Heretics And Heresies: From 'The Gods and Other Lectures'Ingersoll, Robert Green
Religion
Heretics And Heresies: From 'The Gods and Other Lectures'
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought; Heresy
#This man forged five fetters for the brain. These fetters he called
points. That is to say, predestination, particular redemption, total
depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. About
the neck of each follower he put a collar bristling with these five iron
points. The presence of all these points on the collar is still the test
of orthodoxy in the church he founded. This man, when in the flush of
youth, was elected to the office of preacher in Geneva. He at once,
in union with Farel, drew up a condensed statement of the Presbyterian
doctrine, and all the citizens of Geneva, on pain of banishment, were
compelled to take an oath that they believed this statement. Of this
proceeding Calvin very innocently remarked that it produced great
satisfaction. A man named Caroli had the audacity to dispute with
Calvin. For this outrage he was banished.
To show you what great subjects occupied the attention of Calvin, it is
only necessary to state that he furiously discussed the question as to
whether the sacramental bread should be leavened or unleavened. He drew
up laws regulating the cut of the citizens' clothes, and prescribing
their diet, and all those whose garments were not in the Calvin fashion
were refused the sacrament At last, the people becoming tired of this
petty theological tyranny, banished Calvin. In a few years, however,
he was recalled and received with great enthusiasm. After this he was
supreme, and the will of Calvin became the law of Geneva. Under his
benign administration, James Gruet was beheaded because he had written
some profane verses. The slightest word against Calvin or his absurd
doctrines was punished as a crime. In 1553 a man was tried at Vienne by
the Catholic Church for heresy. He was convicted and sentenced to death
by burning. It was apparently his good fortune to escape. Pursued by the
sleuth hounds of intolerance he fled to Geneva for protection. A dove
flying from hawks, sought safety in the nest of a vulture. This fugitive
from the cruelty of Rome asked shelter from John Calvin, who had written
a book in favor of religious toleration. Servetus had forgotten that
this book was written by Calvin when in the minority; that it was
written in weakness to be forgotten in power; that it was produced by
fear instead of principle. He did not know that Calvin had caused his
arrest at Vienne, in France, and had sent a copy of his work, which was
claimed to be blasphemous, to the archbishop, He did not then know
that the Protestant Calvin was acting as one of the detectives of the
Catholic Church, and had been instrumental in procuring his conviction
for heresy. Ignorant of all this unspeakable infamy, he put himself
in the power of this very Calvin. The maker of the Presbyterian creed
caused the fugitive Serve-tus to be arrested for blasphemy. He was
tried. Calvin was his accuser. He was convicted and condemned to death
by fire. On the morning of the fatal day, Calvin saw him, and Servetus,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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