Portal:Calvinism

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Calvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. Named after John Calvin, this variety of Protestant Christianity is sometimes called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology.

The Reformed tradition was advanced by theologians such as Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Huldrych Zwingli. Yet due to John Calvin's great influence and role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates throughout the 17th century, the tradition generally became known as Calvinism. Today, this term also refers to the doctrines and practices of the Reformed churches, of which Calvin was an early leader, and the system is best known for its doctrines of predestination and total depravity.

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Huldrych Zwingli in an oil portrait from 1531 by Hans Asper; Kunstmuseum Winterthur.
Huldrych Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of rising Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.

In 1519, Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmünster in Zürich where he began to preach ideas on reforming the Church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted corruption in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images in places of worship. In 1525, Zwingli introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the mass. Zwingli also clashed with the radical wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution.

The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted, preferring to remain Roman Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwingli’s ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers. They met at the Marburg Colloquy and although they agreed on many points of doctrine, they could not reach an accord on the doctrine of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

In 1531 Zwingli’s alliance applied an unsuccessful food blockade on the Roman Catholic cantons. The cantons responded with an attack at a moment when Zürich was badly prepared. Zwingli was killed in battle at the age of 47. His legacy lives on in the confessions, liturgy, and church orders of the Reformed churches of today.


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"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice."

-- John Calvin (Wikiquote), As quoted in The Value of Convenience: Genealogy of Technical Culture (1993) by Thomas F. Tierney, p. 128

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"

-- Abraham Kuyper (Wikiquote), As quoted in Abraham Kuyper, A Centennial Reader, (1998) James D. Bratt, editor, p. 488

"I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed."

-- Matthew Henry (Wikiquote), As quoted in Preaching Today, by John Yates, tape #110
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