Why have I used the pseudonym--Servetus the Evangelical--for my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ? I have been an Evangelical Christian all of my adult life. I have chosen Servetus' name as part of my pseudonym since I agree with several major teachings he believed that got him executed as an alleged heretic. And it is because I desire to identify with Servetus' objective spirit of inquiry and the courage of his convictions. I believe Michael Servetus was a genuine Christian.

Why do I have a pseudonym for this book? And why have I kept my christological beliefs mostly a secret for these past many years? One reason is that if my fellow Evangelicals ever knew about my christological beliefs they would not accept me as a genuine Christian and ostracize me from the Evangelical community. I have never desired to leave the Evangelical community. It has been my church home for almost all of my adult life.

Yet I believe God has led me to write this book. Two people close to me were concerned about my doing so. They suggested that if I did, I should publish it using a pseudonym. Their reasons were that I would avoid persecution from Christians and not inhibit opportunities to publish my other works. So, I decided to do it. I had planned not to reveal my identity for three years. But subsequent circumstances involving my book invention casued me to have to reveal my identity in late 2009.

I don't think using a pseudonym, and thereby denying authorship, is a lie in accordance with God's laws. Rahab did God's will in lying to men sent to her by the King of Jericho. And God sent a lying spirit to wicked King Ahab. Besides, authors have a legal right to use a pseudonym to disguise their identity, and they have an ethical right to do so if there is the possibility of religious persecution.

In fact, some early leaders of the Protestant Reformation, from which much of today's Evangelical church community derives, wrote books using pseudonyms. Many did it to avoid being arrested by the Catholic Inquisitors and imprisoned or put to death as an alleged heretic. Anti-Trinitarian Michael Servetus and Protestant Reformer John Calvin, both former Roman Catholics, used pseudonyms in publishing some of their works.

Click to tell a friend: