CALVIN. 



27.5 



Calvin, those succours and ministers that were necessary for 

 accomplishing I'M >t ohj-< t. For tli^i pur- 



, and alio with tin- view ot forwarding the ; 

 ral cause of the reformation, he established an aca- 



. in Geneva, which the seriat* : at his de- 



sire, and in which he himself, with utl.-r divi: 



md ability, taught the sconces with much 

 reputation and success. And no great wa-, tin- fame 

 which this seminary acquired, th -pain d to 



by A crowd of studtnts from England, Scotland, 

 i ce, Italy, and Germany ; and none who were 

 ,:s to make proficiency either in sacred or pro 

 fa;.> literatim', thought themselves right till they had 

 attended it a considerable time. 



I : ~>~>'l, Michael S.-rvi-tus, a Spanish physician, 

 who had settled at Viennc in France, and acquired a 

 great professional character, published a work, en- 

 titled, Rcslilulio Christ /an ismi, c. which contain- 

 ed doctrines so uuscriptural, that it was reprobated 

 even by the Papists, who actually condemned him to 

 be burnt for heresy. Besides this work, he had writ- 

 ten one, De Trinitatis Kriori/jiis; and another, In 

 Ptolcmcum Commentarius : he had also published an 

 edition of the Bible, and addressed a letter to Pau- 

 pin, a Genevcse minister ; and in all of these produc- 

 tions, he had departed very widely from the most 

 generally received doctrines of Christianity. Having 

 escaped from Vienne, and happening to come to Ge- 

 neva in his retreat to Naples, Calvin, who was well 

 acquainted with his principles and his character, and 

 to whom, his daring impiety and presumptuous inso- 

 lence had become intolerable, at length procured his 

 apprehension and imprisonment. He was brought to 

 trial. After various delays, he was sentenced to be 

 burnt alive, for having " set himself in array against 

 the Divine Majesty and the Holy Trinity ;" and the 

 dreadful sentence was executed that same day on 

 which it was pronounced. Every candid judge and 

 enlightened friend of toleration will acknowledge, 

 that the conduct of Calvin in this affair cannot be 

 vindicated or justified. It was altogether unworthy 

 of such a man, and must be regarded as a blot in his 

 otherwise great and good reputation. But while this 

 is freely conceded, a similar concession cannot be 

 made to the enemies of Calvin, with respect to that 

 outrageous clamour which they have raised and pro- 

 pagated against him for his treatment of Servetus ; 

 a clamour which seems to have arisen, not so much 

 from a calm consideration of Calvin's real demerit, as 

 from an unreasonable prejudice against the man, trans- 

 ferred from the system of doctrine which he main- 

 tained, or from a strong feeling of hatred to intole- 

 rance, unchastened by a knowledge of the circum- 

 stances of the case in question, and of the history of 

 the times in which the obnoxious transaction took 

 place. Calvin, doubtless, went far wrong in sanc- 

 tioning the punishment of Servetus ; but his error 

 was the error of his age, and of his country ; and, 

 in proof of this, a thousand facts might be adduced. 

 Heresy iu religion was universally regarded as equal- 

 ly criminal with transgressions of civil law, and pu- 

 nished with the same severity. The principles of to- 

 leration were as yet but imperfectly understood. 

 Even those who formally recognised their, had not 

 inibibed their genuine spirit. And the persecuting 



temper of Popery was insensibly retained, after men ' 

 had 1 its corruptions, and emancipated ' 



themselves in a great measure from its yuke. This 

 was the case in every place where the reformation 

 existed, and with every wet of Christians that was 

 possessed <<f power. When, therefore, Calvin is repro- 

 bated for prot :> of a heretic, he buffer* 

 in common with all his brethren ; and the condemua- 

 tion pa- ed upon him, is not because he acted worse 

 than others, but because he did not surpass ti. 

 tolerance, as he did in every thine else. It l 

 be recollected, too, that the punishment of h< 

 was not only permitted, but positively rrquir-d, by 

 the constitution of Geneva. And that to hu 

 lowed Set veins to escape, would have been an iLnn- 

 donmetit of that purity and x.cal, by which the .ob- 

 jects of that constitution considered it to be dist.u- 

 gui&hed, and which they had often displayed in pro- 

 secuting with eagerness the abettors of false doe- 

 trinc r . i , t':o, that the proceedings agaimt 

 Serv -u the approbation of almost all the 

 most eminent ecclesiastics who then flourished. The 

 reformed Swiss cantons were unanimous in exhorting 

 the council of Geneva to punish the tricked man, and 

 to put it out of his pouer to increase herety. Farel, 

 Viret, Bucer, Be/.a, CEcolampadius, and even the 

 gentle Melancthon, approved of the measure. And 

 why are not they subjected to the same censure as 

 Calvin ? The only person who was bold enough to 

 oppose it was Castalio, whose wtll known grudge at 

 Calvin, and tendency to error in other points, suffi- 

 ciently account for this departure from the prevailing 

 sentiment. It may be farther remarked, that Serve- 

 tus was a heretic of a peculiar cast. He did not 

 merely maintain Socinian doctrine, but held princi- 

 ples and language, with respect to the nature of the 

 Supreme Being, which amounted to blasphemy, and 

 were not far, if they were at all, removed irom A- 

 theism. This is hinted at in the terms of hi 

 tence, and distinctly asserted by some writer*, who 

 were very unfriendly to Calvin. Such conduct on 

 the part of Servetus, as it greatly exceeded the or- 

 dinary bounds of heresy, would be deemed at that 

 time more than enough to justify the opmiou of one 

 who said, that " he deserved something worse than 

 death." It should^be noticed, also, that Calviu him- 

 self had been accused of error with reject to the 

 Trinity ; and that, had he connived at Servetus, or 

 dealt very gently with him, the suspicions . 

 entertained of his own orthodoxy, might have b'en 

 revived and confirmed. And the personal tecung 

 which, in this view, he must naturally have ex, 

 enced, would be strengthened, b i.ng that 

 the doctrine of Servetus, respecting ; v of 

 Christ, was almost uaivei :>oth 

 by Papists and Protestants ; and . :,at, 

 considering the existing laws and noli*. . J to 

 it, and the favourable opp< ; . J of 

 checking it, any tv :-art, 

 would have been construed into a . 

 to Christianity at large. It is Lot t! 

 that Calvin shewed any undiK 

 the destruction of Servctus. Much ha- 

 to this puipoie by his enemies ; but it . 

 daiion in fact. He acted in this cuw, as he uiul- 

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