Sin - Which sin is this man guilty of?

[Easystreet]

"In 1541 the reforming forces again gained control in Geneva and Calvin was invited back there. That same year he had the Ecclesiastical Ordinances promulgated. This outlined the activities of the four classes of office bearers in the Church. It provided for an association of pastors to administer discipline, a group of teachers to teach doctrine, a group of deacons to administer the work of charity and, most important of all, the consistory, composed of six ministers and twelve elders, to supervise the theology and morals of the community and to punish when necessary the wayward members of the Church by excommunication. In order to set up an effective system Calvin used the state to inflect more severe penalties. (bold red emphasis mine)


Such penalties proved to be much too sever ,fifty-eight being executed and seventy six exiled by 1546."​

Source

"Christianity Through The Centuries" by Cairns and Published by Zondervan, Copy right 54, and 57
page 342

If He lived today would he be tried for Murder?

 

[A Brother In Christ]

romans 3:23 all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God

bigger question that every man needs to ask....

have I believed in vain....

 

[hlaltimus]

If Calvin were alive and so acted today, Yes, he would be tried for murder...Definitely. That also answers the first question as well: Calvin would not and was not tried for murder in his own day because his own day was one of a Theocratic state, and his approval of that Theocratic state was the sin of which he was guilty.

 

[ArcticFox]

Please do not forget that we are commanded to obey the governing authorities, as they are put in place by God himself. Although Calvin was not and could not be a perfect man, it is folly to judge people from different times and cultures by our own time and culture. It misrepresents them and does not do them appropriate justice. However, painting Calvin in ANY light other than that of a redeemed sinner would be inaccurate.


Will future generations judge us for our wastefulness and throw-away society? Will you yourself be judged by future generations for things in which they are woefully uninformed?

Your question, about such a thing happening today, is not valid. Excuse me for being so direct in saying so, and I hope I haven't offended you. But it is invalid, I believe. Would not a doctor from the 1800's be judged for woeful neglect and malpractice of medical science? But then again, that was a different age, with different knowledge, different ideas, and different methods. We easily see in hindsight the folly of mixing patients' blood, failure to sterilize, lack of the use of antiobiotics (which of course were not discovered by then), and so on.

Please consider that radically different circumstances (especially cultural) can produce some radically different types of people, and that although it never excuses direct sin, we need to be careful of how we judge.


And, lest we find ourselves judging the Lord, what do you think about the penalty for cursing one's parents? Do you remember what that was? Death. Might you say that such a penalty was 'much too severe' ?

To hlaltimus:

his approval of that Theocratic state was the sin of which he was guilty.

Really? The Bible tells us to obey the governing authorities, as they are instituted by God himself (Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.)

Do you vote for and pay taxes to this secular government? Could that be later misconstrued to represent you as 'approving' of this secular government? Might not a future generation judge you for approving of a fundamentally godless form of government? If you argue against the government, might a future generation claim that you failed to obey Romans 13:1?

Please, be careful how we speak of our brothers and sisters from ages ago. We live in a radically different time, and must consider these variables carefully. Is it anymore godly to approve a secular, capitalist society than it is to approve of a theocratic, controlling society?