John Calvin
John Calvin | |
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Born | Jehan Cauvin 10 July 1509 Noyon, Picardy, France |
Died | 27 May 1564 Geneva, Republic of Geneva | (aged 54)
Education | University of Paris University of Orléans University of Bourges |
Occupation(s) | Reformer, minister, author |
Notable work | Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) |
Spouse | |
Children |
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Theological work | |
Era | Renaissance |
Tradition or movement |
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Main interests | Covenantalism |
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Reformed Christianity |
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John Calvin (
Calvin was a tireless
Calvin was originally trained as a
Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of church government and
Life
Early life (1509–1535)
John Calvin was born as Jehan Cauvin on 10 July 1509, at
Young Calvin was particularly precocious. By age 12, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the
In 1525 or 1526, Gérard withdrew his son from the Collège de Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law. According to contemporary biographers Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, Gérard believed that Calvin would earn more money as a lawyer than as a priest.[6] After a few years of quiet study, Calvin entered the University of Bourges in 1529. He was intrigued by Andreas Alciati, a humanist lawyer. Humanism was a European intellectual movement which stressed classical studies. During his 18-month stay in Bourges, Calvin learned Koine Greek, a necessity for studying the New Testament.[7]
Alternative theories have been suggested regarding the date of Calvin's religious conversion. Some have placed the date of his conversion around 1533, shortly before he resigned from his chaplaincy. In this view, his resignation is the direct evidence for his conversion to the evangelical faith. However, T. H. L. Parker argues that, although this date is a terminus for his conversion, the more likely date is in late 1529 or early 1530.[8] The main evidence for his conversion is contained in two significantly different accounts of his conversion. In the first, found in his Commentary on the Book of Psalms, Calvin portrayed his conversion as a sudden change of mind, brought about by God:
God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame, which was more hardened in such matters than might have been expected from one at my early period of life. Having thus received some taste and knowledge of true godliness, I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein, that although I did not altogether leave off other studies, yet I pursued them with less ardor.[9]
In the second account, Calvin wrote of a long process of inner turmoil, followed by spiritual and psychological anguish:
Being exceedingly alarmed at the misery into which I had fallen, and much more at that which threatened me in view of eternal death, I, duty bound, made it my first business to betake myself to your way, condemning my past life, not without groans and tears. And now, O Lord, what remains to a wretch like me, but instead of defense, earnestly to supplicate you not to judge that fearful abandonment of your Word according to its deserts, from which in your wondrous goodness you have at last delivered me.[10]
Scholars have argued about the precise interpretation of these accounts, but most agree that his conversion corresponded with his break from the Roman Catholic Church.[11][12] The Calvin biographer Bruce Gordon has stressed that "the two accounts are not antithetical, revealing some inconsistency in Calvin's memory, but rather [are] two different ways of expressing the same reality."[13]
By 1532, Calvin received his licentiate in law and published his first book, a commentary on Seneca's De Clementia. After uneventful trips to Orléans and his hometown of Noyon, Calvin returned to Paris in October 1533. During this time, tensions rose at the Collège Royal (later to become the Collège de France) between the humanists/reformers and the conservative senior faculty members. One of the reformers, Nicolas Cop, was rector of the university. On 1 November 1533 he devoted his inaugural address to the need for reform and renewal in the Roman Catholic Church. The address provoked a strong reaction from the faculty, who denounced it as heretical, forcing Cop to flee to Basel. Calvin, a close friend of Cop, was implicated in the offense, and for the next year he was forced into hiding. He remained on the move, sheltering with his friend Louis du Tillet in Angoulême and taking refuge in Noyon and Orléans. He was finally forced to flee France during the Affair of the Placards in mid-October 1534. In that incident, unknown reformers had posted placards in various cities criticizing the Roman Catholic mass, to which adherents of the Roman Catholic church responded with violence against the would-be Reformers and their sympathizers. In January 1535, Calvin joined Cop in Basel, a city under the enduring influence of the late reformer Johannes Oecolampadius.[14]
Reform work commences (1536–1538)
In March 1536, Calvin published the first edition of his Institutio Christianae Religionis or Institutes of the Christian Religion.[15] The work was an apologia or defense of his faith and a statement of the doctrinal position of the reformers. He also intended it to serve as an elementary instruction book for anyone interested in the Christian faith. The book was the first expression of his theology. Calvin updated the work and published new editions throughout his life.[16] Shortly after its publication, he left Basel for Ferrara, Italy, where he briefly served as secretary to Princess Renée of France. By June he was back in Paris with his brother Antoine, who was resolving their father's affairs. Following the Edict of Coucy, which gave a limited six-month period for heretics to reconcile with the Catholic faith, Calvin decided that there was no future for him in France. In August he set off for Strasbourg, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire and a refuge for reformers. Due to military maneuvers of imperial and French forces, he was forced to make a detour to the south, bringing him to Geneva. Calvin had intended to stay only a single night, but William Farel, a fellow French reformer residing in the city, implored him to stay and assist him in his work of reforming the church there. Calvin accepted his new role without any preconditions on his tasks or duties.[17] The office to which he was initially assigned is unknown. He was eventually given the title of "reader", which most likely meant that he could give expository lectures on the Bible. Sometime in 1537 he was selected to be a "pastor" although he never received any pastoral consecration.[18] For the first time, the lawyer-theologian took up pastoral duties such as baptisms, weddings, and church services.[19]
During late 1536, Farel drafted a
As the year progressed, Calvin and Farel's reputation with the council began to suffer. The council was reluctant to enforce the subscription requirement, as only a few citizens had subscribed to their confession of faith. On 26 November, the two ministers hotly debated the council over the issue. Furthermore, France was taking an interest in forming an alliance with Geneva and as the two ministers were Frenchmen, councilors had begun to question their loyalty. Finally, a major ecclesiastical-political quarrel developed when the city of Bern, Geneva's ally in the reformation of the Swiss churches, proposed to introduce uniformity in the church ceremonies. One proposal required the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist. The two ministers were unwilling to follow Bern's lead and delayed the use of such bread until a synod in Zurich could be convened to make the final decision. The council ordered Calvin and Farel to use unleavened bread for the Easter Eucharist. In protest, they refused to administer communion during the Easter service. This caused a riot during the service. The next day, the council told Farel and Calvin to leave Geneva.[22]
Farel and Calvin then went to Bern and Zurich to plead their case. The resulting synod in Zurich placed most of the blame on Calvin for not being sympathetic enough toward the people of Geneva. It asked Bern to mediate with the aim of restoring the two ministers. The Geneva council refused to readmit the two men, who then took refuge in Basel. Subsequently, Farel received an invitation to lead the church in Neuchâtel. Calvin was invited to lead a church of French refugees in Strasbourg by that city's leading reformers, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito. Initially, Calvin refused because Farel was not included in the invitation, but relented when Bucer appealed to him. By September 1538 Calvin had taken up his new position in Strasbourg, fully expecting that this time it would be permanent; a few months later, he applied for and was granted citizenship of the city.[23]
Minister in Strasbourg (1538–1541)
During his time in Strasbourg, Calvin was not attached to one particular church, but held his office successively in the Saint-Nicolas Church, the
For the second edition, published in 1539, Calvin changed its format in favor of systematically presenting the main doctrines from the Bible. In the process, the book was enlarged from six chapters to seventeen.
Calvin's friends urged him to marry. Calvin took a prosaic view, writing to one correspondent:
I, who have the air of being so hostile to celibacy, I am still not married and do not know whether I will ever be. If I take a wife it will be because, being better freed from numerous worries, I can devote myself to the Lord.[29]
Several candidates were presented to him including one young woman from a noble family. Reluctantly, Calvin agreed to the marriage, on the condition that she would learn French. Although a wedding date was planned for March 1540, he remained reluctant and the wedding never took place. He later wrote that he would never think of marrying her, "unless the Lord had entirely bereft me of my wits".
Geneva reconsidered its expulsion of Calvin. Church attendance had dwindled and the political climate had changed; as Bern and Geneva quarreled over land, their alliance frayed. When Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto wrote a letter to the city council inviting Geneva to return to the Catholic faith, the council searched for an ecclesiastical authority to respond to him. At first Pierre Viret was consulted, but when he refused, the council asked Calvin. He agreed and his Responsio ad Sadoletum (Letter to Sadoleto) strongly defended Geneva's position concerning reforms in the church.[32] On 21 September 1540 the council commissioned one of its members, Ami Perrin, to find a way to recall Calvin. An embassy reached Calvin while he was at a colloquy, a conference to settle religious disputes, in Worms. His reaction to the suggestion was one of horror in which he wrote, "Rather would I submit to death a hundred times than to that cross on which I had to perish daily a thousand times over."[33]
Calvin also wrote that he was prepared to follow the Lord's calling. A plan was drawn up in which Viret would be appointed to take temporary charge in Geneva for six months while Bucer and Calvin would visit the city to determine the next steps. The city council pressed for the immediate appointment of Calvin in Geneva. By mid-1541, Strasbourg decided to lend Calvin to Geneva for six months. Calvin returned on 13 September 1541 with an official escort and a wagon for his family.[34]
Reform in Geneva (1541–1549)
In supporting Calvin's proposals for reforms, the council of Geneva passed the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques (Ecclesiastical Ordinances) on 20 November 1541. The ordinances defined four orders of ministerial function: pastors to preach and to administer the
In 1542, Calvin adapted a service book used in Strasbourg, publishing La Forme des Prières et Chants Ecclésiastiques (The Form of Prayers and Church Hymns). Calvin recognized the power of music and he intended that it be used to support scripture readings. The original Strasbourg
In the same year of 1542, Calvin published Catéchisme de l'Eglise de Genève (Catechism of the Church of Geneva), which was inspired by Bucer's Kurze Schrifftliche Erklärung of 1534. Calvin had written an earlier
Historians debate the extent to which Geneva was a theocracy. On the one hand, Calvin's theology clearly called for separation between church and state. Other historians have stressed the enormous political power wielded on a daily basis by the clerics.[39][40]
During his ministry in Geneva, Calvin preached over two thousand sermons. Initially he preached twice on Sunday and three times during the week. This proved to be too heavy a burden and late in 1542 the council allowed him to preach only once on Sunday. In October 1549, he was again required to preach twice on Sundays and, in addition, every weekday of alternate weeks. His sermons lasted more than an hour and he did not use notes. An occasional secretary tried to record his sermons, but very little of his preaching was preserved before 1549. In that year, professional scribe Denis Raguenier, who had learned or developed a system of shorthand, was assigned to record all of Calvin's sermons. An analysis of his sermons by T. H. L. Parker suggests that Calvin was a consistent preacher and his style changed very little over the years.
Very little is known about Calvin's personal life in Geneva. His house and furniture were owned by the council. The house was big enough to accommodate his family as well as Antoine's family and some servants. On 28 July 1542, Idelette gave birth to a son, Jacques, but he was born prematurely and survived only briefly. Idelette fell ill in 1545 and died on 29 March 1549. Calvin never married again. He expressed his sorrow in a letter to Viret:
I have been bereaved of the best friend of my life, of one who, if it has been so ordained, would willingly have shared not only my poverty but also my death. During her life she was the faithful helper of my ministry. From her I never experienced the slightest hindrance.[45]
Throughout the rest of his life in Geneva, he maintained several friendships from his early years including Montmor, Cordier, Cop, Farel, Melanchthon and Bullinger.[46]
Discipline and opposition (1546–1553)
Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva. Around 1546, the uncoordinated forces coalesced into an identifiable group whom he referred to as the
By 1547, opposition to Calvin and other French refugee ministers had grown to constitute the majority of the
The libertines continued organizing opposition, insulting the appointed ministers, and challenging the authority of the Consistory. The council straddled both sides of the conflict, alternately admonishing and upholding Calvin. When Perrin was elected first syndic in February 1552, Calvin's authority appeared to be at its lowest point. After some losses before the council, Calvin believed he was defeated; on 24 July 1553 he asked the council to allow him to resign. Although the libertines controlled the council, his request was refused. The opposition realized that they could curb Calvin's authority, but they did not have enough power to banish him.[53]
Michael Servetus (1553)
The turning point in Calvin's fortunes occurred when Michael Servetus, a brilliant Spanish polymath who introduced
Decades earlier, in July 1530 he disputed with
Calvin and Servetus were first brought into contact in 1546 through a common acquaintance, Jean Frellon of Lyon; they exchanged letters debating doctrine; Calvin used a pseudonym as Charles d' Espeville and Servetus used the moniker Michel de Villeneuve.[55] Eventually, Calvin lost patience and refused to respond; by this time Servetus had written around thirty letters to Calvin. Calvin was particularly outraged when Servetus sent him a copy of the Institutes of the Christian Religion heavily annotated with arguments pointing to errors in the book. When Servetus mentioned that he would come to Geneva, "Espeville" (Calvin) wrote a letter to Farel on 13 February 1546 noting that if Servetus were to come, he would not assure him safe conduct: "for if he came, as far as my authority goes, I would not let him leave alive."[58]
In 1553 Servetus published Christianismi Restitutio (English: The Restoration of Christianity), in which he rejected the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the concept of predestination. In the same year, Calvin's representative, Guillaume de Trie, sent letters alerting the French Inquisition to Servetus.[59] Calling him a "Spanish-Portuguese", suspecting and accusing him[60] of his recently proved Jewish converso origin.[61][62][63] De Trie wrote down that "his proper name is Michael Servetus, but he currently calls himself Villeneuve, practicing medicine. He stayed for some time in Lyon, and now he is living in Vienne."[64] When the inquisitor-general of France learned that Servetus was hiding in Vienne, according to Calvin under an assumed name, he contacted Cardinal François de Tournon, the secretary of the archbishop of Lyon, to take up the matter. Servetus was arrested and taken in for questioning. His letters to Calvin were presented as evidence of heresy, but he denied having written them, and later said he was not sure it was his handwriting. He said, after swearing before the holy gospel, that "he was Michel De Villeneuve Doctor in Medicine about 42 years old, native of Tudela of the kingdom of Navarre, a city under the obedience to the Emperor".[65] The following day he said: "..although he was not Servetus he assumed the person of Servet for debating with Calvin".[66] He managed to escape from prison, and the Catholic authorities sentenced him in absentia to death by slow burning.[67]
On his way to Italy, Servetus stopped in Geneva to visit "d'Espeville", where he was recognized and arrested. Calvin's secretary, Nicholas de la Fontaine, composed a list of accusations that was submitted before the court. The prosecutor was Philibert Berthelier, a member of a libertine family and son of a famous Geneva patriot, and the sessions were led by Pierre Tissot, Perrin's brother-in-law. The libertines allowed the trial to drag on in an attempt to harass Calvin. The difficulty in using Servetus as a weapon against Calvin was that the heretical reputation of Servetus was widespread and most of the cities in Europe were observing and awaiting the outcome of the trial. This posed a dilemma for the libertines, so on 21 August the council decided to write to other Swiss cities for their opinions, thus mitigating their own responsibility for the final decision.[68] While waiting for the responses, the council also asked Servetus if he preferred to be judged in Vienne or in Geneva. He begged to stay in Geneva. On 20 October the replies from Zurich, Basel, Bern, and Schaffhausen were read and the council condemned Servetus as a heretic. The following day he was sentenced to burning at the stake, the same sentence as in Vienne. Some scholars claim that Calvin and other ministers asked that he be beheaded instead of burnt, knowing that burning at the stake was the only legal recourse.[69] This plea was refused and on 27 October, Servetus was burnt alive at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.[70]
Securing the Protestant Reformation (1553–1555)
After the death of Servetus, Calvin was acclaimed a defender of Christianity, but his ultimate triumph over the libertines was still two years away. He had always insisted that the Consistory retain the power of excommunication, despite the council's past decision to take it away. During Servetus's trial, Philibert Berthelier asked the council for permission to take communion, as he had been excommunicated the previous year for insulting a minister. Calvin protested that the council did not have the legal authority to overturn Berthelier's excommunication. Unsure of how the council would rule, he hinted in a sermon on 3 September 1553 that he might be dismissed by the authorities. The council decided to re-examine the Ordonnances and on 18 September it voted in support of Calvin—excommunication was within the jurisdiction of the Consistory. Berthelier applied for reinstatement to another Genevan administrative assembly, the Deux Cents (Two Hundred), in November. This body reversed the council's decision and stated that the final arbiter concerning excommunication should be the council. The ministers continued to protest, and as in the case of Servetus, the opinions of the Swiss churches were sought. The affair dragged on through 1554. Finally, on 22 January 1555, the council announced the decision of the Swiss churches: the original Ordonnances were to be kept and the Consistory was to regain its official powers.[71]
The libertines' downfall began with the February 1555 elections. By then, many of the French refugees had been granted citizenship and with their support, Calvin's partisans elected the majority of the syndics and the councilors. On 16 May the libertines took to the streets in a drunken protest and attempted to burn down a house that was supposedly full of Frenchmen. The syndic Henri Aulbert tried to intervene, carrying with him the
Final years (1555–1564)
Calvin's authority was practically uncontested during his final years, and he enjoyed an international reputation as a reformer distinct from Martin Luther.
Calvin sheltered Marian exiles (those who fled the reign of Catholic Mary Tudor in England) in Geneva starting in 1555. Under the city's protection, they were able to form their own reformed church under John Knox and William Whittingham and eventually carried Calvin's ideas on doctrine and polity back to England and Scotland.[76]
Within Geneva, Calvin's main concern was the creation of a collège, an institute for the education of children. A site for the school was selected on 25 March 1558 and it opened the following year on 5 June 1559. Although the school was a single institution, it was divided into two parts: a grammar school called the collège or schola privata and an advanced school called the académie or schola publica. Calvin tried to recruit two professors for the institute, Mathurin Cordier, his old friend and Latin scholar who was now based in
Impact on France
Calvin was deeply committed to reforming his homeland, France. The Protestant movement had been energetic, but lacked central organizational direction. With financial support from the church in Geneva, Calvin turned his enormous energies toward uplifting the French Protestant cause. As one historian explains:
He supplied the dogma, the liturgy, and the moral ideas of the new religion, and he also created ecclesiastical, political, and social institutions in harmony with it. A born leader, he followed up his work with personal appeals. His vast correspondence with French Protestants shows not only much zeal but infinite pains and considerable tact and driving home the lessons of his printed treatises.
Edict of Chateaubriand and when the French authorities complained about the missionary activities, the city fathers of Geneva disclaimed official responsibility.[79]
Last illness
In late 1558, Calvin became ill with a fever. Since he was afraid that he might die before completing the final revision of the Institutes, he forced himself to work. The final edition was greatly expanded to the extent that Calvin referred to it as a new work. The expansion from the 21 chapters of the previous edition to 80 was due to the extended treatment of existing material rather than the addition of new topics.[80] Shortly after he recovered, he strained his voice while preaching, which brought on a violent fit of coughing. He burst a blood-vessel in his lungs, and his health steadily declined. He preached his final sermon in St. Pierre on 6 February 1564. On 25 April, he made his will, in which he left small sums to his family and to the collège. A few days later, the ministers of the church came to visit him, and he bade his final farewell, which was recorded in Discours d'adieu aux ministres. He recounted his life in Geneva, sometimes recalling bitterly some of the hardships he had suffered. Calvin died on 27 May 1564 aged 54. At first his body lay in state, but since so many people came to see it, the reformers were afraid that they would be accused of fostering a new saint's cult. On the following day, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière des Rois.[81] The exact location of the grave is unknown; a stone was added in the 19th century to mark a grave traditionally thought to be Calvin's.[82]
Theology
Calvin developed his theology in his biblical commentaries as well as his sermons and treatises, but the most comprehensive expression of his views is found in his magnum opus, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. He intended that the book be used as a summary of his views on Christian theology and that it be read in conjunction with his commentaries.
The first statement in the Institutes acknowledges its central theme. It states that the sum of human wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
The second book includes several essays on
In the third book, Calvin describes how the spiritual union of Christ and humanity is achieved. He first defines faith as the firm and certain knowledge of God in Christ. The immediate effects of faith are
The final book describes what he considers to be the true Church and its ministry, authority, and
Calvin defined a sacrament as an earthly sign associated with a promise from God. He accepted only two sacraments as valid under the new covenant: baptism and the Lord's Supper (in opposition to the Catholic acceptance of seven sacraments). He completely rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the treatment of the Supper as a sacrifice. He also could not accept the Lutheran doctrine of sacramental union in which Christ was "in, with and under" the elements. His own view was close to Zwingli's symbolic view, but it was not identical. Rather than holding a purely symbolic view, Calvin noted that with the participation of the Holy Spirit, faith was nourished and strengthened by the sacrament. In his words, the eucharistic rite was "a secret too sublime for my mind to understand or words to express. I experience it rather than understand it."[104]
Controversies
Calvin's theology caused controversy.
Calvin and the Jews
Scholars have debated Calvin's view of the Jews and Judaism. Some have argued that Calvin was the least antisemitic among all the major reformers of his time, especially in comparison to Martin Luther.[110] Others have argued that Calvin was firmly within the antisemitic camp.[111] Scholars agree that it is important to distinguish between Calvin's views toward the biblical Jews and his attitude toward contemporary Jews. In his theology, Calvin does not differentiate between God's covenant with Israel and the New Covenant. He stated, "all the children of the promise, reborn of God, who have obeyed the commands by faith working through love, have belonged to the New Covenant since the world began."[112] Nevertheless, he was a covenant theologian and argued that the Jews are a rejected people who must embrace Jesus to re-enter the covenant.[113]
Most of Calvin's statements on the Jewry of his era were polemical. For example, Calvin once wrote, "I have had much conversation with many Jews: I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness—nay, I have never found common sense in any Jew."[114] In this respect, he differed little from other Protestant and Catholic theologians of his day.[115] Among his extant writings, Calvin dealt explicitly with issues of contemporary Jews and Judaism in only one treatise,[116] Response to Questions and Objections of a Certain Jew.[117] In it, he argued that Jews misread their own scriptures because they miss the unity of the Old and New Testaments.[118]
Political thought
The aim of Calvin's political theory was to safeguard the rights and freedoms of ordinary people. Although he was convinced that the Bible contained no blueprint for a certain form of government, Calvin favored a combination of democracy and aristocracy (mixed government). He appreciated the advantages of democracy.[119] To further minimize the misuse of political power, Calvin proposed to divide it among several political institutions like the aristocracy, lower estates, or magistrates in a system of checks and balances (separation of powers). Finally, Calvin taught that if rulers rise up against God they lose their divine right and must be deposed.[120][121] State and church are separate, though they have to cooperate to the benefit of the people. Christian magistrates have to make sure that the church can fulfill its duties in freedom. In extreme cases, the magistrates have to expel or execute dangerous heretics, but nobody can be forced to become a Protestant.[122][123]
Calvin thought that agriculture and the traditional crafts were normal human activities. With regard to trade and the financial world, he was more liberal than Luther, but both were strictly opposed to usury. Calvin allowed the charging of modest interest rates on loans. Like the other Reformers, Calvin understood work as a means through which the believers expressed their gratitude to God for their redemption in Christ and as a service to their neighbors. Everybody was obliged to work; loafing and begging were rejected. The idea that economic success was a visible sign of God's grace played only a minor role in Calvin's thinking. It became more important in later, partly secularized forms of Calvinism and became the starting-point of Max Weber's theory about the rise of capitalism.[121]
Libellous attacks by Catholics
Writing a biography of Calvin in 1577,
Selected works
Calvin's first published work was a commentary of
Calvin produced commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. His first commentary on
Calvin also wrote many letters and treatises. Following the Responsio ad Sadoletum, Calvin wrote an open letter at the request of Bucer to
Calvin provided many of the foundational documents for reformed churches, including documents on the catechism, the liturgy, and church governance. He also produced several confessions of faith to unite the churches. In 1559, he drafted the French confession of faith, the
Legacy
After the deaths of Calvin and his successor, Beza, the Geneva city council gradually gained control over areas of life that were previously in the ecclesiastical domain. Increasing secularization was accompanied by the decline of the church. Even the Geneva académie was eclipsed by universities in
As the
Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to other parts of the world including North America, South Africa, and Korea.[132]
Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their city of origin, to succeed far beyond their borders, and to establish their own distinct character.[133]
Calvin is recognized as a
See also
References
- ^ "Definition of Calvin | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ Robert Dean Linder, The Reformation Era, (Greenwood Press, 2008), p. 139.
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 8–12; Parker 2006, pp. 17–20
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 3–4; Cottret 2000, pp. 12–16; Parker 2006, p. 21. McGrath 1990, pp. 22–27 states that Nicolas Colladon was the source that he attended Collège de la Marche which McGrath disputes.
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 17–18; Parker 2006, pp. 22–23
- ^ Parker 1975, p. 15. According to Cottret 2000, p. 20, there may have been a family conflict with the clergy in Noyon.
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 20–24; Parker 1975, pp. 22–25
- ^ Parker, T. H. L, John Calvin: a Biography, Louisville, Kentucky (Westminster John Knox: 2006), pp. 199–203.
- ^ J. Calvin, preface to Commentary on the Book of Psalms, trans. James Anderson, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948), pp. xl–xli as quoted in Cottret 2000, p. 67. The translation by Anderson is available at "The Author's Preface", Commentary on Psalms, vol. 1 See also Parker 2006, p. 200.
- ^ from: Bruce Gordon, Calvin, New Haven; London 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 9–10; Cottret 2000, pp. 65–70; Parker 2006, pp. 199–203; McGrath 1990, pp. 69–72
- ^ According to Cottret 2000, pp. 68–70, Ganoczy in his book Le Jeune Calvin. Genèse et evolution de sa vocation réformatrice, Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1966, p. 302, argues that Calvin conversion took place over several years and that it was not a biographical or chronological event. Cottret quotes Olivier Millet, Calvin et la dynamique de la Parole. Essai de rhétorique réformée, Paris: H. Champion 1992, p. 522, noting a typological rather than a biographical perspective of the account of his conversion. The biographical argument is promoted by D. Fischer, "Conversion de Calvin", Etudes Theéologiques et Religieuses 58 (1983), pp. 203–220. According to Parker 1975, pp. 192–196 Parker is in sympathy with Ganoczy's view, but in his investigations, he concluded that a certain period for his conversion could be determined.
- ^ Bruce Gordon, Calvin, New Haven; London 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 7–8; Cottret 2000, pp. 63–65, 73–74, 82–88, 101; Parker 2006, pp. 47–51; McGrath 1990, pp. 62–67
- ^ Ganoczy 2005
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, p. 9; Cottret 2000, pp. 110–114; Parker 2006, pp. 52, 72
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 76–78; Cottret 2000, pp. 110, 118–120; Parker 2006, pp. 73–75
- ^ Cottret 2000, p. 120
- ^ Parker 2006, p. 80
- ^ De Greef 2004, p. 50
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 128–129; Parker 1975, pp. 74–76
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 98–100; Cottret 2000, pp. 129–131; Parker 2006, pp. 85–90
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 101–102; Parker 2006, pp. 90–92
- ^ Calvin et Strasbourg Archived 8 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 92–93
- ^ a b Parker 1995, pp. 4–5
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 97–101
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 143–146
- ^ Cottret 2000, p. 140
- ^ Parker 1975, p. 87
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 139–142; Parker 2006, pp. 96–97
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 12–14; De Greef 2004, p. 46; Cottret 2000, pp. 152–156
- ^ Parker 2006, p. 105
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 103–107
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 15–17
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 165–166; Parker 2006, pp. 108–111
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 172–174; Parker 2006, pp. 112–115
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 170–171
- ISBN 978-1-60608-073-3. Archivedfrom the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- ^ Harro Höpfl, The Christian Polity of John Calvin (Cambridge University Press, 1985)
- ^ DeVries 2004, pp. 106–124; Parker 2006, pp. 116–123
- ISBN 978-0-227-17091-5
- ISBN 978-1-84550-212-6
- ^ Voltaire, 1694–1778. "The works of Voltaire: Volume XXVII. Ancient and Modern History. 4. Charles V., 1512 – Philip II., 1584". cristoraul.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Parker 2006, pp. 129–130
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 183–184; Parker 2006, p. 131
- ^ Schaff, Philip, "§ 108. Calvin's Struggle with the Patriots and Libertines", History of the Christian Church, vol. VIII, archived from the original on 9 May 2012, retrieved 17 January 2013
- ^ Fisher, George Park (1912). The Reformation. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 192. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 185–186; Parker 2006, pp. 124–126
- ^ Cottret 2000, p. 187; Parker 2006, p. 126
- ^ Parker 2006, p. 127
- ^ De Greef 2008, pp. 30–31; McNeill 1954, pp. 170–171; Cottret 2000, pp. 190–191; Parker 2006, pp. 136–138
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 139–145
- PMID 16373721.
- ^ a b "Michael Servetus: Saint, Heretic and Martyr (Part 3: A Radical Theology)". The Postbarthian | Ecumenical Reformed Musing of Wyatt Houtz. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
- ^ Hunted Heretic, p. 141.
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 213–216; Parker 2006, p. 146
- ISBN 978-0-8078-4515-8.
- ^ See the letters in John Calvin, Opera Quae Supersunt Omnia, Book VIII, First Appendix, IV & VII.
- ^ Calvin and the Judaism: Influence and Actions and Obsessions. Revoeder Hebrew Press. Levi Lancaster 200, p. 106.
- ^ Gonzalez Echeverría, "Andrés Laguna and Michael Servetus: two converted humanist doctors of the XVI century" in: Andrés Laguna International Congress. Humanism, Science and Politics in the Renaissance Europe, García Hourcade y Moreno Yuste, coord., Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid,1999, pp. 377–389
- ^ González Echeverría "Michael Servetus belonged to the famous converted Jewish family The Zaporta", Pliegos de Bibliofilia, no. 7, Madrid pp. 33–42. 1999
- ^ González Echeverría" On the Jewish origin of Michael Servetus" Raíces. Jewish Magazine of Culture, Madrid, nº 40, pp. 67–69. 1999
- ^ Inconsistencies of John Calvin, A.C. Williams, Artiviche Ed, Pressore, 2012, pp. 34–39.
- ^ 1749 First questioning. Judgement of Vienne in Dauphiné against Servet. D'artigny Nouveaux mémoires d'histoire Tome Seconde. pp. 55–154.
- ^ 1749 Second questioning. Judgement of Vienne in Dauphiné against Servet.D'artigny Nouveaux mémoires d'histoire Tome Seconde pp. 55–154)
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 149–150
- ^ Parker 1975, p. 122
- ^ Verdict and Sentence for Michael Servetus (1533) in A Reformation Reader eds. Denis R. Janz; pp. 268–270
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 118–120; Cottret 2000, pp. 222–225; Parker 2006, pp. 150–152
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 195–198; Parker 2006, pp. 154–156
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 198–200; Parker 2006, pp. 156–157; Manetsch 2013, p. 187
- ^ Cottret 2000, p. 235
- ^ Parker 1975, pp. 162–163
- ^ Parker 1975, pp. 164–165
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 170–172
- ^ Olsen 2004, pp. 158–159; Ganoczy 2004, pp. 19–20; Cottret 2000, pp. 256–259; Parker 2006, pp. 157–160
- ^ Preserved Smith (1920). The Age of the Reformation. H. Holt. p. 201.
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 182–184; Parker 2006, pp. 178–180
- ^ Parker 2006, pp. 161–164
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 195–196; Cottret 2000, pp. 259–262; Parker 2006, pp. 185–191
- ^ Rossel, Patrice (1994), Une visite du cimetière de Plainpalais, Les Iles futures; Palfi, Véronique (2003), Le Cimetière des Rois, De l'hôpital des pestiférés au cimetière de Plainpalais, Cinq siècle d'histoire, étude historique pour la Conservation architecturale de la Ville de Genève
- ^ Hesselink 2004, pp. 74–75; Parker 1995, pp. 4–9
- ^ Bouwsma 1988, p. 9; Helm 2004, p. 6; Hesselink 2004, pp. 75–77
- ^ Parker 1995, pp. 4–10; De Greef 2004, pp. 42–44; McGrath 1990, pp. 136–144, 151–174; Cottret 2000, pp. 110–114, 309–325; Parker 2006, pp. 53–62, 97–99, 132–134, 161–164
- ^ Niesel 1980, pp. 23–24; Hesselink 2004, pp. 77–78; Parker 1995, pp. 13–14
- ^ Parker 1995, p. 21
- ^ Steinmetz 1995, pp. 59–62; Hesselink 2004, p. 85; Parker 1995, pp. 29–34
- ^ "The human heart is an idol factory: a modern critique of John Calvin". The PostBarthian. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ Hesselink 2004, p. 85; Parker 1995, p. 43
- ^ Niesel 1980, pp. 70–79; Parker 1995, p. 47
- ^ Gerrish 2004, pp. 290–291, 302. According to Gerrish, Calvin put his defence against the charge of novelty in the preface of every edition of the Institutes. The original preface of the first edition was addressed to the King of France, Francis I. The defence expressed his opinion that patristic authority favoured the reformers and that allegation of the reformers deviating from the patristic consensus was a fiction. See also Steinmetz 1995, pp. 122–137.
- ^ Niesel 1980, pp. 80–88; Parker 1995, pp. 50–57
- ^ Parker 1995, pp. 57–77
- ^ Niesel 1980, pp. 126–130; Parker 1995, pp. 78–86
- ^ Parker 1995, pp. 97–98
- ^ Niesel 1980, pp. 130–137; Parker 1995, pp. 95–103
- ^ Parker 1995, p. 114
- ^ Heron 2005, p. 243
- ^ Calvin 1989, Book III, Chapter 21, Par 5
- ^ "John Calvin confessed Double Predestination is a Horrible and Dreadful Decree". The PostBarthian. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ Parker 1995, p. 134; Niesel 1980, pp. 187–195
- ^ Parker 1995, pp. 135–144
- ^ Potter & Greengrass 1983, pp. 34–42; McDonnell 1967, p. 206; Parker 1995, pp. 147–157; Niesel 1980, pp. 211–228; Steinmetz 1995, pp. 172–173
- ^ Gamble 2004, p. 199; Cottret 2000, pp. 125–126
- ^ Gamble 2004, pp. 198–199; McGrath 1990, pp. 16–17; Cottret 2000, pp. 208–211
- ^ Gamble 2004, pp. 193–196; Parker 1975, p. 163
- ^ Cottret 2000, pp. 227–233
- ^ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 17–18
- ^ Elazar, Daniel J. (1995). Covenant and Commonwealth: Europe from Christian Separation through the Protestant Reformation, Volume II of the Covenant Tradition in Politics. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
- ^ Pater 1987, pp. 256–296; Baron 1972, pp. 343–344
- ^ Lange van Ravenswaay 2009, p. 144 quoting from Calvin, Institutes II.11.10
- ^ Pak, G. Sojin. John Calvin and the Jews: His Exegetical Legacy. Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, 2009, p. 25.
- ^ Calvin's commentary of Daniel 2:44–45 translated by Myers, Thomas.Calvin's Commentaries. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1948, quoted in Lange van Ravenswaay 2009, p. 146
- ^ Detmers 2006, p. 199; Lange van Ravenswaay 2009, pp. 143–146; Pak 2010, p. 177
- ^ Pak 2010, p. 3
- ^ Ad Questiones et Obiecta Iudaei cuisdam Responsio Ioannis Calvini in CR 37:653–674 and translated by R. Susan Frank in M. Sweetland Laver, Calvin, Jews, and Intra-Christian Polemics (PhD diss, Temple University, Philadelphia, 1987), pp. 220–261.
- ^ Pak 2010, p. 27
- ^ Jan Weerda, Calvin, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, Stuttgart (Germany) (1954), col. 210
- ^ Clifton E. Olmstead (1960), History of Religion in the United States, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pp. 9–10
- ^ a b Jan Weerda, Calvin, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, col. 211
- ^ Jan Weerda, Calvin, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, col. 212
- ^ Otto Weber, Calvin, Johannes, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I (1957), col. 1598
- ^ a b c Backus, Irena. "Roman Catholic Lives of Calvin from Bolsec to Richelieu: Why the Interest?". Section "Jerome Bolsec", pp. 26-32 (see 27 last paragraph, 29-32). In Randall C. Zachman, ed. (2008). John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, Then and Now. Baker Academic,ISBN 080103597X. Accessed 25 Nov 2023.
- ^ De Greef 2004, p. 41; McGrath 1990, pp. 60–62; Cottret 2000, pp. 63–65; Steinmetz 2009
- ^ De Greef 2004, p. 53; Cottret 2000, pp. 77–82
- ^ De Greef 2004, pp. 44–45; Parker 2006, pp. 134–136, 160–162
- ^ De Greef 2004, pp. 46–48
- ^ De Greef 2004, pp. 50–51
- ^ McGrath 1990, pp. 200–201; Cottret 2000, p. 239
- ^ Pettegree 2004, pp. 207–208
- ^ Holder 2004, pp. 246–256; McGrath 1990, pp. 198–199
- ^ Pettegree 2004, p. 222
- ^ "The Church Year" (PDF). 8 September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
Sources
- Baron, Salo (1972), "John Calvin and the Jews", in Feldman, Leon A. (ed.), Ancient and Medieval Jewish History, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, OCLC 463285878(originally published 1965).
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- Calvin, John (1989) [1564], Institutio Christianae religionis [Institutes of the Christian Religion] (in Latin), Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
- Chung, Sung Wook (2002), Admiration and Challenge: Karl Barth's Theological Relationship with John Calvin, New York: ISBN 978-0-82-045680-5.
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- De Greef, Wulfert (2004), "Calvin's writings", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- ———————— (2008), The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0-664-23230-6
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- DeVries, Dawn (2004), "Calvin's preaching", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- Dyer, Thomas Henry (1850), The Life of John Calvin, London: John Murray
- Gamble, Richard C. (2004), "Calvin's controversies", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- Ganoczy, Alexandre (2004), "Calvin's life", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- Ganoczy, Alexandre (2005), "Calvin, John", in Hillebrand, Hans J. (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-195-06493-3
- Gerrish, R. A. (2004), "The place of Calvin in Christian theology", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- Graham, W. Fred (1971), The Constructive Revolutionary: John Calvin and His Socio-Economic Impact, Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0-8042-0880-2.
- Helm, Paul (2004), John Calvin's Ideas, Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-925569-6.
- Heron, Alasdair (2005), "John Calvin", in Lacoste, Jean-Yves (ed.), Encyclopedia of Christian Theology, New York: CRC Press.
- Hesselink, I. John (2004), "Calvin's theology", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
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- Lane, Anthony N.S. (2009), "Calvin's Institutes", A Reader's Guide, Grand Rapids: ISBN 978-0-8010-3731-3
- Lange van Ravenswaay, J. Marius J. (2009) [2008], "Calvin and the Jews", in Selderhuis, Herman J. (ed.), Calvijn Handboek [The Calvin Handbook] (in Dutch), Translated by Kampen Kok, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., ISBN 978-0-8028-6230-3
- Manetsch, Scott M. (2013), Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609, Oxford Studies in Historical Theology, New York: Oxford University Press
- McDonnell, Kilian (1967), John Calvin, the Church, and the Eucharist, Princeton: OCLC 318418.
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- Niesel, Wilhelm (1980), The Theology of Calvin, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, ISBN 978-0-8010-6694-8.
- Olsen, Jeannine E. (2004), "Calvin and social-ethical issues", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-01672-8
- Pak, G. Sujin (2010), The Judaizing Calvin, Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-537192-5.
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Further reading
- Backus, Irena; Benedict, Philip, eds. (2011). Calvin and His Influence, 1509–2009. Oxford University Press.
- Balserak, Jon (2014), John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet, Oxford: ISBN 978-0-198-70325-9.
- Calvin, Claude Wesley (1945), The Calvin Families: Origin and History of the American Calvins, with a Partial Genealogy, Ann Arbor: Edwards Brothers, Inc., ISBN 978-0-598-99702-9.
- ISBN 978-0-300-17084-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-515168-8.
- Mullett, Michael (2011). John Calvin. London: ISBN 978-0-41547-699-7.
- Sewell, Alida Leni (2011). Calvin, the Body and Sexuality: An Inquiry into His Anthropology. Amsterdam: VU University Press. ISBN 978-90-8659-587-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-6230-3.
- Tamburello, Dennis E. (2007), Union with Christ: John Calvin and the Mysticism of St. Bernard, Louisville, Kentucky: ISBN 978-0-664-22054-9
Archive sources
- The State Archives of Neuchâtel preserve the autograph correspondence sent by John Calvin to other reformers
- 1PAST, Fonds: Archives de la société des pasteurs et ministres neuchâtelois, Series: Lettres des Réformateurs. Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel.
External links
- Works by John Calvin at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John Calvin at Internet Archive
- Works by John Calvin at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by John Calvin at Post-Reformation Digital Library
- The John Calvin Bibliography of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies
- Calvinism Resources Database
- "John Calvin" in the Catholic Encyclopedia—Roman Catholic criticism of Calvin