Today (well, yesterday, as I write this) we had our last session of History 100, which covered European history from Late Antiquity to the Reformation. It was quite a wonder for me to hear the professor reciting the Gospel as he discussed Luther's life and theology. Oh, how beautiful it is to hear the Gospel, even in so secular a setting!

But I was sorely disappointed when he covered John Calvin. The professor said something like, "Luther sought to remove the guilt in Christianity, but Calvin put it right back in." He then went on to say that Calvin primarily elaborated on predestination and sought to establish the rule of the elect over society. To that end, Geneva became a theocracy in which "anyone who deviated from Calvinist orthodoxy" was harshly punished. The professor rounded off his coverage of Calvin by mentioning Michael Servetus, whom Calvin had sent a copy of his Institutes. "Servetus made the mistake, first of all, of mailing back the copy with mocking and satirical notes in the margins. He secondly made the mistake of visiting Geneva, where Calvin rounded up his henchmen and had Servetus burned at the stake as a heretic."

Argh! Such misportrayal maddens me. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/mad.gif" alt="mad" title="mad[/img]

Kyle

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.