Heretic? Burn Him At The Stake
The story is about Michael Servetus. Please allow me a few lines to set the context.
I've secured the entire Wikipedia Encyclopedia for my Palm Tungsten E Handheld. That's right- on a 2GB card I possess 190,000 encyclopedic articles. My wife thinks I'm a bit looney, but I truly enjoy sitting around and researching subjects on my Palm. So the other day I was studying a bit about the Unitarian faith. They believe in One God, but disallow the Trinity. So I began considering the concept of "modalism" and came across the name of Michael Servetus. And with him, found a fascinating story.
Michael Servetus was a true Renaissance Man of the 15th Century. His pursuits included two decades of medical practice, where he postulated the circulatory system. He was also an astronomer, meteorologist, and expert in jurisprudence. But his greatest passion was to think about God. He read and translated the entire Bible in the original languages of Greek, Hebrew and Latin.
In his studies he came to believe in the unity of God, but not the doctrine of the Trinity. His conviction was the Trinity was not based upon biblical interpretation but upon Greek philosophy. He became intent to return Christianity to biblical fidelity, and also to make Christianity more inviting to the monotheistic religions of Islam and Judaism. A famous statement of Servetus: "Christ is not the Eternal Son of God, but the Son of the Eternal God." It was an original doctrine, and today he is revered as one of the founders of the Unitarian faith. But his simple (and profound) play of words cost his life.
Soon he was branded a heretic, despised by Catholics and Protestants. With hope, he sought dialog with the great Protestant leader, John Calvin. The two exchanged many letters. Calvin came to deeply despise the man because of his doctrines and perceived haughtiness. Servetus was arrested for heresy but amazingly escaped from prison. Unwisely it seems, he made his way to Geneva to attend a sermon by Calvin. He was recognized, and after the service immediately arrested. He was tried, convicted of Heresy, and because he refused to recant he was sentenced to being burned at the stake. Calvin was highly instrumental in the proceedings.
I came across a detailed description of the execution of Servetus. Here I quote a graphic paragraph:
"When the executioner began his work, Servetus whispered with trembling voice: 'Oh God, Oh God!' The thwarted Farel snapped at him: 'Have you nothing else to say?' This time Servetus replied to him: 'What else might I do, but speak of God!' Thereupon he was lifted onto the pyre and chained to the stake. A wreath strewn with sulfur was placed on his head. When the faggots were ignited, a piercing cry of horror broke from him. 'Mercy, mercy!' he cried. For more than half an hour the horrible agony continued, for the pyre had been made of half-green wood, which burned slowly. 'Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy on me,' the tormented man cried from the midst of the flames ...."
As a Christian I am troubled by this story. Here is but one troublesome issue:
John Calvin is revered within Protestant circles. His Institutes and Commentaries Of The Bible are still used today. I still remember the TULIP anachronym, learned in Seminary, for the Calvinistic doctrines. Thus, this man seems highly inspired of God as a historical church leader, preacher, and writer. My question: How could he perpetrate and allow such an awful thing? He was complicit in the willful torture and killing of another human being, and not for any awful crime against humanity, but for theological differences. Can a single person be such a mixture of so much good (preacher, teacher, theologian, leader of the Reformation) and so much bad (to have a person burned alive because of his theological differences)?
It bothers me that good and evil can be so entwined.
And, it causes me to consider the condition of my own heart.
11.27.06 (10:55 pm) [
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posted by:
bawdy (
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post date:
11.28.06 (10:26 am)
I just don't understand how one can preach to love one another yet have someone killed for not sharing the same beliefs. Or those extremists who justify killing because it is God's will (or so they think).
posted by:
(
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post date:
11.28.06 (11:31 am)
so youre against the death penalty?
posted by:
graceshaker (
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post date:
11.28.06 (11:32 am)
sorry ^thats^ me.
posted by:
akelso (
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post date:
11.28.06 (11:43 am)
There seems something demonic in human nature that will eventually find reason to do unspeakable things to other beings - even when thoroughly instructed against those deeds by the Divine, and by a Beloved Community which follows Divine instruction ...
The death penalty is not part of Christian doctrine as I understand it. What would Jesus do/say?
- Andrea
posted by:
doeeyed (
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post date:
11.28.06 (11:44 am)
Oh My, I'm almost sorry I read that. It just made me ill. It's crazy what some people will do in the name of religion.
It's all so simple.
Love one another and just be nice! See simple. Oh and give more than you take.
Thanks for sharing...I think :/
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
11.28.06 (3:06 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
Your question goes to the heart of what I am trying to say. It's absolutely inconsistent, and seems impossible. Yet, so many of our heroes of the Christian faith were in reality just such persons. It causes me to wonder just how much of religion is invented by men instead of God.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
11.28.06 (3:11 pm)
Reply to: akelso
To perpetrate such an act, I would think one would have to totally depersonalize the other person, or be so totally convinced God wants you to do it. But, most of us tend to compartmentalize our lives. Toward some we are good and kind, and others we treat like dogs. At church we can be angelic, yet at work demonic. And, for many, the glaring inconsistency- even hypocrisy- is never realized.
I'm certainly not a better person tha such giants as Martin Luther or John Calvin or some of the Catholic popes who encouraged the Crusades- but it is still very perplexing to me how someone even a bit acquainted with the God of the New Testament could do such things.
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
11.28.06 (3:12 pm)
Reply to: doeeyed
I'll take it even a step further. The actions you mention- loving God, being nice, giving- should be ever enhanced when someone has intimacy with God.
posted by:
akelso (
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post date:
11.28.06 (6:06 pm)
Seems to me, this whole matter of "good and evil" is a metaphor for practicing LOVE and shrinking HATE in all our lives. It worries me, PastorD, to use the word "demonic" while describing the way we behave at work, the way we treat dogs, or even the way we behave when in a truly horrendous mood.
When *I* use the word, it truely applies solely to such perps as Hitler, Dahmer, the KKK, and "Hannibal Lecter(sp?)" - meanwhile, I suspect all human beings have that germ of demonic potential that needs prevention from ever germinating.
A visit to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, graphically illustrates that we are all capable of wearing the shoes of *either* the victim or nazi war criminal. That realization is chilling and as you say, inspires a soul to consider the condition of one's own heart.
- Andrea
posted by:
religion4life (
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post date:
11.28.06 (8:16 pm)
Pastor Dave, as a Scientologist, I really suggest you read Dianetics the Modern Science of Mental Health. The fact is we all carry this kind of evil with us. It has been described as the human condition. But we don't have to continue to do so. Fortunately, we can get rid of that portion of the mind.
posted by:
TheRockSays (
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post date:
11.28.06 (8:32 pm)
Calvin was probably reacting to what he perceived as a real threat--even I might have thought it a serious threat if I lived at that time. The rest of the issue revolves around what he did about it, and that part has little to do with Christianity and much to do with psychology. I don't know much about Calvin's life, but the question I'd be asking is what happened to him in the 15c that prevented him from being inhibited by the sensibilities that we have in the 21c west.
posted by:
surrogate (
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post date:
11.29.06 (1:15 pm)
Oh those happy Christian leaders of the past. Pick a faith, I'll find you Godfather-like manipulations perpetrated by the founders of that particular sect. Exceptions? Probably. Just none I've run across yet.
posted by:
babe4jesus55 (
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post date:
11.29.06 (3:30 pm)
Humans are all capable of performing horrendous deeds, no matter how "good" they are perceived to be. Some are more successful than others in curbing such impulses whether with the aid or religion or high moarlity in themselves.
Calvin obviously slipped up there. Everyone does, but of course not everyone slips up by killing somebody. We must recall though that Christianity also teaches that every sin or mess up is equally terrible to God, so Calvin's murder is just as bad as that one time I stole my best friend's toy necklace.
Every reveered Bible character was a messed up human too. David killed a guy to get his wife; Paul helped in the slayings of numerous early Christians. Praise God we don't have to pay the death penalty for our mess ups though!
posted by:
PastorDave (
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post date:
11.29.06 (6:42 pm)
Reply to: akelso
I'm too loose with terminology myself, like with labeling someone "liberal" or "conservative". I'm sure most of us are a mixture of both.
What kinds of people conducted the holocaust? I'm thinking they were sincere and many of them church-going. They probably played with their children, kissed their wives, and wept at sad occasions. So how could they willfully and with vigor systematically kill innocent people? I was reading a description of Calvin, and the excuse given by the author was to describe the minister as a "product of his times". So, we use our environment as a justifiable excuse? I believe, within the heart of every man, is the voice of God. And if we listen, we can know right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate. When we choose to not hear the voice of God, then we become complicit in our darkened behaviour. Same with Hitler, or John Calvin. Surely there will be a day of judgment for both.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (6:46 pm)
Reply to: religion4life
As a Christian, I have a particular understanding of the human condition, and what I believe to be the ultimate remedy. All men are sinners. The only true answer is a Jesus Christ, and a personal relationship with Him.
I'd be interested in how you understand the message of this book to provide an answer to the problem of evil within the human condition. Can it's essence be stated in a few paragraphs?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (6:52 pm)
Reply to: TheRockSays
I'm a bit harder on Calvin.
He had the same opportunity to understand Jesus Christ and the message of the Bible as myself. Being a biblical scholar, he understand the ramifications of agape-love, the self giving sacrificial and neverending effort of love commanding of the followers of Christ in the New Testament. Certainly it does not allow the killing of another person because of his religious beliefs. I'm sure there were people in the 15th Century who thought it absolutely wrong to behave like Calvin and his ilk.
I believe he made a choice dark and ungodly. What bothers me is his "split spirituality". He preached a heck of a sermon, and wrote wonderful biblical commentary. He guided the affairs of the city of Geneva with wisdom and grace. And, yet he had people burned at the stake- in the name of God. Such is evil. I struggle with this dichotomy.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (6:55 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
Sadly, you make a valid point. So we bring this same wary eye to bear upon the religious leaders of today. And when we examine closely, we see ugliness there also.
For me, the "religious leader" I need to observe, singularly, is Jesus Christ. He's yet to let me down.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (7:01 pm)
Reply to: babe4jesus55
Is it true that every sin is equally terrible to God? Surely to kill a person is more evil than to steal his donut, even in God's eyes. I know, I think, your line of reasoning. We are all but sinners, saved by grace. However, as Paul teaches, we are not to use the grace of God as an excuse for sin. Instead, we are to be so grateful that we serve him with the greatest of zeal. If Calvin understood the grace of God thusly, he sure did not show it. How could he not show grace himself? I may, sometimes, speak unkindly to another person. Thus I "kill" that person with words. But it's not equivalent to tying him to a stake and slowly burning him to death.
At least, that's how I see it!
posted by:
akelso (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (7:32 pm)
"When we choose to not hear the voice of God, then we become complicit in our darkened behaviour. Same with Hitler, or John Calvin. Surely there will be a day of judgment for both."
You know in my world/spirit-view, the "day of judgment" amounts to the consequence of turning away from LOVE. Somehow when the choices are equivalent to torture, LOVE recedes with profound swiftness, and HATE prevails ... it's that simple, quite oddly.
Similarly, then to turn away from HATE, will result in a return to the presence of LOVE - kinda like the prodigal son after long years of very strange adventures. This could bounce back and forth until said individual is persuaded of a faithfulness toward one or the other...
posted by:
graceshaker (
reply)
post date:
11.29.06 (10:57 pm)
ok. so nevermind.
