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The Myth of Christian America  /  MCA (3 of 14): Geneva: The Seedbed of Christian America  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
The Geneva stories (banishment for rejecting doctrine, “religious police state,” torture and executions including Servetus burned alive, opponents drawn and quartered) are contrasted with “Kingdom citizens” loving enemies; when Bercot argues that what is unchristian today was equally unchristian then because “Jesus Christ is the same,” what does that demand of our own blind spots—especially where modern Christians excuse violence, coercion, or political control in Jesus’s name?
Another way to ask: If violence and forced religion were unchristian then because Jesus never changes, what does that say about our own blind spots now? Where might Christians today excuse violence, pressure, or political control in Jesus’s name?

Direct Answer Bercot’s point demands that Christians stop excusing sin by saying “that was normal for their time” or “this is how we win today,” because Jesus’ kingdom ethics don’t change. So our blind spots should be exposed by the same standard: if coercion and violence contradict Jesus now, they contradicted him then—and they still do when Christians seek control through force.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot recounts Geneva: forced doctrinal pledges with banishment, a “religious police state,” torture and executions (Gruet; Servetus burned alive; opponents drawn and quartered).
  • He says the Kingdom of God looks “nothing like Calvin’s Geneva,” because kingdom citizens “turn the other cheek” and “love their very enemies.”
  • He rejects “cosmic chronological chart” thinking that permits atrocities in some centuries but not others.
  • He quotes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” arguing kingdom “laws, morals, and ethos never change.”
  • He notes early Christians in Roman society recognized torture and violent entertainment as incompatible and refused to participate.
  • He applies the logic to modern issues by analogy: if something is “detestable…totally unchristian today,” it was equally so in the 16th century.
Discussion Follow-ups Where do we rely on cultural permission—political power, intimidation, or “necessary” harshness—instead of Jesus’ unchanging kingdom way?

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