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The Conversation
The Conversation
Michael Bruening, Professor of History, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Why one 16th-century theologian’s advice for a bitterly divided nation holds true today

John Calvin France Geneva Wikimedia Commons
A monument to Sebastian Castellio in Geneva – using a French spelling of his name – reads, 'Killing a man is not defending a doctrine; it is killing a man.' MHM55/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Ideological division was tearing the country apart. Factions denounced each other as unpatriotic and evil. There were attempted kidnappings and assassinations of political figures. Public monuments and art were desecrated all over the country.

This was France in the middle of the 16th century. The divisions were rooted in religion.

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