27
October 1555 A.D. Michael Servetus Burned for Heresy
Graves,
Dan. “Michael Servetus Burned for
Heresy.” Christianity.com. Jul
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/michael-servetus-burned-for-heresy-11629984.html. Accessed 5 Jun 2014.
The two men were the most exact opposites in
spirit, doctrine, and aim. One was a reformer, a champion of orthodoxy, and one
who sought to build up the church of Christ. The other was considered by
Catholic and Protestant alike an archheretic who sought to destroy key
doctrines on which the church took its stand. At twenty-seven the first had
written one of the most influential systems of theology the Christian
faith had ever
seen. When he was barely twenty the other wrote a work to denounce a
fundamental doctrine of Christianity. Both were brilliant and leaned men born in 1509.
One was burned at the stake for heresy in the town where the other was pastor.
The two men? John Calvin and Michael Servetus.
Michael Servetus was born in Spain in 1509. He had
a brilliant mind, was trained by the Dominicans, and went to the University of
Saragossa. There he began studying the Bible, whose authority he accepted; but
his interpretations brought him into conflict with the orthodox church. In 1531
Servetus published a work called the Errors of the Trinity, in which he said
those who believed in the Trinity were really Tritheists (believers in three
gods) or atheists. He said the gods of the Trinitarians were a 3-headed monster
and a deception of the devil. Both Protestants and Catholics found the work
blasphemous, and the emperor banned it.
Servetus proceeded to France where he took the name
Michel de Villeneuve. He studied mathematics, geography, astrology, and
medicine. Gaining fame as a physician, he came close to discovering the
pulmonary circulation of the blood, and published a frequently studied book on
the use of syrups in medicine. In spite of his success, Michael made enemies
through his insolent and contentious tone. He who denied the prophecies of the
Old Testament made prophecies based on astrology.
In 1540 Michael opened a correspondence with John
Calvin of Geneva, asking the reformer what it meant for Jesus to be the Son of
God and how a man was to be born again. He criticized Calvin's replies and
stated that those who believed in the Trinity believed in the spirit of the
dragon, the priests and the false prophets who make war on the lamb. He implied
that he was the Michael, referred to in Revelation 12:7 and Daniel 12:1, the
one who was to fight the antichrist. Both John Calvin and the Pope were
antichrists in Servetus' eyes. Calvin wrote to a friend that if Servetus ever
fell into his hands, he would not allow him to get away alive.
In 1553 Michael anonymously published The
Restitution of Christianity which he saw as an attempt to restore Christianity
to its primitive purity. In that work he boldly--or rashly--continued to deny
the Trinity despite the danger it brought him. Denying the Trinity and the
incarnation of Christ were still capital offenses as they had been throughout
the middle ages. Michael said Jesus was the Son of the eternal God but not the
eternal Son of God. Contrary to the reformers, he also taught that both faith
and works were necessary for salvation. He sent Calvin a portion of the work.
Roman Catholic authorities in Vienne discovered the
name of the Restitution's author because Calvin collaborated in denouncing him
to the Inquisition, and they arrested Michael for heresy. He escaped, however,
and fled toward Naples by way of Calvin's Geneva. Vienne's authorities burned
him in effigy. He entered a church where Calvin was preaching, was recognized,
and arrested on charges of blasphemy and heresy, although he was not a citizen
and was just passing through town. Was it legal for them to arrest him?
Nonetheless, Michael was tried for heresy, this
time by a Protestant city council. He continued in an attitude of superior
knowledge and called John Calvin "Simon Magus" an
"impostor," and more. Servetus shocked the Genevans with his
pantheistic or gnostic claim that everything emanated from God, even the devil.
Like the Anabaptists, he declared infant baptism a great error. Geneva unfairly
refused him legal council although he was a stranger to its law system, saying
he could lie well enough without a lawyer to assist him.
The Geneva Council voted to condemn Servetus for
heresy and called for his execution. The Swiss churches of Berne, Zurich,
Basle, and Schaffhausen encouraged this move. Although Calvin insisted with the
rest that Servetus must die, he urged that in mercy Servetus be executed by the
sword, not by burning, but the Council rejected the suggestion. It was
quarreling with Calvin at that time over the city government. Calvin and
reformer William Farel spent hours with Servetus trying to turn him back from
his lapses from commonly accepted Christian doctrine, but Servetus stood fast
to his principles.
On this day, October 27, 1553, Geneva burned
Michael Servetus at the stake for blasphemy and heresy. In the flames, Michael
called repeatedly on Jesus, the Son of God for mercy.
Geneva's action led to an immediate controversy
among reformers whether it is right for a reformation church to execute
heretics. Most said it was not. Calvin took a lot of heat for his role in the
denunciation, trial and execution of Servetus and was not always honest in his
account of what had happened.
Bibliography:
1. Adapted from an earlier Christian
History Institute story by Diana Severance, Ph.D.
2. Bainton, Roland. Hunted Heretic;
the life and death of Michael Servetus. Boston: Beacon Press, 1953.
3. Fulton, John F. Michael Servetus,
Humanist and Martyr. New York: Herbert Reichner, 1953.
4. Hunt, Dave. What Love Is This? :
Calvinism's misrepresentation of God. Bend, Oregon: Berean Call, c2004.
5. "Servetus, Michael."
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
6. "Servetus, Michael."
Encyclopedia Americana. Chicago: American Corp., 1956.
7. Various internet articles.
Last updated July, 2007
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