SKETCH OF MICHAEL SERVETUS. 93 



"The word Trinity," he writes, "is not to be found in Scriptures. 

 The Son and the Holy Ghost are no more than so many forms or 

 aspects of Deity. ... To believe," he continues, " suffices, it is said 

 (to salvation) ; but what folly to believe aught that cannot be under- 

 stood, that is impossible in the nature of things, and that may even 

 be looked on as blasphemous ! Can it be that mere confusion of 

 mind is to be deemed an adequate object of faith ? " Speaking of the 

 Holy Ghost, Servetus forgot what is due to a subject that has en- 

 gaged the serious thoughts of so many pious and learned men. He 

 saw some portions of the Catholic Christian dogma so unreasonable 

 as to be unable to refrain from ridiculing them. Yet the idea of God 

 to which Servetus had attained is unquestionably pure and grand 

 the only one, in fact, as we see the subject, that can be reasonably 

 held by a true idealist. He also deals heavy blows at the doctrine of 

 justification by faith, the leading feature of Luther's theology, in 

 terms neither complimentary nor respectful to its author; nor less 

 roughly dealt with is the leading Calvinistic theory of predestination 

 and election. 



The book seems to have caused a considerable stir both in Ger- 

 many and Switzerland, to have found proselytes in Italy, and to have 

 been read by every one of liberal education. Some of the antagonistic 

 Reformers themselves could not forbear being strongly impressed with 

 it. (Ecolampadius, writing to Martin Bucer, July 18, 1531, says: 

 "Read the book, and tell me what you think of it; as the writer does 

 not acknowledge the coeternity of the Son, I can in no wise approve 

 of it as a whole, although it contains much that is good." Melanch- 

 thon writes to a friend, " I read Servetus a great deal." He does 

 not agree with the author, but " I have little doubt," he continues, 

 " that great controversies will one day arise on this subject as well as 

 on the distinction of the two natures in Christ." 



"The Reformers of the sixteenth century," Dr. Willis says, "went 

 little way in freeing the religion of Jesus of Nazareth from the accre- 

 tions which metaphysical subtilty, superstition, and ignorance of the 

 laws of Nature, had gathered around it in the course of ages. Their 

 business, as they apprehended it, was to reform the Church the task 

 Servetus had set himself, in the end, was to reform relic/ion, with little 

 thought of a church, in any sense as it was conceived in his clay either 

 by papists or Protestants." How could a book in this direction be 

 welcome to the Reformers ? It was too far in advance of their ideas; 

 Servetus's dialectics were too stringent, and his arguments too conclu- 

 sive against them. 



After writing a splendid letter to (Ecolampadius, for which we 

 regret to have no room, he quitted Switzerland, whither he had re- 

 turned after the publication of his book at Hagenau ; and here he 

 seems to have again taken up his quarters for some weeks or months, 

 to write and superintend the printing of the " Two Dialogues on the 



