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.

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

"We are justified not

without works, yet not by

works." (Institutes)

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.

Farel Recruits Calvin

in Geneva, 1536

• John Calvin was already well-known 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.

"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."

Calvin’s 1st

Genevan period

• 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 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.

Calvin’s

Ecclesiastical

Ordinances • “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.

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.

Religious Life in

Geneva

• 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.“

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."

Christian Life as a

Battle

• The Christian, in this conception, must 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.

•“each day in some degree our purity will increase and our corruption be cleansed as long as we live in the world,”

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

Calvin’s

Egalitarianism

• “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 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 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. Castellio

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.

Theodore Beza

(1519-1565)

• 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.

•"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."

Geneva Bible In

English and In

French

Geneva Bible • 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.”

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!!!!!

Calvin's

Influence on

Christianity

• 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 neo-orthodoxy, as represented by Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, and Reinhold Niebuhr, reflects the continuing influence of John Calvin.” Encyclopedia Britannica

Calvin’s Political

Influence • “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

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).