Castellion v. Calvin: Freedom vs. Theocracy, from Geneva to Iran and the Case of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light

Fedinsieme presented Maria d’Arienzo’s book and the English translation of “The Goal of the Wise” with awards at the Turin International Book Fair.

By Massimo Introvigne

May 22, 2025

From left to right, Francesco Curto, Maria d’Arienzo, and Massimo Introvigne discussing “Contro Calvino” at the Turin Book Fair. (All photos by Michele Di Molfetta except photo 2).

On May 19, 2025, at the Turin International Book Fair, the Fedinsieme committee, represented by its vice president, attorney Francesco Curto, presented two awards for books on religious subjects, with speeches given by the author of this article. The prize for an Italian-language book honored “Contro Calvino” (Against Calvin) by Maria d’Arienzo, published by Claudiana, while the award for a book in another language went to the English edition of “The Goal of the Wise,” the sacred scripture of the religious movement The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL).

The latter volume and the persecution AROPL faces in various countries were also highlighted at an event held on May 19 at the ISEF (Superior Institute of Physical Education) in Turin. Maria Gabriella Mieli introduced the event on behalf of Fedinsieme, which state legislator Laura Pompeo and Turin City Council’s deputy vice president Domenico Garcea also attended. Both emphasized the importance of tolerance and interfaith dialogue and praised the initiatives proposed in Turin by Fedinsieme.

From left to right, Laura Pompeo, Maria Gabriella Mieli, and Domenico Garcea at the ISEF event.

Although the two books are different, a common thread unites them without disregarding their diversity.

“Contra libellum Calvini” by 16th-century French theologian Sébastien Castellion is a pamphlet written in 1554 but printed only in 1612, after the author’s death. By publishing a new Italian edition with a comprehensive introduction, Maria d’Arienzo undertakes a courageous and highly relevant act.

Courageous, because anyone who republishes Castellion’s critique of Calvin must confront one of the most widely read writers of the interwar period: Austria’s Stefan Zweig, who wrote “A Conscience Against Violence: Castellio v. Calvin” in 1936. Zweig was a novelist, and from the perspective of philological accuracy, he could hardly compete with scholarly works like those of Maria d’Arienzo. However, the writings of novelists such as Zweig indeed reach a much broader audience than academic works.

Zweig’s book had an evident political character, which also served as its limitation. By describing Calvin’s tyrannical regime in Geneva, Zweig, who was of Jewish descent and an exile in England at the time, implicitly depicted Nazi Germany. Calvin’s reduction to the figure of a dictator, with attributes that readers could recognize as akin to Adolf Hitler, would provoke significant protest when the work—which was initially banned by the Nazi regime—was republished in Germany in 1954, following the author and his wife’s suicide in Brazil in 1942.

Indeed, Calvin’s role in the history of Christianity extends far beyond simply being the leader of a violent theocratic regime in Geneva. However, the fact that resonated most with Zweig was the contrast with Castellion. The two famously disagreed over the death sentence and execution of the Spanish theologian Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in Geneva in 1553 at Calvin’s command. In 1554, Calvin published the “Defensio orthodoxae fidei de Sacra Trinitate,” which justified Servetus’ execution and the death penalty for heretics.

Francesco Curto with Maria d’Arienzo during the presentation of “Contro Calvino.”

This publication was responded to by Castellion, who had been Calvin’s friend but eventually broke off their friendship, with the “Contra libellum Calvini.” In the work, as Maria d’Arienzo highlights, Castellion strongly argues that heretics should not be executed. For him, “heresy,” Greek for “airesis,” means “choice” of a particular religious opinion. This “choice” (“airesis,” “heresy”) is not necessarily negative but can become so when one stubbornly adheres to an erroneous opinion. However, even in this case, freedom of conscience must be respected, and error should be addressed on the doctrinal level, without repressive or violent intervention.

Zweig’s is a thematic work, using black and white and ignoring nuance. Castellion is the champion of humanism and reason against Calvin’s irrationalism and obscurantism, and at times appears as a forerunner of resistance to 20th-century totalitarianism in the name of conscience. Maria d’Arienzo shows us that this is only partly so, and that we must read Castellion with his century’s categories, not ours. Castellion comes to the defense of freedom of conscience not with the rationalist arguments of the later Enlightenment but by proposing a different method of interpreting the Bible. The author also points out that Castellion’s freedom of conscience is not yet that of modern human rights declarations because it does not extend to atheists, who can and should be punished by magistrates because they undermine the very foundation of the social order.

This does not detract from the fact that Zweig’s work constitutes a powerful and resounding call for freedom of conscience, which echoes in the darkness of Nazism, or that Castellion’s writings are indeed a significant milestone, still insufficiently recognized, on the path leading to the modern affirmation of freedom of religion or belief.

Maria d’Arienzo’s text is both courageous and timely. We live in challenging times for freedom of religion or belief, as they are not expanding but contracting worldwide. Some might argue that there are no longer theocracies like Calvin’s in Geneva. While it may be true that Christian theocracies disappeared, we still hear some theorizing about them, particularly in the United States.

Maria d’Arienzo receives the award at Turin’s International Book Fair.

There are, however, Islamic theocracies, with the most notable example being the Islamic Republic of Iran, where apostasy and heresy are crimes punishable by imprisonment and even the death penalty, similar to Calvin’s Geneva. An Iranian counterpart to Michael Servetus is Muhammad Ali Taheri, the founder of the influential Erfan-e-Halgheh (Cosmic Mysticism or Ring Mysticism) movement, who was sentenced to death for heresy in 2015. Unlike the 16th-century Geneva regime, however, Iran is part of an international community, and protests from the United Nations and others prevented Taheri’s execution.

Fedinsieme honored the English translation of the sacred scripture “The Goal of the Wise” by Abdullah Hashem Aba al-Sadiq, founder of the Ahmadi Religion and Peace of Light. This group originated in Shiite circles in Iraq (and should not be confused with the persecuted Ahmadiyya community of Sunni origin in Pakistan). The movement quickly spread and faced repression in Iran as well. Professor Aria Razfar of the University of Chicago was awarded as the editor of the English edition. Hadil el-Khouly, representing Amnesty International and AROPL, accepted the award on behalf of the author.

Aria Razfar and Hadil el-Khouly during the award ceremony.

As always, it may be even unnecessary to add that Fedinsieme does not endorse the volume’s theological ideas or historical interpretations, nor does it make value judgments about a religion or its founder. It acknowledges the publishing and translation efforts. It also expresses solidarity with the members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light who are being persecuted by the Iranian theocracy, which has imprisoned and tortured several of them in the dreadful Evin prison. In Kenya and Somalia, in February and March 2025, two members of the religion were murdered by extremists.

Aria Razfar’s acceptance speech.

The charge is always the same: heresy. An exponent of majority Shiite Islam in Iran might argue that the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light is “heretical” because it subverts several points of majority Islam’s doctrines. Here, however, we assess Castellion’s relevance, the appropriateness of Maria d’Arienzo’s choice to republish his book, and the not immediately visible but profound link between the two awards Fedinsieme gave.

Against Calvin, Castellion reminds us that “heresy” etymologically means “choice.” Even when it is wrong, a choice must be countered with philosophical and theological arguments, not political repression, torture, and executions. There is a right to be a heretic, which is part of freedom of conscience—a right to be reaffirmed against all forms of totalitarianism and theocracy.

Source: bitterwinter.org