Tuesday, August 13, 2024

It is the 13th of August 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

  

Recently a long-time listener, Kelvin in Hamilton, Ontario (go Tiger-Cats), asked if I would consider looking at some “rogues” in church history. Ah, yes, Kelvin, you have noticed perhaps that I tend to leave some folk out the really “out-there” stuff and scams on television… if you’re misguided and silly, we have the “Dr. Gene Scott” Award, which dates from our first season. Otherwise, I don’t have many rogues- or at least, universal rogues (everyone’s got their team in what is often the kayfabe world of protestant Denominations).  

But, Kelvin- the man you mentioned- does he get ink spilled and… whatever the equivalent of podcasting minutes is? Kelvin references Michael Servetus, born around 1510 in the Spanish kingdom. He would fill out the normal early modern checklist for would-be reformers:

Shows scholastic aptitude at a young age? Check.

Sent to multiple universities studying various topics? Check.

Settled on law because that’s how you make a living? Check.

But by 1530, he had ruffled some feathers, having been invited to join the retinue of the emperor Charles V. Michael had some crisis of faith and left, traveling through Lyon, Geneva, and Basel.

He would go on to study medicine in Paris, and he likely met John Calvin there. By 1530, Servetus had established himself as something of a radical publisher, publishing works concerning the supposed “errors” of historic Christology among other curious and, in Calvin’s own thought, rather brilliant insights.

The two had arranged to meet in Paris, where Calvin historian Bruce Gordon suggests the conversation would have been on the topic that made up Calvin’s book on Soul Sleep. Servetus wouldn’t attend the meeting, but the two stayed in correspondence.

Servetus sent Calvin his “The Restitution of Christianity,” Calvin warned that publishing it would risk open heresy.  

Servetus published it anyway and was arrested in Lyon in 1553. Recent research into Calvin's letters suggests that he may have tipped off the church to the presence of the famous heretic in their town as he was trying to arrange for the release of imprisoned and condemned Protestants.

He was condemned in Lyon but escaped.

He had considered coming back to Geneva but was warned by Calvin that it would not end well.

Servetus may have believed that Calvin had more sway in Geneva than he did- Calvin, a foreigner, had recently been expelled and was brought back as an emergency measure- he did not exactly have the keys to the city.

Nevertheless, on the 13th of August in 1553, Michael Servetus arrived in Geneva on a Sunday and proceeded to walk into Calvin’s church. Calvin alerted the authorities. He was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.

A few things. Calvin turned him in yes, and he warned Servetus not to come.

Calvin worked with the prosecution as a theological advisor to determine, among other things, that Servetus had denied the doctrine of the Trinity.

While not always applied, the punishment for such a heresy was death. This was not some Genevan totalitarian regime but rather a relatively standard early modern government that saw theological dissent as a root of societal disintegration. Removing a heretic from the body was akin to a lifesaving surgery in which a cancer is removed.  

Calvin, likely knowing that his reputation would take a hit from his opponents, asked that the consistory not set fire to Servetus but instead do a more humane and speedy beheading. He was denied, and Servetus went to his death later that October.  

Did Calvin agree? Probably. Although he didn’t want to see it happen and wanted a more humane death sentence. Was Servetus the martyr of freethinking that he has been made to be? It seems he was on the move partly because he was difficult to work with- was dogmatic but unwilling to put himself under any authority- this was a common kind of fanaticism in the wake of the Reformation.

Is Calvin to blame? Not really. The Early Modern world was brutal. Public executions and other medieval relics were slow to leave some places.

Servetus deserved better but poked the bear with both heresy and an abrasive personality that took the dare of a lifetime- to show up in Calvin’s church unannounced while on the run from the law… he lost that one. Servetus, born around 1510, was about 43 at his death in 1553.  

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary- an all-time benediction from 2 Peter in which the apostle Paul catches a stray.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 13th of August 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man also known to preach with a cigar and two pairs of eyeglasses on his face… the Gene Scott Special… he is  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who thinks it would be cool to preach like Gene Scott, sitting in a chair or writing on a whiteboard- I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.