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I never really gave much attention to the teaching of Calvinism but recently was looking at the history of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa. This church has been heavily influenced by this man. I am now seriously studying the whole teaching of this theologian and the church he founded.
I had always believed the instrument of persecution was ONLY at the hand of the Romish Church but read recently that.
“Michael Servetus, Spanish physician and theologian whose unorthodox teachings led to his condemnation as a heretic by both Protestants and Roman Catholics and to his execution by Calvinists from Geneva… In [his] book, Servetus argued that both God the Father and Christ His Son had been dishonored by the Constantinian promulgation of the Nicene Creed, thus obscuring the redemptive role of Christ and bringing about the fall of the church. Servetus felt he could restore the church by separating it from the state and by using only those theological formulations that could be proved from Scripture and the pre-Constantinian fathers… [Servetus was] tried for heresy from August 14 to October 25, 1553. Calvin played a prominent part in the trial and pressed for execution... Despite his intense biblicism and his wholly Christocentric view of the universe, Servetus was found guilty of heresy, mainly on his views of the Trinity and baptism. He was burned alive at Champel on October 27. His execution produced a Protestant controversy on imposing the death penalty for heresy [and] drew severe criticism upon John Calvin…†(Servetus, Michael, in: The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990. Volume 10, p. 654).
“Michael Servetus… found that the expression of his opinions, which finally came to include a denial of infant baptism and of original sin, was as obnoxious to the Protestants as to the Catholics… On August 13, 1553, he was arrested in Geneva by the magistrates on a charge of blasphemy and heresy... Calvin being especially urgent and emphatic on the necessity for putting Servetus to death. Indeed, Calvin had indicated earlier that if Servetus came to Geneva, he would do his best to prevent him from leaving alive†(Servetus, Michael, in: The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, 1992. Volume 24 p. 584).
As Christians we must be willing to do what the bible says, search the scriptures like the Bereans did. So often they are those who hold on to beliefs and are unwilling to check what they believe with the word of God.
What he did was in line with what the papacy did. Today many still cling to the unbiblical teaching of Calvinism and other human man made beliefs. Sometimes nepotism can cause us to remain in an organisation that we see clearly is diametrically opposed to what the bible says. Many have been raised in such an community, have parents, grandparents, whole families within this system and many are afraid to break with tradition.
Not only is Calvinism's teaching unbiblical, but many of the teachings of the Seventh Day Adventist church, Jehovah's Witnesses etc.
False doctrine mixed with truth is more difficult to detect. We all need spiritual discernment to see what is false from what is true.
I had always believed the instrument of persecution was ONLY at the hand of the Romish Church but read recently that.
“Michael Servetus, Spanish physician and theologian whose unorthodox teachings led to his condemnation as a heretic by both Protestants and Roman Catholics and to his execution by Calvinists from Geneva… In [his] book, Servetus argued that both God the Father and Christ His Son had been dishonored by the Constantinian promulgation of the Nicene Creed, thus obscuring the redemptive role of Christ and bringing about the fall of the church. Servetus felt he could restore the church by separating it from the state and by using only those theological formulations that could be proved from Scripture and the pre-Constantinian fathers… [Servetus was] tried for heresy from August 14 to October 25, 1553. Calvin played a prominent part in the trial and pressed for execution... Despite his intense biblicism and his wholly Christocentric view of the universe, Servetus was found guilty of heresy, mainly on his views of the Trinity and baptism. He was burned alive at Champel on October 27. His execution produced a Protestant controversy on imposing the death penalty for heresy [and] drew severe criticism upon John Calvin…†(Servetus, Michael, in: The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990. Volume 10, p. 654).
“Michael Servetus… found that the expression of his opinions, which finally came to include a denial of infant baptism and of original sin, was as obnoxious to the Protestants as to the Catholics… On August 13, 1553, he was arrested in Geneva by the magistrates on a charge of blasphemy and heresy... Calvin being especially urgent and emphatic on the necessity for putting Servetus to death. Indeed, Calvin had indicated earlier that if Servetus came to Geneva, he would do his best to prevent him from leaving alive†(Servetus, Michael, in: The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, 1992. Volume 24 p. 584).
As Christians we must be willing to do what the bible says, search the scriptures like the Bereans did. So often they are those who hold on to beliefs and are unwilling to check what they believe with the word of God.
What he did was in line with what the papacy did. Today many still cling to the unbiblical teaching of Calvinism and other human man made beliefs. Sometimes nepotism can cause us to remain in an organisation that we see clearly is diametrically opposed to what the bible says. Many have been raised in such an community, have parents, grandparents, whole families within this system and many are afraid to break with tradition.
Not only is Calvinism's teaching unbiblical, but many of the teachings of the Seventh Day Adventist church, Jehovah's Witnesses etc.
False doctrine mixed with truth is more difficult to detect. We all need spiritual discernment to see what is false from what is true.
