John Calvin
Theologian,
Organizer, Teacher,
Spiritualist
History of the Church
Grace Bible Church
Randy Broberg
2003
John Calvin
(1509-1564)
• Born in 1509 in Noyon, France
• At age 19 he received his Master
of Arts and at 23 his doctorate in
civil law from the University of
Paris.
• Suspected as a lawyer he was
asked his opinion on King Henry
VIII’s divorce!
• studied Greek, Hebrew and Latin
(not to mention French!)
• 1532, Well- schooled in the
humanists and the classics, his
first published work was a
commentary on the book On
Clemency, by the Roman Stoic
philosopher Seneca.
• In Paris he encountered the
writings of Luther.
•“God's face, is
peaceful and calm
and gracious toward
us.”
Renaissance Humanist
• “Historians are generally agreed that Calvin is
to be understood primarily as a Renaissance
humanist who aimed to apply the novelties of
humanism to recover a biblical understanding
of Christianity. Thus he sought to appeal
rhetorically to the human heart rather than
to compel agreement, in the traditional
manner of systematic theologians, by
demonstrating dogmatic truths. His chief
enemies, indeed, were the systematic
theologians [who] relied too much on human
reason rather than the Bible and [whose]
teachings were lifeless and irrelevant to a world
in desperate need.”
• “Calvin's humanism meant first that he thought
of himself as a biblical theologian in
accordance with the Reformation slogan
scriptura sola. He was prepared to follow
Scripture even when it surpassed the limits of
human understanding, trusting to the Holy
Spirit to inspire faith in its promises. “
• Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin’s Motto:
“Prompte et
sincere in opere
domino”
Renaissance Humanism
• Calvin was strongly influenced by Erasmus and
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples whose movement,
above all, emphasized salvation of individuals by
grace rather than good works and ceremonies.
• French Protestantism was already firmly planted
by the time Calvin became Protestant.
• Calvin had a personal relationship with LeFevre
• King Francis I was very tolerant of LeFevre at
first, and allowed French Christian humanism to
blossom, but in later years LeFevre sought the
protection of the Protestant Queen of Navarre.
Le’Fevre
Calvin’s Sudden
Conversion, 1533
• 533 Calvin had a "sudden conversion."
• In l533 the newly elected head of Paris
University, Nicholas Cop, asked Calvin
to help write his inauguration address.
The speech called for Reform of the
church by following the New Testament.
• He attacked the doctrines that had
become associated with Scholasticism
by pointing out where it fell short in its
teaching about faith, God's love, or
God's grace. "I beg you" he said, "not to
tolerate any longer these heresies and
abuses."
• The king and church authorities were
furious.
•"God subdued
and brought my
heart to docility."
Calvin Flees Paris, 1533
• November 2, l533, John
Calvin Calvin lowered himself
from a window on bed sheets
tied together, and escaped
Paris dressed as a farmer
with a hoe on his shoulder.
• Eventually he made his way
to Basel where he began to
study theology intensively.
• There he resided at the
homes of the Protestant
leaders in that University
town
• While in hiding, he writes the
Institutes!!!
•"Only one ...salvation
is left open for our
souls, and that is the
mercy of God in
Christ. We are saved
by grace... not by our
works."
1534 Placard Affair in France
• French Protestants all over France one
night hang posters denouncing Roman
Catholicism.
• One was hung in King’s bedroom!
• King Francis I is outraged.
• The French royal family, church
officials, and many other dignitaries join
in an immense torch-lit procession from
the Louvre to Notre Dame--an attempt
to purge Paris from the defilement
caused by over zealous Protestants
and their placards (a man named Feret
had nailed one of the most
inflammatory placards to the king's
bedroom door months before).
• The day ended with six Protestants
being hung from ropes and roasted.
"We are justified not
without works, yet not by
works." (Institutes)
Calvin’s Institutes,
1536
• 1536 first edition of Institutes of the
Christian Religion.
• a brief statement of the Protestant faith
(much smaller than the final 1559
edition)
• preface addressed to King Francis I of
France.
• age of twenty-seven
William Farel (1489-1565)
• Southern Switzerland was French speaking, and the canton of Bern
the strongest in that region. Like Zurich in the north, Bern would
accept Protestantism, about 1528.
• Geneva was situated on a main trade route across the Alps and made
it a very important city in that canton.
• William Farel (1489-1565) had come to this city and hoped to bring a
Reformed Protestantism there.
• John Calvin was already wellknown for his first edition of
Institutes of the Christian
Religion.
• William Farel, the Protestant
minister in recently-Protestant
Geneva, had read and greatly
admired Calvin's work.
• Calvin arrived in Geneva
"accidentally" -- he was headed
for Strasbourg and had to take
the long way around because of
war-closed roads. It was July,
1536.
• Calvin had hoped to go to
Strasbourg where he intended to
further his scholarly endeavors,
and being a rather shy and
reserved man, did not
particularly want a position in
Geneva.
• But Farel's 'threat' took Calvin
aback.
• Calvin reluctantly agreed to stay.
Farel Recruits Calvin
in Geneva, 1536
"You are following only your own
wishes, and I tell you, in the name
of God Almighty, that if you do not
help us in this work of the Lord,
the Lord will punish you for
seeking your own interests rather
than his."
• Within a short time he had
devised Articles Concerning the
Government of the Church
which "proposed a systematic
discipline among all the citizens;
a confession of faith on the part
of all, because only 'worthy
members' of the church could
participate in the Lord's Supper;
a thorough instruction in the
fundamentals of faith to prepare
the young for the confession
and for a useful Christian
citizenship; the singing of
Psalms as an embellishment of
the divine service; and the
establishment of a civil
commission to judge
matrimonial questions according
to the word of God" (Hillerbrand,
The Reformation, p. 269).
Calvin’s 1st
Genevan period
Calvin as Pastor
• performed a wide range of
pastoral duties, preaching
regularly and often, doing
numerous weddings and
baptisms, and giving spiritual
advice.
• his workload was staggering.
• His colleagues called him
Moderator (President of the
Company of Pastors), an office
which he held until his death.
• He was also President of the
Consistory.
Refuge in Strasbourg, 1538-41
• In Strasbourg, Calvin was under the
influence of Martin Bucer, the master
Reformer of south Germany.
• Calvin's achieved the life of study he so
desired, he pastored the French-speaking
Protestants in the city, and he attended
theological conferences where he met such
people as Melanchthon.
• When Cardinal Sadoleto wrote a book to the
citizens of Geneva extolling the Catholic way
and inviting Geneva to come back to the
fold, Calvin was asked to write a reply, even
though still exiled. His reply was published
and gained him further attention in Geneva.
It was "highly commended by Luther"
(Hillerbrand, The Reformation, p. 274).
Martin Bucer
Calvin’s Marriage and family
•
In August 1540 Calvin
married a widow, Idelette de
Bure. Her first husband had
been an Anabaptist but was
converted to Reformed
Christianity by Calvin's
persuasion.
• Calvin described her as "the
faithful helper of my ministry"
and "the best companion of
my life." They had a son.
• According to Britannica, “their
marital relationship proved to
be extremely warm”
• She only lived until March
1549, and their only child
died in infancy.
An Anti-Calvin Tract
1541, Calvin in Geneva, Second Period
• Reluctantly returned to Geneva,
1541, which he called a city of a
“perverse & ill natured people”
• He established a church order in
Geneva over the next twenty
years, not without serious
opposition, especially for the
first ten years.
• He never held a government
office, but became the most
powerful figure in the city.
• Calvin attracted a number of
evangelical refugees from Italy,
France, the Netherlands,
England and Scotland.
• “Ecclesiastical Ordinances”
– Regulated religious & moral
lives
• Punishments
– Reprimands, Excommunication,
Fines, exiles, executions
• Every Genevan a “church member”
• Merger of Church and State/Role of
City Council
• Excommunication vs “the Ban” of
Anabaptists.
Calvin’s
Ecclesiastical
Ordinances
Laws Against “Immoral” Songs and
Dances and For Drunkeness
• If anyone sings immoral,
dissolute or outrageous songs, or
dance the virollet or other dance,
he shall be put in prison for three
days and then sent to the
consistory.
• Ordinances For The Regulation
of the Churches
Dependent Upon the Seigniory
of Geneva, 1547
• 1. That no one shall invite another to
drink under penalty of 3 sous.
• 2. That taverns shall be closed
during the sermon, under penalty
that the tavern-keeper shall pay 3
sous, and whoever may be found
therein shall pay the same amount.
• 3. If anvone be found intoxicated he
shall pay for the first offence 3 sous
and shall be remanded to the
consistory ; for the second offence
he shall he held to pay the sum of 6
sous, and for the third 10 sous and
be put in prison.
Laws Against Usury, Gambling &
Blasphemy
• That no one shall take upon
interest or profit more than five
per cent, upon penalty of
confiscation of the principal and
of being con-demned to make
restitution as the case may
demand.
• That no one shall play at any
dissolute game or at any game
whatsoever it may be, neither
for gold nor silver nor for any
excessive stake, upon penalty of
5 sous and forfeiture of stake
played for.
• Ordinances For The Regulation
of the Churches
Dependent Upon the Seigniory
of Geneva, 1547
• Whoever shall have blasphemed,
swearing by the body or by the
blood of our Lord, or in similar
manner, he shall be made to kiss
the earth for the first offence ; for
the second to pay 5 sous, and for
the third 6 sous, and for the last
offence be put in the pillory for
one hour.
• Ordinances For The Regulation of
the Churches
Dependent Upon the Seigniory of
Geneva, 1547
The Consistory
• 12 elders & 5 pastors, presided over by
member of little council
• Met every Thursday to over-see moral
life of city, —absence from services,
quarrels, fornication, dancing, gambling,
etc.
• Most common offenses punished were
sexual in nature. Second most common
were doctrinal errors.
• Warnings, persuasion, excommunication
• Cases where these were ineffective or
civil law broken turned over to civil
authorities
• They also kept "dishonor roles," listing
those whose failings were especially
grievous or who balked when ordered to
perform public repentance.
Consistory’s Exercise of
“Church Discipline”
• "Citizens guilty of opposition to the
accepted doctrine, or absence from
church services, and of conduct
unbecoming Christians were
summoned to appear before that
body for admonition, reprimand,
and correction. In serious cases
involving civil jurisdiction and
penalties, the accused were turned
over to the councils for judgment
and punishment"
• (Hillerbrand, p. 279).
When Jehan de Carro stumbled over the prayer and confession before the
Geneva consistory in December 1542, he was advised "that he should come to
instruction to know whether he will be given Communion, and before he comes
to Communion he should come here Thursday and go to the catechism on
Sundays and frequent the sermons; otherwise he will be rigorously punished."
Calvin’s Teaching and Preaching
• On coming back to Geneva, he began to
teach regularly in the Church of St. Mary
the Greater which ever since has been
called the Temple of the Auditorium.
• It was there that the congregation met
every Friday in an assembly attended by all
the pastors.
• One of the latter would submit a topic, and
Calvin would always speak on it to correct
or enlarge on what had been said.
• In addition, he gave three theology lessons
a week.
• Every second week he had a commitment
to preach every day.
• His sermons excelled more by virtue of the
depth of his thought, the exactness of his
language and the accuracy of his
knowledge than through their oratorical
impact.
• Pastors met Friday for scriptural study
• Sunday sermons in 2 of 3 churches at
dawn followed by:
• Services in all at 9:00
• Instruction for young & another sermon
at 12:00
• Sermons in all at 3:00
• Sermons initially on 3 weekdays, & then
on all
• Turned taverns into coffeehouses
– Bible on every table
• Only biblical names allowed
• The church further forbade the
conduct of business on Sunday. The
consistory chastised a farmer, for
example, for hauling grain on the
Sabbath and others for conducting
business in their shops.
• John Knox, father of Scottish
Presbyterianism, was one of these.
His comment on Geneva: "The most
perfect school of Christ since the
days of the Apostles.“
Religious Life in
Geneva
Calvin’s Phenomenal Literary Output
• He wrote dozens of devotional and
doctrinal pamphlets, carried on vast
correspondence, and trained and sent out
scores of missionaries.
• He produced commentaries on almost
every book of the Bible.
• Calvin's massive biblical commentaries,
which were presented extemporaneously
in Latin as lectures to ministerial
candidates from many countries, make up
the largest proportion of his works.
• Many of these commentaries were
promptly published, often with dedications
to such European rulers as Queen
Elizabeth, though Calvin had too little time
to do much of the editorial work himself.
Committees took down what he said,
prepared a master copy, and then
presented it to Calvin for approval.
Calvin’s
Personality
• Unlike Martin Luther, Calvin was a
reticent man; he rarely expressed himself
in the first person singular. This reticence
has contributed to his reputation as cold,
intellectual, and humanly
unapproachable.
• Those who knew him, however,
perceived him differently, remarking on
his talent for friendship but also on his
hot temper.
• Moreover, the intensity of his grief on the
death of his wife, as well as his empathic
reading of many passages in Scripture,
revealed a large capacity for feeling.
• He believed that every Christian—and
he certainly included himself—suffers
from terrible bouts of doubt.
• Calvin's anxiety found expression in two
metaphors for the human condition that
appear again and again in his writings:
as an abyss in which human beings have
lost their way and as a labyrinth from
which they cannot escape.
• Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin’s Self Sacrifice
• He visited the sick with punctiliousness and
devotion, and regularly appeared at the
homes to question both adults and children
on matters of doctrine and to judge their
progress.
• In 1542, during a plague epidemic, he
offered his services spontaneously to care
for the sick in the special hospital that had
just been opened. It took a decision of the
Council to dissuade him from sacrificing
himself: his life was necessary for all.
• As a Professor of Theology he earned two
hundred florins more than his colleagues.
On more than one occasion he asked the
Council to stop paying him this extra sum;
they always refused, considering his salary
a very minor matter compared with the
numerous services which he was rendering
to the State as a pastor
“THERE IS NOT
ONE BLADE of
grass, there is no
color in this world
that is not intended
to make us rejoice."
•“each day in some degree
our purity will increase and
our corruption be cleansed
as long as we live in the
• The Christian, in this conception, must world,”
Christian Life as a
Battle
struggle against his own wicked
impulses, against the majority of the
human race on behalf of the Gospel,
and ultimately against the Devil.
• Paradoxically, however, Christian
warfare consists less in inflicting
wounds on others than in suffering the
effects of sin patiently, that is, by
bearing the cross.
• The disasters that afflict human
existence, though punishments for the
wicked, are an education for the
believer; they strengthen faith, develop
humility, purge wickedness, and
compel him to keep alert and look to
God for help.
Christian Life as a Journey
• The second traditional
metaphor for the Christian life
employed by Calvin, that of a
journey or pilgrimage—i.e., of
a movement toward a goal—
equally implied activity.
• This way is also a struggle
because no one moves easily
forward and most are so weak
that, “wavering and limping
and even creeping along the
ground, they move at a feeble
pace.” Yet with God's help
everyone can daily make some
advance, however slight.
• Encyclopedia Britannica
•“Our life is like a journey,”
yet “it is not God's will that
we should march along
casually as we please, but
he sets the goal before us,
and also directs us on the
right way to it.”
His
spirituality
• His spirituality begins with the conviction
that human beings do not so much “know”
God as “experience” him indirectly,
through his mighty acts and works in the
world, as they experience but can hardly
be said to know thunder, one of Calvin's
favorite metaphors for religious
experience. Such experience of God gives
them confidence in his power and
stimulates them to praise and worship
him.
• He denounced those who represent God as
dreadful; God for him is “mild, kind,
gentle, and compassionate.”
• Human beings can never praise him
properly, Calvin declared, “until he wins
us by the sweetness of his goodness.”
• That God loves and cares for his human
creatures was, for Calvin, what
distinguished his doctrine of providence
from that of the Stoics.
• Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin’s Emphasis on the Heart
• “Calvin's shared with earlier
Renaissance humanists an
essentially biblical conception of
the human personality,
comprehending it not as a
hierarchy of faculties ruled by
reason but as a mysterious unity
in which what is primary is not
what is highest but what is
central: the heart. This conception
assigned more importance to will
and feelings than to the intellect,
and it also gave new dignity to the
body.” Encyclopedia Britannica
•“the more we
increase in
knowledge, the more
should we increase in
love.”
Calvin’s Emphasis
on Civic Virtues
• Like other humanists, he
was also deeply concerned
to remedy the evils of his
own time; and here too he
found guidance in Scripture.
Its teachings could not be
presented as a set of
timeless abstractions but
had to be brought to life by
adapting them to the
understanding of
contemporaries.
• Encyclopedia Britannica
• “For Calvin, instead, the only foundation
for order in human affairs was utility.
Among its other consequences this
position undermined the traditional one
subordinating women to men. Calvin
believed that, for practical reasons, it
may be necessary for some to
command and others to obey, but it
could no longer be argued that women
must naturally be subordinated to men.
This helps to explain the rejection in
Geneva of the double standard in
sexual morality. Calvin's conviction that
every occupation in society is a “calling”
on the part of God himself sanctified
this conception. ”
• Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin’s
Egalitarianism
Calvin vs. The Libertines
• The “Libertines” hated the moralistic control of
Calvin.
• Would fart in sermons.
• Used obscene gestures
• 1553 Libertines took control of the Council.
• chose the issue of excommunication as their
battleground with Calvin because this was an
issue that tied Church and State – Religion
and Politics – Soul and Citizen.
• Stressed the primacy of the Council.
• insisted that excommunicated Libertines be
re-admitted to the Church after apologizing.
• Council summons the pastors to account for
all their excommunications.
• Calvin offers his resignation but this isn’t
accepted.
Calvin’s Three
Main Theological Opponents
Castellio
• Castellio calls Song of Songs
“lascivious and obscene” Eventually
forced to leave in 1544 after further
outrages, although Calvin helped him to
find another job. Wrote about Servetus
affair.
• Bolsec denied predestination. In 1551,
the council banished Bolsec. This
controversy, according to Hillerbrand,
led Calvin to emphasize the doctrine
more than he had been accustomed to.
• Servetus denied the Trinity. Arrested in
Geneva. Catholics and Protestants
united to get him executed, although
Calvin wanted him beheaded, not
burned as was the case.
Michael Sevetus (1511-1553)
• Michael Servetus, anti-Trinitarian, was already
condemned in Catholic lands, and had escaped.
• He had known Calvin 20 years before, and for
some reason came to Geneva, even though
Calvin had warned him not to.
• He was recognized and arrested.
• He was held for some time while other Protestant
leaders were consulted. They all agreed that he
should receive the death sentence because of his
well-known writings against the Trinity.
• Calvin agreed, even though he recommended
another sentence besides burning. Servetus was
burned on October 26, 1553, one of the few
burnings conducted by Protestants in all the
Reformation.
1559, The Academy in Geneva
• Geneva became a powerful moral magnet,
attracting Protestant exiles from all over Europe.
• For a long time Calvin had been desirous of
setting up a college in Geneva. The college that
had been founded in the fifteenth century no
longer suited the requirements of the day; a
large number of citizens no longer sent their
children to it.
• 1559 The Geneva Academy was founded to
train students in humanist learning in
preparation for the ministry and positions of
secular leadership.
• The poor, modest city became, so to speak, the
Protestant Rome.
• The running of its schools became a model for a
large number of other academies.
• Thenceforth the young students of Europe
flocked to Calvin's Academy.
• At the time of the Reformer's death it boasted
fifteen hundred students.
•"We would be assured of survival
even if we had to die. For we now
have the certainty that, if this city
must fall, its fall will echo throughout
the neighboring countries. It will be
a disaster even for those who have
not heard of it. It would mean the
end of liberty itself."
• the first Rector of the Academy was
Théodore de Bèze, who until them had
been teaching theology in Lausanne.
• Many credit Beza with giving
"Calvinism" its later shape.
Theodore Beza
(1519-1565)
• also called “Breeches Bible”
• new translation of the Bible
published in Geneva (New
Testament, 1557; Old
Testament, 1560) by a colony of
Protestant scholars in exile from
England who worked under the
general direction of Miles
Coverdale and John Knox and
under the influence of John
Calvin.
• The English churchmen had
fled London during the
repressive reign of the Roman
Catholic Mary I, which had
halted the publication of Bibles
there.
• The work acquired the
sobriquet “Breeches Bible”
because it described Adam and
Eve ashaving made “breeches”
to cover their nakedness
(Genesis 3:7), instead of
“aprons” or “loincloths.”
Geneva Bible
Geneva Bible In
English and In
French
Calvin Died in 1564
• Worn out by so many
responsibilities and suffering
from a multitude of ailments:
gout, ucers, migranes,
hemmeroids
• Calvin died in 1564.
• As requested, he was buried in
an unmarked grave.
• His last words described how he
felt he’d failed miserably in his
Christian life and had not given
his all to God!!!!!
• Reformed churches of France, Germany,
Scotland, the Netherlands, and Hungary
• Church of England (39 Articles)
• Puritans
– Presbyterian
– Congregational,
• German Evangelical and Reformed Church,
• Eventually Calvinist theology was also widely
accepted by major groups of Baptists;
• Unitarianism, broke away from the Calvinist
churches of New England in the 18th century,
reflected the more rational impulses in
Calvin's theology.
• “More recently Protestant interest in the social
implications of the Gospel and Protestant neoorthodoxy, as represented by Karl Barth, Emil
Brunner, and Reinhold Niebuhr, reflects the
continuing influence of John Calvin.”
Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin's
Influence on
Christianity
• “Calvin's …own political instincts
were highly conservative, and he
preached the submission of private
persons to all legitimate authority.
But, like Italian humanists, he
personally preferred a republic to a
monarchy. In confronting the
problem posed by rulers who
actively opposed the spread of the
Gospel, he advanced a theory of
resistance, kept alive by his
followers, according to which lesser
magistrates might legitimately rebel
against kings. Unlike most of his
contemporaries, furthermore, Calvin
included among the proper
responsibilities of states not only the
maintenance of public order but also
a positive concern for the general
welfare of society.”
• Encyclopedia Britannica
Calvin’s Political
Influence
Statues of Reformers in Geneva
Questions to Consider
•
•
•
•
Is there a difference between the terms, “Reformed” and “Calvinist”?
Do you call yourself a “Calvinist”? Why? Why not?
Do you call yourself “Reformed”? Why? Why not?
Is your theology, or better or worse your life, more characterized by
the mind or the heart? More characterized by predestination or
grace?
• What do you think of the “call” by Farel for Calvin to stay in Geneva?
Would you be willing to say to another Christian, “you’re pursuing
your own interests but God requires your service”?
• To what extent can we “legislate morality”? Some morality but not
others? (e.g., criminalize incest but not drunkeness?) What about
“witchcraft” a fruit of the flesh in Galatians).