''Christianismi Restitutio'' (English: The Restoration of Christianity) was a book published in 1553 by
Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
. It rejected the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
and the concept of
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
, which had both been considered fundamental to Christianity since the time of St.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
and emphasized by John Calvin in his ''magnum opus'', '' Institutio Christianae Religionis''. Servetus argued that God condemns no one who does not condemn himself through thought, word or deed. It also contained, incidentally and by way of illustration, groundbreaking views on
pulmonary circulation
The pulmonary circulation is a division of the circulatory system in all vertebrates. The circuit begins with deoxygenated blood returned from the body to the right atrium of the heart where it is pumped out from the right ventricle to the lungs ...
based on the discoveries of Arab Muslim physician Ibn Al Nafis, that challenged the incorrect teachings of
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...
.
Reception
After sending an early draft of ''Christianismi Restitutio '' to the theologian John Calvin, Servetus was arrested by the Inquisition in
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.John Calvin he was later captured in Geneva and found guilty of spreading heresies. On October 27, 1553, he was burned at the stake in
.
Almost all copies of his book were burned shortly after its publication, although some copies survived and are currently kept in Bibliothèque nationale de France,
Edinburgh University Library
Edinburgh University Library is the main library of the University of Edinburgh and one of the most important libraries of Scotland. The University Library was moved in 1827 to William Playfair's Upper Library in the Old College building. The ...
,
Austrian National Library
The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...
pulmonary circulation
The pulmonary circulation is a division of the circulatory system in all vertebrates. The circuit begins with deoxygenated blood returned from the body to the right atrium of the heart where it is pumped out from the right ventricle to the lungs ...
in ''Christianismi Restitutio'' in the middle of the 16th century is often falsely recognized as the most accurate and complete description at that time.{{cite journal, last1=Michelakis, first1=E. D., title=Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, journal= Circulation Research, date=19 June 2014, volume=115, issue=1, pages=109–114, doi=10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.115.301132, pmid=24951761, doi-access=free In actuality his work was likely based on the work of Muslim physician Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288) who was the first to accurately describe the human pulmonary circulation and theorize the existence of capillary networks, some 300 years earlier. Since the information on pulmonary circulation was suppressed with the theological work in which it was embedded, the function of the pulmonary circulation was forgotten until published by Sir
William Harvey
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...
seventy-five years later in his work ''
De Motu Cordis
''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus'' (Latin, 'An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Living Beings'), commonly called ''De Motu Cordis'', is the best-known work of the physician William Harv ...
''.
Further reading
* ''Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, A Fatal Heresy and One of the Rarest Books in the World'' by Lawrence Goldstone and Nancy Bazelon Goldstone. New York: Broadway Books, 2002. Republished as: ''Out of the Flames: The Story of One of the Rarest Books in the World, and How it Changed the Course of History'' by Lawrence Goldstone and Nancy Goldstone. London: Century, 2003.