Who shall be judge?
“Calvin says that he is certain, and they say they are;
Calvin says that they are wrong and wishes to judge them, and so do they. Who
shall be judge? Who made Calvin the arbiter of all sects, that he alone should
kill? He has the Word of God and so have they. If the matter is certain, to who
is it so? To Calvin? But then why does he write so many books about manifest
truth?.... In view of all the uncertainty we must define the heretic simply as
one with whom we disagree. And if then we are going to kill heretics, the
logical outcome will be a war of extermination, since each is sure of himself.
Calvin would have to invade France and all other nations, wipe out cities, put
all the inhabitants to the sword, sparing neither sex nor age, not even babies
and the beasts. All would have to be burned save Calvinists, Jews and Turks,
whom he excepts.”
2 comments:
Luther and Calvin may have changed Christians' beliefs, but they did not change their attitude toward dissent....nor their ethics.
It's the *certainty* that they are right - and by extension everyone else is (dangerously) wrong that gets me. It can 'justify' pretty much anything - and unfortunately has.
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