Unitarian Universalist Heroes #3
"Michael Servetus: Daring to Question!"

Some have called me "The First Unitarian".
That isn't exactly true
but when I dared raise questions about the doctrine of the Trinity
little did I know that it would cost me my life.
My name is Michael Servetus.
I was born in 1511
of noble blood
In Villanueva in Spain
We were a devout Roman Catholic family.
My brother was a Roman priest.
The Protestant Reformation had been underway for at least a century.
Nearly a hundred years before I was born
John Huss had been burned at the stake
for questioning the teachings of the Church.

If I accomplished nothing else in my brief forty-two years,
at least my death
shocked enough people
that religious tolerance became important to many.

In the years just before I was born,
Spain was a great bridge among Christians, Islamics and Jews.
But when the Inquisition came along
our country sided with Christian Europe.
Suddenly non-Christians had to decide between baptism
or exile.

When I was just a kid of fourteen
I was sent to work for Juan de Quintana,
a Franciscan,
from whom I learned a lot.
After a while he released me
to study law at Toulouse.
In law school I learned that denial of the doctrine of the Trinity
could result in execution.

I remembered the great and familiar words of the Shema,
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One.
Those are probably the most familiar
and most repeated words
in all of Judaism.
In those words and in all of scripture
I found no justification for the Trinity
and I could not understand why anyone could believe it.
The Jews were calling it "tritheism".

My law studies got interrupted.
Quintana called me back
to go with him
as he accompanied the Emperor Charles of France
who was trying to "mend fences" with the pope.
I was only eighteen at the time
and I was impressed ­
or should I say,
sickened.
There was the emperor
actually kissing the feet of the pope!
I couldn't help compare
the opulence of the pope
to the poverty of Jesus.
It made no sense.
How humble Jesus was
but the pope was traveling in style
carried on the shoulders of his servants!

It wasn't long after that,
that I "slipped away" from Quintana
as I was working hard at my own beliefs..
I was still a young man of nearly twenty
when I published my first book.
I called it On the Errors of the Trinity.
I had a difficult time getting my book published.
I was refused in Basel.
Then I traveled to Germany
where I finally succeeded in Strassburg
on the condition that the printer and location be omitted.
You probably can't even imagine the reaction to this book.
I was in mortal danger in Catholic areas.
There were some things that I wrote
that also angered Protestant reformers.
I had no place that was safe.

When my book got to Zurich
it angered the church authorities.
They thought it would "undermine all of Christendom"
if left unchecked.
They were giving me power I didn't know I had!
I was just trying to stimulate discussion,
like Martin Luther before me.
Melanchthon called me "plainly demented".

In 1532, when I was still only twenty-one,
the Inquisition in Spain gave orders
for me to be lured or forced back to Spain
so they could deal with me.
However as long as I remained in Germany
they couldn't touch me!
They even tried to get to me through my priest brother Juan.
Both Catholic and Protestants were after me.
I wondered about seeking a safe harbor
by sailing to the "New Isles",
to your land,
so as to escape all this trouble.

I decided it was wise for me to protect myself
by disguising my name.
I started calling myself Michael of Villeneuve.
It was a thin disguise
since Villeneuve was my hometown in Spain,
but it helped when I was in Paris
and other parts of France.

Ever since I first became aware of the hostility aroused by such issues
I pleaded for religious liberty.
How could there be honest inquiry
and open free discussion
without tolerance for differences.
The ruler of France could usually be counted on for protection,
though you have to remember
that could change with the political weather!
This was well before
the great French experiment in religious pluralism
honoring both Catholic and Huguenot

The situation in France soon become hostile
when the next king teamed up with the cardinal and the inquisitor
in a campaign to root out all heresy.
I had to contend with all three
in spite of my pseudonym.

I tried to live inconspicuously
in Lyon, France
where I worked as an editor.
I edited an edition of Ptolemy's Geography
and Sante Pagnini's Bible.
I wanted the Bible to be right
so I worked diligently for four years to complete the work.
I also earned part of my living
by lecturing on geography.

While I was on this job
my friend Champier encouraged me to study medicine.
By my thirtieth birthday
I was a doctor of medicine.
I was fortunate
because if I had been discovered for my theological views
I would have been banished or burned
in most every country of Europe.

This period of my life was relatively calm
until I got interested in astrology.
After all,
astrology was accorded credibility
both in medicine and in religion
in those days.
I stated my views in a statement I called
Apology for Astrology.
The faculty of medicine at the University of Paris took offense
and judged me to be a charlatan.

I wasn't always creating controversy!
I was working hard at my medical work.
I had questions that grew out of my studies of anatomy
which led me to discover the pulmonary circulation of the blood.
It was a break through in medicine
when I was able to show
that the blood flowed through the lungs
to deposit waste
and pick up oxygen.
It is the only thing about my life
that gets me any respect ­
and most of the world has long forgotten even this.
I announced my discovery in a work on theology,
It seemed right since I saw no real distinction
among the fields of theology, philosophy,
psychology and physiology

I came to believe that there was an area of divinity in all humans.
This idea came to me out of my study of anatomy.
Some of you have called this
"the spark, the seed, or the light".
I called it soul.
And for me there was no sharp distinction between soul and spirit.

Once I was asked about my personal life.
To tell the truth I almost got married.
The more I thought about it
I decided it would be unfair to my partner
since I had serious doubts about my ability to father a child,
due to earlier injury.
Thus celibacy became for me a matter of choice and of preference.

From 1540 on for twelve years,
I lived a fairly quiet life in a suburb of Lyon,
combining my work as a physician
with my interest in editing.
Even then I couldn't keep my views to myself.
I was hearing a lot from the Anabaptists
and I liked much of what they believed.
I especially agreed with them on the subject of baptism.
Again these were things that brought them alienation
from Roman Catholics and Protestant reformers alike.

You probably know that
there was very little separation of church and state
in the sixteenth century.
In Switzerland the Catholics had controlled a number of cities,
especially Geneva.
But time came when the people threw out their Catholic rulers
and Geneva became a Protestant stronghold.
When this happened
I had hoped that the brilliant reformer John Calvin
might be willing to listen to what I had to say
and examine new perspectives
on some of the issues of doctrine.
Catholics and German reformers alike wouldn't listen to me.
So I entered into correspondence with Calvin.
However I soon discovered that our differences
went much deeper than I had thought.

Calvin soon wrote a letter to his friend Farel
in which he said,
"'Servetus has just sent me,
together with his letters,
a long volume of his ravings.
If I consent
he will come here,
but I will not give my word,
for should he come,
if my authority is of any avail
I will not suffer him to get out alive.'"
What a disappointment!
I had been rejected in Rome, in Saragossa,
Toulouse, Basel,
Strassburg, Wittenberg ­
and now Geneva!
Calvin never returned to me the manuscript which I sent to him.
Since it was my only completed copy
I was forced to take my notes
and other materials
to reconstruct the book I was working on.
When it was done
I again had trouble finding a publisher that would take it.
I finally found a printer in Lyon
who had no love for John Calvin
and who was quite ready to print
something that would offend Calvin.
We published a thousand copies.

A copy of this new manuscript got into the hands of Calvin's friend,
Guillaume Trie.
In English you would call him William ­ or Bill.
Trie had a Catholic cousin in the city of Lyon
to whom he wrote about me.
He claimed the city of Lyon was harboring a terrible heretic
who deserved to be burned.
I have his lengthy letter of condemnation
if you wish to read it.
I was summoned before the inquisitor
but he found nothing against me.
Trie was embarrassed
and pleaded with Calvin to send him more evidence.
Calvin did so in a most unusual act for a reformer
who took strong exception to Roman doctrine.
He assisted a Catholic in the case.against me!
Somehow Calvin managed to deny his part in this.

Finally the inquisitor had the proof he needed
and I was arrested along with my publisher
and we were sent to prison.
A trial followed.
I had to be very careful about what I said in court.
During the days of the trial
I got quite familiar with the prison layout.
The jailor often allowed prisoners out into the yard
to relieve themselves at night ­
and this provided me with my opportunity.
About four in the morning
I got dressed
and then put my night clothes on over everything else
and asked to go out.
Once out I knew exactly what to do to escape!
As soon as they knew I was gone
they mounted a massive search
but found nothing!

In my absence the tribunal passed sentence.
I was sentence to a fine
and was to be paraded through town practically naked for humiliation,
and then was to be burned alive -- slowly.
However I was not there to be executed ­
so they burned me in effigy!

Of course I had to go into hiding.
I decided to go to Naples to practice medicine,
hopefully safe from the threats.
I happened to be passing through Geneva on a Sunday.
I knew I would be more conspicuous
if I didn't go to church ­
so I went.
I was recognized ­
and arrested.
Some think I was there to work with the Libertines
in an overthrow of Calvin's government!

They say I was insolent and overbearing in my trial.
Maybe I was my own worse enemy
but really it is hard to think clearly
when your life is on the line.
The trial dragged on for weeks
until finally on October 27, 1553
they found me guilty
and sentence me to be burned at the stake.
They wasted no time.
That very afternoon they took me out to Champel
and chained me to a stake.
They bound my book to my arm
and placed a crown of straw on my head.
It was sprinkled with sulfur.
A pile of green wood was about my feet.
The executioner flashed his torch by my face
before starting the fire that took my life.
A half hour later my agony had ended.

It may seem shocking to you,
but in my day they believed that heresy
was more dangerous than murder.
A murderer only takes a physical life.
A heretic can destroy a person's immortal soul.
John Calvin believed that so firmly
that some say he was a key party
to a similar death for over fifty people ­
all in the name of Christianity! ­
in the name of my beloved Jesus!

Was I the first Unitarian ­ when I questioned the Trinity?
Maybe I lit the spark for all of you who follow.

So why tell me story to people like you here and now?
The point is religious tolerance.
If I had to die,
I'm thankful that it sparked a strong movement
for religious liberty and tolerance.
Even in your time there is a lot of religious bigotry
and arrogance
and religious violence.
It even appears among UU's at times!
That's tragic!
But you as modern Unitarian Universalists
have the unique role
of showing your community
and the world
how people of varied spiritual paths
can live and work together
in one religious community.
If you seriously work at that
I will not have died in vain
and you will be pioneers for a great new world!

Peace be with you all!

+++++

References:
Bainton, Roland H. ­ Hunted Heretic: The Life and Death of Michael Servetus 1511-1553, The Beacon Press, Boston, 1953 (Borrowed from The Congregational Library, Boston)
Ferm, Vergilius ­ An Encyclopedia of Religion, The Philosophical Library, New York, 1945
Howe, Charles A. ­ For Faith and Freedom: A Short History of Unitarianism in Europe, Skinner House Books, Boston, 1997.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott ­ A History of Christianity, Harper & Row, New York, 1953
Walker, Williston ­ A History of the Christian Church, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1970
For Faith and Freedom: A Short History of Unitarianism in Europe, Skinner House Books, Boston, 1997.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott ­ A History of Christianity, Harper & Row, New York, 1953
Walker, Williston ­ A History of the Christian Church, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1970