Brand New Pentecostal Web Site!!

• Messages sorted by:[ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]

On Wed, 30 Oct 1996 14:58:28 -0500 (EST), you wrote:

Please excuse the "AMEN post" this once... :)

I would normally be excited about participating in this thread but
have been busy for the last weeks...

>Calvin's role cannot be overestimated.  It was through his direct =
prosecution
>that the court condemned Servetus to death for anti-Trinitarianism and =
Ana-
>baptism.

Yes, I completely agree. There has been much comment regarding
Calvin's innocence, even suggesting at times that Calvin interceded
for Servetus. These ideas are not supported by any documentary
evidence. In fact, Catholic perspectives on the trial and prosecution
(while obviously written from an adversarial viewpoint) focused on
Calvin's autocratic rule seizing the facts of Servetus' situation as
an illustration, as his case was well known in that day. It is not
likely that the records of Calvin's personal hatred for the doctrines
and person of Michael Servetus are exagerated.

On the other hand the volumes of slanders which today paint the
popular picture of Calvanism's "problem" with the Anabaptists, are
themselves quite a study in propaganda. If we keep in mind that the
Anabaptists were not Rome's problem as much as they were Geneva's and
Geneva was Rome's problem, we know how to read the slant of history.

>In my estimation, Servetus was truly a martyr for his belief in the =
incomparable
>monotheism of God.

I agree 100%

There was some mention about certain of Servetus doctrines, and the
"New Ageish" taint of some statements that are typically extracted
from him. In fact, several months ago, one of the adversarial voices
on higher-fire quoted some Servetus.

I dont think the issue is whether Servetus made the best use of modern
language regarding the relationship of Father and Son, or whether he
chose to express it as we would. Though though metaphoric language he
tends toward a Zoroastrian-like explaination of the deity adbiding in
the son, and notably reduces any suggestion of a distinct personality
in the son through expressions that appear alomst pantheistic,
remember, he was simply rejecting a theological system that was in
error. Servetus was not primarilly an author, but an editor. His
language appears to me to represent and effort to counter the specific
concepts of trinitarianism that are so contary to the revelation of
scripture.=20

Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont believe Servetus enjoyed an
extensive fellowship or uninhinibited access to like minded believers.
As such we can compare his writing (which, so far as I know, is not
wholly available in English) to a single entry into the higher fire
discovered 400 years from now. Not all we write is, on second reading,
perfect. :)=20

I agree that Servetus was persecuted for anti-trinitarianism, and
exaulting the deity of Jesus Christ. And, he was persecuted by those
who today would pretend to represent orthodoxy, but are in fact
threatened by the free preaching of scripture.

-mwb