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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -<br />
PROF. M. M. NINAN<br />
“I of all mortals have found favor with Heaven <strong>and</strong> have been chosen to serve on earth as vicar of the<br />
gods. I am the arbiter of life <strong>and</strong> death for the nations; it rests in my h<strong>and</strong> what each man’s fortune <strong>and</strong><br />
state shall be; by my lips Fortune proclaims what gift she would bestow on each human being; from<br />
my utterance peoples <strong>and</strong> cities gather reasons for rejoicing; without my favor <strong>and</strong> grace no part of the<br />
wide world can prosper; all those many thous<strong>and</strong>s of swords which my peace restrains will be drawn<br />
at my nod; what nations shall be utterly destroyed, which ones transported, which shall receive the gift<br />
of liberty, which have it taken from them, what kings shall become slaves <strong>and</strong> whose heads shall be<br />
crowned with royal honor, what cities shall fall <strong>and</strong> which shall rise — this is my jurisdiction….."<br />
This time not the Vicar of gods,<br />
but the Vicar of God in action.<br />
Michael was tried for heresy, this time by a Protestant city council. …<br />
The Geneva Council voted to condemn Servetus for heresy <strong>and</strong> called for his execution. The Swiss<br />
churches of Berne, Zurich, Basle, <strong>and</strong> Schaffhausen encouraged this move. Although <strong>Calvin</strong> insisted<br />
with the rest that Servetus must die, he urged that in mercy Servetus be executed by the sword, not by<br />
burning, but the Council rejected the suggestion. It was quarreling with <strong>Calvin</strong> at that time over the city<br />
government.<br />
On October 27, the day of the execution, both Farel <strong>and</strong> <strong>Calvin</strong> visited Servetus in his cell. Servetus<br />
begged for mercy <strong>and</strong> asked <strong>Calvin</strong>'s forgiveness. <strong>Calvin</strong> said that he had nor become involved in the<br />
pros-ecution of Servetus because of any offenses against him personally. They then made a final<br />
attempt to get Servetus to change his mind about the Trinity, but without success. Servetus stood fast<br />
to his principles.<br />
"Being led to a pile of wood made up of small sticks <strong>and</strong> bundles of green oak with the leaves still<br />
on, he was seated on a log with his feet touching the ground, his body chained to a stake, <strong>and</strong> his<br />
neck bound to it by a coarse rope; his head covered with straw or leaves sprinkled with<br />
sulphur, <strong>and</strong> his book tied to his thigh. He besought the executioner not to prolong<br />
his torture; <strong>and</strong> when the torch met his sight he uttered a terrible shriek, while the horrified people<br />
threw on more wood <strong>and</strong> he cried out, ‘0 Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have mercy on me.’ After<br />
about half an hour life was extinct. He had died <strong>and</strong> made no sign.<br />
But in the end, Miguel Serveto, (Michael Servetus, Michel de Villeneuve), was burned alive atop a<br />
pyre of his own books on the edge of Geneva, on October 27, 1553, crying out, “Jesus, Son of the<br />
Eternal God, have mercy on me.”<br />
<strong>Calvin</strong> wrote about Servetus,<br />
‘One should not be content with simply killing such people,<br />
but should burn them cruelly.’”<br />
(FBIS, “The <strong>Calvin</strong>ism Debate”)<br />
http://uudb.org/articles/michaelservetus.html<br />
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