ABSTRACT
During the Servetus affair there was a tendency among scholars in Basle to show some deference towards the Genevan theologians, as evidenced by the manner in which Castellio's annotations to Romans 9 were suppressed on the grounds of their criticism of Calvin's teaching on predestination. While Sebastian Castellio worked on the translation of the Theologia he discussed its content with his friend Zurkinden, who knew the mystical work. Castellio was praised by Melanchthon as a scholar of biblical texts, as a master of the ancient languages and as a Latin stylist. It is possible to interpret Melanchthon's reference to the power-hungry 'new sophists', their common foe, as a judgement on those who were persecuting Castellio, but his remark was vague and ambiguous. As Castellio's defence against Calvin and his closest supporters was printed in 1578 there were numerous deletions from the text, many of which Castellio had marked himself.
