Government under calvins direction lead to:
Executions: During a 17-year period of Calvin's influence, there were 139 recorded executions in Geneva, a city with a total population of around 20,000. These sentences were handed down by the civil city council, not Calvin himself, although he often influenced their decisions.
The Servetus Affair: The most famous and controversial event was the 1553 execution of Michael Servetus, a Spanish theologian who denied the Trinity. Servetus was arrested and tried for heresy. While Calvin advocated for a less brutal execution by beheading, the city council insisted on burning him at the stake with green wood, a slow and agonizing process. This event was widely criticized even by some contemporaries, though other prominent reformers of the era supported the decision.
Strict Moral Laws: Little distinction was made between religious and moral offenses, which were enforced by the Consistory, a body of pastors and elders. Punishments ranged from fines and imprisonment to exile and execution for behaviors such as adultery, blasphemy, and striking one's parents (based on Old Testament law). Christmas celebrations were banned as "papist superstition".
"Theocracy" and Control: Critics, often called "Libertines" by Calvin, accused him of creating a new form of tyranny, nicknaming him the "Pope of Geneva". While some historians dispute the idea that Geneva was a rigid theocracy with the clergy directly controlling the state, Calvin's influence over the civil authorities was substantial.
Banishment and Persecution: Individuals who disagreed with Calvin's theology or the church's discipline faced banishment, as in the case of Sebastian Castellio, who argued against the execution of heretics.
Silverhair,
Not to seem offensive ( and I truly do not wish to offend you, personally ), but I tend to find something strangely absent when reading posts from people who not only disagree with "Calvinism", but also find it somehow necessary to bring up the events that happened at Geneva and John Calvin's involvement in them... as if those alone should serve to stop someone from believing anything similarly to what he taught:
The strange tendency to leave out one of the biggest offenders when it comes to crimes committed in the name of Jesus Christ ( and this is a matter of historical record ); The Roman Catholic Church.
Specifically, that governments under its direction which has, for over 1,500 years, historically taught the
complete opposite of much of what is called "Calvinism" ( and rather teaches, to this day, what amounts to a modified form of modern "Arminianism" known as "Molinism" ), has led to:
Executions: During just one controversial and famous event known as the
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, anywhere from 2,000 to 70,000 people were not just executed, they were essentially
assassinated...in one day. Many or most were French Huguenots ( "Calvinists" ).
The Inquisitions: It's not generally known how many of those who opposed its teachings were persecuted, tried, found guilty of heresy, tortured and put to death by various means... but some estimates place the total death toll of the
Inquisitions that were held
in just Catholic-controlled Spain from 1478 to 1834, in the
thousands, if not more. Add to this those that occurred in Portugal and several other countries around the same time period ( as well as those short periods in Catholic-led England ), and the estimated numbers are staggering, IMO.
Strict Moral Laws: I could list many.
"Theocracy" and Control: Western history, especially European history from roughly 900 to the 1800's, is replete with examples of the RCC's imposition, gross influence over and outright heinous crimes against, the peoples of the countries in which it was housed and had power over. The Pope still rules from Rome today, and many of it's condemnations and canons have never been repealed.
Banishment and Persecution: Common-place for much of its history ( and often highly dependent upon local and civil authorities' actions
apart from Rome's direct involvement ), especially during the "Dark Ages" and well into what we know as the modern era. Individuals who disagreed with its beliefs and teachings faced either... or both.
