Pierre Viret

[1] After attending school in his hometown, Viret studied at the Collège de Montaigu of the University of Paris, where he came in contact with and converted to the Reformed faith.

[1] According to Melchior Adam, "in Lyon, preaching out in the open, he brought thousands to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

[1] Jean-Marc Berthoud suggests that "if his good friend, John Calvin, was the consummate dogmatician and the prince of exegetes, Pierre Viret must be considered as the finest ethicist and the most acute apologist of the sixteenth century.

"[4] Robert D. Linder notes that "Viret, unlike Calvin, was ready to extend openly the authority of the Bible over the State.

"[5] Linder concludes that "Viret deserves a far more prominent place in the story of the Reformation than he has been accorded thus far, especially by historians in the English-speaking world.