Such was the teaching which Servetus presented to the world as the restored truth of Cliristianity. He was incapable, from the tendency of his mind, of admitting the importance of the element of practical ethics in the scheme of Christianity, and regarded the latter as pre- eminently a system of doctrine. He speaks constantly of the person of Christ, but rarely of his work of redemp- tion. Faith IS represented as the central and funda- mental element, but rather in the character of appre- hension and assent than of trust. Tiie ideas of sin and guilt are scarcely recognised, and are confined to wicked actions; and the results of such actions are held to be not unto death in the case of persons under twenty years of age. The baptism of children is accordingly con- demned, and is even characterized as being a principal source of the corruption of the Church. Baptism should not be conferred until persons have reached the age of
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thirt}' years, and have been prepared by preaching, care- ful instruction, repentance, and faith. The Lord's sup- per should be administered immediately after baptism, since the new man will at once require sustenance. IJood works and holy living do not necessarily spring from faith, but they are not beyond the ability of man- kind, even in the heathen state. By them a higher degree of blessedness may be attained, and they are usefid to strengthen faith and guard against reactions of the flesh; for which reason such works as will sub- due the flesh are recommended, and such others as will satisjji the claims of justice (prayer, almsgiving, volun- tary confession, etc.) so far as to wholly or partially de- liver from the pui-gatorial fires which await even the faithful and the baptized in the region of the dead.
The measures by which it was hoped to conceal the author of tliis book proved insufficient, and Servetus was denounced to the archiepiscopal trilnmal of Lyons. Evidence to substantiate the charge was obtained, and the governor-general of Dauphiny ordered his appre- hension and trial; and having allowed himself to be entrapped into an acknowledgment of the offence, he was on June 17 condemned to death by fire. He was enabled to effect an escape before the conclusion of the trial, evidently through the assistance of powerful friends, and was accordingly burned in effigy. The sentence of the spiritual court was not pronounced un- til after his death.
The first intention of Servetus was to escape into Spain, but he soon turned towards Switzerland in the hope of being tdtiniately able to reach Naples. He ar- rived at Geneva in the miildle of July, and remained about a month in the public hostelry, when Calvin learned of his presence and caused him to be appre- hen<led (Aug. 13). As the laws required that a civilian should appear as the accuser, Nicholas de la Fontaine, Calvin's pupil and amanuensis, acted in that relation, and charged Servetus with having disseminated grossly erroneous teachings, on account of whicii he had already been imprisoned and was now a fugitive. Thirty-eight articles were attached to this charge, which had been drawn up by Calvin, and to which the accused was re- quired to render categorical answers. Servetus bore himself quietly, and answered with considerable frank- ness, but the council nevertheless ordered the case to proceed to trial. In a subsequent examination, the ac- cused conceded his rejection of certain orthodox doc- trines, and claimed the privilege of publicly and in the Church convincing Calvin, in whom he recognised his principal antagonist, that such doctrines were unscript- ural and erroneous. The action of Philibert Berthelier, a declared enemy to Calvin and leader of the libertine party, who openly sought to protect Servetus, led the reformer to declare himself the real accuser, and he was accordingly admitted to the sessions of the court and allowed to take part in the proceedings. The presence of Calvin, and his own confidence in the protection of powerful supporters, influenced Servetus to display more arrogance in his replies, until in the heat of argument he gave utterance to strong and unequivocally panthe- istic assertions. It now appeared that his guilt in the principal matter was proved, and the determination of his punishment alone remained to be settled. The procurator-general (Aug. 23) brought forward thirty new questions relating to the circumstances of the pris- oner's life, his designs, and his intercourse with other theologians, and the warnings he had received from them, to which Servetus responded with greater mod- eration, though not without doing violence to the truth. He also petitioned that he might be discharged from trial under criminal process, since such action bad never been usual in matters concerning the faith before the time of Constantine, and was the more unreasonable in his case, as his views had been made known to a few scholars only, and he had nothing in common with ihe rebellious Anabaptists ; and lie requested, further, that he be furnished with legal counsel as especially neces-
sary to a stranger in his situation. His petition was denied on the recommendation of the procurator-gen- eral, to whicli it is supposed that Calvin was no stranger; but his earlier request for a discussion wiih Calvin was granted, with the modification that it should take j)lace before the council rather than in the Church. Servetus, however, suddenly changed his tactics, and instead of entering on a discussion with Calvin at their meeting on Sept. 1, he proceeded to deny the comi)etency of civil tribunals to deal with questions of faith; and on the ground that the Church of (ieneva could not impartial- ly determine in matters at issue between Calvin and himself, he appealed to the judgment of the churches in other places. As this appeal corresponded with a reso- lution already reached in the council, it was entertained, and the matter referred to the authorities of the four evangelical cities of Switzerland ; and it was determined that all further transactions should be conducted in writ- ing and in the Latin language. Calvin accoidingly ex- tracted from the works of Servetus their most hurtful teachings, and submitted them, accompanied with re- marks intended to show their blasphemous and danger- ous character, on Sept. 5. Servetus responded with complaints about the treatment he was obliged to un- dergo, and appealed from the smaller council to the Council of the Two Hundred, many of whose members, as he knew, were hostile to Calvin; but finding it nec- essarj' to reply to Calvin's allegations, he permitted himself the use of violent attacks and reproaches against his opponent, M'hile at the same time presenting more clearl_v, and with less dissimulation than before, the meaning and tendencies of his views. A comprehen- sive reply by Calvin and his colleagues was met with further insult, though a private communication intended to instruct the former in certain principles of philosophy and other matters was written in a spirit of greater moderation. A messenger from the council conveyed the writings exchanged between the respective parties, and a copy of the principal work written ^y Servetus to the councillors and the clergy of Zurich, Berne, Basle, and Schaflliausen. Calvin did not neglect to influence his friends by means of his private correspondence in the endeavor to secure an approval of his course; and Servetus, in the meantime, directed a complaint against Calvin as a false accuser, and demanded that he should be imprisoned and tried, the prosecution to coiitiinie un- til one of the antagonists should be sentenced to suffer death or some other punishment.