Heresy was considered a capital offense in the Middle Ages. Try as I might, I still can’t wrap my head around such drastic censure. Granted, the rise of popular heretical movements had something to do with it, but it still doesn’t explain why the church went overboard in silencing dissent.
You likely remember the name Joan of Arc (1412-1431). She’s the peasant teenager who had visions from God to save France from English rule. When her hometown was subsequently burned to the ground, and the French city of Orleans was under siege, she convinced a crown prince, desperate for help, to outfit her in battle armor to lead the effort to liberate Orleans and restore Charles VII as the legitimate king of France. While successful in the mission, she was eventually captured by English sympathizers and sold to England for a hefty sum. The transcript of her 1431 church trial revealed her remarkable composure in the face of overwhelming odds. At a pivotal moment in the trial, this spunky nineteen-year-old was asked, “Joan, are you in a state of grace?” It was a trick question since church leaders believed no one could be completely sure of God’s grace. If she answered positively, she would give evidence of heresy, and if she answered negatively, she would confirm her guilt. She faithfully avoided the trap with her prayerful response that if she were in God’s grace, God would keep her there, and if she strayed, God would restore her. One court notary at the trial later testified that her interrogators were stunned by her perceptive answer. A church tribunal ultimately found her guilty of heresy and turned her over to the state to be burned at the stake, only to be exonerated twenty-five years later. Her testimony leads us to pray: