October 27, 1553
Michael Servetus
Burned at the Stake for Heresy
by the Staff or associates of Christian History Institute.
© Copyright 1999-2006. All rights reserved.
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; out of the frying pan, into the fire.
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 proceded
to France
where he took the name Michel de Villeneuve. He studied mathematics, geography,
astrology, and medicine. Gaining great 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 "imposter," 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 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.
Source:
- Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute
story by Diana Severance, Ph.D.
- Bainton, Roland. Hunted Heretic; the life and death of Michael Servetus. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1953).
- Fulton, John F. Michael Servetus, Humanist and Martyr.
(New York: Herbert Reichner, 1953).
- Hunt, Dave. What
Love Is This? : Calvinism's misrepresentation of God. (Bend, Oregon:
Berean Call, c2004).
- "Servetus,
Michael." Oxford Dictionary of
the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. (Oxford,
1997).
- "Servetus,
Michael." Encyclopedia Americana.
(1956).
- Various internet articles.
as of 1-2007