Burned Because of Irregular Views
John Calvin was only twenty-seven when he wrote a famous theological treatise translated into English as Institutes of the Christian Religion. His,Bible-based set of doctrines proved so inflammatory that he was banished from" Paris and took refuge in Switzerland. Under his leadership, Geneva was organized as a theocracy, or political unit "governed directly by God." Yet in this Bible-based state a Spanish physician lost his life because he held irregular views of the Trinity.
Michael Servetus exchanged letters with Calvin as early as 1545 and expressed a desire to visit Geneva. Though deeply interested in Scripture, Servetus was unable to accept traditional formulas defining God as "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" -one God expressed through three personalities. He put his doubts into print and stirred up a furor of indignation.
The New Testament nowhere conveys the doctrinal formula as such; it was shaped by church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. Still, Servetus was interrogated by the inquisitor-general at Lyons, France, on March 16, 1553. Two weeks later he was arrested and "examined." He escaped, spent four months as a fugitive, and on Saturday, August 6, rode into a village on the French side of Geneva. The next morning he walked into "the city governed by God," was recognized at church, and arrested.
John Calvin suggested that so vile a foe of the Bible and its faith should be promptly beheaded. But followers of the great theologian insisted upon a lengthy trial so that all Servetus' heretical views could be properly recorded. Hearings ended on October 26 when sentence was passed. As a result, agents of Protestant leaders took Servetus to Champel the next day and burned him at the stake until his body was totally reduced to ashes."
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