IN THE SHADOW OF THE FLAME

 1998
by Michael D. Mallory

Characters

JOHN CALVIN: A forty-two year old minister.

MICHAEL SERVETUS: A forty-two year old prisoner.

JAILER

Scene

A prison cell in the City of Geneva, October 26, 1554. The stone-

block jail cell has one window upstage, just left of center. There is

some raised bedding along the right wall. At center is a table.

The table contains a Bible, a candle, paper and an ink well.

MICHAEL SERVETUS sits on a stool at the right of the table writing

on some loose paper with a quill pen. His clothes appear slept in.

His shirt is rolled up at the sleeves and he has a blanket around

his shoulders. There is a door down stage left. JOHN CALVIN is

preceded by JAILER from stage left to the door. JAILER is holding

keys. JOHN CALVIN is wearing a clerical robe.

Approximate time: 22 minutes

JOHN CALVIN: Is Michael Servetus alone?
JAILER: Yes, Reverend Calvin. (JAILER unlocks and opens the door)
JOHN CALVIN: Wait here. (JAILER holds the open door for JOHN CALVIN. JOHN
CALVIN enters and the door is closed behind him.)
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (Looks up and is surprised at seeing JOHN CALVIN.) You
have come to see me?
JOHN CALVIN: (Ignoring his question, but seeing his writing) Considering your
crimes, I am surprised they have allowed you paper and pen.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Since my imprisonment, two months ago I was not
allowed to write anything, but, upon conditions, I was given this paper
and pen tonight.
JOHN CALVIN: What conditions?
MICHAEL SERVETUS: What I write tonight must be delivered only to you.
(pause) ... I am writing you a letter.
JOHN CALVIN: (JOHN CALVIN walks to a point opposite the desk from MICHAEL
SERVETUS) What is it that you want to say to me?
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I want to explain clearly why I am not a heretic. I can
demonstrate that what I have said follows validly from Scripture. I want
you to understand.
JOHN CALVIN: I heard enough of these ideas at your trial. What can you
possibly offer me now.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: My writings were offered at my trial in bits and pieces.
The evidence was a misrepresentation of my work.
JOHN CALVIN: Your trial was fair. We took two months carefully examining
the filth you have written and corruption you have spread.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I have had legal training just as you. (Standing) You
could not find a law that I had broken. I was convicted on less than half
of your thirty nine counts. And, then you had to rely on the Codex of
Justinian as the basis for the conviction. Only your council could
conceive of a rationale that allows a Sixteenth Century trial in Geneva to
be based upon the law of the Holy Roman Empire.
JOHN CALVIN: God's law is universal and your books are an offense against
Him. His will is the only legitimacy required. God has consecrated the
entire earth with the precious blood of His Son to the end that we may
inhabit it and live under His reign. But, God's will requires order,
harmony and unanimity within the Church. Your writings create
disorder and distraction.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: There is already disorder in your Geneva church. The
recent vote of no confidence concerning your leadership is sufficient
proof of that. Do not suppose I take this trial for anything other than it
truly is: a exercise designed to solidify your position.
JOHN CALVIN: It was the magistrate, not I who has determined your fate. And
the magistrate, in administering punishments carries out the judgments
of God. It is for the pious to avenge at the Lord's command. His
 authority has gone before us and we will not wander from that straight
path.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Your path remains corrupted with the errors of the
Vatican. What I have said is simple scripture without false doctrine.
JOHN CALVIN: You have denied the Holy Trinity and the efficacy of infant
baptism. There is no help for you in scripture. You are haughty and
wicked.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I was charged with a civil offense. I did not receive an
ecclesiastical trial.
JOHN CALVIN: Our civil government does not exist merely so that people may
breathe, eat, drink and be warmed. Government also exists so that
idolatry, sacrilege of the name of God, blasphemes against His truth and
other public offenses against religion are stopped. It is God's will that
you be silenced.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: God's will is what is contained in scripture and the Bible
is complete. I have merely offered an analysis of the Bible free from the
unsupported interpretations of the church. My objective is to restore
the Church to God's word. How could this restoration offend His will?
JOHN CALVIN: Your technique is repugnant. You vainly think that you can
capture God's will with your scholastic approach. This is your error and
unless you recant, it will lead you to the flames in the morning. Only
through God's grace is His will revealed. True knowledge of Christ is
received only when it possesses the entire soul and finds a seat and
resting place in the inmost affection of the heart.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: But, how can a simple and truthful examination of the
Bible be a crime?
JOHN CALVIN: Your crime is in corrupting the minds of believers with your vile
propositions about the nature of God.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: There are over one-thousand printing presses in
Germany and France. You have worked as a printers apprentice and
you know that many of these printers are devoted to publishing the
books of the Bible. When members of your church ask to see your
precious "trinity" explained in the gospel, what will you show them?
There is no such thing in scripture.
JOHN CALVIN: I have helped to translate the Gospel into French. I welcome
the opportunity for my congregation to have a copy of God's Word in
their homes. But, the Bible was not meant to be read independently
from religious instruction. Believers must not wander aimlessly through
the Testaments without support. The church, as it assists the people to
read, will also be assisting them in their understanding of Scripture.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: You would at once give people literacy and take away
their reason.
JOHN CALVIN: The doctrine of the church must remain pure, if it is to
accomplish its purpose.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: In order to purify the doctrine of the church you must
discard your notions of the "Trinity" along with the Papacy. Only then
 will the Church be restored to the original teachings.
JOHN CALVIN: (Turns ustage) You would have us discard Christ in order to
restore His Church.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I would restore Christ as revealed in the Bible and
eliminate the views of Christ added here and there for political reasons.
The Bible does not mention the "Trinity".
JOHN CALVIN: We mention the three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because in
the one essence of God, it behooves us to look on God the Father as the
beginning and origin, and the first cause of all things: next the Son, who
is eternal Wisdom; and lastly the Holy Spirit, (at this point MICHAEL
SERVETUS joins in reciting with JOHN CALVIN what has obviously been
memorized at first just mouthing the words then audibly) as his energy
diffused indeed over all things, but still perpetually resident Himself.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I too know the Geneva Catechism, but recitation does
not make it true. That hydra-headed beast originated in someone's
head just as Papal authority. The Bible teaches that Jesus was the Son
of God, not the Father.
JOHN CALVIN: The nature of God is one of the high and hidden mysteries. No
one can fully comprehend divine nature. (CALVIN moves to left of table,
he is becoming angry) God ought to be adored rather than discussed in
this way. The divinity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit is one, the glory eternal.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (Picks up Bible and holds it out.) There is no such
statement here.
JOHN CALVIN: (JOHN CALVIN slaps at or pushes away Bible which is knocked
loose and falls to the floor. He kneels down to dust it off and pick it up.)
My mission is the elimination of heresy within the church and you are a
heretic. (CALVIN stands and replaces Bible on table) You should have
remained a doctor of medicine and left theology and astrology alone.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: By following blood vessels in the body I have discovered
the relationship between blood and breath. I have used these same
tools in the science of astrology to study the influence of the stars on
our actions. Likewise, I have followed your arguments concerning the
trinity only to find they have no origin. The church picks and chooses
which sciences it will accept and which are heretical based on fear and
ignorance.
JOHN CALVIN: It is you who act in fear. You cannot find God in your science
and have decided to remake Him to fit your categories. But, many
things contained in the Gospel seem unreasonable to human judgment.
Some doctrines may even appear mad and deserving to be mocked, but
only because they are contrary to our carnal sensibilities. You reject
Scripture because you have never been touched by God.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: You insist that Jesus is the same being as God, but
Scripture decrees Him to be the son of the Eternal God and not the
Father: for Mary was overshadowed with the power of the Word of God
which took the place of human seed.
JOHN CALVIN: Jesus is not merely the son of the Eternal God, He is the eternal
Son of God. He is constituted from the same substance as God. He is a
personhood of God.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Your "Trinity" consists not in three persons, but the
three wonderful dispositions of God. They are not separate Gods.
JOHN CALVIN: Christ is not an instrument of God, He is God.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: He shares in God. The divinity of the Father is
manifested through the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus is the Son of God,
the divine is clearly reflected in his life. But that same divinity is shared
with each person through their sanctified spirits. The spirit dwelling in
us is God His very self. People must be instructed to look for God within
themselves. As the Apostle stated, "The Spirit of God is in us".
JOHN CALVIN: You claim to contain God?
MICHAEL SERVETUS: The Holy Spirit is the activity of God. As in everyone,
this Spirit works within me. The unity of all things, held together by a
divine active principal.
jJOHN CALVIN: You show no contrition. This is the same vile and
preposterous blasphemy which has sentenced you to death, flying
off into empty speculations born of your own carnal stupidity. We
do not contain God, we can only hope to attain God's grace. The
path to God is not in attempting to investigate Him, but in
understanding ourselves. Only in acceptance of our own
depravity can the true blessedness of God's grace be understood.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: We can know God through the life of Christ, who as God
in the flesh shows us the glory of God's spirit in a manner that can be
understood by us.
JOHN CALVIN: Your attempt to confuse the Godhead with the flesh is (turns
away) an unthinkable sacrilege.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Your denial of the humanity of Jesus works against you.
Your theological construct lacks a rational basis, which makes it more
difficult for nonbelievers to accept the teachings of the Church. Jews
and Moors find amusement rather than inspiration in your Doctrine of
the Trinity. If you would just abandon this notion, those outside the
Church would soon embrace the faith.
JOHN CALVIN: I believe in the Word of God, as revealed by Scripture. My faith
is not shaped by desire or efficacy. Man must be humble before God. It
does not work the other way around.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: It is not a humble act to heap absurd attributions upon
our Maker.
JOHN CALVIN: If you had any concern for the Church you would not have
written your books. Because of you, many people have mistaken our
reform for a collection of atheists.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: You are the one that has turned Christianity into
atheism! As soon as we try to think about your God, we are turned
aside to three phantoms, so that no kind of unity remains in our
conception. The value of Jesus as Mediator is His humanity.
JOHN CALVIN: You confirm the wisdom of God's will that you be convicted.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: This meanness is not God's will, but yours. (SERVETUS
sits on Stool)
JOHN CALVIN: How could any set of circumstances present more compelling
proof of the divine authorship of our lives than your appearance in my
Church. I had stated publicly that if you were ever found here, you
would never leave Geneva alive. Yet, you not only appear, you do so in
my very presence. For you to take responsibility for your actions,
makes you out a fool as well as mad.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: In Italy there are those who are more sympathetic to my
works. I was travelling there when arrested.
JOHN CALVIN: That does not explain your appearance in my Church.

MICHAEL SERVETUS: (Pause) I wanted to hear you speak.

JOHN CALVIN: You were willing to listen to someone besides yourself?
8MICHAEL SERVETUS: I have always listened to you, but there are points
which need correcting.
JOHN CALVIN: (CALVIN turns downstage) So you have come here to set me
straight?
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Geneva is the voice of reform. I have spent my life in
study for this and my work is accurate. ... Yes, I am here to straighten
the course of reform. It is time to make the return to original
Christianity complete.
JOHN CALVIN: For all of your reason, you are a lunatic, if you think anyone
here would allow you a voice in the church.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Why did you come here tonight?
JOHN CALVIN: I wanted to know, if there is anything you wished to say before
tomorrow.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Last words?
JOHN CALVIN: Yes.......I wanted to give you an opportunity to speak.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Actually, there is a statement I would like delivered. I
have heard that after I escaped from the priests in Vienna, a guard was
accused of complicity. I would like it known that he was not my
accomplice. (SERVETUS hands CALVIN a letter)
JOHN CALVIN: (CALVIN looks at the letter and tosses it on the Table) I was
hoping to give you a chance to recant your blasphemous statements.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (Pause) If I recant, will you release me?
JOHN CALVIN: No, your heresy has gone too far for that. But, I will attempt to
intercede on your behalf in regard to your scheduled execution.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Can you offer me life?
JOHN CALVIN: Not life, but a death that comes with less agony than fire.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: What kind of death.
JOHN CALVIN: Beheading, with the consent of the Council.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: If I recant, you agree to ask the Council to take my life
with the axe rather than the flame.
JOHN CALVIN: Yes.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (MICHAEL SERVETUS picks up Bible) I have read the
Bible. (MICHAEL SERVETUS shows Bible to JOHN CALVIN) This is the
Gospel that holds my faith. I do not believe in your "trinity" and I will
not worship it.
JOHN CALVIN: Do not play the martyr's role. You have no following. Such a
death would be pointless.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: You would not have gone to such trouble, If I were not
reaching the minds of your followers.
JOHN CALVIN: We have gone to this trouble because it is God's will and I am
prepared to undertake whatever duties God calls on me to perform. If
that means burning you alive, then that is what will happen. But, I am
not alone in hoping that you will, even now, seek atonement and spare
yourself the pain of a heretics death. But, do not confuse our
hopefulness with ambivalence. "They do not bear the sword in vain,"
says Paul, "for they are ministers of God who execute His wrath,
avengers of wrongdoers."
MICHAEL SERVETUS: If my work is not a threat to your church, but only an
offense to God, why not release me and let God deal with me as He
pleases. I do not fear God's judgment.
JOHN CALVIN: It is God's judgment that you be punished. The members of His
Church have a duty to see that His will is carried out. (CALVIN moves to
window, upstage left) If the City of Geneva fails to carry out its duty to
God to execute you, then the City may incur God's wrath just as you
have..... The Council has been particularly harsh with you so as not to
bring harm to the City through God's disfavor. But, if you recant, I
believe the Council can be persuaded to spare you the pain of death by
fire.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (Standing) My death will not become your convenience.
Obedience to the eternal God of Scripture requires that I follow His
revealed Word, free from the consequences that follow.
JOHN CALVIN: (looking out the window) Have you notice that the fire has
been laid?
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I watched them this afternoon.
JOHN CALVIN: You will recant, now, or you will die in the morning with your
latest piece of heresy strapped to your thigh. You and your filth can go
to Hell together.
MICHAEL SERVETUS: I am not without sin. Tomorrow I will have to answer for
my wrongs. But, the weight of my sins in life must be less than yours
for my death.
JOHN CALVIN: (Shouting) Guard! (CALVIN turns back to Servetus) I am
leaving. (JAILER opens the door and CALVIN walks toward door upstage
left)
MICHAEL SERVETUS: Wait! (JOHN CALVIN halts with his back to SERVETUS) I
am not a brave man. Don't let me die by fire. I may recant in the
flames to spare myself the pain of that death, but those cries would be
untrue.
JOHN CALVIN: Will you recant, now? (MICHAEL SERVETUS is silent. After a
short pause JOHN CALVIN exits.)
MICHAEL SERVETUS: (MICHAEL SERVETUS moves to the window) Oh, Jesus,
Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me. (SERVETIS returns to his
writing table. After a pause he picks up his pen and stares at it for a
moment and begins to write.)
JAILER: (to Audience) Tomorrow, October 27th, 1554, at noon, Michael
Servetus will be burned alive in a slow fire. He will not recant.

CURTAIN
Selected Bibliography

This scene is a dramatization of an actual meeting between Michael Servetus

and John Calvin. Some of their discussion was reported and some is
conjecture. I relied primarily upon the following material in my research for
the script.

The Epic of Unitarianism, David Parke (Skinner House Books, 1957)

John Calvin, William J. Bouwsma (Oxford University Press, 1988)

Heresies, Harold O. Brown (Doubleday & Co., N.Y., 1984)

The Institutes, John Calvin.

Michael Servetus: Would You Ask This Man To Join Your Fellowship?, Sermon
delivered 1/5/86 a the Everett Unitarian Fellowship by the Rev. Annie Foerster.

The Protestant Reformation (1517 - 1559), Lewis W. Spitz (Harper & Row,
New York)

The Protestant Tradition, J. S. Whale, D.D. (Cambridge University Press, 1955)

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank and acknowledge Cassandra Bell, the Rev. Mark Bell, Sue
Pace and Miki Hopper-Estrada for their kind assistance with the script. I also
wish to acknowledge Irene Simpson, who supplied a wondrous insight in the
staging and characterization. Lastly but not least I want to thank Scott
Wessel-Estes who played Michael Servetus to my John Calvin in the first
production and helped to smooth out the rough edges.

8/4/98

Mike Mallory

Rights Reserved

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Permission to read or perform this work as part of a worship service of a
member congregation of the UUA is granted. All other rights are reserved.

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