John Calvin

Engraving from the original oil painting in the University Library of Geneva

John Calvin (né Jean Cauvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was a French theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism or reformed theology. He was originally trained to be a humanist lawyer when he encountered a sudden conversion to the reformed faith. Due to a violent uprising in France, he was forced to flee to Basel, Switzerland where in 1536 he published the first edition of his seminal work, Institutes of the Christian Religion.

He was invited by another reformer, William Farel, to help him carry out the work of reforming the church in the city of Geneva. Calvin and Farel had difficulties implementing their ideas and they were expelled from the city. On the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg where he became the minister of the church of French refugees. He met and married his wife, Idelette de Bure, while in Strasbourg.

Calvin continued to support the reform movement in Geneva and he was eventually invited back to lead its church. Upon his return, he introduced new forms of church government and liturgy. Several powerful families in the city opposed his reforms and tried to curb his authority. During this difficult period, a Spaniard known for his heretical views, Michael Servetus, arrived in Geneva. He was denounced by Calvin and executed by the city council. Following new elections to the council, Calvin’s authority over the church was no longer questioned.

His final years are marked by persistent promotion for the Reformation both within the city of Geneva and throughout Europe. He exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many of the reformers and he counted several, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger, as among his friends. Through his work of writing, preaching, and exhortation, his lasting contribution was to provide the seeds to the branch of theology that bears his name.

Contents

Biography

Early years (1509–1535)

Calvin was born Jean Cauvin in Noyon, Picardie, France, the second of three sons that survived infancy. His father, Gérard Cauvin had a prosperous career as the cathedral notary and the registrar to the ecclesiastical court. His mother, Jeanne le Franc, was the daughter of an inn-keeper from Cambrai. She died a few years after his birth. Gérard intended that his three sons, Charles, Jean, and Antoine, should attain the priesthood. Jean was particularly precocious and by the age of twelve, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and he received the tonsure. He also won the patronage of an influential family, the Montmors.[1] Through their assistance, Calvin was able to attend the Collège de la Marche in Paris, where he was taught Latin by one of the greatest of Latin teachers, Mathurin Cordier.[2] Once he completed the course, he proceeded toward the philosophia arts course in the Collège de Montaigu. The college's most influential headmaster, Jean Standonck, had reformed it into an educational monastery for the poor.[3]

A young John Calvin

In 1525 or 1526, Gérard withdrew his son from Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law. Contemporary biographers of Calvin, Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, as well as Calvin himself, assign Gérard's motive to better earnings in a legal career. After a few years of quiet study, Calvin set off for the University of Bourges in 1529 when he learned that the humanist lawyer, Andreas Alciati, had taken up residence there. His eighteen months stay in Bourges had a decisive impact on his development as it was here where he learned Greek. Sometime during this period, Calvin was converted to the reformed faith. Not much is known of the circumstances surrounding his conversion. He made one reference to the event in his preface to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms:

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.[4]

Scholars have argued on the interpretation of this account, but it is agreed that his conversion corresponded with a rupture with the Roman church.[5]

By 1532, he received his licentiate in law and he 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, the university was under some tension between humanists/reformers of the Collège Royal (later to become the Collège de France) and conservative senior faculty members. One of the reformers, Nicolas Cop, was a close friend of Calvin. Cop was elected that autumn as rector of the university and on 1 November 1533 he devoted his inaugural address to the need for reform and renewal in the church. It provoked a strong reaction from the faculty and they denounced the address as heretical. Cop was forced to flee to Basel. Calvin was also implicated in Cop's offence and for the following year, he went into hiding. He remained on the move, sheltering with a friend, Louis du Tillet, in Angoulême as well as short stops in Noyon and Orléans. He was finally forced to flee France during the Affair of the Placards in mid-October 1534. Unknown reformers posted placards in various cities attacking the mass and it provoked a violent backlash against the Protestants. In January 1535, Calvin joined Cop in Basel, a city under the influence of the reformer, Johannes Oecolampadius.[6]

Reform work commences (1536–1538)

In March 1536, Calvin published his first edition of the Institutio Christianae Religionis or Institutes of the Christian Religion. The work was an apologia or defense of his faith, a statement of the doctrinal position of the reformers. He intended that it serve as an elementary instruction book for anyone interested in the Christian religion. Calvin would later update and produce new editions of the book, but in 1536, this was the first expression of his theology.[7] Shortly after its publication, he left Basel for Ferrara in Italy where he served as secretary to Princess Renée of France. He did not stay there long and by June he was back in Paris with his brother Antoine who was in the process of winding up their parents' affairs. Following the Edict of Coucy which allowed for a six month period for heretics to reconcile with the Catholic faith, Calvin decided that there was no future in France. In August he set off for Strasbourg, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire and a place of refuge for reformers. Due to troop movements of imperial and French forces, he was forced to make a detour to the south and this brought him to the city of Geneva. Calvin only intended to stay a single night in the city, but then William Farel, a fellow French reformer who resided in the city, implored Calvin to stay and assist him in his cause.[8]

William Farel was the reformer who convinced Calvin to stay in Geneva.

Although it was not clear what office Calvin eventually took, he was given the title of "reader" which most likely meant that he gave expository lectures on the Bible. It was sometime in 1537 that he was elected to the position of "pastor". For the first time, the lawyer-theologian took up pastoral duties such as baptisms, weddings, and conducting church services.[9]

On 16 January, Farel and Calvin presented their Articles concernant l'organisation de l'église et du culte à Genève (Articles on the Organisation of the Church and its Worship at Geneva) to the city council.[10] The document described how and how often the Lord's Supper would be celebrated, the reason for the need and the method of excommunication, the requirement to subscribe to the confession of faith, the use of congregational singing in the liturgy, and the revision of marriage laws. The council accepted the document on the same day. However, implementing the subscription to the confession of faith took a slow pace. Only some of the citizens of Geneva subscribed. Throughout the year Calvin and Farel's reputations began to suffer. On 26 November, there was a heated debate between the two ministers and the council on the reluctance to enforce the subscription requirement. During this time, France was taking an interest in Geneva and as the two were Frenchmen, rumours were started that raised suspicion on whether they were loyal to the city. Finally, a major ecclesiastical-political quarrel developed when Bern, Geneva's evangelical ally, proposed to introduce uniformity in the ceremonies of the Swiss reformed churches. One proposal was to require that the bread used for the Eucharist be unleavened. The two ministers were unwilling to follow Bern's lead and delayed until a synod in Zürich would be convened to take the final decision. Eventually the council ordered Calvin and Farel to use unleavened bread for Easter Communion. The ministers preached as usual during Easter, but in protest did not administer communion. A riot broke out and the very next day, the council told the ministers to leave Geneva.[11]

Farel and Calvin went to Bern and to Zürich in order to plead their case. The synod in Zürich placed most of the blame on Calvin for not being sympathetic enough toward the people of Geneva, but it asked Bern to mediate in order to get the ministers restored. A delegation was sent to Geneva, but the council refused to readmit the two ministers. Farel and Calvin were refugees once again, homeless and penniless. They took refuge in Basel and it was there when Farel received a call to lead the church in Neuchâtel. As for Calvin, the leading reformers of Strasbourg, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito, took an interest and invited him to come and lead a church of French refugees within their city. Initially Calvin refused the invitation as Farel was not included. Bucer appealed to him again and by September, 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.[12]

Minister in Strasbourg (1538–1541)

Calvin ministered to four or five hundred members in his church. He preached or lectured every day with two sermons on Sunday. Communion was celebrated monthly and congregational singing was encouraged.[13] He also worked on the second edition of the Institutio. Although the first edition was sold out within a year, Calvin was dissatisfied with it, hence the second edition was greatly expanded and published in 1539. He worked at the same time on another book, the Commentary on Romans which was published in March 1540. The form of the book was the model for his commentaries that were to follow. It included a translation from the Greek rather than the Latin Vulgate followed by the exegesis and the exposition.[14] In a dedicatory letter to Simon Grynaeus, Calvin praised the work of his predecessors, Philipp Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, and Martin Bucer, but he also took care to state that his own work was distinct and he courteously criticised some of the shortcomings of the three major reformers.[15]

Martin Bucer invited Calvin to Strasbourg after he was expelled from Geneva.

It was while in Strasbourg that Calvin's friends began to urge him to marry. Several candidates were presented to him including one young lady from a noble family. Reluctantly, Calvin agreed to the marriage, on the condition that the young lady would learn French. Although a wedding date was planned for sometime in March 1540, he changed his mind. Instead, he married Idelette de Bure, the widow of a former Anabaptist who had two children, in August.[16]

Calvin and Bucer had a good relationship that survived many years of tensions and they had much in common theologically. Calvin, however, did not hesitate to criticise his counselor and friend when he disagreed with him. The extent to which Bucer and the Strasbourg church influenced Calvin and the reformation of Geneva is an open question among modern scholars.[17] However, it is known that much of the reforms that Calvin implemented in Geneva, including the liturgy and the church organisation, was developed in Strasbourg.[18]

Meanwhile Geneva had begun to reconsider its expulsion of Calvin. Church attendance had dwindled and the political climate had changed with the alliance with Bern in decline as the two cities quarreled over the control of certain lands. 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 to take the task, the council asked Calvin. He agreed and his Responsio ad Sadoletum (Letter to Sadoleto) was courteous, but he strongly defended Geneva's position concerning reforms in the church. The council came to the conclusion that Geneva needed John Calvin back.[19] On 21 September 1540 the council commissioned one of its members, Ami Perrin, to find a way to recall him. An embassy reached Calvin while he was at a colloquy in Worms. His reaction to the suggestion of returning to Geneva 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.[20]

Despite these strong feelings, he 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. However, the negotiations continued and by summer 1541, it was decided that Strasbourg would lend Calvin to Geneva for six months instead. Calvin returned on 13 September 1541 and quite unlike his first entry into Geneva as a refugee, he arrived with an official escort and a wagon for his family.[21]

Reform in Geneva (1541–1549)

In the support of Calvin's reforms, the council passed the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques (Ecclesiastical Ordinances) on 20 November 1541. It defined four orders of ministerial function: pastors to preach and to administer the sacraments; doctors to instruct believers in the faith; elders to provide discipline; and deacons to care for the poor and needy.[22] An ecclesiastical court, the Consistoire (Consistory) was created that comprised the elders and the ministers. The city government retained the power to summon persons before the court and the Consistoire could judge only ecclesiastical matters, having no civil jurisdiction. Originally, the court had the power to mete out sentences and its most severe penalty was excommunication. However, the government contested this power and on 19 March 1543 the council decided that all sentencing would be carried out by the government.[23]

St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached in Geneva.

In 1542, Calvin adapted a service book used in Strasbourg and he published La Forme des Prières et Chants Ecclésiastiques (The Form of Prayers and Church Hymns). Calvin recognised the power of music and he intended that it be used in supporting the scripture readings. The original Strasbourg psalter contained twelve psalms by Clément Marot and Calvin added several more in the Geneva version. At the end of 1542, Marot became a refugee in Geneva and he wrote nineteen more psalms for the psalter. Another refugee, Louis Bourgeois lived and taught music in Geneva for sixteen years and Calvin added his hymns, the most famous being the Old Hundredth.[24]

In the same year of 1542, Calvin published Catéchisme de l'Eglise de Genève (Catechism of the Church of Geneva). He had written an earlier catechism during his first stay in Geneva which was largely based on Martin Luther's Large Catechism. The 1542 version made a theological rearrangement with the priority set on faith. This version was inspired by Bucer's Kurze Schrifftliche Erklärung of 1534.[25]

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 every Sunday. However, 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 or manuscripts. An occasional secretary tried to take down notes of his sermons, but up to 1549 very little of his preaching has been preserved. However, in that year a professional scribe, Denis Raguenier, who had learnt or developed a system of shorthand, was assigned to record all his sermons. In analysing his sermons, Calvin was a consistent preacher and his style changed very little over the years.[26]

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 she 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.[27]

Throughout the rest of his life in Geneva, he maintained several friendships from his early years including Montmor, Cordier, Cop, Farel, Melanchthon, and Bullinger.[28]

Discipline and opposition (1546–1553)

Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva. Around 1546, the uncoordinated forces coalesced into an identifiable group of whom he referred to as the libertines. According to Calvin, these were people who felt that by being liberated through the grace of their salvation, they were emancipated from both ecclesiastical and civil law. The group consisted of wealthy and politically powerful, inter-related families of Geneva.[29] At the end of January 1546, Pierre Ameaux, a maker of playing cards by trade who had already been in trouble with the Consistoire, attacked Calvin by calling him a "Picard", an epithet showing anti-French sentiment, and accused him of false doctrine. Ameaux was punished by the council and forced to make expiation by parading through the city and begging God for forgiveness.[30] A few months later Ami Perrin, the man who was given responsibility for bringing Calvin to Geneva, moved into open opposition. Perrin had married Françoise Favre, daughter of François Favre, a well-established Genevan merchant. Both Perrin's wife and father-in-law had previous quarrels with the Consistoire. The court noted many of Geneva's notables, including Perrin, had breached a law against dancing. Initially, Perrin ignored the court when he was summoned, but after receiving a letter from Calvin, he appeared quietly before the Consistoire.[31]

By 1547, opposition to Calvin had grown to the point where they constituted the majority of the syndics or civil magistrates of Geneva. On 27 June an unsigned threatening letter in Genevan dialect was found at the pulpit of St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached. One from Favre's group, Jacques Gruet was arrested and incriminating evidence was found when his house was searched. Under torture, he confessed to several crimes. The civil court condemned him to death and he was beheaded on 26 July.[32]

The libertines continued their opposition taking opportunities to stir up discontent, to insult the ministers, and to defy the authority of the Consistoire. The council often took a middle stand, alternately admonishing and upholding Calvin. When Perrin was elected first syndic in February 1552, Calvin's authority was at its lowest point. After some losses before the council, Calvin appeared beaten and on 24 July 1553 he asked the council that he be allowed to resign. Although the libertines controlled the council, the request was refused. The opposition realised that Calvin's authority could be curbed, but they did not have enough power to banish him as was done after his first tenure in 1538.[33]

Michael Servetus (1553)

Michael Servetus exchanged many letters with Calvin until Calvin decided he was a heretic.

The turning point in Calvin's fortunes occurred when a fugitive from justice, Michael Servetus, suddenly appeared in Geneva on 13 August 1553. Servetus was a Spaniard who boldly criticised Christian dogma. In particular, he rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. In July 1530 he was in Basel where he disputed with Oecolampadius and was eventually expelled from the city. He went to Strasbourg where he published a pamphlet against the Trinity. Bucer publicly refuted it and he also asked Servetus to leave. Returning to Basel, Servetus published Dialogorum de Trinitate libri duo (Two Books of Dialogues on the Trinity) which caused a sensation among Reformers and Catholics alike. The Inquisition in Spain ordered his arrest.[34]

Calvin and Servetus were first brought into contact in 1546 through a common acquaintance, Jean Frellon of Lyon. They started to exchange letters with Servetus asking questions on doctrine, Calvin sending replies, followed by Servetus disputing his answers. The exchange continued until Calvin lost patience and refused to respond to Servetus who wrote in total around thirty letters to Calvin. When Servetus mentioned that if Calvin agreed, he would come to Geneva, Calvin wrote a letter to Farel on 13 February 1547 noting that if Servetus were to come, he would not give him safe conduct:

... for if he came, as far as my authority goes, I would not let him leave alive.[35]

In 1553 when the inquisitor-general of France learned that Servetus was hiding in Vienne under another name, he contacted Cardinal François de Tournon, the secretary of the archbishop of Lyon to take up the matter. He was arrested and taken in for questioning. When he was presented his letters to Calvin as evidence for heresy, he denied that he was the person who wrote the letters. He managed to escape from prison and the Catholic authorities sentenced him in absentia to death by slow burning.[36]

While Servetus was fleeing to Italy, for unexplained reasons he stopped in Geneva and attended Calvin's sermon in St Pierre. Calvin had him arrested and he composed a list of accusations that was submitted before the court. The prosecutor was Philibert Berthelier, a member of a libertine family, 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 was that the reputation of Servetus was well-known throughout Europe and most of the cities would be observing the outcome of the trial. This posed a dilemma on the libertines, so on 21 August the council decided to write to other Swiss churches for their opinion which would mitigate the responsibility for the final decision. While awaiting for the replies they also asked Servetus if he preferred to be judged in Vienne rather than in Geneva. He begged that he stay in Geneva. On 20 October the replies from Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Schaffhausen were read in the council and they condemned Servetus as a heretic. The following day the sentence was pronounced and it was the same sentence as in Vienne. Calvin and other ministers asked that he be spared being burnt at the stake and be beheaded instead. This was refused and on 27 October, Servetus was burnt alive at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.[37]

Securing the reformation (1553–1555)

With the death of Servetus, Calvin was being acclaimed as the defender of the faith. But his triumph over the libertines was still two years away. He had always insisted that the Consistoire retained the power of excommunication despite the council's past decision to take away that power. During Servetus' trial, Philibert Berthelier asked the council for permission to take the Lord's Supper. Calvin protested that the council was not competent in making that decision. He was not confident of the outcome of his objection and in a sermon on 3 September 1553, he hinted that he might be dismissed by the authorities. The council decided to re-examine the Ordonnances and on 18 September it voted that excommunication was in the jurisdiction of the Consistoire. But this small victory was not to last. Berthelier was persistent and he applied for reinstatement with a larger administrative assembly, the Deux Cents (Two Hundred) in November. They voted that the final arbiter concerning excommunication was the council, but the ministers continued to protest. As in the case of Servetus, the opinions of the Swiss churches were sought and the affair dragged on through 1554. Finally, on 22 January 1555 the council announced the decision of the Swiss churches: the original Ordonnances must be kept and the Consistoire was to regain its official powers.[38]

The libertines final downfall began with the February 1555 elections. By then, many of the French refugees were given citizenship and with their support, Calvin's partisans overwhelmed Perrin's Genevans. The syndics and the councillors became supporters of Calvin. But the libertines plotted to make trouble and on 16 May they set off to burn down a house that was supposedly full of Frenchmen. The syndic, Henri Aulbert tried to intervene, carrying with him the baton of office that symbolised his power. Perrin made the mistake of seizing the baton thereby signifying that he was taking power, a virtual coup d'état. The insurrection was over as soon as it started when another syndic appeared and ordered Perrin to go with him to the town hall. Perrin and other leaders were forced to flee the city. With the approval of Calvin, the other plotters who remained in the city were found and executed. The opposition to Calvin's church polity came to an end.[39]

Final years (1555–1564)

The Reformation Wall is located opposite the buildings of the University of Geneva with the statues depicting from left to right: William Farel, John Calvin, Théodore de Bèze, and John Knox.

Calvin's final years was a time when his authority was practically uncontested. He enjoyed an international reputation as a reformer distinct from Luther.[40] Initially, Luther and Calvin had mutual respect for each other, but the doctrinal divide between Huldrych Zwingli and Luther on the Eucharist forced Luther to place Calvin into Zwingli's camp. Polemics were exchanged between the Lutheran and Reformed parts of the Reformation movement and Calvin played his part. In 1555 he wrote Defensio sanae et orthodoxae doctrinae de sacramentis (A Defence of the Doctrine of the Sacrament) in response to Joachim Westphal's treatises that attacked Calvin's doctrine. At the same time, Calvin was dismayed by the lack of unity among the reformers. He made the first step toward rapprochement with Bullinger when they agreed on the Consensus Tigurinus which documented what was agreed between the Zürich and Geneva churches. He then reached out across the Continent to England when Thomas Cranmer called for an ecumenical synod of all the evangelical churches. Calvin praised the idea and told him that he greatly wished that he could participate, but ultimately Cranmer was unable to bring his idea to fruition. Calvin's greatest contribution toward the English-speaking community was through his sheltering of refugees in Geneva starting in 1555. Under the city's protection, they were able to develop and form their own reformed church under John Knox and William Whittingham. They carried with them Calvin's ideas on doctrine and polity on their return to England and Scotland.[41] But the land that Calvin was devoted to most of all was his homeland, France. He supported the building of churches by distributing literature and providing ministers. Between 1555 to 1562 over one hundred ministers were sent to France and this support came purely from the church in Geneva. The council had noted to Calvin that it would not get involved in the missionary activities due to the difficult political situation with France at the time.[42]

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 found on 25 March 1558 and it opened the following year on 5 June 1559. Although the school was one unique institution, it was in fact divided into two parts: a primary grammar school called the collège or schola privata and an advanced school called the académie or schola publica. Some of the professors Calvin tried to recruit for the institute included his old friend, Cordier and Emmanuel Tremellius, the Cambridge Regius professor of Hebrew. Neither were free, but he succeeded in obtaining Théodore de Bèze as rector. Within five years there were one thousand two hundred students in the grammar school and three hundred in the advanced school. The collège eventually became the Collège Calvin, one of the college preparatory schools of Geneva, while the académie became the University of Geneva.[43]

In autumn 1558, Calvin became quite ill with a fever. As he was afraid that he might die before completing the final revision of the Institutio, he forced himself to work. The final version was greatly expanded and rearranged so that within the subtitle, he referred to it as nearly a new piece of work.[44] Shortly after he recovered, he overstrained 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 bid 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 suffered. Calvin died on 27 May 1564. At first his body was laid in state, but as many came to see the body, the reformers were afraid that they would be accused of creating a cult of a new saint. On the following day, he was buried in an unmarked grave in a common cemetery.[45]

Theology

See also: Calvin's view of Scripture

In the preface to the final edition of his magnum opus, the Institutio, Calvin wrote that he intended the book to be used as a summary of his views of Christian theology. He also pointed out that it was meant to be read in parallel with his commentaries. Thus in order to obtain a complete picture of his theology, the commentaries as well as his sermons and treatises need to be examined. But it is the Institutio that gives the most comprehensive and concise expression of Calvin's thoughts.[46] The various editions span nearly his whole career as a reformer and an analysis of the evolution of the book shows that his theology changed very little from his youth to his death.[47] The first edition from 1536 consisted of only six chapters. The second edition published in 1539 was three times as long as the first edition. He developed further the original material and added chapters on subjects that appear in Melanchthon's Loci Communes. In 1543, he again added new material and expanded a chapter on the Apostles' Creed. This was in anticipation of the final form of the Institutio which appeared in 1559. By then, the work consisted of four books of eighty chapters and each book was subtitled following statements from the creed: Book 1 on God the Creator, Book 2 on the Redeemer in Christ, Book 3 on receiving the Grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit, and Book 4 on the Society of Christ or the church.[48]

Title page from an 1834 edition of the Institutio Christiane Religionis

The first statement in the Institutio acknowledges its central theme. It states that the whole sum of our wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.[49] Calvin argues that the knowledge of God is not inherent in man nor can knowledge be discovered in observing this world. The only way to obtain it was to be taught through scripture. Calvin wrote, "For anyone to arrive at God the Creator he needs Scripture as his Guide and Teacher."[50] He does not try to prove the authority of scripture, but he describes it as autopiston or self-authenticating. He defends the trinitarian view of God and he notes that images or visual representations of God leads to a form of idolatry.[51] At the end of the first book, he gives his concept of Providence, the view of God's omnipotence. He wrote, "By his Power God cherishes and guards the World which he made and by his Providence rules its individual Parts."[52] Man is not able to comprehend why God performs any particular action, but whatever good or evil men may practise, their efforts result in the execution of his judgements.

In the second book, Calvin examines the nature of sin and the fall of man. Sin began with the fall of Adam and propagated to all of mankind. The domination of sin is complete to the point that man is driven to evil. Calvin acknowledges that this doctrine originated with Augustine.[53] Thus fallen man is in need of redemption that is to be sought in Christ. But before Calvin expounded on this doctrine, he described the special situation of the Jews who lived during the time of the Old Testament. God made a covenant with Abraham and the substance of the promise was the coming of Christ. Hence, this old covenant was not in opposition to Christ. Calvin then describes a new covenant using the passage recorded in the Apostles’ Creed starting from Christ's suffering under Pontius Pilate to his return to judge the living and the dead. It was the whole course of Christ's obedience to the Father that removed the discord between man and God.[54]

Calvin describes how the spiritual union of Christ and man is achieved in the third book. He first defines faith as the firm and certain knowledge of God in Christ. The effects of faith are repentance and the remission of sin. This follows with the regeneration of life or the return to the image of God before Adam’s transgression. However, complete perfection would be unattainable in this life and a continual struggle against sin would be expected. Several chapters are then devoted to the subject of justification by faith alone. He defined justification as "the acceptance by which God regards us as righteous whom he has received into grace."[55] In this definition, it is clear that it is God that initiates and carries through the action and that man plays no role. Near the end of the book, Calvin describes and defends the doctrine of predestination. This doctrine was established by Augustine in opposition to the teachings of Pelagius. Fellow theologians who accepted this Augustinian tradition included Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther. The principle, in Calvin’s words, is that "God adopts some to the hope of life and adjudges others to eternal death."[56]

The final book describes what he considers to be the true church and its ministry, authority, and sacraments. For Calvin the church was the body of believers who placed Christ at its head. By definition, there was only one "catholic" or "universal" church. The scriptural basis for the type of ministers is taken from a passage in Ephesians and they consisted of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors. Calvin regarded the first three offices as temporary, limited in their existence to the time of the New Testament. The latter two offices were put into practice in the church in Geneva. The head of the catholic church was Christ. Although Calvin respected the work of the Ecumenical Councils, he did not consider them as authoritative. He also believed that the civil and church authorities are separate and should not interfere with each other.

Selected works

Calvin's first published work was a commentary of Seneca's De Clementia. Published at his own expense in 1532, it showed that he was a humanist in the tradition of Erasmus with a thorough understanding of classical scholarship.[57] His first theological work, the Psychopannychia, attempted to refute the doctrine of soul sleep as promulgated by the Anabaptists. It was likely written during the period following Cop's speech, but it was not published until 1542 in Strasbourg.[58]

A facsimile of a letter of John Calvin sent to Edward VI of England.

Calvin produced commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. His first commentary on Romans was published in 1540 and he planned to write commentaries on all of the New Testament. However, it was six years before he wrote his second book, a commentary on I Corinthians. He did not lose any more time in reaching his goal. Within four years he had published commentaries on all the Pauline epistles. The commentary on Romans was also revised. He then turned his attention on the general epistles and these commentaries were dedicated to Edward VI of England. By 1555 he had completed his work on the New Testament, finishing with the Acts and the Gospels. He did not include the Revelation of St John. For the Old Testament, he wrote commentaries on Isaiah, the books of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and Joshua. The material for the commentaries often originated from lectures to students and ministers and then he would re-work the lectures into a commentary. However, from 1557 and onwards, he could not find the time to continue working with this method and he gave permission for his lectures to be published from stenographers' notes. These so-called, Praelectiones, covered the minor prophets, Daniel, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and part of Ezekiel.[59]

Calvin wrote many letters and treatises in addition to what has been previously mentioned. Following the Responsio ad Sadoletum and at the request of Bucer, Calvin wrote an open letter to Charles V in 1543, Supplex exhortatio ad Caesarem, to defend the reformed faith before the emperor. This was followed by an open letter to the pope (Admonitio paterna Pauli III) in 1544, in which Calvin admonished Paul III for depriving the reformers from any prospect of rapprochement. The pope proceeded to open the Council of Trent which resulted in decrees against the Reformation. Calvin refuted the decrees by producing the Acta synodi Tridentinae cum Antidoto in 1547. When Charles tried to find a compromise solution with the Augsburg Interim, Bucer and Bullinger urged Calvin to respond. He wrote the treatise, Vera christiannae pacificationis et Ecclesiae reformandae ratio in 1549 where he described the doctrines that should be upheld including justification by faith.[60]

Calvin provided many of the base documents in the support and the organisation of the church. These included the aforementioned documents on the catechism, the liturgy, and church governance. He also produced several confessions of faith in order to bring unity to the church. In 1559, he drafted the French confession of faith, the Confessio Gallicana and the synod in Paris accepted it with very few changes. The Dutch confession of faith, the Belgic Confession of 1561, was partly based on the Confessio Gallicana.[61]

See also

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John Calvin

Background
Christianity
St. Augustine
The Reformation
Five Solas
Synod of Dort

Distinctives
Five Points (TULIP)
Covenant Theology
Regulative principle

Documents
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Confessions of faith
Geneva Bible

Influences
Theodore Beza
John Knox
Huldrych Zwingli
Jonathan Edwards
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Churches
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Presbyterian
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Peoples
Afrikaners
Huguenots
Pilgrims
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Notes

  1. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 8-12; Parker 2006, pp. 17-20
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 17-18; Parker 2006, p. 22-23
  4. ↑ 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; See also Parker 2006, p. 200
  5. ↑ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 9-10; Cottret 2000, pp. 65-70; Parker 2006, pp. 199-203; McGrath 1990, p. 69-72
  6. ↑ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 7-8; Cottret 2000, pp. 63-65, 82-88, 101; Parker 2006, pp. 47-51; McGrath 1990, p. 62-67
  7. ↑ Ganoczy 2004, p. 9; Cottret 2000, pp. 110-114; Parker 2006, pp. 52, 72
  8. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 76-78; Cottret 2000, pp. 110, 118-120; Parker 2006, pp. 73-75
  9. ↑ Parker 2006, p. 80
  10. ↑ De Greef 2004, p. 50
  11. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 98-100; Cottret 2000, pp. 128-131; Parker 2006, pp. 85-90
  12. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 101-102; Parker 2006, pp. 90-92
  13. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 92-93
  14. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 97-101
  15. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 143-146
  16. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 139-142; Parker 2006, pp. 96-97
  17. ↑ Greschat 2004, pp. 147-148, 266-267
  18. ↑ Pauck 1929, pp. 237-256; Greschat 2004, p. 148
  19. ↑ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 12-14; De Greef 2004, p. 46; Cottret 2000, pp. 152-156
  20. ↑ Parker 2006, p. 105
  21. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 103-107
  22. ↑ Ganoczy 2004, pp. 15-17
  23. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 165-166; Parker 2006, pp. 108-111
  24. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 172-174; Parker 2006, pp. 112-115
  25. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 170-171
  26. ↑ DeVries 2004, pp. 106-124; Parker 2006, pp. 116-123
  27. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 129-130
  28. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 183-184; Parker 2006, p. 131
  29. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 185-186; Parker 2006, pp. 124-126
  30. ↑ Cottret 2000, p. 187; Parker 2006, p. 126
  31. ↑ Parker 2006, p. 127
  32. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 190-191; Parker 2006, pp. 136-138
  33. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 139-145
  34. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 213-216; Parker 2006, p. 146
  35. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 216-217; Parker 2006, pp. 147-148
  36. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 149-150
  37. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 118-120; Cottret 2000, pp. 222-225; Parker 2006, pp. 150-152
  38. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 195-198; Parker 2006, pp. 154-156
  39. ↑ Cottret 2000, pp. 198-200; Parker 2006, pp. 156-157
  40. ↑ Cottret 2000, p. 235
  41. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 170-172
  42. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 182-184; Parker 2006, pp. 178-180
  43. ↑ Olsen 2004, pp. 158-159; Ganoczy 2004, pp. 19-20; Cottret 2000, pp. 256-259; Parker 2006, pp. 157-160
  44. ↑ Parker 2006, pp. 161-164
  45. ↑ McGrath 1990, pp. 195-196; Cottret 2000, pp. 259-262; Parker 2006, pp. 185-191
  46. ↑ Hesselink 2004, pp. 74-75; Parker 1995, pp. 4-9
  47. ↑ Bouwsma 1988, p. 9; Hesselink 2004, pp. 75-77
  48. ↑ 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
  49. ↑ Hesselink 2004, pp. 77-78; Parker 1995, pp. 13-14
  50. ↑ Parker 1995, p. 21
  51. ↑ Hesselink 2004, p. 85; Parker 1995, pp. 29-34
  52. ↑ Hesselink 2004, p. 85; Parker 1995, p. 43
  53. ↑ Parker 1995, pp. 50-57
  54. ↑ Parker 1995, pp. 57-77
  55. ↑ Parker 1995, pp. 97-98
  56. ↑ Parker 1995, p. 114
  57. ↑ De Greef 2004, p. 41; McGrath 1990, pp. 60-62; Cottret 2000, pp. 63-65
  58. ↑ De Greef 2004, p. 53; Cottret 2000, pp. 77-82
  59. ↑ De Greef 2004, pp. 44-45; Parker 2006, pp. 134-136, 160-162
  60. ↑ De Greef 2004, pp. 46-48
  61. ↑ De Greef 2004, pp. 50-51

References

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Theological works

Persondata
NAME Calvin, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Calvin, Jean; Cauvin, Jean; Chauvin, Jean
SHORT DESCRIPTION French theologian, founder of Calvinism
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1509
PLACE OF BIRTH Noyon, Picardie, Kingdom of France
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1564
PLACE OF DEATH Geneva