Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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§ 137. CALVIN AND SERVETUS.
We now come to the dark chapter in the history of Calvin which has cast a
gloom over his fair name, and exposed him, not unjustly, to the charge of
intolerance and persecution, which he shares with his whole age.
The burning of Servetus and the decretum horribile are sufficient in the
judgment of a large part of the Christian world to condemn him and his
theology, but cannot destroy the rocky foundation of his rare virtues and
lasting merits. History knows only of one spotless being—the Saviour of
sinners. Human greatness and purity are spotted by marks of infirmity,
which forbid idolatry. Large bodies cast large shadows, and great virtues
are often coupled with great vices.
Calvin and Servetus—what a contrast! The best abused men of the
sixteenth century, and yet direct antipodes of each other in spirit, doctrine,
and aim: the reformer and the deformer; the champion of orthodoxy and
the archheretic; the master architect of construction and the master
architect of ruin, brought together in deadly conflict for rule or ruin. Both
were men of brilliant genius and learning; both deadly foes of the Roman
Antichrist; both enthusiasts for a restoration of primitive Christianity, but
with opposite views of what Christianity is.
They were of the same age, equally precocious, equally bold and
independent, and relied on purely intellectual and spiritual forces. The one,
while a youth of twenty-seven, wrote one of the best systems of theology
and vindications of the Christian faith; the other, when scarcely above the
age of twenty, ventured on the attempt to uproot the fundamental doctrine
of orthodox Christendom. Both died in the prime of manhood, the one a
natural, the other a violent, death.
Calvin’s works are in every theological library; the books of Servetus are
among the greatest rareties. Calvin left behind him flourishing churches,
and his influence is felt to this day in the whole Protestant world; Servetus
passed away like a meteor, without a sect, without a pupil; yet he still
eloquently denounces from his funeral pile the crime and folly of religious
persecution, and has recently been idealized by a Protestant divine as a
prophetic forerunner of modern christo-centric theology.
Calvin felt himself called by Divine Providence to purify the Church of all
corruptions, and to bring her back to the Christianity of Christ, and
regarded Servetus as a servant of Antichrist, who aimed at the destruction