Hotbed of Reformation

After traveling by high speed train on Sunday, we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, considered by many to be the hotbed for the Reformation in the 16th century. At that time Geneva was a city state, and its ruling body went against the Roman church and declared Geneva a safe haven for John Calvin and reformers like him. Calvin had been a priest, but, like Martin Luther, believed the church needed to reform. He was not allowed to do this from within the Roman church, and would have been tried by the church for heresy had he not had a safe haven where his theology and thought could evolve. Geneva became a safe place where reform-minded ministers came to learn and express their views. John Knox came here to escape persecution in Scotland. Two of the four reformers pictured together at the Reformation Wall near the old city of Geneva are John Calvin and John Knox (see picture). Knox went back to Scotland where his work led to the formation of the Presbyterian Church which was the church out of which Disciples of Christ came.
We visited St. Peter’s Church today in the old city. It is built on a site where worship has taken place for at least 2100 years. It is high on a hill overlooking Lake Geneva. Allobrogians apparently buried a famous tribal chief on the site around 100 B.C.E. Digs under the present church have found evidence of wine and food near an ancient tomb indicating it was a place where people came to worship and their worship included meals. A Roman temple was built over the ancient tomb indicating some Romans found this site sacred. One of the interesting artifacts I saw was a twelve sided silver dice containing the signs of the Zodiac. By the fourth century there was a church here where Christians worshiped. Several baptismal pools have been unearthed showing an elaborate system of how water was piped in, indicating a large pool where the candidate would kneel in the water to be baptized (see photo).
Parts of the present church were constructed in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was a Catholic Church with beautiful stained glass and frescos, but the reformers stripped the church of anything lavish (or beautiful). Not even organ music was allowed until the end of the 18th century.
Tomorrow we go to Bern where my grandfather John Miller was born. We will move on to a small town called Thun where we will spend three days with my cousin Esther.