Podcast Episode 86
Theodore Beza
with Dr. Karin Maag & host Nick Walters
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When John Calvin died in Geneva in 1564, the Protestant Reformation lost one of its most influential theologians. But the movement he helped shape did not end with him. Theodore Beza, a French theologian, biblical scholar, and longtime colleague of Calvin, became a leading figure in Geneva and helped carry the Reformed tradition into the next century.
Born in Vézelay, France, in 1519, Beza received a classical education and initially pursued a literary career. After embracing Protestantism in 1548, he left France for Geneva. He taught Greek in Lausanne before returning to Geneva, where he became the first rector of the Geneva Academy in 1559. The school trained ministers who helped spread Reformed Protestantism across Europe.
Beza’s influence reached beyond education. In 1561, he represented the Protestant side at the Colloquy of Poissy, an unsuccessful effort to reconcile Catholics and Protestants in France. As the French Wars of Religion unfolded, he defended the Huguenots and became involved in debates about religious authority, political power, and resistance to rulers. After Calvin’s death, Beza succeeded him as moderator of Geneva’s Company of Pastors, a position he held for decades.
Beza also contributed to biblical scholarship through editions of the Greek New Testament and Latin translations and annotations, and his theological writings helped shape later Reformed thought. Geneva in his lifetime was not simply a center of theological debate. It was a city where pastors and magistrates shared, contested, and negotiated responsibilities for religious and civic life. Its academy educated future leaders, its printers circulated religious works, and its connections to France made Geneva especially important to persecuted French Protestants.
Theodore Beza died in Geneva on October 13, 1605, at age 86. Although less familiar today than Calvin or Martin Luther, he helped give the Reformed tradition institutional continuity during an era of fierce confessional conflict. His story illustrates how the Reformation was shaped not only by its celebrated founders but also by those who carried their work forward.
For our Deep Dive, host Nick Walters is joined by Dr. Karin Maag, professor of history at Calvin University and director of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies. Her research on the Protestant Reformation, Geneva, theological education, worship, and the relationship between church and civic authorities provides essential context for understanding Beza’s world. Her publications include Worshiping with the Reformers, and her scholarship on the Genevan Academy illuminates how Protestant ministers were trained and how Reformed ideas traveled.
Was Beza chiefly a guardian of Calvin’s legacy, or did his methods and emphases help transform it? And how does a reform movement survive its founding generation through schools, ministers, books, and institutions?
Our first historical highlight takes us to the Soviet Union in 1937. Alexander Ivanovich Shchukin (1891–1937), an Orthodox archbishop associated with Semipalatinsk, was among the clergy persecuted under Soviet rule. Arrested in 1937 amid Stalin’s Great Purge, he was accused of counterrevolutionary activity, sentenced to death, and executed on October 30 near Semipalatinsk, in present-day Kazakhstan. The Russian Orthodox Church later canonized him among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. His death reflects the broader campaign of repression against religious communities in the Soviet Union.
Our second highlight takes us to France, where King Louis XIV issued the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes of 1598, which had granted limited protections to French Protestants. The new edict banned Protestant worship, ordered Protestant churches demolished, and required Protestant children to receive Catholic instruction. Protestant ministers were directed to leave France, while other Protestants were forbidden to emigrate. Many Huguenots nevertheless fled, reshaping Protestant communities elsewhere in Europe and beyond. The edict marked a major turning point in the history of religious toleration and persecution in France.
This Week in Christian History is produced by the Center for Christian History and hosted by Nick Walters.