Was John Calvin born again?

[marke]

I have serious doubts about the spiritual condition of John Calvin, famous for promoting the 5-point doctrine of divine hatred for lost sinners, known as Calvinism. Calvin hated those who disagreed with him, even contributing to the murder of some Christians who disagreed with him. That casts serious doubt on his profession of faith in Christ.

1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Why did John Calvin have Michael Servetus burned at the stake for heresy? | GotQuestions.org

Why did John Calvin have Michael Servetus burned at the stake for heresy? Was the execution of Michael Servetus justified?

www.gotquestions.org

In 1552 the Spanish Inquisition took action against Servetus, but he escaped their hands. Later, the French Inquisition declared Servetus worthy of death but had to burn him in effigy, due to his escape. In August 1553, Servetus traveled to Geneva where he was recognized and at Calvin’s request was imprisoned by the city magistrates. The trial of Michael Servetus lasted through October, at which time the Council of Geneva condemned him to death. Servetus was burned at the stake on October 27, 1553. The Calvinists and the Catholics both wanted him dead, but the Calvinists got to him first.

The condemnation and death of Michael Servetus has been a black mark on John Calvin’s record for centuries. Was the burning of Servetus justified, or was it cold-blooded murder? God will judge

 

[marke]

I have serious doubts about the spiritual condition of John Calvin, famous for promoting the 5-point doctrine of divine hatred for lost sinners, known as Calvinism. Calvin hated those who disagreed with him, even contributing to the murder of some Christians who disagreed with him. That casts serious doubt on his profession of faith in Christ.

1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Why did John Calvin have Michael Servetus burned at the stake for heresy? | GotQuestions.org

Why did John Calvin have Michael Servetus burned at the stake for heresy? Was the execution of Michael Servetus justified?

www.gotquestions.org

In 1552 the Spanish Inquisition took action against Servetus, but he escaped their hands. Later, the French Inquisition declared Servetus worthy of death but had to burn him in effigy, due to his escape. In August 1553, Servetus traveled to Geneva where he was recognized and at Calvin’s request was imprisoned by the city magistrates. The trial of Michael Servetus lasted through October, at which time the Council of Geneva condemned him to death. Servetus was burned at the stake on October 27, 1553. The Calvinists and the Catholics both wanted him dead, but the Calvinists got to him first.

The condemnation and death of Michael Servetus has been a black mark on John Calvin’s record for centuries. Was the burning of Servetus justified, or was it cold-blooded murder? God will judge

Calvin clearly, freely, and openly hated Christians he imperiously judged to be lost.

1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

 

[nikolai_42]

I'm not going to defend Calvin's actions in detail, but I've heard this so often that I have to say something about it. The judgment of another person's soul is very serious - especially when one is so far removed from the time and place of that individual. I don't know how much reading you've done on the subject, but you've taken a very small article that actually is a little more equitable than you've been - and tried to prop up a charge of murder. For one thing, the definition of murder is intentional, unjustified taking of another's life. Calvin did not have the power to reverse the sentence (certainly not unilaterally, he didn't) and the law (however right or wrong it was) was being followed. He was possibly guilty of unjust hatred - but even that is speculation. There are all sorts of details that make me believe the common picture painted of Calvin is a grotesque distortion of reality, but consider this :

1. The Reformers were not entirely free of Rome. They still had (to varying degrees) vestiges of that system coursing through their veins. The thrust of their reaction to the RCC was against the Papacy as unbiblical and against the salvation by works that Rome taught. That didn't mean that they all of a sudden were non-Catholic. The rule of most cities was one of what we would consider today heavy-handed authority. And the control that Rome engendered in her adherents was a natural fruit of her teachings. So, as a general rule, if one expects the Reformers to be all of a sudden perfectly gracious, one is going to be very disappointed.

2. Consider the crime. We obviously don't kill anyone for their ideas (nor do I think we should) but Servetus was flaunting his Arianism. The apostle John not only makes clear that we are to love our brothers, but he makes it just as clear that we are to have nothing to do with those that reject Christ as He was revealed :

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
2 John 9-11

A reformer was far more likely to have excess on the side of rejecting heretics than to tolerate them. It was the nature of the situation. They were trying to correct the severe errors of the church they were a part of. So it won't be a surprise that that which is against the truth will appear - to them - in stark relief to that which is of the truth. Anyone not completely for them would probably have been seen as suspect (at best). Luther was the same way. So if Calvin saw that Servetus was an enemy of the faith, it was only natural for him to be seen as an enemy of the state as well (given how closely those two were wrapped up together). We may be more enlightened in our tolerant society, but if enlightenment judging history in light of what we know, then it becomes a cloak for pride.

 

[marke]

I'm not going to defend Calvin's actions in detail, but I've heard this so often that I have to say something about it. The judgment of another person's soul is very serious - especially when one is so far removed from the time and place of that individual. I don't know how much reading you've done on the subject, but you've taken a very small article that actually is a little more equitable than you've been - and tried to prop up a charge of murder. For one thing, the definition of murder is intentional, unjustified taking of another's life. Calvin did not have the power to reverse the sentence (certainly not unilaterally, he didn't) and the law (however right or wrong it was) was being followed. He was possibly guilty of unjust hatred - but even that is speculation. There are all sorts of details that make me believe the common picture painted of Calvin is a grotesque distortion of reality, but consider this :

Calvin did not just go along with those who murdered Servetus, he provided the main drive to have the man executed.

The Murder of Michael Servetus

www.bcbsr.com

Michael Servetus was a Christian living in the 1500's who incurred the wrath of John Calvin and was murdered by him and his cronies for illegitimate reasons. He was accused of heresy and railroaded through a mock trial and put to death being burned alive at the stake. Yet such an atrocity was praised by even well-known Calvinists as Bullinger and others for generations.

 

[marke]

Calvin did not just go along with those who murdered Servetus, he provided the main drive to have the man executed.

The Murder of Michael Servetus

www.bcbsr.com

Michael Servetus was a Christian living in the 1500's who incurred the wrath of John Calvin and was murdered by him and his cronies for illegitimate reasons. He was accused of heresy and railroaded through a mock trial and put to death being burned alive at the stake. Yet such an atrocity was praised by even well-known Calvinists as Bullinger and others for generations.

More from the above reference:

(By way, Martin Luther wrote against putting "heretics" to death. So apparently Calvin was advocating murdering Luther as well)

The strongest recorded statement from Calvin on the Servetus affair is a 1561 letter from Calvin to the Marquis Paet, high chamberlain to the King of Navarre, in which he says intolerantly:

"Honour, glory, and riches shall be the reward of your pains; but above all, do not fail to rid the country of those scoundrels, who stir up the people to revolt against us. Such monsters should be exterminated, as I have exterminated Michael Servetus the Spaniard."

So as for Calvin it is written, "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him." 1John 3:15

 

[nikolai_42]

Calvin did not just go along with those who murdered Servetus, he provided the main drive to have the man executed.

The Murder of Michael Servetus

www.bcbsr.com

Michael Servetus was a Christian living in the 1500's who incurred the wrath of John Calvin and was murdered by him and his cronies for illegitimate reasons. He was accused of heresy and railroaded through a mock trial and put to death being burned alive at the stake. Yet such an atrocity was praised by even well-known Calvinists as Bullinger and others for generations.

I looked at the page you linked to and, as with any site that is anti-Calvin, they haven't given an exhaustive treatment. The issue is so detailed and complex that:

1. These sites over-simplify
2. These sites also write as though Calvin were living in a more modern setting