The claim that Jews only see this claim of being "chosen before they were born" as national is not so. They viewed it individually. They still do. I have spoken to many who believe this. They claim they were chosen in Abraham, which is why they rejected Jesus (John 8:33-44). This blindness is caused by sin. The Bible is replete with this message. However, unless a person is truly meditating the Torah and seeking the truth, he or she will not ponder Deuteronomy 10.16 with Deuteronomy 30.6. This is what Jesus was also pointing to in John 8.31-31, 36.
It gets worse for the many Jews who reject the direct injunction of Deuteronomy 10:16,. because this is physically impossible unless one dies (which is the point, for one needs this done by God Himself); therefore they spiritualize this and gloss over the all other references in the Tanakh to circumcise their hearts or obtain a new heart.
This rejection of experiential reality in preference for intellectualization of biblical concepts is not just a Jewish matter, but one found within the Christian context. As it happens, one of the most damning moral and theological problems with the man many like to call the father of protestantism, John Calvin, is his direct role in the arrest, prosecution, and execution by burning of Michael Servetus in 1553. This singular event, viewed in light of 1 John 3:15 and John 8, poses serious questions—not merely about Calvin’s ethics, but about whether his spiritual state aligned with the Christ he claimed to follow.
Let’s explore this in four dimensions:
Scriptural Foundation: The Severity of Murder
1 John 3:15
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
This is not figurative language: it reflects the seriousness of hatred, and especially lethal violence, in God’s eyes.
The verse teaches that murder reveals the absence of spiritual life—it is not a lapse, but a revelation of inward darkness.
John 8:37–44
“You seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you… You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.”
Jesus addresses religious leaders who claim covenant status (“Abraham is our father”) yet seek to kill the very embodiment of truth.
He identifies the desire to kill the righteous as a mark of spiritual fatherhood—not of Abraham or God, but of the devil.
Calvin’s Role in the Death of Servetus
Michael Servetus, a brilliant polymath and unorthodox theologian, rejected both the Trinity and infant baptism.
He was already condemned by Catholic authorities, but was arrested in Geneva while attending one of Calvin’s sermons.
Calvin corresponded before and after Servetus's trial, supplying evidence and pressing for execution rather than leniency or exile.
Servetus was burned alive at the stake, with green wood to prolong suffering.
Calvin did not swing the sword, but he put the blade into the hand of the executioner.
Even if Calvin acted within the norms of his age (which some argue), this does not excuse him from spiritual culpability, especially given:
His theological rigor (he knew 1 John 3:15),
His claimed understanding of grace, and
His alleged pastoral calling.
⚖️ According to the Bible, the test is not cultural norms but whether eternal life abides in a man (1 John 3:15).
Theological and Spiritual Consequences
Calvin as Spiritual Brother?
A man who supports the burning of a heretic—without tears, without restraint, without appeal for mercy—reveals a heart hardened by control, not compassion.
If hatred for Servetus drove him, as evidenced by Calvin’s statements (e.g., “If he comes here, I shall not let him escape alive”), then his heart failed the test of Christlikeness.
The Fruit Test (Matthew 7:15–23)
“You will recognize them by their fruits… Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom...”
The fruit of Calvin’s actions toward Servetus—violence, authoritarianism, religious coercion—align more with the persecutors of Christ than His apostles.
Prophetic Reversal: Calvin Among Those Who “Kill the Righteous”
Calvin ironically became the very kind of man Jesus warned against:
John 8:40 – “You seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.”
Matthew 23:29–35 – “You build the tombs of the prophets... and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’”
John 16:2 – “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.”
Calvin did what Jesus predicted: he killed in the name of truth, believing he served God.
But murder cloaked in doctrinal zeal is still murder. And no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Final Summary
| Criteria | Biblical Standard | Calvin’s Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 John 3:15 | No murderer has eternal life | Approved and orchestrated Servetus’s death |
| John 8:40,44 | Desire to kill reveals Satanic influence | Sought to kill Servetus “if he returns” |
| Matthew 7:20–23 | Known by fruit, not confession | Fruit: coercion, control, intolerance |
| New Covenant Ethic | Restore, rebuke, redeem | Destroyed, dominated, executed |
Concluding Judgment (Spiritual and Prophetic)
While God alone judges the soul, Scripture gives us tools for discernment. Based on Calvin’s own writings and actions, he fails the tests of:
Brotherly love,
Christlikeness, and
Pastoral mercy.
He may be admired for his intellect and influence, but in the court of Scripture, the one who sheds innocent blood in the name of truth stands under judgment.
“He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” —1 John 2:9
Would you like this shaped into an article or extended into a formal doctrinal case study on the theology of religious persecution and murder?
