Castellio versus Calvin
Castellio versus Calvin or A Conscience Against Violence is a historical monograph by Stefan Zweig from 1936. In it, Zweig encodes his perception of National Socialism and at the same time criticizes the totalitarianism of the Nazis by depicting the events in Calvinist Geneva in the 16th century .
content
After a detailed description of the period described as dictatorial, which the city of Geneva experienced and which Jean Calvin ("Geneva dictator" and "brilliant organizer") had a decisive influence on with his church discipline ("fell asleep while preaching: prison" etc. - Chapter 4 ), the career of Sebastian Castellio is also discussed in detail. It then describes how the opposition between the liberal Reformation (Castellio) and the Orthodox Reformation (Calvin) comes about, in the context of two men of equal standing. This contrast flared up completely at the stake after the death of Miguel Servet . Therefore, in Chap. 6 first described in detail how it came to this. Due to a comparable persistence combined with a denial of reality, Zweig compares Servet with Don Quixote, especially in his correspondence with Calvin. Servet had to die as an example because another heretic, Bolsec, had only been banished and was still active. The dialogue between Farel and Servet at the stake is also detailed (Chapter 7).
On this occasion, Castellio wrote his martial law De haereticis , in which he brought together his excellent argumentation skills and knowledge of the Bible. He also reminds Calvin of his own (earlier) book statement that it is criminal to kill heretics. A later pamphlet by Castellio, Contra libellum Calvini , was initially not even printed due to Calvin's influence that reached as far as Basel: "Like Servet at the stake, Castellio is now silenced by censorship". In the further course, the dispute over Calvin's doctrine of predestination is openly fought. Castellio is increasingly becoming an advocate of religious tolerance who is way ahead of his time.
The last chapter describes the further development after Castellio's death (1563). “... from 1603 onwards, one after the other, causing a sensation everywhere and increasing admiration, appears in reprints and Dutch transmissions. All of a sudden it turns out that Castellio's idea was by no means buried, but rather just overwintered the hardest time ”.
interpretation
The interpretation of Castellio against Calvin has to be done in the context of the time: Written in 1936, three years after the " seizure of power " by the NSDAP in Germany , it deals with the struggle of a "conscience against violence", with Calvin's figure having clear parallels to Adolf Hitler having. The already rampant fascism in Germany is likely to have caused Zweig to deeply worry and to write a second book after the triumph and tragedy of Erasmus of Rotterdam (published 1934), which is directed against intolerance and misanthropic ideologies. Calvin almost serves Zweig as an allegory of antihumanism , Castellio as a solitary caller for peaceful dialogue, non-violence and mutual respect. It cannot be denied that the book is intended as a criticism of developments in Germany and throughout Europe . Zweig also gives his message a very concrete political aspect in the foreword when he says: “This repeatedly necessary demarcation between freedom and authority is spared no people, no time and no thinking person: because freedom is not possible without authority (otherwise it will to chaos) and authority not without freedom (otherwise it becomes tyranny). "
expenditure
- Stefan Zweig: Castellio against Calvin or a conscience against violence (= Fischer-Taschenbuch . No. 2295 ). Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-22295-8 (first edition: Vienna 1936).
- bound: Castellio against Calvin or a conscience against violence In: Knut Beck (Hrsg.): Collected works in individual volumes . 3rd edition, S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-10-097071-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Zweig: Castellio against Calvin or a conscience against violence. Fischer, ISBN 3-596-22295-8 , p. 177.
- ↑ Ibid., P. 13