Introduction
God has been at work in France from the beginning of Christianity. While the Evangelical Protestant Church in France traces its origin largely back to the Huguenots, true believers – those who heard the Good News of Christ and converted to Christianity –have been present long before the Reformation.
The Gallic Church: The first centuries after Christ’s resurrection
In the first centuries of the Christian era, the church in Gaul was one of the strongest in the world and had many great leaders. Irenaeus, the church father and bishop of Lyon, played a significant role in defending the world-wide church against heresy. Martin of Tours established one of the first centers of missionary training in the western world. In the following years France sent out many missionaries to evangelize the surrounding nations. Germanus, a renowned healing evangelist, went to Britain. Patrick, who evangelized the Irish, was trained there.
In 496, Clovis I became the first French King to convert to Christianity. This was a significant event that changed the entire course of the French nation. The full story of his conversion is recounted by Gregory of Tours (539-594) in his work History of the Franks.
According to the book The Christian Trumpet by Gaudentius Rossi (1817-1891), St. Remigius gave this prophecy to Clovis on the day of his baptism:
“…the Kingdom of France is predestined by God for the defense of the Roman Church, which is the only true Church of Christ. This kingdom shall one day be great among the kingdoms of the earth, and shall embrace all the limits of the Roman Empire, and shall submit all other kingdoms to its own scepter. It shall last until the end of time. It shall be victorious and prosperous as long as it will remain faithful to the Holy Roman See, and will not be guilty of those crimes which ruin nations; but it shall be rudely punished every time that it will become unfaithful to its vocation.”
We believe that God’s calling on France is to defend the true Church of Christ – all those who call on the name of the Lord and have given their lives to him – whether through the more outspoken Evangelical movements or through other Protestant and Catholic works.
In fact, since Clovis (first king of the Franks in 481) converted to Christianity and broke from the Frankish pagan beliefs, the French crown has had a special relationship to the church. There was no concept of the separation of church and state in France. The Pope gave the kings of France the title of “Most Christian King,” and at his consecration (itself a holy rite) the King takes an oath to extirpate heresy in his realm. In spite of this close relationship, or perhaps because of it, the Gallican church in France has also traditionally enjoyed more independence from the central church hierarchy. The King’s rights to govern the church were unprecedented.
Helpful Sites
https://www.tourdeconstance.com/
http://www.museedudesert.com/index.php
https://www.museeprotestant.org/notice/implantation-de-la-reforme-en-france/
Sources
Wikipedia
Greater Europe Mission
www.beyond.fr
Le Poulet Gauche
www.reformiert-online.net
Paper presented by Sebastien Fath at the Association for Sociology of Religion in 2003
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