Summary Of Michael Servetus 'Fearless Scholar'

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Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, A Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World, by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, is a truly rare and provocative book that is an essential for all historians alike. The “Fearless Scholar” of Out of the Flames is the Spanish physician and theologian, Michael Servetus, born on September 29th, 1511, in Villanueva de Sijena. The title of the book successfully summarizes Servetus’ life and yet also reflects the Goldstones’ style and confidence of the work. First off, Servetus’ “Fatal Heresy” refers to his rejection of the Holy Trinity as well as the concept of predestination which were both fundamental to Christianity. Next, the last line of the title, “One of the Rarest Books …show more content…
First off, on the title page of the book, the scholar wrote, “The whole apostolic church is summoned to the threshold. Once again there is restored knowledge of God, of the faith of Christ our justification, of the regeneration of baptism, and of participation in the Lord’s Supper,” (157). In this quote, Servetus states that most of that which has been accepted into Christianity is incorrect and that he has come to restore the knowledge of God. Servetus follows to state, “With the heavenly kingdom restored to us, the wicked captivity of Babylon has been ended, and the Antichrist with his hosts destroyed,” (157). In this line, he states that not only is the current teachings of Christianity wrong, but it also is being influenced by the Antichrist, however he will restore the heavenly kingdom. Lastly, Servetus later states in the book, “It is high time that the door leading to knowledge of this kind were opened; for otherwise no one can either know God truly, read the Scriptures aright, or be a Christian,” (159). This statement suggests that at the time, Christians were not truly Christians, nobody truly understood God, and the translations of the Scriptures were wrong. These quotes display Servetus’ ability to use the power of the printed word to influence the readers opinions as well as persuade the readers to believe in his teachings through Christianismi

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