| Home > True followers of Jesus > Michael Servetus |
Michael Servetus
(1511 -1553)
by bro.Muhammad Ata ur-Rahim
Michael Servetus was born in Villanueve in Spain in 1511. He was the son of a local judge. He lived at a time when there was unrest in the established Church, and in a period when everyone was questioning the nature of Christianity. In 1517, when Servetus was six years old, Martin Luther, started his revolt against the Roman Catholic Church. This resulted in his being excommunicated, and he became a leader of the new reformed "protestant "religion. This movement , known to day as the Reformation, spread like wild fire , and even those who did not agree with him Luther were forced to take notice of him. As well as this conflict, there was another closer to home: although the Muslims and the Christians in Spain had enjoyed better relations in the past, the results of the Crusades in the East caused the Christians to direct their anger against the Muslims in Spain. The organisation known as the Spanish Inquisition set about converting all people who were not Christian to Roman Catholicism. any laxity in observing the outward rites of the Church resulted in severe punishment, if not death.
As he grew older, and more informed, the young Servetus was appalled by the shedding of so much blood. There was a large settlement of Muslims and Jews in the country, and they were spared the sword only if they publicly confessed their faith to be that of the Roman Catholics and affirmed the formula of the Trinity. Imagine his excitement when, upon examining the Bible more closely , he found that the doctrine of Trinity was nowhere a part of its teaching. He further discovered that the Bible did not always support what was being taught by the Church. He was only twenty years old when he decided to tell the world the truth as he had found it, for it followed from this discovery that if the Christians accepted that there was only One God, then all cause for strife between the Christian and the Muslims would be ended, and both communities cold live together in peace. This sensitive but inexperienced youth, his imagination fired with enthusiasm, felt that this end would most easily be achieved with the help of the leaders of the Reformation ,who had , after all ,already broken away from the Catholic Church. The new Protestant Churches would become Unitarian, and with their help the Christians , the Muslims , the Jews would be able to live together in peace. A world of toleration would become a possibility based on One God. the "Father" of the family of mankind.
Servetus was too young to realise that the minds of the leaders of the Reformation were still trapped in the same false metaphysics. He was to find that both Luther and Calvin would have nothing to do with his belief in the Unity of God. They feared that the Reformation would go too far. A number of ceremonies of the Catholic Church were abolished ,but they were afraid to rediscover the original teaching of Jesus, since this would have added to their difficulties and entailed a diminishing of their own power and reputation. Perhaps they were unaware of how far the practices of the Roman Catholics had deviated from the life which Jesus lived. Certainly , they took great pains to contain the reformed religion within the frame-work of Catholic orthodoxy. Their quarrel was not so much with the theology of Rome as with its organisation, and particularly over the question as to who should rule the Church. The beliefs of Servetus posed a threat to both of these organisations, and so , ironically , his appeal to the Reformists only caused them to join forces with the Catholic Church in order to protect their common interest. None of this was fully grasped by the young Servetus.
He had every hope in the leaders of the Reformation, for he was convinced that Roman Catholicism was not the religion of Jesus .His studies had shattered his belief in the doctrine of Trinity and resulted in his believing that there was One God and that Jesus was one of His prophets. His conviction had been strengthened by his witnessing of the coronation of Charles V of Spain by the Pope in 1527, Charles V invaded and sacked Rome. At first , he imprisoned the Pope , but then realised the expediency of having the Pope as an ally. A captive Pope would hardly influence the people in the ways he wanted , so he restored some measure of freedom to him. To demonstrate the good terms they were on, he decided to have a coronation at the hands of the Pope. Strictly speaking, it was not necessary. It was like having a church wedding after a civil ceremony. The kings predecessors had discontinued this practise, but he felt that he was that he was now powerful enough, and the pope weak enough, to revive it. The ceremony was not held in Rome, but in Bologna, since, according to the popular belief "where the Pope is , there is Rome" Servetus witnessed the gorgeous spectacle and it filled him with revulsion for the Catholic Church. Describing the event, he wrote:
With these very eyes I saw him (the Pope) bourne with pomp on the shoulders of prices, making with his hand the sign of the cross, and adored in the open streets by all the people kneeling to such a point that those who were able to kiss his feet or slippers counted themselves more fortunate than the rest and declared that they had obtained many indulgences, and that on this account the infernal pains would be remitted for many years. Oh vilest of all beasts , most brazen of harlots The Hunted Heretic , R. H. Bainton
Thus Servetus's hopes were directed towards the leaders of the Reformation. He felt sure that if he could bring the error of the doctrine of the Trinity to their notice, then they would abandon their belief in this dogma. This misconception was to cost him his life. He left Spain and resided in Toulouse where he studied medicine and eventually took his doctor's degree in 1534 . In the year that followed, he soon became a working physician , but during all this time , his interest was directed towards re-establishing pure Christianity. He did not stay along at any one place, but travelled far and wide in search of people who were open-minded enough to listen to what he was sure was the true Christianity as taught by Jesus.
He went to Basle to meet the then famous Oeclompadius, who was one of the leaders of the Reformation. He had several meetings him and the talk mainly centered on the two natures of Christ. Servetus denied the belief that Jesus pre-existed the creation of the World. He pointed out that the Jewish prophets always spoke of the "Son of God" in the future tense. However, he found that his views were not acceptable to the protestants in Switzerland ,and he left Basle in 1530. This was a great shock to him, since he had hoped that, unlike Catholic France, the Protestants would give a patient ear to what he had to say about Jesus and his teaching. He went to Strasbourg only to find that he could not earn a living there . Due to his ignorance of the German language, he was unable to practice medicine, and so he as forced to go to Lyons. Servetus also conducted a lengthy correspondence with Calvin , who was not altogether interested in trying to embody the teaching of Jesus, but who did want to remain leader of his movement.
Since all his attempts to influence people by personal contact had failed, Servetus printed his views in a book which he called The Errors of Trinity . It was published in 1531. in the same year, he published another book called called Two Dialogues on Trinity. The two books took the whole of Europe by storm. No one had ever written such a daring book within living memory. The result was that the Church hounded Servetus from one place to another. Servetus was forced to change his name, but not his views. From 1532 up until his death, he lived under an assumed name. Servetus still appeared to have a childlike faith in Calvin, who, after reading the books, developed a deep dislike for this presumptuous young man who dared teach him theology. Servetus continued to write to Calvin and the leader's anger increased when he found that Servetus refused to accept his views. The leaders of the Protestant movement feared that it might suffer a set-back if the views of this young enthusiast became known to the people. The reformers also feared that persecution by the Catholic Church might increase if the Protestant doctrine deviated too far from the Catholic doctrine.Thus Servetus , instead of converting the Protestants to his views, forced them to embrace the dogma of Trinity even more zealously. Luther, for instance, publicly condemned him in 1539.
Throughout this time, Servetus continued to practice as a doctor, and became a very popular physician. In spite of the fact that a doctor's profession is very time-consuming , Servetus found time to supervise the printing of a Bible. It was published in 1540, Servetus wrote a preface to it in which he questioned whether a text of Scripture could have more than one meaning. Calvin wrote and replied in the affirmative, but Servetus disagreed with him. Today , the Calvinist Church accepts the very principle of interpretation which Calvin alleged was one of the greatest offences of Servetus against orthodoxy. Servetus stated that he was following the views held by the early apostles who belongs to the Antiochene school of Christianity.
It is refreshing to discover that at the height of this bitter controversy , Servetus found refuge and peace in the house of his old friend , Peter Palmier , who was then the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna. He lived there for thirteen years, enjoying the freedom to practise medicine, and he became quite renowned as a physician. He was one of the first people in Europe to write about the principle of the circulation of the blood. He also wrote a book on geography. In spite of his literary attainments, the issues facing Christianity always held the centre of his attention. He continued to write to Calvin, still hoping to win him over to his views, but Calvin firmly rejected the beliefs expressed in his letters. Servetus refused to accept the obiter dicta of Calvin. Calvin, who was at that time recognised as the foremost thinker of the Protestant religion, felt he was justified in expressing annoyance with Servetus for daring to challenge his ruling s in matters of religions. Servetus refused to accept Calvin as an indisputable authority on religion. Calvin wrote back in anger and Servetus replied in turn with sarcasm. Servetus then wrote another book called The Restoration of Christianity , and sent an advance copy of the manuscript to Calvin. When the book was published , it was found to have seven chapters , the first and last of which were devoted entirely to the doctrines of Christianity. The fifth chapter contained copies of thirty letters which had been passed between Servetus and Calvin. It exposed the fact that, whatever merits Calvin might possess, he lacked what is known as Christian meekness. The book resulted in Servetus being condemned yet again, both by the Catholic and Protestant Churches . They united in their efforts to have the book completely destroyed , and were so thorough that not more than two copies are known to exist today. A facsimile of the book was published in 1791, but copies of this book also destroyed . In a letter written in 1546, Calvin threaten Servetus , saying that if he ever come to Geneva he would not allow him to escape with his life. Servetus did not seem to believe him, but Calvin was as good as his word. when Servetus later came to Geneva and went to see him, still convinced that meeting of minds was possible, Calvin had him arrested by the Roman Catholics and thrown into prison on a charge of heresy.
Servetus had become so popular as a physician that he succeeded is escaping from the prison with the help of some of his former patients. He decided to go to Naples. his route lay through the city of Geneva. He thought he had disguised himself sufficiently to escape detection, but he was wrong. While passing through the city , he was recognised and arrested once more. This time he did not escape. At his trial, he was found guilty of heresy. some of the Judgement ran as follows:
Servetus confesses that in his book he called believers in the Trinity, Trinitarians and Atheists . He called this Trinity a diabolical monster with three heads ...... He called the infant baptism an invention of the devil and sorcery .... This entails the murder and ruin of many souls. Moreover, he wrote a letter to one of the ministers in which, along with other and numerous blasphemies , he declared our evangelical religion to be without faith and without God , and that in place of God we have a three-headed Cerberus. Addressing Servetus , the court says that you had neither shame nor horror of setting yourself against the Divine Majesty of the Holy Trinity, and so you have obstinately tried to infect the world with your stinking heretical poison .... For these and other reasons desiring to purge the Church of God of such infection and cut off the rotten member.... we now, in writing ,give final sentence and condemn you , Micheal Servetus , to be bound and taken to the Chapel and there attached a stake and burned with your book of ashes. and so you shall finish your days and give example to others who would commit the like History of Unitarianism , E. M . Wilbur
Gruesome Death
On the 26th of October ,1553, Servetus was fastened
to the trunk of a tree fixed in the earth , his feet just touching the ground. A
crown of straw and leaves sprinkled over with brimstone was places on his head.
Bundles of wood intermingled with green oaken faggots still in leaf were piled
around his legs. His body was then bounded to the stake with an iron chain
and a course twisted rope thrown around his neck. The wood was then lit. The
fire tormented him, but did not burn him severely. Seeing, this, a few onlookers
felt compassion for him and added more fuel in order to end his misery.
According to one eye-witness , Servetus was writhing for about two hours before
he died. A copy of the The Errors of Trinity had been tied to his
waist before the wood was lit . It is said that the book was rescued by someone,
and that the half-burnt book still exists. Celsus relates that the
constancy of Servetus in the midst of the fire induced many to go over to
his beliefs. Calvin made it an express subject of complaint that there were so
many people who cherished and revered his memory. As
Castillo, a follower of Servetus , said: "To burn a man is not to prove a
doctrine" (Change of Liberal Faith, G. N. Marshall). In later years
,the people of Geneva were to remember him by erecting a statue, not to Calvin ,
but to the man he was responsible for burning alive.
Cowper was moved to
write these lines:
They lived unknown
Till persecution dragged them into fame
And chased them up to heaven . Their ashes flew
No marble tells us wither. With their names
No bard embalms and sanctifies his song.
And history so warm on meaner themes
Is cold on this. ( Anti-Trinitarian Biographies, A Wallace )
Servetus 's death was by no means an isolation incident .This kind of thing was happening throughout Europe at this time , as the following passage from Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic indicates :
Upon the 15th of February 1568, a sentence of the Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics. From this universal doom only a few person, especially named , were expected. A proclamation of King Phillip II of Spain, dated ten days later . confirmed this decree of the inquisition, and ordered it to be carried into instant execution .... These millions of people , men ,women and children , were sentenced to the scaffold in three lines. Under the new decree , the executions certainly did not slacken . Men in the highest and humblest positions were daily and hourly dragged to the stake. Alva , in a single letter to Phillip II, cooly estimates the number of executions which were to take place immediately after the expiration of Holy Week at "eight hundred heads" (Rise of the Dutch Republic , Motley.)
Micheal Servetus was one of the most outspoken critics of the established Church of his time. It earned him the singular distinction of being burnt to death by the Catholics with the aid of the Protestants. He combined within himself all that was best in the Renaissance and Reformation, and came near to fulfilling the ideal of his age which was to produce a "universal man" with "pansophic" knowledge. He was proficient in medicine, geography , Biblical scholarship and theology. The diversity of his learning gave him a breadth of vision which was denied to men who were less educated than he. Perhaps the most significant part of his life was his class with Calvin. It was certainly a personal conflict, but it was more than that. It was a rejection of the Reformation which was prepared to alter the form not the content of a decadent Church. It cost him his life, but although Servetus is dead, his belief in the Divine Unity still lives. He is still regarded by many as "the founder of modern Unitarianism" .
Servetus also stressed what he believed to be the true nature of Jesus:
Some are scandalised at my calling Christ the prophet, because they happed not themselves to apply to him the epithet, they fancy that all who do so are chargeable with Judaism and Mohametism, regardless of the fact that the Scripture and ancient writers call him the prophet (The Epic of Unitarianism , D. B. Parke, pp 5-6)
Please read the Michael Servetus 's Trinity
from the Book : Jesus - A prophet of Islam
Author : Muhammad Ata ur-Rahim
(ICRA)