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deserved his surname by residing among them. At the same time their
connection with Peter and his real Lionese disciples established a notion of
their identity; and the Vaudois, in return for the title which they had
bestowed, received the reciprocal appellation of Lyonnese; such, at least,
appears the most probable among the many varying accounts. There are some
who believe the Vaudois to have enjoyed the uninterrupted integrity of the
faith even from the apostolic ages; others suppose them to have been disciples
of Claudius Turin, the evangelical prelate of the ninth century. At least, it may
be pronounced with great certainty that they had been long in existence
before the visit of the Lionese reformer.” f654
Of Claude of Turin, Neander says:
“The interest of practical Christianity stands foremost in all his commentaries.
Grace, the source of genuine sanctification; the temper and disposition, the
main thing to be regarded in the disposition of moral worth; a disposition of
love to God, purified from all reference to reward, the essence of the genuine
Christian temper, worship of God in the spirit, the characteristic of all true
piety. … And it is easy to understand, therefore, in what sort of a relation he
must have been placed to the reigning sensuous element in the religious
tendency of his age. … From this ethical point of view, he would necessarily
be led to dispute many of the marks by which his contemporaries were
accustomed to judge respecting good works. Thus, to the merit of good
works, according to monkery, he opposed St. Paul’s doctrine of grace. … He
saw with extreme pain how the essence of Christianity was here placed in
making pilgrimages to Rome, in adoring images and relics, in various species
of out-ward works; how men were taught to trust in the intercession of the
saints, to the neglect of earnest moral efforts of their own.: “He beheld a
superstition which bordered closely on paganism, obtaining in the worship of
saints, of images, of the cross, and of relics … He disclaimed violently against
superstition; he banished from the churches the images and crosses, which
seemed to have become objects of religious adoration. He says himself on the
subject: ‘When I was induced to undertake the office of pastor, and came to
Italy, I found, contrary to the doctrine, all the churches full of the lumber of
consecrated gifts; and because I began alone pulling down what all adored I
was calumniated by all, and unless the Lord had helped me, they would,
perhaps, have swallowed me up alive.’ Pope Paschal expressed displeasure at
his conduct. … But it is remarkable that though popes countenanced the
fanaticism of the multitude this expression of displeasure had no farther
injurious effect on Claudius. … In general he denied that St. Peter possessed
any continuous power to bind and to loose. The ‘title to an apostolicus does
not belong to him who administers a bishopric’ founded by an Apostle, but to
him who fulfils the apostolic vocation; to those who occupy the place without
fulfilling the vocation should be applied the passage in Matthew 23:12.’
As may be inferred from the language of one of his opponents, Claudius was
cited to appear before an assemblage of bishops; but he did not present
himself, as he could easily see that it would be impossible for him to come to