Later Unitarians in Christianity 159continually introduced into Christianity during those long centu
ries in which this mutant religion was subjeeted to 'European
thought', this tendency was as inevitable as the more emotional
forms of Christianity which have appeared as a reaction to this
tradition during the present century: 'Forget all the arguments
Jesus loves you!'
It must nevertheless be remembered, as we travel back in time
once more, that although born-agam Christians in the twentieth
century can twang their guitars and clap their hands as they sing
'Jesus loves you,' (while Trinitarian Serb Christi ans further east
carve crosses into the bodies of the Muslim prisoners whom they
are about to slaughter because they refuse to be forcibly baptised)
- the other side of the coin is never very far away, and everything
lies in its opposite - in the sixteenth century any Christian in Europe
who simply wrote or publidy announced, '1 believe God is One,'
faced impoverishment, torture and death:
Michael Servetus (1511-1553)
Michael Servetus was born in Villanueva in Spain in 1511. He was
the son of a local judge. He lived at a time when there was unrest
in the established Church, and in a period when everyone was
questioning the nature of Christianity. In 1517, when Servetus was
six years old, Martin Luther started his revolt against the Roman
Catholic Church. This resulted in his being excommunicated, and
he became a leader of the new reformed 'protestant' religion. This
movement, known today as the Reformation, spread like wild fire,
and even those who did not agree with Luther were forced to take
notice of him. As weil as this conflict, there was another doser to
home: although the Muslims and the Christians in Spain had en
joyed better relations in the past, the results of the Crusades in the
East caused the Christians to direct their anger against the Mus
lims in Spain. The organisation known as the Spanish Inquisition
set aboutconverting allpeople whowere not Christi ans to Roman
Catholicism. Any laxity in observing the outward rites of the Church
resulted in severe punishment, if not death.
As he grew olderand more informed, the young Servetus was
appalled by the shedding of 50 much blood. There was a large
number of Muslims and sorne Jews in the country - although by
now most of the [ews had either been killed or driven out of both