Volume 17, Number 4 · September 23, 1971
A Secret Conspiracy Exposed!
By D.P. Walker
Il Nicodemismo: Simulazione e dissimulazione religiosa nell' Europa del 1500
by Carlo Ginzburg
Giulio Einaudi (Torino), 223 pp., 5,000 lire
The meaning of the term 'Nicodemism' is briefly explained in the subtitle of Carlo Ginzburg's book, namely, religious simulation and dissimulation; a Nicodemite is someone who conceals his own religious convictions, while outwardly conforming to the dominant religion of his country. The origin of the term is the title of one of Calvin's pamphlets, Excuse à Messieurs les Nicodémites (1544), a sarcastic reply to those who had protested against the harshness of an earlier pamphlet directed against converts to some kind of Protestant doctrine who, living among Roman Catholics, took part in Catholic ceremonies, in particular the Mass, in order to avoid persecution. Calvin claimed that they misused the example of Nicodemus to excuse their conduct. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to Christ, having recognized that He was a prophet of God, but came by night, that is, secretly (John 3:1). The modern use of the term Nicodemite was launched by the great Italian historian of religion, Delio Cantimori, in his Eretici italiani del Cinquecento (1939).
Review, 2976 words
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