“Now that the government is in your hands, God will test your zeal and fidelity. You now have an obligation to purge your lands of idolatry by taking into consideration the difficulties which can hold you back, the fears and doubts which can sap courage. And I do not doubt that your advisors, if they look to this world, will try to stop you. I know the arguments advanced to prove that princes should not force their subjects to lead a Christian life, but all kingdoms which do not serve that of Jesus Christ are ruined. So judge for yourself. I do not say that all can be done in a day.”
John Calvin, in a letter to Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre
Cited in W. Robert Godfrey, "Heroes of the Faith #05: Jeanne d’Albret," Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, January 18, 2005, transcript, sermonaudio.com (accessed July 17, 2012), 9.
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