God purely by keeping his holy ordinances."

Calvin also provides his view of the Roman Catholic Church of his day.

"However, to that view one can answer that the church may be considered in different lights… For as St. Paul concludes that the grace of God will never depart from the Jews, because he once received them into his unbreakable covenant, likewise we can say that the power of his grace shall eternally abide in all the peoples that God has once enlightened with his gospel.” “Furthermore, they have baptism, which is a sign of the covenant of God, which cannot be in vain. And, although most, and almost all men, have fallen into idolatry, nevertheless their ingratitude cannot prevent the grace of God from taking its course. We therefore conclude that God has always had, and at present still has his elect, whose salvation is truly and efficaciously sealed and confirmed by baptism. And because baptism is a sacrament of the Church, the Lord has willed that there remain some invocation of his name there, and some fore of ecclesiastical ministry, lest the church be altogether abolished there."

Calvin fittingly compares the Roman Catholic church to the worship of God instituted by Israel under Jeroboam. After King Solomon died, God allowed Israel to be divided into two kingdoms, Judah with Jerusalem as its capital and the larger state called Israel. Since the sacrifices to God took place in Jerusalem under the control of the King of Judah, the kings of Israel worried that their people might change their allegiance to Judah and reunite the kingdom. To prevent this from occurring, the first King of Israel, Jereboam, set up local sites for sacrifices within his kingdom at Bethel and Dan. In both of these sites, representations of God were constructed for the people to worship. The representations used for God was a gold calf similar to the sin of Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai. Unlike Aaron, the kings of Israel never repented of this terrible sin. During Israel's history, a faithful minority placed themselves at great risk to go beyond Dan and Bethel and to worship God according to where the scriptures commanded in Jerusalem. The Samaritans in the days of Jesus were the mixed race decendents of the people of Israel.

I would contrast this view of Roman Catholics with the view of Ian Paisley and others. In one of Ian Paisley’s sermon, Roman Catholic are compared to the Amalekites at the time of King David. The Amalekites were a nation decended from Esau and who were one of the nations condemned by God to be destroyed from the Promise land. Paisley's interpretation is sinful and against the Bible. Even though Mr. Paisley says he does not approve of acts of terror against Catholics, it is no wonder people sometimes leave such sermons and do commit crimes against Catholics.

To escape persecution, the Nicodemites still want to participate fully in Roman Catholic Mass while in their heart acknowledging their objections to many of the practices. They wrongly compared themselves to Naaman the Syrian in the Old Testament. Naaman a Syrian soldier came to Israel to be cured of his leprosy. The prophet, Elisha, is used by God to cure him. He asks the permission of the prophet Elisha for forgiveness when he goes into the temple of Rimmon because of a slight bow he might make when he is helping the King of Syria.

Calvin details the differences between the Nicodemites and Naaman. Naaman promises to sacrifice only to the name of the God of Israel. In Naaman’s day, a leading soldier would be called to be involved with many pubic sacrifices. To only sacrifice to the Lord was a public declaration that he would only worship the true God of Israel. Calvin notes this public confession is in contrast to the Nicodemites who are refusing to make a public testimony of their objections to Roman Catholic worship. Also, Naamon takes away two mule loads of earth from Israel, “in order not to be defiled be sacrificing on unholy ground.” Calvin says,

“So, let anyone who cares to defend himself with the example of Naaman purge himself of all appearance of idolatry, and let him show that he is unwilling to consent to it at all. When once he has made that known, we will have no further argument with him.”

Understanding the difficult situation of the Nicodemites, Calvin does not insist that they leave the church but simply that they do not partake in idolatry including the worship of the Eucharist and that they make a public confession of what they truly believe God has revealed in the Bible. For the Nicodemites, what Calvin is asking is no mean thing. Their public confession may lead to their persecution. Calvin as always is principled and consistent in his use of the Scriptures to provide advice to people living with persecution of their faith. It is difficult advice to follow but consistant with what God teaches in the Bible.

Note: The picture above is of the St. Bartholomew Massacre. On the night of 23/24 August, 1572 more than 8,000 of the leading Huguenots, including Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Governor of Picardy and leader and spokesman of the Huguenots, were murdered in Paris. It happened during the wedding of Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, to Marguerite de Valois (daughter of Catherine de Medici who ordered the Massacre), when thousands of Huguenots converged on Paris for the wedding celebrations.

When the first rumours of the massacre reached the Vatican in Rome on 2 September 1572, pope Gregory XIII was jubilant and wanted bonfires to be lit in Rome. He was persuaded to wait for the official communication. The very morning of the day that he received the confirmed news, the pope held a consistory and announced that "God had been pleased to be merciful". Then with all the cardinals he repaired to the Church of St. Mark for the Te Deum, and prayed and ordered prayers that the Most Christian King might rid and purge his entire kingdom (of France) of the Huguenot plague.

On 8 September 1572 a procession of thanksgiving took place in Rome, and the pope, in a prayer after mass, thanked God for having "granted the Catholic people a glorious triumph over a perfidious race" (gloriosam de perfidis gentibus populo catholico loetitiam tribuisti).

Pope Gregory 13 medal for the Huguenot massacreGregory XIII engaged Vasari to paint scenes in one of the Vatican apartments of the triumph of the Most Christian King over the Huguenots. He had a medal struck representing an exterminating angel smiting the Huguenots with his sword, the inscription reading: Hugonottorium strages (Huguenot conspirators). In France itself, the French magistracy ordered the admiral to be burned in effigy and prayers and processions of thanksgiving on each recurring 24th August, out of gratitude to God for the victory over the Huguenots.