A major theme of Rosaria Butterfield’s The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, is her promotion of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. The RPCNA’s Covenant of Church Membership required her to take seven vows—a tradition that Jesus warned “cometh of evil” (Mt. 5:37), that is, proceeds from an evil purpose. One of the vows is to submit to the teaching and government of the church and the constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America:
“Do you promise to submit in the Lord to the teaching and government of this church as being based upon the scriptures and described in substance in the Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America?” (Secret Thoughts, Kindle 782)
Rosaria also believes the only Biblical form of worship is the Reformed Presbyterian tradition of singing only the Psalms without instrumental accompaniment.
“Finally, I turned to the literary device of genre to better understand the ‘distinctive’ of the RP Church that is often most critiqued: our adherence to a capella psalm singing to the exclusion of all other music of praise. The book that helped me to understand our position on psalm singing is Michael Bushell’s Songs of Zion. The literary principle that undergirds an understanding of the Regulative Principle of Worship is canon: the Bible is canonized. The literary principle that undergirds an understanding of exclusive Psalmody is genre: the books of the Bible are organized as all books are under genre. A genre is a ‘style or category (of text) characterized by a particular form and purpose’ (OED). The word genre and the word gender share an etymological history. Just as genre has a specific purpose so too does gender. If we care about genre—and we should—then we have to grapple with the question: if God gave us a book of praise songs, who are we to add to them? Bushell points to exclusive Psalmody as the logical consequence of sola scriptura. Why? First because of the importance of the genre of the Book of Psalms within the scope of the canonized Bible.” (Secret Thoughts, Kindle 1697)
God’s Word calls us to worship Him with hymns and other spiritual songs, as well as psalms:
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Eph. 5:19
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16)
Rosaria does not explain that the Reformed “Regulative Principle of Worship” and all of Reformed theology originated with John Calvin. In fact, only once is Calvin mentioned in her book, Secret Thoughts, stating that she read Calvin’s Institutes. The reason for this omission may be that the violence of John Calvin’s dictatorship in Geneva would repel many of her readers. Rosaria and her loving lesbian community would have been burned at the stake in Calvin’s Geneva. Nor would they have fared better in John Knox’s Presbyterian Scotland. In 1558, Knox wrote a polemic against the female monarchs of his day which was titled, “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women.” Knox chauvinistically argued that government by females is contrary to the Bible.
John Knox, who was the founder of Presbyterianism, spent several years of exile in Geneva, Switzerland, where he learned from John Calvin. Knox wrote that Geneva was “the most perfect school of Christ that was ever on earth since the days of the apostles.” Calvin and John Knox believed that “For matters of politics, history, culture, and so forth, the Old Testament remains relevant; the people of God today are one with the people of Israel.” The failure of Calvin and Knox to distinguish between Israel and the Church led to their extreme legalism in Geneva and Scotland which went far afield of the Mosaic Law in severity and cruelty.
An eye-opening resource on the Jewish origins of Scotland is the book, When Scotland Was Jewish: DNA Evidence, Archeology, Analysis of Migrations, and Public and Family Records Show Twelfth Century Semitic Roots, by Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and Donald N. Yates. Based on their extensive research, these Jewish authors concluded that Presbyterianism is Reformed Judaism:
“We also provide documentation suggesting that perhaps the majority of Scots people, especially those in the southwest and northeast of Scotland, are of Sephardic Jewish descent. And we argue that many of these same Scots today continue to practice a ‘Reform’ type of Judaism. It is called Presbyterianism.’” (p. 7)
For documented evidence that both Calvin and Knox were in fact crypto-Jews see: The Reformation: Rosicrucian Connections
John Calvin appointed a French poet and sodomite, Clement Marot, and Theodore Beza, also a sodomite, to translate a Psalter which became the only book of worship permitted in Geneva. The Genevan Psalter was published in definitive form in 1561 and was the basis of the Scottish Psalter used by John Knox in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Psalm Singing in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland
“Knox, like Calvin, held the view that nothing but what was Biblical could be used in public worship. Singing was primarily from the Psalter since Calvin believed that ‘we shall not find better or more appropriate songs to this end than the Psalms of David, inspired by the Holy Spirit (Ward, p29). Calvin did not permit instrumental music in public worship.
The first Scottish Psalter (1564)
“When Knox returned to Scotland in 1560 he took with him the prayer book called the Order of Geneva. This included a section of ‘one and fiftie Psalms of David, in English metre, whereof 37 were made by Thomas Sternhold, and the rest by others, conferred with the Hebrew, and in certain places corrected as the text and sense of the prophets required’ (Millar p27). The first General Assembly (GA) in Scotland arranged for the last revision and completion of the Psalter. The Psalms in this Book of Common Order included 87 from the last revision of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1560 and the remainder from the English Psalter of 1562 (Leaver, p331). The completed Psalter was to maintain a correct translation of the Hebrew text.”
The problem with “exclusive psalmody” – that the church must limit its worship to the 150 psalms in Scripture – was that Calvin’s commentaries on the Psalms did not interpret the Messianic prophecies contained therein Christologically, that is, as prophesies of Jesus Christ; instead Calvin applied these prophesies to David, and at times to Solomon. The citizens of Geneva objected to Calvin’s Jewish interpretations of the psalms, but to no avail. Calvin was a Judaizer and his theocracy in Geneva was supposed to be modeled after the Old Testament Law, although it was more like the Talmudic law. Calvin also Judaized the Psalms, relying on the interpretations of Jewish rabbis instead of the interpretations of the apostles and Jesus himself found in the New Testament. The following books by 17th century Lutheran theologian, Aegidius Hunnius, and modern scholar, Prof. G. Sujin Pak, expose Calvin’s Jewish interpretations of the Messianic prophecies:
THE JUDAIZING CALVIN by Aegidius Hunnius
“Jewish interpretations and corruptions by which John Calvin has, in detestable fashion, shamelessly corrupted the clearest passages and testimonies of the Holy Spirit regarding the glorious Trinity, the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, and especially the prophecies of the Prophets regarding the coming Messiah – His birth, suffering, resurrection, ascension into heaven and session at the right hand of God.”
The Judaizing Calvin by Prof. G. Sujin Pak
Excerpts from Chapter 5 of The Judaizing Calvin give evidence of Calvin’s heretical teachings:
“Calvin’s emphasis on a Psalm’s primary meaning concerning David (and only secondarily concerning Christ) and his assertion of his own interpretation of a Psalm as more in keeping with its plain sense than that of the apostles themselves are two of the key issues that are at the heart of the Lutheran Aegidius Hunnius’s charges of judaizing against him. Hunnius time and again accuses Calvin of tearing the meaning of a Psalm away from the apostolic exegesis of it and arrogantly asserting his own personal authority, not only over the patristic biblical interpretive tradition, but also above and beyond the authority of the apostles themselves. 1.
“Likewise, Hunnius also disparages Calvin’s absence of employing these eight Psalms to teach the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. He writes that Calvin’s exegesis of these Psalms entangles the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ in ‘his thorn bush of tricks.’ 2. Thus, by not rendering the Christological reading as the primary sense and by denying the teachings of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ found in these Psalms, Hunnius believes Calvin covers these most clear prophecies with ‘Jewish perversions.’ He contends that the end result of Calvin’s exegesis is to shatter and undermine the exegetical foundations of Christian teachings of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ and, more generally, the church’s Christological readings of the Old Testament. In these ways, says Hunnius, Calvin opens up Scripture to Jewish and Arian heresies. 3….
“Hunnius begins his treatise on the judaizing Calvin by clarifying to Pareus that he has not accused and does not accuse Calvin of Arianism per se but, rather, of ‘offering an opportunity’ and ‘opening a window’ to lay a foundation for Arian impiety. Thus, he contends that Calvin distorts Scripture and drags it away from its genuine sense. Furthermore, decries Hunnius, Calvin not only ‘arrogantly looks down upon and mocks’ the interpretations of the ancient and recent church fathers but also ‘in nothing does he inform himself of the sacred interpretations of the evangelists and apostles, badly mocking these and having no respect [for them].’ 11. Hunnius proceeds first by pointing to biblical passages that the church fathers and the apostles’ interpretation concerning the Trinity and that Calvin does not. Then he turns to biblical passages traditionally read concerning Christ’s deity that Calvin does not apply in this way. Finally, he turns to biblical texts traditionally read as prophecies of Christ’s passion, resurrection, and ascension that Calvin does not employ in these ways.
“Hunnius gives a lengthy exposition on Ps 2:7, ‘He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you,’ to demonstrate that this verse must be read for the Trinitarian teachings it contains. His initial problem with Calvin’s treatment of this verse is that Calvin first applies it literally to David and only secondarily to Christ—and this only via the type, by way of analogy and not by way of the literal sense. By applying this passage literally to David, argues Hunnius, Calvin renders unintelligible the apostles interpretation in Acts 13:33 and Heb 1:5 of its plain sense as a literal prophecy of Christ. Hunnius points out that these New Testament passages reveal that the apostles understand the whole of Psalm 2 as David’s prophecy of Christ’s passion. Thus, he declares that Calvin departs from not only the authoritative and authentic apostolic exegesis of Ps 2:7 but also the mind of David himself and the whole apostolic church in general. Yet, even more deplorable in Hunnius’s eyes is the fact that Calvin rejects the application of Ps 2:7 to the Trinitarian reading of Christ’s eternal generation by the Father. He berates Calvin for his ‘singular audacity in applying this passage to David as a son of God, rather than to Christ as the only begotten Son of God. ‘Therefore, asserts Hunnius, Calvin ‘is truly a Jew, for he ‘plucks’ and ‘tears this Scripture from the apostles.’ 12.
“Next, Hunnius turns to examine a set of biblical passages that the church fathers and apostles have traditionally interpreted concerning the deity of Christ, which include the interpretations of Ps 2:7, Ps 45:6-7, and Ps 68:18. The author of Hebrews uses both Ps 2:7 and Ps 45:6-7 to demonstrate the divinity of Christ. Thus, Heb 1:5, 6-9 reads (NRSV):
“For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you? [Ps 2:7]… Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire [Ps 104:4]. But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions [Ps 45:6-7].
“The apostle states that in these passages the Spirit undoubtedly speaks concerning the Son, but Calvin writes that the simple and natural sense of Ps 45:6-7 concerns Solomon and that it concerns Christ only via the type and not under the literal sense. Consequently, Hunnius accuses Calvin of judaizing: ‘For the Jews clamor in this same sense as Calvin when he says this to be the simple and natural sense! 13
“Likewise, according to Hunnius, Calvin undermines the teachings of Christ’s deity present in Ps 68:18. The Apostle Paul relates this verse to Christ in Eph 4, by which he declares Christ to be the same as the Lord in this Psalm, demonstrating the deity of Christ. Hunnius bemoans that Calvin ‘crucifies the brilliant predictions of the Prophets. Moreover, he accuses Calvin of arrogantly being his own teacher of Scripture by removing himself from the authority of apostolic exegesis. Even more to the point, Calvin has the audacity, says Hunnius, to criticize and correct the interpretation of the Apostle Paul when Calvin writes that ‘Paul subtly bends [deflectit] Ps 68:18 toward Christ in Eph 4:8, implying that such a reading requires a ‘bending of the passage away from its more natural sense. Again, he sees Calvin acquiescing to Jewish exegesis of this verse and undermining the scriptural foundations for Christ’s deity. 14. Hunnius next turns to Ps 8:4-6, which he sees as a literal prophecy of Christ’s passion in accordance with the apostolic readings given of this text in Heb 2:6-8, I Cor 15:27, and Eph 1:22. Yet, instead of applying Ps 8:4-6 to Christ, Calvin ‘dares to twist this passage and apply it to the excellence of humanity and to the dominion given to humanity over creation. Indeed, Calvin goes so far as to say that the excellence of humanity is such that it is ‘not far inferior to divine and heavenly glory. This, says Hunnius, is not only contrary to the apostles reading concerning Christ’s humiliation but also contrary to the message of the Old Testament prophets themselves, who point not to the proximity of humanity’s condition to the Divine, but to their distance from it. 15. In so doing, Calvin ‘gnaws away as with a dog’s teeth the teaching of the Apostle Paul. And yet again Calvin asserts himself as a teacher of Scripture above the authority of Paul when he accuses the apostle of ‘dragging [trahit] the meaning of Ps 8;4 to apply it to Christ’s passion. 16. Thus, contends Hunnius, Calvin ‘plunders the plain sense of these verses in the Psalms when he insists that the literal sense applies to the excellence of humanity and not to Christ:
“Will the judgment of Calvin stand better than that of the apostles? If so, then when other articles of the Christian faith wish to be founded upon the Prophets, will the Prophets be seen not to explain them…but rather to bend [deflectit] them toward the sense, of which others in the Prophets have said is the true sense? If concerning the Prophets and their [the apostles’] words are considered to be embellished through amplification…if, furthermore, they [the apostles] are seen not so much as interpreting the Prophets’ words but as accommodating them to some other thing through pious deflection [deflexion]…Well, even the Jews would not suffer the opening of so many thousands of cracks! 17.
“In this way, Hunnius charges Calvin with separating the apostles’ meaning from that of the prophets’ meaning and, thus, threatening the very unity of the Testaments that Calvin claims to uphold.” More…
An English translation of Hunnius’ original work is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. This book is highly recommended reading, especially for Calvinists.
The Psalms belong to the Old Testament which is the dispensation of the Mosaic Law. By restricting the Church to singing the Psalms, from the book “Songs of Zion,” listening to John Calvin’s Jewish interpretations of the Psalms, and living under the Old Testament theocratic government of Calvin, the citizens of Geneva were indoctrinated in the Mosaic Law rather than the New Testament Gospel of Grace.
Which brings to mind the research of Hirschman and Yates, cited above, that many Scots of Sephardic Jewish descent “continue to practice a ‘Reform’ type of Judaism. It is called Presbyterianism.’”
This may partly explain Rosaria Butterfield’s law bound view of sanctification, why she does not believe that Christians are dead to the law, and why she sees so many converts who are “stuck” in Romans 7. (See: “Born This Way: Slaves of Sin”)
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Rom. 7:4-6
“For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Gal. 2:19-21
John Calvin aspired to create a spiritually pure “Kingdom of God” in Geneva, Switzerland. Today Calvinists teach that God has commanded the Church to establish His Kingdom on earth. The fruit of Calvin’s law bound theology was a theocratic dictatorship based on his false teaching that the Church is an extension of Israel.
Bernard Cottret, author of Calvin: A Biography, a favorable treatment of Calvin’s life and work, has provided accounts of the torture and execution of heretics and those who were merely suspected of committing crimes in Geneva:
“The horrors increased. The plague was followed by famine in 1544. The respite during the winter of 1544-45 was followed by an irrational determination to punish the fomenters of the evil. It was discovered that a certain Bernard Dallings and his confederate Dunant, nicknamed Freckles…, had applied ‘plague venom’ to a foot removed from the body of a hanged man. This was then smeared on the locks of several houses. Unfortunately Freckles died under torture in February 1545 without admitting his crimes. His torturers were terribly clumsy, and they provoked a fatal hemorrhage in their zeal for well-doing. Despite everything, the body was dragged to the middle of the town, in order not to deprive the inhabitants of the fine burning they had a right to. Sorcerers, like heretics, as was well known, were characterized by their combustible qualities. Far from settling men’s minds, this salutary diversion provoked a panic. The poisoners, greasers of locks, were watched for with anxiety. Several were apprehended, men and women, not to mention a barber and a hospital supervisory who had made a pact with the devil.
“Two women were executed on March 7, 1545. Calvin humanely interceded the same day to keep the poisoners from being forced to languish in prison. The Council followed this happy directive and urged the executioner henceforth to ‘be more diligent in cutting off the hands of the malefactors.’ Moreover, the quality of the spectacle – there’s nothing like a good fire – did not necessarily require that the sorcerer still be alive. It was just as easy to strangle the condemned person beforehand, if only the means could be found. A simple garrote, of the sort used for cats, did the trick.
“The executions continued. Yet those detained refused to confess; the tortures were combined skillfully to avoid killing the guilty foolishly: torture of the strappado, with pincers. Most of those tortured, no doubt aided by Satan, overcame these tests without admitting the obvious. Must they be immured alive so they would finally talk? By varying the means of death a little, one or two sorcerers were decapitated ‘for having composed a plaster which included plague grease and other villainous things and having thus caused several people to die.’
“Some committed suicide in their cells to avoid torture, so they were put in handcuffs. One of the arrested women threw herself from a window. The last execution took place on May 16. Seven men and twenty-four women died in the affair; others fled. The phenomenon was not new – Geneva had previously been spreaders of the plague in 1530 – but in 1545 the scale was unprecedented. The fear revived in 1568, and even later. Calvin, for his part, was grieved, provided no one poisoned his door also…” (pp. 179-180)
John Calvin’s reign of terror in Geneva is certainly not derived from the Old Testament Mosaic Law which shows forth the justice and impartiality of God, but it does resemble the cruel and unusual punishment of the Goyim (Gentiles) commended in the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud commands Jews to torture and kill Gentiles without cause, because they are like animals, whereas the Mosaic law requires fair and humane treatment of Gentiles. Calvin’s commentaries frequently and favorably cite rabbinic sources, although on occasion he was critical of them. Calvin’s Geneva had a Gentile population, which may explain his cruelty and vindictiveness.
“…there were no Jewish populations in Calvin’s homeland of France or in Geneva. France expelled its Jews in 1394. When Calvin converted to Protestantism and traveled to Basel, he entered a town that had expelled its Jews in 1397. According to Detmers, the first place Calvin might have had direct contact with Jews and Judaism was during his brief 1536 stay in the northern Italian city of Ferrara, where about 3000 Jews lived. Yet, Calvin never mentioned any contact with Jews at this time. Likewise, contact in Geneva was unlikely, as Geneva and its surrounding territories expelled the Jews in 1491. Yet, Detmers argues that Calvin must have been aware of the small Jewish population in Frankfurt am Main during his visit in 1539.” (“The Protestant Reformers and the Jews”)
John Calvin was 27 years old when he published his Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536, although he had converted from Roman Catholicism to the Protestant Reformation only a few years prior. In 1536 he also attempted to take over the city of Geneva but was banished by the citizens of that city in 1538. Between 1541-44, however, Geneva was established as a theocracy under Calvin. In 1554, John Knox fled from England, disembarked in France, and continued to Geneva, where Calvin’s totalitarian state was well established. Calvin died in 1564, apparently despised by the citizens of Geneva.
“Calvinism: False Doctrines of the Pope of Geneva”
“The citizens of Geneva hated John Calvin as he clearly stated. In 1554 Calvin wrote ‘Dogs bark at me on all sides. Everywhere I am saluted with the name of ‘heretic,’ and all the calumnies that can possibly be invented are heaped upon me; in a word, the enemies among my own flock attack me with greater bitterness than my declared enemies among the papists.’ Calvin, quoted in Schaff, History, volume 8, page 496. The history of John Calvin’s reign of terror in Geneva is undisputed. Calvin himself kept historical records that have survived to this day...
“John Calvin had no love, compassion, patience or tolerance for those who did not believe his Institutes. Criticism of Calvin's Institutes was considered heresy for which the sentence was death by burning at the stake. To his dying day Calvin preached and taught from his works...
“John Calvin’s murder of people who held different doctrinal views, his failure to acknowledge or repent from his sins, his incomplete gospel, his placing of his own writings above the Bible, his distortion of God and the Scriptures, and his dependence upon infant baptism places into question his salvation. In all of his writings is not found a clear declaration of his salvation by faith in the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Calvin was a cruel, murderous tyrant who considered himself to be the pope of Geneva. The Bible never advocates harming an individual due to his unbelief or lack of understanding. Jesus taught to ‘turn the other cheek’ instead. None of the Apostles taught action against unbelievers but instead taught the believer to seek them out and present the gospel in love.
‘Mark 16:15 And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’
“John Calvin showed no signs of being a regenerate man. He became more murderous and cruel during his rule in Geneva. He showed no inclination to be conformed to the image of Christ as described in Scripture for those who have been saved. Notice that Romans 8:29 below says we are ‘predestined to be conformed to His Son’ and does not say we are predestined to be saved as taught by Calvin.”
The following paragraph fairly sums up the legacy of John Calvin.
“Just as John Calvin ‘stole’ Geneva to set up his personal kingdom with himself as ‘Pope,’ modern Calvinists are stealing churches. Old Baptist churches in the United States are a prime target. A Calvinist will apply for an empty pastorship while keeping his belief in Calvinistic doctrine a secret. Upon being offered the position by unsuspecting church members he begins to bring in other undercover Calvinists who are promoted to ruling positions as deacons and elders. The undercover Calvinists quickly reach a majority in the ruling body of the church. The church appears to be prosperous and growing, because the undercover Calvinists recruit only other Calvinists as new members. The new members are all a part of the scheme. These wolves in sheep’s clothing make a power play after gaining a majority control. They force out the older non-Calvinist church members one at a time with rudeness, intimidation and insults. Slick scheme! The Calvinists have just stolen church property that could be worth $5 to $10 million or more. Calvinists rarely build a new church on their own.”
That this is basically the Reformed strategy for taking over non-Calvinist churches is confirmed by irrefutable evidence: “Recipe for a Hostile Takeover: Reforming a Local Church”
Resistance to Calvin’s tyranny intensified which Bernard Cottrett blames on opposition to the Reformer’s compulsory belief in the doctrine of predestination. 1. However, Cottrett also mentions this curious item:
“The city of Bern banished Calvin’s opponents, in particular Sebastien Foncellet, the author of an epigram describing Geneva as Sodom and abusing the Reformer.” (p. 211)
There is, in fact, compelling historical evidence that Calvin served a prison sentence for the crime of Sodomy.
“For What Crime Was Calvin Imprisoned in 1534?”
“Calvin’s conversion likely took place by May 1534 when he gave up his church benefices, as Calvin scholars concur. An imprisonment of Calvin, however, also took place in May 1534. It may very well explain Calvin’s new direction in life away from Noyon and in the Protestant camp. It also may well explain why in 1534 he wrote the Institutes with its bizarre notion that God directs all evil thoughts and actions, and neither man nor Satan has a moment of free-will where they can choose good or evil without God directing them. This is the kind of idea that would be invented by someone whose acts were felt internally to be deeply shameful.
“Schaff, a Calvin admirer, admits Calvin was ‘imprisoned’ at Noyon in 1534 for ‘some reason.’1. McGrath says the records of Noyon reveal Calvin’s name is listed as imprisoned on May 26, 1534. The same record notes a disturbance on Trinity Sunday in church. No other details are noted. 2. McGrath mentions the inconsistency between these records and Calvin’s claim in a letter of 1545 to a colleague where Calvin is ‘praising God that he had never been imprisoned.’ 3.
“Why would Calvin speak contra-factually? Probably because he meant to deny ever being imprisoned for his beliefs. Which raises the inference that Calvin was not arrested in May 1534 and imprisoned due to causing a doctrinal disturbance on Trinity Sunday. This explains why Calvin later denied ever being imprisoned. Then what was the nature of the public crime involved in 1534?
“Bolsec, a French physician from Paris residing in Geneva, made the claim that Calvin was convicted of sodomy at Noyon, France. Bolsec says he confirmed that a notary sent certification of this fact to Berthelier of the court’s decree at Noyon. 4. Bolsec specifically said he saw a document by a public sworn notary of Noyon who had certified the criminal conviction to Berthelier as ‘Secretary to the Council of Geneva.’ In this, Bolsec affirmed he was not lying, and that ‘neither anger, nor envy, nor evil will that has made me speak or write any one thing against Truth, and my Conscience.’ 5.
“Berthelier, a lawyer in Geneva and initial prosecutor of Servetus in 1553, asserted in 1557 he had obtained in 1554 at Noyon ‘an act, signed by a notary, which certified the truth’ that Calvin was convicted for sodomy. 6. As the Calvin-admirer, Francis Sibson, recounts in his introduction to Beza's Life of Calvin, Berthelier said:
‘the republic of Geneva had sent him to Noyon, with orders to make an exact inquiry into Calvin’s life and character; and that he found Calvin had been convicted of sodomy; but that at the bishop’s request, the punishment by fire was commuted into that of being branded with the Flower-de-luce [i.e., Fleurs-de-Lis, or a Lily.] He boasted to have an act, signed by a notary, which certified the truth of the process and the condemnation. 7.’” Read more…
1. Philip Schaff, The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1908) at 355.
2. Alister E. McGrath, A Life of John Calvin (Blackwell Publishing, 1990) at 73.
3. Id., at 74.
4. Introduction to Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of John Calvin (J. Whetham, 1836) at 153. Sibson explains on page 154 that Berthelier said he obtained this in 1554, and disclosed this fact in 1557. Bethelier had to flee for his life from Geneva in 1555, and Sibson says it is impossible to believe that Berthelier did not take this certification with him if it truly existed. However, this means of casting doubt is unfounded. For it would be more unlikely that pressed with survival that Berthelier would take the time to go home for this paper.
5. Nicholas French, The doleful fall of Andrew Sall ... from the Roman Catholick ... faith (1749) at 95.
6. Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of John Calvin (introduction and translated by Francis Sibson)(J. Whetham, 1836) at 153, 154.
7. Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of John Calvin (introduction and translated by Francis Sibson)(J. Whetham, 1836) at 153, 154.
In Alister McGrath’s biography of Calvin, he states, “... Jerome Bolsec, with whom Calvin crossed swords in 1551... published his Vie de Calvin at Lyons in June 1577. Calvin, according to Bolsec, was irredeemably tedious and malicious, bloodthirsty and frustrated. He treated his own words as if they were the word of God, and allowed himself to be worshipped as God. In addition to frequently falling victim to his homosexual tendencies, he had a habit of indulging himself sexually with any female within walking distance. According to Bolsec, Calvin resigned his benefices at Noyon on account of the public exposure of his homosexual activities.”
A 17th century account of Calvin’s criminal record and branding for Sodomy, which confirms Bolsec’s 1577 biography of Calvin 1., was A Treatise of Religion and Government with reflexions vpon the cause and cure of Englands late distempers and present dangers by John Wilson (London, 1670). It appears from these historical accounts that Theodore Beza, who succeeded Calvin in Geneva, was also a homosexual, who kept both a boy and a prostitute (quaene). 2. Theodore Beza compiled his own editions of the Greek New Testament which became the basis for the Geneva Bible. In Wilson's Treatise quoted and photocopied on the left below, published in 1670, the language is Early Modern English. Jerome Bolsec's Vie de Calvin (right below) in French.
“John Calvin (whom the Magistrate of Noyon condemned for infamous Sodomy) was by his friend Beza canonized for extraordinary Sanctity; but Schusselberg a man of so great esteem among Protestants that he was made Superintendent and general Inspector of many Churches in Germany, after relating Calvin’s Sodomy and vices, faith; … I know Beza writ otherwise of Calvin’s life, manners, and death, but seeing himself noted with the same Heresy, and almost with the same sin as the history of Candida etc. witnesseth, none can credit him. Therefore I am induced to believe Bolseck the Phisitian of Geneva, who begins his book of the life and death of Calvin with this protestation. ‘I am heer, for the love of the truth to refute Theodor Beza his fals, and shamles lyes, in the praise of Calvin, protesting before God and all the holy Court of heaven, before all the world, and the Holy Ghost itself, that neither anger nor envy, nor evill will hath made me speake or write any one thing against the truth and my conscience. Then he relates how Calvin was branded for Sodomy with a burning iron on the shoulder, and therefore retired from his Country (Noyon in Picardy) and how this punishment was testified by that Citty under the hand of a publick and sworn Notary to Monsr Bertelier Secretary to the Councell of Geneva, which testimony (sayth Bolseck) is yet extant.” (Treatise, p. 172)
“How great a Cheat Calvin was, had bin partly sayd heretofore, but whosoever desires to be fully informed of his particular villanies, and hypocrisy, let him read his life written by Jerom Bolseck Anno 1577. There he will find how Calvin continued to practise his execrable Sodomy, adultery &c.” (Treatise. p. 321)
“That Hierom Bolstk Doctor of Physik many yeares in Geneva, and other places round about, in Calvin's time, when himself was a Protestant, setteth down many wicked things both of Calvin and Beza and with such circumstances that it seemeth impossible they should be feigned in a time his falsehoods might be so easily disproved (anno 1577.) As that John Calvin was branded publickly on the shoulder with a burning iron for Sodomy, by order of the Bishop of Ncyon in France, who preserved him therby from publik death; and that this was testified by publick record of the said Citty of Noyon; and that this was registred by Monsieur Bertilier Secretary of the Councell of Geneva under a publick and sworn Notaries hand; he relates many things of Calvin's evcessive ambition, intollerable hypocrisy, delicat niceness, and lascivious carnality.
“As for Beza who lived when Bolsek’s book was written, he reporteth many enormous things, as that he kept both a boy and a Queane, Andebertus, and Candida: that he ran away with a Taylor's wife that dwelt in Calendar street in Paris, she robbing her husband to accompany him; and that he continued the like life after, keeping an harlot called Claudia , together with his own wife, and killing his own Child begotten upon her, to cover the sin, by letting her blood above measure, and many other foul things, which I avoyd to name for loathsomness.” (Treatise, p. 401)
“From Mr Luther we fell to talk of Mr Theodore Beza concerning whom I told them that the book reporteth how he sold his benefice to one, and took mony for it before hand from another, and ran away with another man's wife to Geneva &c. wherunto my Lord sayd, Beza confesstth so much of himself (concerning his benefice) or els they had never known it, but their cosening and false dealings (meaning of the Papists) go far beyond this; and for Mr Calvin (sayd I) whom I have always reverenced, and employed my chiefest time of study in his book of Institutions, I find him accused here, to have bin a fals and deceitfull wicked man, branded for Sodomy, and would have raysed a dead man, whilst he was alive, but afterwards found him dead indeed, by his prayers, and endeavors to raise him &c.” (Treatise, p. 406)
Source: A Treatise of Religion and Government with reflexions vpon the cause and cure of Englands late distempers and present dangers by John Wilson (London, 1670)
The Reformed Reader confirms that Clement Marot, who was commissioned by Calvin to translate the Genevan Psalter, prior to Theodore Beza, was also a Sodomite.
“Clement Marot was the ‘Valet of the Bed-chamber to King Francis I.’ and was one of the greatest French poets of his time; in fact, he gave his name to a new school of poetry,— ‘Marotique.’ He had tried his hand at an immense variety of profane verse, he had written ballades, chansons, pastourelles, vers équivoques, eclogues, laments, complaints, epitaphs, chants-royals, blasons, contreblasons, dizains, huitains, envois; he had been, Warton says, ‘the inventor of the rondeau and the restorer of the madrigal;’ and yet, in spite of his well-known ingenuity and versatility, it occasioned much surprise and even amusement when it was known that the gay poet had written psalm-songs and proposed to substitute them for the love-songs of the French court…
“Marot wrote in his preface to the psalms:—
‘Thrice happy they who shall behold
And listen in that age of gold…
Shepherd and shepherdess shall vie
In many a tender Psalmody,
And the Creator’s name prolong
As rock and stream return their song.’
“Though these words seem prophetic, the gay and volatile Marot could never have foreseen what has proved one of the most curious facts in religious history,—that from the airy and unsubstantial seed sown by the French courtier in such a careless, thoughtless manner, would spring the great-spreading and deep-rooted tree of sacred song.”
Consistent with John Calvin’s criminal conviction and practice of sodomy is his Commentary on Genesis 13 and 19, in which he rejects the Biblical interpretation of the sin of Sodom as homosexuality.
GENESIS 13:13 “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”
CALVIN: “Therefore, Ezekiel, speaking of the men of Sodom, declares it to have been the cause of their destruction, that, being saturated with bread and wine, and filled with delicacies, they had exercised a proud cruelty against the poor, (Ezek. 16:49)”
GENESIS 19:4-5 “But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.”
CALVIN: “Some expound the word know in a carnal sense; and thus the Greek interpreters have translated it. But I think the word has here a different meaning; as if the men had said, We wish to know whom thou bringest, as guests, into our city. The Scripture truly is accustomed modestly to describe an act of shame by the word know; and therefore we may infer that the men of Sodom would have spoken, in coarser language, of such an act: but, for the sake of concealing their wicked design, they here imperiously expostulate with the holy man, for having dared to receive unknown persons into his house.”
John Calvin, Rosaria Butterfield, and Gay activists reject the accurate Biblical interpretation of Genesis 13 and 19 as the sin of Sodomy. It does seem that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Calvin’s legacy is the present day alliance of Calvinists and the LGBTQ who are conspiring to establish a sodomite “Kingdom of God” – a “Queer Utopia” – on earth.
One important means the Reformed are using to transform the world is educating their children in the Greco-Roman Classical Curriculum. Children indoctrinated in the culture of ancient Greece will more readily accept the institutionalized sodomy and pederasty that distinguished the Classical Age of Greece and Rome.
These vices will be elevated to virtues in the future Reformed “Kingdom of God,”— also known as the Greco-Roman “Golden Age,” Plato’s “Republic,” the New “Age of Aquarius,” Francis Bacon’s “New Atlantis,” Marx’s “World Communist Society,” the Zionist “Judeo-Christian Theocracy,” Joachim Fiore’s “Age of the Spirit,” Masonic “New World Order,” etc..
Whatever the occult societies have labeled their coming Luciferian Slave State, New Agers Jeremy Rifkin and Alice Bailey have accurately foretold that the Christian Church would be hijacked and will be the primary instrument to usher in the “New Age,”— which the Bible calls the Great Tribulation.
“THE REVOLUTION FROM MARX TO LGBTQ”
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Stanford Rives. Did Calvin Murder Servetus,? BookSurge Publishers, Charleston, South Carolina, 2008 (Kindle 6072-6085).
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Jerom Bolsec, Histoire de la vie, moeurs, actes, doctrine, constance et mort de Jean Calvin, (Lyons and Paris, 1577; published in Latin at Cologne in 1580; German tr. 1581. (Trans. History of the life, morals, acts, doctrine, constancy and death of John Calvin)
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Jerom Bolsec, Histoire de la vie et des mœurs de Th. de Bèze (Paris, 1582). (Trans. History of the life and the morals of Theodore Beza)
