ciente, sed etiam iuste ordinante et decernente Deo_." (186.)
"There never has been, nor is, nor will be a time," said he, "when God
has wished, wishes, or will wish, to have compassion on every individual
person. _Nullum tempus fuit vel est vel erit, quo voluerit, velit aut
voliturus sit Deus singulorum misereri_." (Pieper, _Dogm_. 2, 25. 50.)

In foisting his doctrine of election on the Reformed churches, Calvin
met with at least some opposition. The words in the paragraph of the
_Formula of Concord_ quoted above: "Yet, since this article [of
predestination] has been brought into very painful controversy in other
places," probably refer to the conflicts in Geneva and Switzerland.
October 16, 1551, Jerome Bolsec [a Carmelite in Paris, secretly spread
Pelagianism in Geneva; sided with the Protestants in Paris and Orleans
after his banishment from Geneva; reembraced Romanism when persecution
set in; wrote against Calvin and Beza, died 1584] was imprisoned in
Geneva because of his opposition to Calvin's doctrine of predestination.
Melanchthon remarks in a letter of February 1, 1552: "Laelius [Socinus]
wrote me that in Geneva the struggle concerning the Stoic necessity is
so great that a certain one who dissented from Zeno [Calvin] was
incarcerated. What a miserable affair! The doctrine of salvation is
obscured by disputations foreign to it." (_C. R._ 7, 932.) Although the
German cantons (Zurich, Bern, Basel) advised moderation, Bolsec was
banished from Geneva, with the result however, that he continued his
agitation against Calvin in other parts of Switzerland. In Bern all
discussions on predestination were prohibited by the city council.
Calvin complained in a letter of September 18, 1554: "The preachers of
Bern publicly declare that I am a heretic worse than all the Papists."
(Gieseler 3, 2, 178.) January 26, 1555, the council of Bern renewed its
decree against public doctrinal discussions, notably those on
predestination--"_principalement touchant la matiere de la divine
predestination, qui nous semble non etre necessaire_," etc. (179.) Later
on the doctrine of Calvin was opposed by the Arminians from
Semi-Pelagian principles.

226. Calvinistic Confessions.

The essential features of Calvin's doctrine of predestination were
embodied in most of the Reformed confessions. The _Consensus Genevensis_
of January 1, 1552, written by Calvin against Albert Pighius [a
fanatical defender of Popery against Luther, Bucer, Calvin;