加尔文与塞维图斯案——兼论宗教改革时期的信仰自由与宽容

Calvin and the Case of Servetus: Religious Freedom and Tolerance in Reformation

约翰·加尔文对塞维图斯之死负有不可推卸的责任,但也是那个时代的责任与错误,不应该由他一个人承担。启蒙运动以来的思想家将他塑造为科学的敌人、自由的敌人、不宽容的君主,并通过教育及舆论等手段把这种认识定位普及为一种“常识”。这既是对加尔文本人的误解与歪曲,也是对历史的误读。

John Calvin is not irreproachable on the death of Michael Servetus. It is too heavy a burden for him alone, however, to shoulder the responsibility of the age as such. His images of anti-science,anti-freedom, and intolerance came into being with the rise of the Enlightenment thought, which took freedom, tolerance and progress as the exclusive criterion for evaluating the history, and became a ‘common sense’ by means of education and public opinion. It is a misinterpretation and distortion for Calvin and history itself as well.