Antitrinitarians of the Reformation - Michael Servetus and the Socinians
Michael Servetus has the singular distinction of having been burned by the Catholics in effigy and by the Protestants in actuality. - Roland H. Bainton.
Has there ever been such a strange uniting of efforts by two powerful rivals of both Protestants and Catholics to expunge from amongst themselves someone they considered so repulsive? Probably so, but Michael Servetus was considered so diabolical that in the midst of the rupture between Rome and the Protestants, both were determined to stamp out this radical whose teachings they considered too dangerous for Christianity.
Servetus had crossed that boundary by rejecting two of the most fundamental teachings of orthodox Christianity. This was simply intolerable for the Churches and Servetus forfeited his life for his impiety. Yet Servetus did succeed. His influence survived. This article outlines his teachings and follows his contributions not so much on the course of the Reformation but on specific developments during that period. This was first and foremost an increasing tolerance for religious dissidents. And secondly, the emergence of antitrinitarianism and infant baptism as the “third way” that ultimately became the distinguishing feature of the radical Polish Brethren, otherwise known as the Socinians.
William Tyndale – Independent Thinker in the Lollard Tradition
“If God spare my life, ere many yeares I wyl cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture, than he doust.” - Tyndale (as quoted by John Foxe).
Tyndale's contribution to the development of the English Bible is well known. His Theology is less so and these series of articles are an attempt to define in general terms his particular form of Christianity. Tyndale's theology is here seen as influenced by several movements, the first being Lollardy, the second Humanism, the third Lutheranism, and the fourth his own study of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. From these influences Tyndale developed a unique theology, for which he suffered a heretic's death, but who nevertheless became a forerunner of the Separatist tradition in English religious history. These topics examine the influences on his thought by Lollardy, Humanism, Lutheranism, and his own study.
John Ware, Canada's Legendary Cowboy (1845-1905)
“a man of unquestioned honesty and agreeable nature…[who] boasted the rare distinction of never having been thrown from a horse. At roughriding and roping he was an expert’’ (Turner, 1950, pg. 461).
John Ware was a cowboy who lived in the latter decades of the nineteen century in Alberta, Canada. He was not some Hollywood imaginary gun-slinging desperado. He was a professional, business-like cowboy who was highly respected amongst his peers not only because of his skills but also because of his character and deportment. What made John Ware unique amongst the many cowboys of Alberta was were he was from and what he became in his new home. I was honoured to have spent many an afternoon in my landlady's kitchen listening to his daughter talk about his father. They were longtime friends from Vulcan, Alberta.
This is the story about how I first learned about John Ware, a man whom the Blackfoot Indians called "Matoxy Sex Apee Quin" because they thought he was related to the spirit world. He was undoubtedly one of the best cowboys ever to ride on the prairies of 19th century Alberta, Canada. What makes his story even more amazing than his skill is his backstory. He was a freed slave who made western Canada his home and through his legendary skills and character became a hero to many black Canadians.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy
The chiefly virtues most prized in Iroquois folklore are those associated with harmony and consensus: imperturbability, patience, good will, selflessness. “The thickness of their skin shall be seven spans—which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive actions and criticism,” the Peacemaker decreed of the League Sachems. - Deganawidah the Great Peacemaker, as quoted by D. K. Richter
The Haudenosaunee are a confederation of Iroquois First Nations peoples living amongst the rolling hills and rich, well-watered lands south of the Lake Ontario. Originally numbering five nations (Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and Mohawk), they were joined in the 18th century by the Tuscarora nation to become the Six Nations Confederacy, or the Six Nations League. The League nations called themselves the Haudenosaunee which means People of the Longhouse. A longhouse was a large structure made from hewn trees and branches that could house anywhere from five to fifteen or more families.
During the American Revolution the League fought alongside the British (with some exceptions). When the British lost the thirteen colonies to the rebels, American soldiers and settlers went about persecuting anyone who remained loyal to the British and that included the League nations. To compensate for their loss, the British granted the Haudenosaunee large tracts of land. And so, they left their ancestral lands to make new lives in Upper Canada along the Grand River, along the St. Lawrence and amongst existing Iroquois settlements in Upper and Lower Canada. This is their story.