French Protestantism’s Struggle for Survival and Legitimacy (1517–1905)
Ebook
At the dawn of the Protestant Reformation, French Protestants began their struggle for religious equality and civil rights. They faced opposition from the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries the Catholic Church had influenced every aspect of life--cultural, educational, social, political, and economic. Protestantism arrived as a foreign invader and disrupted the Catholic monopoly. Protestants did not receive individual civil and religious rights until the French Revolution in 1789. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen announced a new era of religious tolerance. Official recognition of the Protestant religion was not granted until Napoleon came to power and imposed the Concordat of 1801 and the Organic Articles in 1802. The rights obtained by Protestants did not always translate into protection from violence and discrimination. During the nineteenth century, political upheaval and attempts to reestablish Catholicism as the state religion led to the termination of the Concordat in 1905. The history of French Protestantism serves as a reminder of the danger of either religion or government assuming powers and roles which have not been attributed to them by the law of the land, the laws of God, or the will of citizens.
“Written from a Protestant perspective, Stephen Davis brilliantly chronicles the centuries-long Huguenot fight for survival and legal recognition in France from the earliest days of the Reformation to the 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State. The book colorfully describes religious persecution, wars, massacres, revolutions, and how the Protestants survived against long odds.”
—Martin I. Klauber, affiliate professor of church history, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
“Stephen Davis has, again, brought the plight of the French Protestant to life in this rich, scholarly, and penetrating analysis. The success of the German, Swiss, and English Reformations tend to result in a lack of interest in what was transpiring in France, but Davis helps to recalibrate our focus by exploring the challenges faced by the French Protestants. I heartily encourage any student of the Reformation to enrich their knowledge through this book.”
—TK Dunn, associate professor of history and theology, Columbia International University
“This clearly written and balanced overview of Protestantism in France from 1517 to 1905 covers the Reformation, era of religious wars, and the Revolution, but also the less familiar—and more positive—developments for them during the Republics, the Napoleonic Era, and the Dreyfus Affair. Until a 1905 law ended the Catholic Church’s official power by separating church and state, Protestants in France demonstrated remarkable resilience.”
—Douglas Carl Abrams, author of Missionaries in the Golden Age of Hollywood
“Stephen Davis’s book is a valuable look at the long history of French Protestantism. Previous works have addressed Protestantism in France up to the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but Davis continues the story through the French Revolution into the twentieth century. Davis helps the reader better understand the ways in which Protestants negotiated religious and political upheavals for almost four hundred years and provides practical insights for Christians facing persecution in the twenty-first century.”
—Mark Draper, associate professor of church history, Lancaster Bible College
- Title: French Protestantism’s Struggle for Survival and Legitimacy (1517–1905)
- Author: Stephen M. Davis
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666771336, 9781666771312, 1666771317, 9781666771329, 1666771325, 1666771333
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666771336
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-11T21:33:06Z
Stephen M. Davis is an elder at Grace Church in Philadelphia (gracechurchphilly.org). He holds a PhD in intercultural studies from Columbia International University and a DMin in missiology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of several books including two on French history: Rise of French Laïcité in the Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series and The French Huguenots and Wars of Religion, selected by the National Huguenot Society for their 2022 Scholarly Works Award.