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John Calvin

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   Calvinism
   John Calvin

   Background
   Christianity
   St. Augustine
   The Reformation

   Distinctives
   Calvin's Institutes
   Five Solas
   Five Points (TULIP)
   Regulative principle
   Confessions of faith

   Influences
   Theodore Beza
   Synod of Dort
   Puritan theology
   Jonathan Edwards
   Princeton theologians
   Karl Barth

   Churches
   Reformed
   Presbyterian
   Congregationalist
   Reformed Baptist

   Peoples
   Afrikaner Calvinists
   Huguenots
   Pilgrims
   Puritans

   John Calvin ( July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was a French Protestant
   theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central
   developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism. In
   Geneva, he replaced Papal authority with church authority under a new
   scheme. He is renowned for his teaching and infamous for his role in
   the execution of Michael Servetus.

Biography

   Young John Calvin
   Enlarge
   Young John Calvin

   Calvin was born Jean Chauvin (or Cauvin, in Latin "Calvinus") in Noyon,
   Picardie, France, to Gérard Cauvin and Jeanne Lefranc. In 1523,
   Calvin's father, an attorney, sent his fourteen-year-old son to the
   University of Paris to study humanities and law. By 1532, he had
   attained a Doctor of Law degree at Orléans. Calvin's first published
   work was an edition of the Roman philosopher Seneca's De Clementia,
   accompanied by a thorough commentary.

   In 1536, he settled in Geneva, Switzerland. After being expelled from
   the city, he served as a pastor in Strasbourg from 1538 until 1541,
   before returning to Geneva, where he lived until his death in 1564.

   After attaining his degree, John Calvin sought a wife in affirmation of
   his approval of marriage over clerical celibacy and asked friends to
   help him find a woman who was "modest, obliging, not haughty, not
   extravagant, patient, and solicitous for my health." In 1539, he
   married Idelette de Bure, a widow, who had a son and daughter from her
   previous marriage to a converted Anabaptist in Strasbourg. Calvin and
   Idelette had a son who died after only two weeks. Idelette Calvin died
   in 1549. Calvin wrote that she was a helper in ministry, never stood in
   his way, never troubled him about her children, and had a greatness of
   spirit.

   Calvin's health began to fail when he suffered migraines, lung
   hemorrhages, gout and kidney stones, and at times he had to be carried
   to the pulpit. According to his successor, influential Calvinist
   theologian Theodore Beza, Calvin took only one meal a day for a decade,
   but on the advice of his physician, he ate an egg and drank a glass of
   wine at noon. His recreation and exercise consisted mainly of a walk
   after meals. Towards the end Calvin said to those friends who were
   worried about his daily regimen of work, "What! Would you have the Lord
   find me idle when He comes?"^

   John Calvin died in Geneva on May 27, 1564, and was buried in the
   Cimetière des Rois under a tombstone marked simply with the initials
   "J.C.", partially honoring his request that he be buried in an unknown
   place, without witnesses or ceremony.

Calvin's thought

   Calvin was trained to be a lawyer. He studied under some of the best
   legal minds of the Renaissance in France. Part of that training
   involved the newer humanistic methods of exegesis, which dealt with a
   text directly via historical and grammatical analysis as opposed to
   indirectly via layers of commentators. This legal and exegetical
   training was seminal for Calvin for, once convinced of the evangelical
   faith, he applied these exegetical methods to the Scripture.

   Calvin self-consciously molded his thinking along biblical lines. He
   labored to preach and teach what he believed the Bible taught. Just as
   anyone else, however, he stood in the midst of a history and culture
   from which he could never fully extricate himself.

   While Reformers such as John Huss and Martin Luther may be seen as
   somewhat original thinkers that began a movement, Calvin was a great
   logician and systematizer of that movement, but not an innovator in
   doctrine. Calvin was well familiar with the writings of the early
   church and the great Medieval schoolmen. He was also in debt to earlier
   Reformers. It is inaccurate to say that Calvin rejected the
   Scholasticism of the Middle Ages; rather, he made use of it and
   reformed it in accordance with his understanding of the Bible.

   Calvin had a great commitment to the absolute sovereignty and holiness
   of God. Because of this, he is often associated with the doctrines of
   predestination and election, but it should be noted that he differed
   very little with the other magisterial Reformers regarding these
   difficult doctrines. The Five points of Calvinism are a reflection of
   the thinking of the great Reformer, but were not articulated by him,
   and were actually a product of the Synod of Dort, which issued its
   judgments in response to five specific objections that arose after
   Calvin's time.

   Calvin's theological thought has obviously been highly influential, but
   his impact can also be seen in other areas. For example, he placed a
   high premium on education of the youth of Geneva. He founded the
   Academy of Geneva in 1559 which was a model for other academies around
   the world. Calvin's academy would eventually become the University of
   Geneva. Calvin's thought in the area of church polity was seminal as
   well, giving rise to various Reformed and Presbyterian systems of
   church government. The Consistory of Geneva, with Calvin at its helm,
   was influential in sending out scores of missionaries, not only to
   France, but also to countries as far off as Brazil. Finally, Calvin,
   knowing the benefits of business, was instrumental in founding and
   developing the silk industry in Geneva, by which many Genevans reaped
   monetary blessings.

Writings by Calvin

   At the age of twenty-six, Calvin published several revisions of his
   Institutes of the Christian Religion, a seminal work in Christian
   theology that is still read today. It was published in Latin in 1536
   and in his native French in 1541, with the definitive editions
   appearing in 1559 (Latin) and in 1560 (French).

   He also produced many volumes of commentary on most of the books of the
   Bible. For the Old Testament, he published commentaries for all books
   except the histories after Joshua (though he did publish his sermons on
   First Samuel) and the Wisdom literature other than the Book of Psalms.
   For the New Testament, he omitted only the brief second and third
   epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. (Some have suggested that
   Calvin questioned the canonicity of the Book of Revelation, but his
   citation of it as authoritative in his other writings casts doubt on
   that theory.) These commentaries, too, have proved to be of lasting
   value to students of the Bible, and they are still in print after over
   400 years.

   In the eighth volume of Philip Schaff's History of the Christian
   Church, the historian quotes Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (after
   whom the anti-Calvinistic movement Arminianism was named) with regard
   to the value of Calvin's writings:

          Next to the study of the Scriptures which I earnestly inculcate,
          I exhort my pupils to peruse Calvin’s Commentaries, which I
          extol in loftier terms than Helmich himself (a Dutch divine,
          1551–1608); for I affirm that he excels beyond comparison in the
          interpretation of Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to
          be more highly valued than all that is handed down to us by the
          library of the fathers; so that I acknowledge him to have
          possessed above most others, or rather above all other men, what
          may be called an eminent spirit of prophecy. His Institutes
          ought to be studied after the (Heidelberg) Catechism, as
          containing a fuller explanation, but with discrimination, like
          the writings of all men.

   Although nearly all of Calvin's adult life was spent in Geneva (1536-38
   and 1541-64), his publications spread his ideas of a properly reformed
   church to many parts of Europe and from there to the rest of the world.

Reformed Geneva

   John Calvin
   Enlarge
   John Calvin

   John Calvin had been exiled from Geneva because he and his colleagues,
   namely William Farel and Antoine Froment, were accused of wanting to
   create a "new papacy." Thus, he went to Strasbourg during the time of
   the Ottoman wars and passed through the Cantons of Switzerland. While
   in Geneva, William Farel asked Calvin to help him with the cause of the
   Church. Calvin wrote of Farel's request, "I felt as if God from heaven
   had laid his mighty hand upon me to stop me in my course." Together
   with Farel, Calvin attempted to institute a number of changes to the
   city's governance and religious life. They drew up a catechism and a
   confession of faith, which they insisted all citizens must affirm. The
   city council refused to adopt Calvin and Farel's creed, and in January
   1538 denied them the power to excommunicate, a power they saw as
   critical to their work. The pair responded with a blanket denial of the
   Lord's Supper to all Genevans at Easter services. For this the city
   council expelled them from the city. Farel travelled to Neuchâtel,
   Calvin to Strasbourg.

   For three years Calvin served as a lecturer and pastor to a church of
   French Huguenots in Strasbourg. It was during his exile that Calvin
   married Idelette de Bure. He also came under the influence of Martin
   Bucer, who advocated a system of political and ecclesiastical structure
   along New Testament lines. He continued to follow developments in
   Geneva, and when Jacopo Sadoleto, a Catholic cardinal, penned an open
   letter to the city council inviting Geneva to return to the mother
   church, Calvin's response on behalf of embattled Genevan Protestants
   helped him to regain the respect he had lost. After a number of
   Calvin's supporters won election to the Geneva city council, he was
   invited back to the city in 1540, and having negotiated concessions
   such as the formation of the Consistory, he returned in 1541.

   Upon his return, armed with the authority to craft the institutional
   form of the church, Calvin began his program of reform. He established
   four categories of offices based on biblical injunctions:
     * Doctors held an office of theological scholarship and teaching for
       the edification of the people and the training of other ministers.
     * Ministers of the Word were to preach, to administer the sacraments,
       and to exercise pastoral discipline, teaching and admonishing the
       people.
     * Deacons oversaw institutional charity, including hospitals and
       anti-poverty programs.
     * Elders were 12 laymen whose task was to serve as a kind of moral
       police force, mostly issuing warnings, but referring offenders to
       the Consistory when necessary.

   Critics often look to the Consistory as the emblem of Calvin's
   theocratic rule. The Consistory was an ecclesiastical court consisting
   of the elders and pastors, charged with maintaining strict order among
   the church's officers and members. Offenses ranged from propounding
   false doctrine to moral infractions, such as wild dancing and bawdy
   singing. Typical punishments were being required to attend public
   sermons or catechism classes. Whereas the city council had the power to
   wield the sword, the church courts held the authority of the keys of
   heaven. Therefore, the maximum punishment that the consistory could
   decree was excommunication, which was reversable upon the repentance of
   the offender. However, the officers of the church were considered to be
   the state's spiritual advisors in moral or doctrinal matters.
   Protestants in the 16th century were often subjected to the Catholic
   charge that they were innovators in doctrine, and that such innovation
   did lead inevitably to moral decay and, ultimately, the dissolution of
   society itself. Calvin claimed his wish was to establish the moral
   legitimacy of the church reformed according to his program, but also to
   promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and
   communities. Recently discovered documentation of Consistory
   proceedings shows at least some concern for domestic life, and women in
   particular. For the first time men's infidelity was punished as harshly
   as that of women, and the Consistory showed absolutely no tolerance for
   spousal abuse. The Consistory helped to transform Geneva into the city
   described by Scottish reformer John Knox as "the most perfect school of
   Christ that ever was on the earth since the days of the Apostles." In
   1559 Calvin founded the Collège Calvin as well as a hospital for the
   indigent.

Calvin and power

   Engraved from the original oil painting in the University Library of
   Geneva, this is considered Calvin's best likeness.
   Enlarge
   Engraved from the original oil painting in the University Library of
   Geneva, this is considered Calvin's best likeness.

   Some allege that Calvin was not above using the Consistory to further
   his own political aims and maintain his sway over civil and religious
   life in Geneva, and, it is argued, he responded harshly to any
   challenge to his actions. Calvin was reluctant to ordain Genevans,
   preferring to choose more qualified pastors from the stream of French
   immigrants pouring into the city for the express purpose of supporting
   his own program of reform. When Pierre Ameaux complained about this
   practice, some contend that Calvin took it as an attack on divinely
   ordained authority and persuaded the city council to require Ameaux to
   walk through the town dressed in a hair shirt and begging for mercy in
   the public squares.

   Jacques Gruet sided with some of the old Genevan families, who resented
   the power and methods of the Consistory. He was implicated in an
   incident in which someone had placed a placard in one of the city's
   churches, reading:

          Gross hypocrite, thou and thy companions will gain little by
          your pains. If you do not save yourselves by flight, nobody
          shall prevent your overthrow, and you will curse the hour when
          you left your monkery. Warning has been already given that the
          devil and his renegade priests were come hither to ruin every
          thing. But after people have suffered long they avenge
          themselves. Take care that you are not served like Mons.Verle of
          Fribourg [who was killed in a fight with the Protestants, while
          endeavoring to save himself by flight]. We will not have so many
          masters. Mark well what I say.

   Gruet's views on religion were well known in Geneva, and he wrote
   verses about Calvin and the French immigrants that were "more malignant
   than poetic" ( Audin). As Gruet had been heard threatening Calvin a few
   days earlier, he was arrested in connection with the anonymous placard
   and was tortured. He confessed to the placard and to writing various
   other heretical documents that were found in his house, and he was
   beheaded.

   Calvin's acceptance of torture in particular is reprehensible to modern
   sensibilities, but in this view, he was in accord with the prevailing
   attitude of that age. Few persons of any position or religious
   denomination were critical of the practice, though there certainly were
   exceptions such as Anton Praetorius and Calvin's previous good friend
   Sebastian Castellio.

Calvin and Servetus

   The most lasting controversy of Calvin's life involves his role in the
   execution of Michael Servetus, the Spanish physician, radical reformer,
   and unitarian.

   Servetus first published his views in 1531 to a wide yet unreceptive
   audience. He denounced the trinity, one of the few cardinal doctrines
   that Catholics and Protestants agreed upon. Calvin knew of these views
   in 1534, when he accepted Servetus' invitation to a small gathering in
   Paris to discuss their differences in person. For unknown reasons
   Servetus failed to appear.

   Around 1546, Servetus initiated a correspondence with Calvin that
   lasted until 1548, when the exchange grew so rancorous that Calvin
   ended it. Each man wrote under a pen name and each tried to win the
   other to his own theology. Servetus even offered to come to Geneva if
   invited and given a guarantee of safe passage. Calvin declined to offer
   either. In 1546 Calvin told Farel, "[Servetus] takes it upon him to
   come hither, if it be agreeable to me. But I am unwilling to pledge my
   word for his safety, for if he shall come, I shall never permit him to
   depart alive, provided my authority be of any avail."

   Calvin's zeal was very much the rule among civil and church authorities
   in 16th century Europe, above all toward Servetus' effort to spread
   what they deemed heresy. As early as 1533 the Spanish Inquisition had
   sentenced Servetus to death in absentia. Years later, in 1553, he was
   charged with heresy while living under an assumed name in Vienne,
   France. Calvin supplied crucial evidence to support the heresy charge,
   and some have said it was part of a plan he hatched to help French
   Catholic authorities carry out his dirty work. Still, the stronger
   evidence shows that he was reluctant to use private letters to condemn
   Servetus; Calvin denied any "agreement between me and the satellites of
   the Papacy." After Servetus escaped from the French prison in April
   1553, the authorities there convicted and burned him in effigy.

   Servetus came to Geneva in August 1553 and brazenly attended a Sunday
   church service with Calvin in the pulpit. He was recognized and
   arrested on Calvin's initiative. And, while Calvin also wrote the
   heresy charges, Geneva's city council did far more to steer Servetus'
   trial, sentence, and burning at the stake. Calvin asked the council for
   a more humane execution -- beheading instead of the stake -- but his
   appeal was denied, and the sentence carried out on 27 October 1553.

   Servetus was the only person "put to death for his religious opinions
   in Geneva during Calvin's lifetime, at a time when executions of this
   nature were a commonplace elsewhere," but an angry debate has continued
   in the four-plus centuries from then till now. Opinions about the
   episode are often defined by the same line that separates Calvin's
   admirers and detractors generally.

Calvin and witchcraft

   John Calvin and the other reformers (as well as Catholics in middle
   Europe) believed that they should not permit the practice of
   witchcraft, in accord with their understanding of passages such as
   Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27. Calvin comments on these passages
   under his analysis of the first of the Ten Commandments, which he
   understands to condemn the practice of other religions. Of witchcraft
   in particular, he says, "God would condemn to capital punishment all
   augurs, and magicians, and consulters with familiar spirits, and
   necromancers and followers of magic arts, as well as enchanters. And…
   God declares that He 'will set His face against all, that shall turn
   after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards,' so as to cut
   them off from His people; and then commands that they should be
   destroyed by stoning." Following this understanding of the Old
   Testament law, in 1545 twenty-three people were burned to death under
   charges of practicing witchcraft and attempting to spread the plague
   over a three–year period.

Popular culture

     * The character Calvin in Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes was
       named after John Calvin. It is thought that this reflects the young
       male character's belief in predestination (as justification for his
       behaviour), while his stuffed tiger Hobbes shares Thomas Hobbes's
       view of human nature.
     * The 1979 film Hardcore has a discussion between George C. Scott's
       Jake VanDorn and the prostitute Niki about Calvin's teachings
       concerning predestination and salvation.
     * In His Dark Materials, the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman, the
       protagonists spend a considerable amount of time in a parallel
       universe where Calvin became Pope, moved the Church's centre of
       power to Geneva, and abolished the Papacy upon his death.

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