Servetus ? Different views?

Ferdinand (king of Aragon from 1479) and Isabella (queen of Castile from 1474) were married in 1469 thus uniting the thrones of Aragon and Castile.  This united kingdom, coupled with money from gold imported from America and the renaissance flowering of culture in Europe caused Spain to enter a glorious age with many developments in the arts and science.  Into this time frame Michael Servetus was born in 1511. He suggested the theory that blood circulated around the body, a novel concept at that time, yet he also attacked conventional notions of the Trinity.  For these he was condemned by the Sorbonne and forbidden to teach in Paris.  Some chapters of his Systematic Theology book “The Restoration of Christianity” were sent to Calvin for comments.  Calvin was opposed to them and so alerted the Inquisition.  Servetus was prosecuted by the church in Geneva for blasphemy.  This carried a sentence of death.  The government of Geneva accepted the Church decision and Servetus was burned in 1553.

About Servetus, Calvin wrote to his colleague Guillame Farel: He [Servetus] should ask pardon of God whom he has so basely blasphemed in his attempt to efface the three persons in the one essence saying that those who recognise a real distinction in the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit create a three headed hound of hell.

In Spain, Servetus was a ground breaking scientist.  In Geneva  he was a heretic.  The same person was viewed in different ways. How many people do you know in our twenty first century society who can be viewed in such polarised ways?

June and July 2020 COVID-19 – Do we obey our secular rulers? What does Calvin say?

As restrictions on our movements due to the COVID 19 pandemic are relaxed, how seriously do we need to take the advice offered by our Government?  Calvin devoted the whole of Book four, chapter 20 of the Institutes to the relationship of the Christian believer with the state authority. Luther had published work on this question, but no-one knows if Calvin ever read this.

Before we consider the contents of Book Four, Chapter 20 (the final chapter of the Institutes, entitled Civil Government) we must acknowledge that the Dedication of the 1559 version of the Institutes was to the secular King, Francis I.  In this Calvin assures the monarch of the political dutifulness of his protestant subjects. Is this then developed in the thirty two sections of Book Four, Chapter 20?

At the end of Book Four Chapter 20, the exhortation is that we must “obey God rather than men”  a reference to Acts 5:29 (when Peter and the Apostles appeared before the Council after their imprisonment).  Yet throughout the preceding chapters Calvin exhorts obedience to the secular authorities, for example in Book Four, Chapter 20, section 31:

But we must in the meantime be very careful not to despise or violate the authority of the magistrates, full of venerable majesty which God has established by the weightiest decrees even though it may reside with the most unworthy men who may defile it as much as they can with their own wickedness.

How can we comment on our own situation based on Calvin’s approach?  Calvin is known as a second generation Christian Reformer, working several years after Luther and the initial split of Protestantism from the Church of Rome.  By this time Protestantism was dividing into denominations (such as the Anabaptist rule in Munster from 1533-1535) and Catholicism was redefining itself through the Council of Trent in 1563.  Calvin may have seen the Christian religion as needing protection from radical Protestantism and from supporters of the Papacy.  He may have been of the view that the early Reformers such as Luther had given up too much to secular authority and so wanted a balance of church rule by clergy, with lay people policing the activities of the clergy.

Calvin assumed firstly that the Church was vigorous and independent of the state.  In the twenty first Century in England could it be that the Church of England is not in this place, being the Established Church of the nation?  Secondly he assumed that the secular power (mediated through the magistrates) was godly.  Are our politicians godly?  We can only wonder……………….

April and May 2020 COVID-19 How can Calvin help?

Human beings now face a new threat, the COVID-19 Pandemic.  We wonder where God can be in the midst of human suffering across all age groups, races and genders.  Many may seek comfort in words from the Bible such as St. Paul writing in Romans 8:38-39.  Calvin refers to these verses repeatedly in Book III of the Institutes including chapter 14 “The way in which we receive the grace of Christ”.  He maintains that the godly are always victors over such trials with the reason from Romans 8:37 “on account of Him who loved us” (God).  In book 3:24 and section 6 Calvin reminds us that we can know that “our election is irrevocable and lasting” thus confirming the words of St. Paul that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).  Is this something you can claim for yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic?

9. The transmission of the law is to be trusted

“Certain rascals bawl out in corners in order to display the keenness of their wit in assailing God’s truth”.  Calvin is critical of those who do not trust the Old Testament law and doubt the existence of Moses.  He does not appreciate those who doubt Moses but have no problem with Aristotle or Cicero.  In our time many will regard politicians as speaking the entire truth, revealed in social media or believe what they read on the Internet verbatim without applying any criticism or critical thought.  The quality of the words we read in the Bible is their enduring nature – they have sustained Christian believers for centuries, often when those people are facing persecution and extreme trial.  What would you trust the most- the Word of God articulated in the Bible or your nest Twitter Feed?

8. God has confirmed the prophetic words

Calvin uses several of the Old Testament prophetic books to illustrate his belief that God confirms the words of the prophets with later actions in history.  Can you believe that this is still true today?  The answer depends on whether we can work out who are the prophets who disclose God’s purposes today?  How do the prophets of today come?  Could it be with unusual dress, living habits or arcane language?  Do they incite others to take action? If so then what is that action and would we support it?  Prophecy is not fortune telling.  It is the forth telling and expression of God’s will.  Who would you regard as a prophet of the twenty first century?

7. Prophecies that are fulfilled contrary to all human expectation

Calvin uses the primacy of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and the Kingship of David as examples of prophecy indicating events that would not be according to what human beings might expect. Somehow in our world today we have been persuaded that Presidents and Prime Ministers will originate from certain classes and professional backgrounds.  The idea that a King might have begun his working life a s a herdsman feels alien to the ways of our world.  Yet this is the enduring power of the living God to which Calvin draws our attention and defends.  Where do we see that paradox, the inversion of our human aspiration?  When we see it do we attribute it to God’s power?

6. Moses’ Miracles are incontestable

Can you believe that the miracles performed by Moses are the actions of the living God? Or are you tempted to see them as some sort of primitive magic arts? Calvin believed that those who did see them in this way had been deceived by evil “the father of lies”. He also suggests that through these miracles God taught and guided the Israelite nation that unbelief would not work.  So the miraculous manna from heaven comes with a warning not to take too much (Exodus 16:19-20) thus guiding the people away from a path of greed.  Some would not accept this guidance and rose up against God.  According to Calvin this does not impair the quality of the miracle, it highlights the “pride and insolence” of the people.  Do you think that God can teach and guide you through miracles today?  Are you too proud to accept God’s guidance?