Calvin, John

I

Introduction

Calvin, John (1509-1564), French theologian, Church reformer, humanist, and pastor, whom Protestant denominations in the Reformed tradition regard as a major formulator of their beliefs.

II

Life

Calvin was born in Noyon on July 10, 1509. He received formal instruction for the priesthood at the Collège de la Marche and the Collège de Montaigue, branches of the University of Paris. Encouraged by his father to study law instead of theology, Calvin also attended universities at Orléans and Bourges. Along with several friends he grew to appreciate the humanistic and reforming movements, and he undertook studies in the Greek Bible. In 1532 he published a commentary on Seneca's De Clementia, proving his skills as a humanist scholar. His association with Nicholas Cop, newly elected rector of the University of Paris, forced both to flee when Cop announced his support in 1535 of Martin Luther. Although he seldom spoke of it, Calvin underwent a personal religious experience about this time.

Calvin moved frequently during the next two years, avoiding Church authorities while he studied, wrote, and formulated from the Bible and Christian tradition the primary tenets of his theology. In 1536 he published the first edition of his Christianae Religionis Institutio (Institutes of the Christian Religion), a succinct and provocative work that thrust him into the forefront of Protestantism as a thinker and spokesman. During the same year, Calvin visited Geneva on his way to Strasbourg and was asked by Guillaume Farel to assist in the city's reformation movement. Calvin remained in Geneva with Farel until 1538, when the town voted against Farel and asked both men to leave. Calvin completed his interrupted journey to Strasbourg and participated in that community's religious life until September 1541. While in Strasbourg, Calvin married Idelette de Bure, a widow. The couple had one child, who died in infancy. At Strasbourg, Calvin also published in 1539 the first of his many commentaries on books of the Bible.

In 1541 Genevans prevailed upon Calvin to return and lead them again in reforming the Church. He remained in that city for the rest of his life, except for brief journeys in the interest of Church reform. His wife died in 1549, and he did not remarry. Although he received a house and stipend from the government, he did not hold office in the government, and he did not even become a citizen of Geneva until 1559. Until the defeat of the Perrin family in 1555, there was significant opposition to Calvin's leadership in the city.

Calvin drafted the new ordinances that the government modified and adopted as a constitution for Geneva governing both secular and sacred matters. Calvin also supported development of a municipal school system for all children, with a Geneva Academy as the centre of instruction for the very best students. In 1559 the academy was established, with Theodore Beza as rector of what soon became a full university.

While Calvin served Geneva, the city was almost constantly threatened by Catholic armies under Emanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, and other leaders. Indeed, the city was a walled fortress, receiving little benefit from surrounding farmlands and nearby allies. Thus, the threat of conquest contributed to Geneva's harsh quality of life and to its need for commerce. Dissenting Christians were frequently expelled, and one man was put to death as a heretic. A man of his time, Calvin approved the burning of Michael Servetus (although he recommended decapitation), when the Unitarian was captured in the city.

Calvin sought to improve the life of the city's citizens in many ways. He supported good hospitals, a proper sewage system, protective rails on upper storeys to keep children from falling from tall buildings, special care for the poor and infirm, and the introduction of new industries. He encouraged the use of French in churches, and he personally contributed to its formation as a modern language by his vernacular writings.

Calvin's writings, however, have proven to be his most lasting contribution to the Church. He wrote hymns and encouraged others to do so. The famous Genevan Psalter, composed mostly by his colleague Louis Bourgeois, became the basis for much Protestant hymnody. He wrote an influential catechism, hundreds of letters to fellow reformers, and commentaries on almost all books of the Bible. His sermons and manuscripts have been collected, and most are available in English.

Calvin's health was never robust; his illnesses included chronic asthma, indigestion, and catarrh. He became very frail with the onslaught of quartan fever in 1558. He died on May 27, 1564, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Geneva.

III

Calvin's Theology

According to Calvin, the Bible specified the nature of theology and of any human institutions. Thus, his statements on doctrine began and ended in Scripture, although he frequently cited the Church fathers and important medieval Catholic thinkers. He sought to minimize speculation on divine matters and instead to draw on the Word of God. He also urged the Church to recover its original vitality and purity.

In Calvin's masterwork, the Institutio, which he revised at least five times between 1536 and 1559, he sought to articulate biblical theology in a sensible way, following the articles of the Apostles' Creed. The four books in the definitive edition (1559) focus on the articles “Father”, “Son”, “Holy Spirit”, and “Church”.

A

On the Father

Knowledge of God is bound up with self-knowledge. In the world and in the human conscience, spiritual demands are manifest. God created the world and made it good. Since the fall, however, humanity, by its own powers, has been able to apprehend God only rarely and imperfectly. On their own, human beings can never achieve a true religious life based on the knowledge of God. In God's grace, however, conveyed through Jesus Christ as described in the Bible, the Creator resolved this destructive dilemma and enabled humanity to gain a clear view of revelation. Those people who learn the truth about human depravity—that even the best deeds are tainted and none is pure—can repent and depend on God the Father for salvation.