The Execution of Servetus

I was reading a blog entry about the entire John Calvin and Michael Servetus incident. The article pointed out many important points that should help shed light on the subject. Basically it shows that Calvin was not a ruthless and blood-thirsty murderer, as he is commonly portrayed. The article can be found over at Pastor Jason Robertson's Blog (formerly Fide-O) here.

A few of the points made here include that the Servetus incident was a one-time event, Calvin did not have men killed left and right on his own whims. Secondly is that Calvin actually pleaded on Servetus' behalf for a more painless execution than being burnt at the stake. Also, Calvin warned Servetus that he should not come to Geneva, because he will be arrested and tried (all this was after many exchanges over many years between the two where Calvin tried to correct Servetus' heresies). It must be noted that heresy was a crime punishable by law in that time, the execution was lawful and commended by both the Reformed and the Catholic groups, since Servetus denied essential teachings including the Trinity. Neither did Calvin cast the verdict, assign the punishment, or execute the sentence.

Basically, Calvin was acting within his historical and legal context, attempted to correct and save Servetus, pleaded for a more humane execution, and was not directly responsible for his death.

I am not defending capital punishment for heresy, but when you look at the truth of the incident, Calvin turns out to be not as bad as many make him out to be. And even if he were, that would not mean that his exegesis and theology are wrong, it would just mean that he was a bad and violent leader.

But back to the post… someone in the comments section of this specific blog posted a Calvin quotation, in attempt to make Calvin out to be a tyrant. The quote was given, without a bibliographical reference:

Calvin, in a letter to Marquis Poet, the high chamberlain to the King of Navarre:
"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 I decided to track this quote down and it is interesting what I found. First I found that all of the websites that house this quote are opposed to reformed theology and have a specific hatred of Calvin (that should not be becoming of any Christian) and Calvinism. These references can be found (as of the time of this writing) here, here, and here. But none of these gave any bibliographical references, they just say that Calvin wrote this text 9 years after the execution of Servetus. There are no major historical or scholarly indication that Calvin actually wrote this quote.

Frustrated at the lack of scholarship on those who claim that Calvin wrote this, I decided to track down the letter itself, I have posted the full letter below. But this search led me to the Complete Works of Voltaire and found the quote on page 89 of the 27th volume of the 1901 compilation of his work (online here). Voltaire writes:

The finishing stroke to this picture of Calvin may be found in a letter written with his own hand which is still preserved in the castle of Bastie Roland near Montelimar it is directed to the marquis de Poet high chamberlain to the king of Navarre and dated September 30 1561…

Then gives the same quote given above. This comes in a chapter by Voltaire where he is attempting to paint Calvin in the worst light possible (thus the quote "The finishing stroke to this picture of Calvin"). Voltaire was not an evangelical, held to a deistic view of God, and had mixed opinions of the Bible. It is not surprising that he would give an unfair, and erroneous, examination of Calvin.

It is also interesting that Voltaire, here claims that the letter preserved in the castle of Bastie Roland is "written with [Calvin's] own hand". But it is widely believed that the letter that is at this location is not in Calvin's handwriting, or any of his secretaries. Also, the letter lacks the normal style of Calvin's writing. These arguments can be found here in the Letters of John Calvin (Volume 4, pages 437-441) published by Jules Bonnet in 1858.

But the telling issues is that there are historical errors that Calvin most likely would not have made, that a later forger would have. One of the glaring errors is that the letter is addressed to "Monseigneur du Poet, Grand Chamberlain of Navarre and Governor of the town of Montelimart", whom did not have this title until 1584. Another mistake is that the letter refers to an event, the Colloquy of Poissy, which was a conference intended to reconcile Catholic and Reformed views. This event was not concluded until October of that year, which is after the date of Calvin's writings. Calvin would not be asking results of a conference that has not yet concluded.

Also, it is interesting that this letter's purpose is never fulfilled. The end of the letter reads "the rest, Monseigneur, I forgot the subject for which I did myself the honour to write to you." This is not like today, that it is easy to send an accidental email at no cost or effort. For Calvin to have taken to writing, forgot what he set out to write, said so in the letter, and sent it anyway without actually saying his real intention is unlikely. This points to the conclusion that the forger had the intent to make the Reformer out to be a tyrant, and once that was done end the letter quickly.

All evidence points to this letter not being authored by Calvin at all, but rather a later forger. The fact that the quote is dismissed by most scholarship as being inauthentic, the over-reaching and biased claims of Voltaire, and the obvious historical errors all point to this not being an authentic Calvin letter or quote. Which further vindicates Calvin from being the tyrant he is often accused.

The Complete (forged) Letter

To Monseigneur, Monseigneur du Poet, Grand Chamberlain of Navarre and Governor of the town of Montelimart, at Crest.

Monseigneur: - What have you judged of the Colloquy of Poissy? We have conducted our business safely. The Bishop of Valence as well as the others have signed our profession of faith. Let the king make processions as much as he pleases, he will not be able to hinder the preaching of our faith, harangues in public, nor gain anything except to stir up the people already too disposed for rebellion. The brave Seigneurs de Montbrun and de Beaumont abandon their opinions. You spare neither courses, nor cares; labour, you and yours will find their turn. One day, honour, glory, and riches will be the reward of so much pains. Above all, do not fail to rid the country of all those zealous scoundrels that stir up the people by their dis-courses to make head against us, blacken our conduct, and wish to make our belief pass for a reverie. Such monsters should be smothered, as I have done here, by the execution of Michel Servetus the Spaniard. Do not imagine that in future any one will take it into his head to do the like.

For the rest, Monseigneur, I forgot the subject for which I did myself the honour to write to you, which is humbly to kiss your hands, supplicating you to take in good part the quality which I shall covet during my whole life of…

Monseigneur,

Your very humble and affectionate servant,
J. Calvin.
At Geneva, this 5th September, 1561.