I don’t know the author of this… he/she goes by the title “holy nope” – but I appreciate the facts outlined here:

Forgive my spicy response, but the random Calvinist slander on unrelated posts does get tiresome, and I do pity that putrid combination of ignorance and arrogance.

The claim: ”Calvin the murderer had his theological opponents executed, like Michael Servetus.”

The facts:

Calvin had no power to execute anyone. He didn’t burn Servetus in his back yard. He didn’t burn Servetus at all. He had no legal authority in Geneva. He was not a magistrate. He didn’t even become a citizen of Geneva until 1559, four years after Servetus was executed. He had no means by which to arrest, try, or sentence anyone. Geneva was a sacral state: a society in which church and state were formally intertwined, and civil authority was expected to uphold and enforce religious orthodoxy. Geneva was not unique, but rather typical of both Protestant and Roman Catholic cities during the Reformation era. This means that the government assumed a divine responsibility to protect and promote true religion. Heresy and blasphemy were civil crimes punishable by the state. Servetus was found guilty of denying the Trinity, denying Christ’s enteral Sonship and deity, blasphemous speech (often mocking the Trinity and other doctrines), and repeated defiance of church and civil authority. Servetus has already been condemned to death by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Vienne. He was on the run. He had been warned repeatedly to cease publishing his heresies.

Servetus was condemned by the Geneva Council, not John Calvin. All the major Protestant cities in Switzerland at the time agreed with the death sentence, even those who disagreed with Calvin’s theology. Servetus execution was consistent with the legal treatment of heresy across both Protestant and Catholic regions in the 16th century.

Calvin opposed the method of execution (burning) and urged the city council to use the sword instead, as it was more humane. The council ignored his request.

Calvin wrote in a letter to William Farel on October 27, 1553, “I tried to prevent the capital penalty… I desired that the severity of the punishment be mitigated.”

All of the above is common knowledge. Commenters like this tell on themselves.

So you’re not a Calvinist. I don’t care. I’m a Christian first. Calvin was a flawed man like us all. But “Calvin was a murderer“ is slander to be repented of, a malicious myth worthy of mockery that holds not one ounce of truth.

We moderns often assume moral superiority over the past, when usually we have none.

In the words of L.P. Hartley, “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”