“And in…all the travels and tribulations of this Church of
Jesus Christ…, Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!” –Joseph Smith
 |
| The Catholics were burning many of the reformers alive. |
When there is a reformation happening, there is much
persecution. The early saints of the LDS Church faced a vast enemy, full of
hatred for them. Those saints needed not only a strong leader, but also a
leader who could inspire them through their difficult times.
At the time John Calvin gave his sermon on suffering
persecution there was immense resistance from the Catholic Church. The church was killing and persecuting the Protestants
in greater numbers than the early LDS saints faced. When faced with such odds,
the people need encouragement to continue. John Calvin wanted to keep the
protestant reformation going strong, he knew that the Catholic Church was
slaughtering his protestant followers with almost unmatched brutality, and thus
he wanted to strengthen them against those attacks.
With Martin Luther dead, Calvin was the leader of this band
of followers. He already has an authoritative presence as such, but in order to
further his credibility he begins by citing the people’s minds to the apostle
Paul. That apostle would be the one that they had been reading the most about
in their newly translated bibles, and so any reference to him would be like
somebody referencing Jeffrey R. Holland at BYU, it builds instant ethos.
Once he has their attention, he pulls at their deepest heart
strings. He tells them that in order to be close to Jesus Christ, they need to
suffer these persecutions. This was rhetorical brilliance (setting aside
whether or not it is doctrinally true). The people wanted to be close to Jesus,
but they faced huge obstacles. By tying the idea of suffering persecutions into
their faith, he made it essential for them to stay in the reformation.
I was interested to see someone else's take on Calvin's speech. Your connections are very strong in my opinion. Calvin seemed to really play among ethos, pathos, and logos in a very motivating and appealing way. I agree that the references to past "suffering saints" contributed well to his rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteThere IS such a power in mentioning well-known leaders, isn't there? I don't know a Mormon who doesn't love Elder Holland. And if Paul was like that to the reformers, well, I don't know who wouldn't want to continue on...even to death...for their beliefs.
ReplyDelete