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October 27
Michael Servetus, Helmuth Hübener, and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
David Barnhart
October 27, 2025
Fall Creek Falls, 2009. Own photo.
On this day in 312, Roman Emperor Constantine claimed to have seen a vision of the cross or Chi-Ro at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, which said, “In this sign, conquer.” Constantine would go on to make Christianity the official religion of the Empire.
Today in 1553, Michael Servetus was burned at the stake after being condemned for heresy by John Calvin. Servetus had been a Protestant Reformer, but later rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and infant baptism. He was executed, in part, because Calvin wanted to prove to French Catholics that he was just as much against heresy as they were.
Today also marks the martyrdom, in 1942, of Helmuth Hübener, a teenager and part of the Resistance Movement in Germany against Adolf HItler. He was a member of the Latter-Day Saints and a former Boy Scout, both of which inspired him to faithful protest action against authoritarianism. He was tried as an adult for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets.
Reflection:
Michael Servetus wrote:
“If I have taken the word, by any reason, it has been because I think it is grave to kill men, under the pretext that they are mistaken on the interpretation of some point, for we know that even the chosen ones are not exempt from sometimes being wrong.”
and
“May the Lord destroy all the tyrants of the church.”
and
“I will burn, but this is a mere incident. We shall continue our discussion in eternity.”
It is fitting that we remember the execution of Michael Servetus by Calvinist Christians in Geneva on the same day that we remember the perversion of Christianity by a Roman Emperor.
Constantine’s appropriation of Christianity was an effective tool at diminishing the grassroots, inclusive, prophetic, radical nature of the Early Church. By calling together various councils to create official doctrine and denounce heresy, he made the Church subservient to the Empire. Right belief (orthodoxy) instead of right action (orthopraxis) became the signifier of who was or was not a “real Christian.” We are still dealing with that legacy in the White Christian Nationalism of the United States, where giving your intellectual assent to certain doctrines about Jesus matters far more than doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.
Prayer: God of history, we have inherited a troubled and twisted legacy in the Christianity of the United States, distorted by white supremacy, patriarchy, and greed. We know these things can never quench your Living Spirit. Give us eyes to see and mouths to proclaim a different world. Amen.