Editing Theodore Beza (section)

===Course of events after 1564===
[[Image:Theodore de Beze.jpg|right|thumb|[[Woodcut]] of Theodore Beza]]
As Calvin's successor, Beza was very successful, not only in carrying on his work but also in giving peace to the Church at Geneva.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} The magistrates had fully appropriated the ideas of Calvin, and the direction of spiritual affairs, the organs of which were the "ministers of the word" and "the consistory", was founded on a solid basis.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} No doctrinal controversy arose after 1564.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} The discussions concerned questions of a practical, social, or ecclesiastical nature, such as the supremacy of the magistrates over the pastors, freedom in preaching, and the obligation of the pastors to submit to the majority of the Company of Pastors.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

Beza did not force his will upon his associates, and took no harsh measures against injudicious or hot-headed colleagues, though sometimes he took their cases in hand and acted as mediator; and yet he often experienced an opposition so extreme that he threatened to resign.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} Although he was inclined to take the part of the magistrates, he knew how to defend the rights and independence of the spiritual power when occasion arose, without, however, conceding to it such a preponderating influence as did Calvin.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

Beza did not believe it wise for the Company of Pastors to have a permanent head.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} He convinced the Company to petition the Small Council to have limited terms for the position of moderator.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} In 1580 the Council agreed to a weekly rotating presidency.<ref>S. M. Manetsch (2012), ''Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609'', Oxford Studies in Historical Theology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 65.</ref> He mediated between the {{lang|fr|compagnie}} and the magistracy; the latter continually asked his advice even in political questions.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} He corresponded with all the leaders of the Reformed party in Europe.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} After the [[St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre]] (1572), he used his influence to give to the refugees a hospitable reception at Geneva.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

In 1574, he wrote his {{lang|la|De jure magistratuum}} ([[Right of Magistrates]]), in which he emphatically protested against tyranny in religious matters, and affirmed that it is legitimate for a people to oppose an unworthy magistracy in a practical manner and if necessary to use weapons and depose them.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

Without being a great dogmatician like his master, nor a creative genius in the ecclesiastical realm, Beza had qualities which made him famous as humanist, exegete, orator, and leader in religious and political affairs, and qualified him to be the guide of the Calvinists in all Europe.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} In the various controversies into which he was drawn, Beza often showed an excess of irritation and intolerance, from which [[Bernardino Ochino]], pastor of the Italian congregation at Zurich (on account of a treatise which contained some objectionable points on polygamy), and [[Sebastian Castellio]] at Basel (on account of his Latin and French translations of the Bible) had especially to suffer.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

Beza continued to maintain the closest relations with Reformed France.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} He was the [[Chairman|moderator]] of the general synod which met in April 1571 at [[La Rochelle]] and decided not to abolish church discipline or to acknowledge the civil government as head of the Church, as the Paris minister Jean Morel and the philosopher [[Petrus Ramus|Pierre Ramus]] demanded; it also decided to confirm anew the Calvinistic doctrine of the Lord's Supper (by the expression: "substance of the body of Christ") against Zwinglianism, which caused a dispute between Beza and Ramus and [[Heinrich Bullinger]].{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}

In May 1572 he took an important part in the national synod at [[Nîmes]].{{sfn|Choisy|1914}} He was also interested in the controversies which concerned the [[Augsburg Confession]] in Germany, especially after 1564, on the doctrine of the [[Person of Christ]] and the sacrament, and published several works against [[Joachim Westphal (of Hamburg)|Joachim Westphal]], [[Tilemann Heshusius]], [[Nikolaus Selnecker]], [[Johannes Brenz]], and [[Jakob Andrea]]. This caused him to be hated by all those who adhered to Lutheranism in opposition to Melanchthon, especially after 1571.{{sfn|Choisy|1914}}