John Calvin's methods
How should a heretic or any false teacher be dealt with Biblically? We can get some insight by looking at John Calvin's actions from a Biblical perspective such as in Paul's letter to Titus about the qualifications for eldership in the church:
"He [the elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:9-11).
A false teacher should be "silenced," not by having him killed, but by refuting him with Scripture.
The following is intended to demonstrate that Calvin was not infallible and his words and deeds bear scrutiny. Jesus said you will recognize people by their fruit (Matt 7:20) and no good tree bears bad fruit (Luke 6:23).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
In 1547 an outspoken Libertine (atheist) Jacques Gruet, was beheaded thanks to John Calvin's efforts.
In 1551 fellow Reformer Jerome Bolsec was banished from Geneva (and eventually from many other cities influenced by Calvin) when he made the mistake of publicly challenging Calvin's teaching on predestination, a doctrine Bolsec and many other Reformers, found morally repugnant. He was not banished because he was wrong, in fact Bolsec was very convincing, but for the sake of peace in the city and to protect John Calvin's reputation.
Lest you think Bolsec got off easy consider what banishment meant. Not only did he have to avoid areas influenced by Calvin but he also had to avoid Catholic areas. Basically Bolsec was “a man without a country.”
In 1553 John Calvin was instrumental in having Michael Servetus sentenced to death, burned at the stake, for doctrinal heresies. Admittedly Servetus was on the run from the Catholic Church having been excommunicated and sentenced to death by them and he did have heretical ideas.
One of Servetus' heretical ideas that Calvin vehemently opposed was Servetus' rejection of infant baptism. So where does Reformed Theology Churches stand on that issue today?
In 13 February 1546, a few years before Servetus was burned at the stake, John Calvin wrote to his friend, Farel, "If he comes here, if my authority is worth anything, I will never permit him to depart alive".
Later, during Servetus' trial in 1553 Calvin wrote, "I hope that the verdict will call for the death penalty."
For a little over two months, from the time Servetus was arrested until his execution, Servetus was kept "... in an atrocious dungeon with no light or heat, little food, and no sanitary facilities."
Then there's the time John Calvin wrote to the King of England, Henry VIII, suggesting that by burning two or three people the King could save thousands from hell.
That looks similar to how Islam has been spread from its beginning. However, the early Christian church was spread by love and example.
Calvin's decisions to have people burned at the stake are understandably viewed by Reformed Theology as an attempt "to confirm his image as an intolerant authoritarian" and they rationalize his actions this way:
...Despite the fact that religious toleration did not become a popular conviction until at least two hundred years later, and that what was done in Geneva was done virtually everywhere else in Europe on a much grander scale...
Using that logic is like saying the Apostles should have converted people by crucifixion because that was the way things were done at the time. Pre-Paul protected his faith in the same manner as Calvin, but once He became a follower in Christ his methods changed drastically. The “everybody else is doing it” argument never worked on my parents when I was growing up. Neither does it work for Christ. The Bible tells is we're to be in the world, not of the world.
Never mind that this was not the way early Christianity was spread... I wonder what the scriptural justification was that Calvin used?
"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him" 1 John 2:3-4.
Predestination and Free will
http://www.freewill-predestination.com/
"He [the elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:9-11).
A false teacher should be "silenced," not by having him killed, but by refuting him with Scripture.
The following is intended to demonstrate that Calvin was not infallible and his words and deeds bear scrutiny. Jesus said you will recognize people by their fruit (Matt 7:20) and no good tree bears bad fruit (Luke 6:23).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
In 1547 an outspoken Libertine (atheist) Jacques Gruet, was beheaded thanks to John Calvin's efforts.
In 1551 fellow Reformer Jerome Bolsec was banished from Geneva (and eventually from many other cities influenced by Calvin) when he made the mistake of publicly challenging Calvin's teaching on predestination, a doctrine Bolsec and many other Reformers, found morally repugnant. He was not banished because he was wrong, in fact Bolsec was very convincing, but for the sake of peace in the city and to protect John Calvin's reputation.
Lest you think Bolsec got off easy consider what banishment meant. Not only did he have to avoid areas influenced by Calvin but he also had to avoid Catholic areas. Basically Bolsec was “a man without a country.”
In 1553 John Calvin was instrumental in having Michael Servetus sentenced to death, burned at the stake, for doctrinal heresies. Admittedly Servetus was on the run from the Catholic Church having been excommunicated and sentenced to death by them and he did have heretical ideas.
One of Servetus' heretical ideas that Calvin vehemently opposed was Servetus' rejection of infant baptism. So where does Reformed Theology Churches stand on that issue today?
In 13 February 1546, a few years before Servetus was burned at the stake, John Calvin wrote to his friend, Farel, "If he comes here, if my authority is worth anything, I will never permit him to depart alive".
Later, during Servetus' trial in 1553 Calvin wrote, "I hope that the verdict will call for the death penalty."
For a little over two months, from the time Servetus was arrested until his execution, Servetus was kept "... in an atrocious dungeon with no light or heat, little food, and no sanitary facilities."
Then there's the time John Calvin wrote to the King of England, Henry VIII, suggesting that by burning two or three people the King could save thousands from hell.
That looks similar to how Islam has been spread from its beginning. However, the early Christian church was spread by love and example.
Calvin's decisions to have people burned at the stake are understandably viewed by Reformed Theology as an attempt "to confirm his image as an intolerant authoritarian" and they rationalize his actions this way:
...Despite the fact that religious toleration did not become a popular conviction until at least two hundred years later, and that what was done in Geneva was done virtually everywhere else in Europe on a much grander scale...
Using that logic is like saying the Apostles should have converted people by crucifixion because that was the way things were done at the time. Pre-Paul protected his faith in the same manner as Calvin, but once He became a follower in Christ his methods changed drastically. The “everybody else is doing it” argument never worked on my parents when I was growing up. Neither does it work for Christ. The Bible tells is we're to be in the world, not of the world.
Never mind that this was not the way early Christianity was spread... I wonder what the scriptural justification was that Calvin used?
"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him" 1 John 2:3-4.
Predestination and Free will
http://www.freewill-predestination.com/
posted by David Bennett | 6:35 AM
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