The Italian Reformation’s Legacy of Small Groups
Author: Chris Castaldo, PhD
May 11, 2023
Did you know that we American evangelicals did not invent the small group Bible study?
Small groups played a significant role in gospel renewal during the Reformation in southern Europe. At least until the Inquisition in 1542, the movement was stimulated by numerous factors, including the abysmal morality of Pope Alexander VI and his Borgia family, the Medici papacies that had turned Rome into a haven of humanism, the popularizing of democratic ideals by public intellectuals such as Erasmus (who visited Italy from 1506 to 1509), and Protestant tracts that questioned Roman church doctrine.
These factors prompted a widespread desire for biblical reform. Spiritual uneasiness, common across Europe at the start of the sixteenth century, prompted many thoughtful Christians to reexamine the roots of their faith. Opening the Fifth Lateran Council in 1512, for example, Augustinian Cardinal Giles of Viterbo (1469-1532) declared, “Men must be changed by religion, not religion by men.” While this examination produced many initiatives to stimulate spiritual renewal, a central thrust was the necessity of Christians to gather and study the Bible.
One of these Bible study groups met in Naples, Italy, between 1536 and 1541. Led by the Spaniard Juan De Valdés, this circle of friends often picnicked together in the countryside on Sundays. Among the members were Bernardino Ochino, General of the Capuchins and the most famous preacher in Italy; Peter Martyr Vermigli, then abbot, soon-to-be Reformed theologian; Pietro Carnesecchi, a canon lawyer; and the Countess of Fondi, Giulia da Gonzaga, who was considered one of the world’s most beautiful women.
A work of Valdés, One Hundred and Ten Considerations, was a basis of discussion and tool for discipleship in the group’s gatherings, where they studied books of the Bible (starting with Romans followed by 1 Corinthians). Members discussed theology, especially wrestling through the doctrine of justification by faith alone. They also read pseudonymous works from Northern Reformers, such as Luther, Bucer, and Zwingli. Members prayed, debated, and conducted evangelistic outreach. Vermigli, for instance, shared the gospel with Galeazzo Caracciolo, who became a Reformer and went on to found the Italian Church in Calvin’s Geneva. By most standards, this was a thriving small group.
Perhaps the most poignant summary of Valdés Neapolitan fellowship was expressed decades later by one of its members, Pietro Carnesecchi, before he was publicly beheaded and burned for heresy by the Inquisition (1567). Describing the quality of friendship, theological interaction, and enthusiasm for biblical renewal, Carnesecchi called the Valdésian gatherings a regno di Dio, a “kingdom of God.”
Tragically, the Inquisition in Italy largely snuffed out this movement of gospel renewal—but not before much kingdom work was accomplished. Even in Italy, the seat of a corrupt and powerful church, we see that when God’s people prioritize gathering to study Scripture and theology—exchanging ideas in a bond of warm-hearted Christian fellowship—we can expect to see enriching and enduring spiritual renewal.
Chris Castaldo, PhD, is lead pastor of New Covenant Church in Naperville and author of the forthcoming book, The Upside Down Kingdom, from Crossway.
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