We must now consider an event in the life of Calvin which to a
certain extent has cast a shadow over his fair name and which has
exposed him to the charge of intolerance and persecution. We refer to
the death of Servetus which occurred in Geneva during the period of
Calvin’s work there. That it was a mistake is admitted by all. History
knows only one spotless being—the Savior of sinners. All others have
marks of infirmity written which forbid idolatry.
Calvin has, however, often been criticized with undue severity as
though the responsibility rested upon him alone, when as a matter of
fact Servetus was given a court trial lasting over two months and was
sentenced by the full session of the civil Council, and that in
accordance with the laws which were then recognized throughout
Christendom. And, far from urging that the sentence be made more severe,
Calvin urged that the sword be substituted for the fire, but was
overruled. Calvin and the men of his time are not to be judged strictly
and solely by the advanced standards of our twentieth century, but must
to a certain extent be considered in the light of their own sixteenth
century. We have seen great developments in regard to civil and
religious toleration, prison reform, abolition of slavery and the slave
trade, feudalism, witch burning, improvement of the conditions of the
poor, etc., which are the late but genuine results of Christian
teachings. The error of those who advocated and practiced what would be
considered intolerance today, was the general error of the age. It
should not, in fairness, be permitted to give an unfavorable impression
of their character and motives, and much less should it be allowed to
prejudice us against their doctrines on other and more important
subjects. Keep Reading...
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