Information AboutJohn Calvin |
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John Calvin ( July 10 , 1509 – May 27 , 1564 ) was an important French Christian Theologian during the Protestant Reformation and is the namesake of the system of Christian Theology called Calvinism . He was born '''Jean Chauvin''' (or ''Cauvin'') in Noyon , Picardie , France , to Gérard Cauvin and Jeanne Lefranc. French was his mother tongue; ''Calvin'' derives from the Latin version of his name, ''Calvinus''. Martin Luther posted his '' 95 Theses '' in 1517 , when Calvin was 8 years old. BIOGRAPHY In 1523 , Calvin's father, an attorney, sent 14-year-old John to the University Of Paris to study humanities and law. By 1532 , he was a Doctor of Law at Orléans . His first published work was an edition of the Roman Philosopher Seneca 's ''De clementia'', accompanied by a thorough commentary. In 1536 ,he settled in Geneva , halted in the path of an intended journey to Basel , by the personal persuasion of the reformer William Farel . He pastored in Strasbourg from 1538 until 1541, before returning to Geneva. He would live there until his death in 1564 . John Calvin sought marriage to affirm his approval of marriage over Clerical Celibacy . He asked friends to help him find a woman who was "modest, obliging, not haughty, not extravagant, patient, and solicitous for my health ." In 1539 , he married Idelette De Bure , a widow of a converted Anabaptist in Strasbourg . Idelette had a son and daughter from the previous marriage. Only the daughter moved with her to Geneva. In 1542 , the Calvins had a son who died after only two weeks. Idelette Calvin died in 1549 . Calvin wrote that she was a helper in ministry, never stood in his way, never troubled him about her children, and had a greatness of spirit. Calvin's health began to fail when he suffered Migraine s, Lung Hemorrhage s, Gout and Kidney Stones . At times, he was carried to the pulpit. According to his successor, Theodore Beza , Calvin took but one meal a day for a decade, but at the advice of his Physician , he ate an Egg and drank a glass of Wine at noon. His recreation consisted mainly of a walk after meals. Towards the end Calvin said to those friends who were worried about his daily regimen of work, "What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when He comes?" {Link without Title} John Calvin died in Geneva on May 27 , 1564. He was buried in the Cimetière Des Rois under a tombstone marked simply with the initials "J.C.", partially honoring his request that he be buried in an unknown place, without witnesses or ceremony. CALVIN'S THOUGHT Calvin was a prominent advocate of the Five Solas of the Reformation, which teach that the Bible alone (not the church leadership) is the final authority for matters of faith and morals and that salvation is attained purely through grace without any contribution from the Good Works of the person in question. He is also widely known for his teaching on absolute Predestination and Election , which is often labeled as a form of a Determinism though Calvin and his followers reject the accuracy of this characterization and argue for personal responsibility. WRITINGS BY CALVIN Calvin published several revisions of his '' Institutes Of The Christian Religion '' — a seminal work in Christian theology that is still read today — in Latin in 1536 (at the age of 26) and then in his native French in 1541 , with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 and 1560 , respectively. He also produced many volumes of commentary on most of the books of the Bible . For the Old Testament (referring to the Protestant Organization Of Books ), he published commentaries for all books except the histories after Joshua (though he did publish his sermons on First Samuel ) and the Wisdom literature other than the Book Of Psalms . For the New Testament , he omitted only the brief 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John and the Book Of Revelation . (Some have suggested that Calvin questioned the Canonicity of the Book of Revelation, but his citation of it as authoritative in his other writings casts doubt on that theory.) These commentaries, too, have proved to be of lasting value to students of the Bible, and they are still in print after over 400 years. In the eighth volume of Philip Schaff 's ''History of the Christian Church'', the historian quotes Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (after whom the anti-Calvinistic movement Arminianism was named) with regard to the value of Calvin's writings: :Next to the study of the Scriptures which I earnestly inculcate, I exhort my pupils to peruse Calvin’s Commentaries, which I extol in loftier terms than Helmich himself (a Dutch divine, 1551–1608); for I affirm that he excels beyond comparison in the interpretation of Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to be more highly valued than all that is handed down to us by the library of the Fathers ; so that I acknowledge him to have possessed above most others, or rather above all other men, what may be called an eminent spirit of Prophecy . His ''Institutes'' ought to be studied after the (Heidelberg) Catechism , as containing a fuller explanation, but with discrimination, like the writings of all men. Although much of Calvin's practice was in Geneva, his publications spread his ideas of a correctly reformed church to many parts of Europe and from there to the rest of the world. REFORMED GENEVA John Calvin had been exiled from Geneva because he and his followers were suspected of wanting to create a "new papacy" and that's why he went to Strasbourg during the time of the Ottoman Wars and passed through the Cantons Of Switzerland . While in Geneva William Farel asked Calvin to help him with the cause of the church. Calvin wrote of Farel's request "I felt as if God from heaven had laid his mighty hand upon me to stop me in my course". Together with Farel, Calvin attempted to institute a number of changes to the city's governance and religious life. They drew up a catechism and a confession of faith, which they insisted all citizens must affirm. The city council refused to adopt Calvin and Farel's creed, and in January 1538 denied them the power to Excommunicate , a power they saw as critical to their work. The pair responded with a blanket denial of the Lord's Supper to all Genevans at Easter services. For this the city council expelled them from the city. Farel travelled to Neuchâtel, Calvin to Strasbourg. For three years Calvin served as a lecturer and pastor to a church of French Huguenot s in Strasbourg. It was during his exile that Calvin married Idelette de Bure. He also came under the influence of Martin Bucer , who advocated a system of political and ecclesiastical structure along New Testament lines. He continued to follow developments in Geneva, and when Jacopo Sadoleto , a Catholic cardinal, penned an open letter to the city council inviting Geneva to return to the mother church, Calvin's response on behalf of embattled Genevan Protestants helped him to regain the respect he had lost. A number of Calvin's supporters having won election to the Geneva city council, he was invited back to the city in 1541. Upon his return, armed with the authority to craft the institutional form of the church, Calvin began his program of reform. He established four categories of offices, with distinct hierarchy:
Critics often look to the Consistory as the emblem of Calvin's Theocratic rule. The Consistory was an ecclesiastical court consisting of the elders and pastors, charged with maintaining strict order in the church caste and among its members. Offenses ranged from propounding false doctrine to moral infractions, such as wild dancing and bawdy singing. Typical punishments were being required to attend public sermons, catechism classes, floggings or torture. Protestants in the 16th century were often subjected to the Catholic charge that they were innovators in doctrine, and that such innovation did lead inevitably to moral decay and, ultimately, the dissolution of society itself. Calvin claimed his wish was to establish the moral legitimacy of the church reformed according to his program, but also to promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Recently discovered documentation of Consistory proceedings shows at least some concern for domestic life, and women in particular. For the first time men's infidelity was punished as harshly as that of women, and the Consistory showed absolutely no tolerance for spousal abuse. The Consistory helped to transform Geneva into the city described by Scottish reformer John Knox as "the most perfect school of Christ that ever was on the earth since the days of the Apostles." In 1559 Calvin founded a school for training children as well as a hospital for the indigent. Calvin and power |
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