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John Calvin (1509-1564)
French theologian John
Calvin b.
July 10 1509 d.
May 27 1564 was after Martin
Luther the guiding spirit of the Protestant Reformation.
If Luther sounded the trumpet for reform
Calvin orchestrated the score by which the Reformation became a part of Western
civilization. Calvin studied in
Paris probably from 1521 to 1526
where he was introduced to humanistic scholarship and to appeals for reform of
the church. He then studied law at his father's bidding from about 1525 to 1530.
When his father died in 1531 Calvin turned immediately to his first love - study
of the classics and theology. Between 1526 and 1531
he experienced a distinctly Protestant
conversion. "God" he wrote much later "at last turned my course in
another direction by the secret rein of his providence." Calvin's first
published work was a commentary on Seneca's De Clementia (1532). A profusion of
influential commentaries on books of the Bible followed.
His position in
France became
precarious when in 1533 his friend Nicholas Cop rector of the
University of
Paris gave a public address
supporting reform. Eventually Calvin was forced to flee in 1535 to
Basel
Switzerland . There he
produced a small book about his new reformed beliefs. It was designed to offer a
brief summary of essential Christian belief and to defend French Protestants who
were then undergoing serious persecution as true heirs of the early church. This
first edition of Calvin's
Institutes of
the Christian Religion (1536) contained only six brief sections. By the
last edition (1559) it had grown to 79 full chapters.
The Institutes presents with unmatched
clarity a vision of God in his majesty of Christ as prophet priest and king of
the Holy Spirit as the giver of faith of the Bible as the final authority and of
the church as the holy people of God. Its doctrine of Predestination is
Calvin's deduction from his belief in human sinfulness and God's sovereign mercy
in Christ.
After the publication of the Institutes Calvin fully intended to
devote his life to further study. On a trip to
Strasbourg in July 1536 however he
was forced to detour through
Geneva
where he hoped to stay only one night. The fiery Guillaume Farel who had labored
long for the reform of that city had other plans.
Threatening Calvin with a curse from God Farel persuaded him to
remain. The next 2 years were difficult as Calvin's rigorous plans for reform of
church and city clashed with
Geneva 's long - standing moral
indifference. In 1538 Calvin and Farel were expelled from the city. Calvin
proceeded to
Strasbourg where he
spent the most enjoyable years of his life as pastor of the city's French
congregation. While in
Strasbourg
Calvin produced an influential commentary on the Book of Romans oversaw the
preparation of a liturgy and a psalm book that he would use later in
Geneva and married the widow
Idelette de Bure. When friends of Calvin gained control of the
Geneva council in 1541 they asked
him to return and he reluctantly agreed. During the next 14 years his reforms
met stiff resistance.
Some Genevans
then and many critics later considered Calvin's morality absurdly severe with
its banning of plays and its attempt to introduce religious pamphlets and psalm
singing into
Geneva
's taverns.
Others have admired the courage of his conviction that all of life
should glorify God. Finally the libertines blundered in 1553 by offering
backhanded support to the heretic Michael Servetus. Servetus was condemned to
death by burning and by 1555 the city belonged to Calvin.
The Presbyterian church order that he
instituted established a principle of lay involvement that had great impact
throughout
Europe
.
During Calvin's last years
Geneva was home to many religious
refugees who carried away the desire to implement a Genevan reform in their own
countries. His personal letters and published works reached from the
British Isles to the Baltic. The
Geneva
Academy founded in 1559 extended the
circle of his influence. His lucid use of French promoted that language much as
Luther's work spread the influence of German. By the time he died Calvin in
spite of a reserved personality had generated profound love among his friends
and intense scorn from his enemies.
His
influence which spread throughout the Western world was felt especially in
Scotland
through the work of John Knox.
By
Mark A Noll
~From: http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/calvin.htm
Other Online
Resources:
http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin/ (A
treasure of Calvin’s writings including his commentaries)
http://www.calvin.edu/about/about_jc.htm
(A brief biography)
http://www.johncalvin.com/
(The Works of Calvin on CD)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
(Encyclopedia Entry)
http://www.calvin.edu/meeter/ (The
Henry
Meeter
Center for Calvin Studies)
http://www.reformed.org/books/institutes/
(The Institutes of the Christian Religion)
