''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 Go ...

, 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 Afri ...

and emphasized by

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

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 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 o ...

Reception

After sending an early draft of ''Christianismi Restitutio '' to the theologian

, 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 John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

he was later captured in Geneva and found guilty of spreading heresies. On October 27, 1553, he was burned at the stake in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. 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 The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

, Edinburgh University Library,

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 ...

and the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

Non-theological significance

Servetus' discussion of the pulmonary circulation 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 proper ...

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 ...

''.

References

1553 books Christian theology books Anatomy books

Reception

Non-theological significance

Further reading

References