Ada Herald - Pastor's Pen Article October 1 2009

Understanding the beliefs of Christian denominations is sort of like following a family tree. Differing beliefs and practices often trace back to key individuals who shaped the church in dramatic ways. Lutherans have their Luther. Methodists have their Wesley. Mennonites have their Menno Simmons. Catholics have their Aquinas, and Presbyterians have their John Calvin.

For some reason, Presbyterians find ourselves defending John Calvin from attack far more often than our friends in other denominations are called upon to defend their own spiritual ancestors. Calvin was much maligned in his own lifetime, and the standards of biographical writing in Calvin’s day, being much different from our own, have allowed myths about Calvin to stick in the Western mind.

Given that this year is the 500^th birthday of Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564), perhaps it’s time to clear the air. One persistent misrepresentation of Calvin is that he had Michael Servetus burned at the stake in Geneva. A closer look at the episode reveals that although Servetus was burned in Geneva, he most likely would have been burned in any number of cities at the time.

In 1530, Servetus published a book titled On the Errors of the Trinity. In it, he said that the Triune God was a three-headed dog and an invention of the devil. In the 16^th century, this was heresy in anybody’s book. The Emperor Charles V set down a law that anyone who denied the Trinity was punishable by death. Servetus wasn’t just attacking the church. He was attacking the state and the Empire.

He was tried by the Catholic Church and sentenced to die by burning. Had he not escaped, others would have put him to death, but he ended up in Geneva. Servetus was arrested by the City Council after Calvin reported seeing him in the church were Calvin preached.

Calvin went to Servetus in his time of imprisonment and tried to convince him to recant. He argued for a less painful death sentence than the one imposed by the Council but to no avail. Servetus was burned, and as one biographer put it, “the smell of smoke has clung to Calvin’s clothes for centuries.”

Considering the many mitigating factors surrounding Calvin’s involvement, one would be wise to resist the knee-jerk reaction, “Servetus!” upon hearing Calvin’s name mentioned in polite conversation. Instead, it would be wise to consider Calvin’s contributions to the larger church and world. “To omit Calvin from the forces of Western evolution,” as the English scholar Lord John Morley put it, “is to read history with one eye shut.”