§ 17G. heza's wjtiTiNGS. 873
close connection he had with the Authorized Version. Not only were his editions in the hands of Kinf,r Janies' revisers, but his Latin version witli its notes was coiislaiitly used l)y them. He had already intlueneed the authors of the (ienevan version (1557 and 1500), as was of course iuevitahle, and this version influenced the Authorized. As Beza was undoubtedly the best Continental excjrete of tlie closing part of the sixteenth century, this inHuciice of his Latin version and notes was on the wh(jle beneiicial. Hut then it must be confessed that he was also responsible for many errors of reading and rendering in the Authorized Version. i
Beza was the chief theologian of the Reformed Church after Calvin. Principal Cunningham has shown'- the part Beza played in bringing about the transition from the original Calvinism to the scholastic form, hard and mechanical, and so unconsciously preparing the way for the great reaction from Calvinism, viz. Arminianism ; for Arminius had been a student in the Genevan Academy under Beza. Beza drew up in the form of a chart a curious scheme of a system of theology, and he published it in his Tractationes (mentioned below) along with a commentary, Summa totius Christianismi sive descriptio et distributio causarwn salutls electorum et exitii reprohoriim^ ex sacris Uteris collecta et explicata^ pp. 170 sqq. Ileppe reprints the chart.
The chief work published by Beza, though not acknowledged by him, is the famous and invaluable Histoire ecclSsiastique des l^glhes Reformees an royaume de France^ originally issued at Antwerp in 1580, 3 vols. 8vo. The
1 The late Ezra Abbot, the biblical textual oritie, at Dr. Schaff's request, made a very careful collation of the ditfereiit editions of Beza with the Authorized Version, and found that "the Authorized Version agrees with Beza's text of 1589 against Stephen's of 1550 in about ninety places ; with Stephen's against Beza in about forty; and in from thirty to forty places, in most of which the variations are of a trivial cliaracter, it differs from both." Schaff: The Revision of the English Version of the New Testament, New York, 1873 (Introd. p. xxviii). Cf. Farrar, Ilistori/ of Interpretation, p. 342, note 3.
■^ See his Reformers (pp. 345-413) mentioned ut the head of this cliapter.
874 THE REFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
best edition of which is that by Baum (d. 1881), Cunitz (d. 1886), and Rodolphe Reiiss, Paris, 1883-89, 3 vols, small quarto. It is well known to scholars that the fii"st four books are in a great degree composed of extracts from contemporaneous works, especially the Histoire des Martyrs by Crespin, and the Histoire de Vestat de France^ attributed to Regnier de la Plancde, but no indication is given whence the extracts are taken. This defect in modern eyes is removed in the edition spoken of. The genesis of the work seems to be this, that Beza received reports from all parts of France in reply to the Synod's recommendation that the churches write their histories for the benefit of posterity, that he arranged these, and inserted much autobiographical matter, but as he had to employ unknown persons to assist him, he modestly refused to put his name to the book.
Beza's " Life of Calvin " was written in French, and immediately translated by himself into Latin (Geneva, 1565). It is the invaluable, accurate, and sympathetic picture of the great Reformer by one who knew him intimately and revered him deeply. It has been constantly used in the former chapters of this volume. It is by far the best of the contemporary biographies of any of the Reformers.
Beza collected his miscellanies under the title Tractationes theologicce, Geneva, 1570, 2d ed. 1582, 3 vols, folio. In these volumes will be found united his chief essays, including the De hcereticis a eivili magutratu pmiiendis, adversus M. Bellium (I. 85-169), already analyzed. The first part was reprinted as late as 1658 under the new title Opuscula, in quibus pleraque Christiance religionis dogmata adversus hcereses nostris temporibus renovatas solide ex verbo Dei defenduntur.
In 1573 he published a curious volume of correspondence on theological subjects, Epistolarum Theologicarwm. The letters are written to different persons and are variously dated from 1556 to 1572. The volume is printed in small italics and was so popular that the third edition
^ ITt;. liEZA's \vi:rnN(;s. 875
appeared at Hanover in 1;VJT. But the number of his letters published is greatly exceeded by those still in manuscript.
In 1577 he published Lex Dei, nwralU, ceremonialis, et politica, ex libris Mosis excerpta, et in eertax rhisscs (Jistrilnifa. This is simply the legal portions of the Pentateuch classified, without note or comment, apparently under the theory that the Mosaic law is still binding.
In 1581 Beza, in connection with Daneau and Salnar, issued the Harmonia Confessionum Fidei, designed to jj^jmote Christian union among the evangelical cliurches.^
Mention has already been made of Beza as a poet. His Foemata, Paris, 1548, commonly called Juvenilia, consists of epigrams, epitaphs, elegies, and bucolics. They are classical in expression, and erotic in sentiment, thougli not so vicious as such a libeller as Bolsec would have us believe. His Abraham^ Sacrifice, already alluded to, was written in French (Geneva, 1550), and translated into Italian (Florence, 1572), English (London, 1577), and Latin (Geneva, 1597). It was republished along with the Foemata, Geneva, 1597. Of much more importance is his translation of the Psalms, completing that begun by Cl(iment Marot. It was undertaken at Calvin's request, and published in sections, and finished at Geneva in 1560.
1 See Schaff, Creeds, I. 354 ; II. 193 sqq.
JAC OBUS FAB MIL, Jhy?u/ensi£.