A La Carte (12/17)

Tim, you’re a very special person, that’s for sure.

Re: the Calvin book.:

I haven’t done much in depth study of Calvin’s life, and especially his time in Geneva, but what little I’ve read depicts him in a fairly negative light. Servetus, treatment of the libertines, etc.

I never see this dealt with on this or other reformed blogs. Is it that current reformed folks don’t find anything to criticize, or is it just that the criticisms are so widely acknowledged that they’re not worth mentioning?

JPH

Actually quite a bit has been written about Calvin. You are correct that there are many Arminians that blame Calvin for the death of Servetus, however I have read a few Arminian historians that have actually defended Calvin against these accusation, saying that Calvin is being unjustly accused.

I think you might benifit from reading an article by Dr. Michael Horton, that deals with this issue.http://www.the-highway.com/theocracy_Horton.html

Thanks Tim for sharing all these misc. items. They are so much fun! I enjoy finding the treasures hidden in them…

I’ll draw a few examples from this link:

http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/14.html

Which is apparently the text of an unpublished book by a professor at the University of Kansas.

Calvin had no concept of “freedom of religion”. In 1536, prior to Calvin’s arrival, the Geneva council passed a mandate that outlawed profanity, blasphemy, drunkenness, cards and dice, and Catholic mass. Residents were required to attend sermons. Apparently Calvin did nothing to reverse these upon his arrival, and arguably strengthened them.

Under Calvin’s authority all residents had to publicly renounce Catholicism or be expelled from Geneva. Nobody could pray in Latin. It was forbidden to give non-biblical names to children. Sermon attendance continued to be compulsory. Citizens homes were regularly visited to assess their “moral state”. Subsequent to Servetus’ death, Calvin issued a defense of the execution arguing for the right to execute anyone who teaches false doctrine.

Calvin had little respect for freedom of the press or of personal expression. Ministers censored the press, and edicts were passed rigidly curtailing modes of dress. Citizens of Geneva were “punished or reprimanded for criticizing his preaching or even for greeting him without calling him ‘Master.’”

Basically Calvin was the “religious right” of this day, and embodied the (incorrect, in my opinion) idea that “if something is sinful then it should be illegal.” He created an empire in Geneva over which he had near total control, and abused that power to enact a host of draconian regulations and, among other things, execute Servetus. In that desire he wasn’t alone; pretty much everyone wanted Servetus dead. If anything, that reveals the pitiful state of “the church” (and in that I’m including both Rome and the Reformers) during the Reformation.

J.P.HI went to the link you provided and I have to say that I have read a few others on Calvin like this one. When I place all the negative and positive links side by side and try to judge which are correct. I must say that I believe the positive much more than the negative side. This is mainly because of the fact that many on the positive side came from people who were not of the same theology as Calvin.Another fact that needs to be stated is the fact that Servetus himself went to Geneva because of its reputation since Calvin came to the city.On that note, if you look at Geneva before and after Calvin came to the city. You should conclude that Geneva was much better off with Calvin, than before Calvin.Something else that I touched on in my last message, is the fact that every one of us has our skeletons in our closets, we see this in the life of David and other great children of the Lord. Calvin is no exception to this, but when one examines the legacy (I mention two: valuable contribution to the Protestant Reformation and Calvin’s Institutes) that he has given the body of Christ. We come to realize that we as Christians stand on the shoulders of men and women such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Spurgeon, etc…We should never forget our heritage as believers, warts and all.