Sunday, May 15, 2011 Grace Life School of Theology Church History: A Tale of Two Churches Lesson 33: The Life and Times of John Calvin

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1 1 Sunday, May 15, 2011 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Church Histry: A Tale f Tw Churches Lessn 33: The Life and Times f Jhn Calvin Calvin s Early Life Jhn Calvin was brn July 10, 1509 at Nyn in Picardy, abut sixty miles nrth-east f Paris. His father was in cmfrtable circumstances and was raised in aristcratic sciety and had the manner f that class. (Laturette, 751) In byhd he is rumred t have been deeply religius and critical f any laxity in mrals. At the age f 14, Calvin attended the University f Paris. Cincidently, Calvin matriculated thrugh the University at same time as Francis Xavier and Ignatius Lyla, tw f the men wh wuld lead the Cathlic Cunter Refrmatin. (Laturette, ) Influenced heavily by the Renaissance Humanism f the age, Calvin left Paris at the age f 19 t study law. Writing in elegant Latin and acquiring and knwledge f Greek and Hebrew, he published his bk at 23 a cmmentary n Seneca s De Clementia. (Laturette, 752) While the details f Calvin s cnversin f fuzzy at best, it is clear that he had cme under the influence f an earnestly Prtestant grup in Paris where he became acquainted with sme f the writings f Erasmus and Luther. (Laturette, 752) Timthy Paul Jnes, authr f Christian Histry Made Easy, reprts that in 1534 Calvin helped a friend write a speech that was peppered with qutes frm Luther and Erasmus that angered the French gvernment. Frced t flee, Calvin went back hme t Nyn, France befre mving n t Basel, Switzerland. It was during this time perid Calvin became bth a believer and a Prtestant. (Jnes, ) While in Basel in 1536 Calvin published the first editin f his highly influential Institutes f the Christian Religin. The wrk was the clearest, mst lgical, and mst readable expsitin f Prtestant dctrine the Refrmatin age prduced, and it gave its yuthful authr Eurpean fame vernight. Calvin labred n its elabratin nearly all his active life. (Shelley, ) Calvin s Institutes Laturette reprts that Calvin s Institutes wn their way nt frm riginality f the ideas but because f their clarity, rderly arrangement, and cmprehensiveness. They were the mst inclusive and systematic presentatin f the Christian faith as held by the Prtestants which had thus far appeared. They frth the entire csmic drama f creatin, sin, and redemptin under the svereign will f Gd as Calvin belied that it was taught in the Scriptures. (Laturette, 752) The initial wrk was a mere six chapters in length. Fr the next quarter f a century, Calvin wrked away at this, adding extra chapters and rearranging the material. By the time f its final editin (1559), the wrk had eighty chapters, and was divided int fur bks. (McGrath, 69)

2 2 The first bk deals with Gd the creatr and Gd s svereignty ver that creatin. Bk tw cncerns the human need fr redemptin, and the manner in which this redemptin is achieved by Christ the mediatr. The third bk deals with the manner in which this redemptin is apprpriated by human beings, which the final bk deals with the church and its relatin t sciety. (McGrath, 70) Calvin was mre cncerned with stating psitively he believed t be true Biblical Christianity rather than refuting the errrs f the Cathlic Church. (Laturette, 753) Even Rman Cathlic histrian, Kampschutle, cmmented, Withut dubt the mst utstanding and the mst influential prductin in the sphere f dgmatics which the Refrmatin literature f the sixteenth century presents. In spite f this glwing reprt, Calvin s wrk was burned at Ntre Dame in (Vance, 33) Lawrence M. Vance, authr f The Other Side f Calvinism ffers the fllwing assessment f Calvin s Institutes, If yu want t read accurate infrmatin abut the Trinity, and the Deity f Christ r find ut what Refrmed dctrine is read it. If yu want t ascertain the truth abut baptism, the Church, dispensatins, the Millennium, r the Secnd Cming f Christ: dn t hly yur breath while yu lk fr them... (Vance, 33) Calvin Rules Geneva In 1536, n the heels f publishing his Institutes, Calvin decided t settle dwn t a life f private study in the city f Strasburg. After embarking n his jurney t Strasburg, Calvin fund the main rad impassible due t the utbreak f war between Francis I r France and Hly Rman Emperr Charles V. As a result, Calvin was frced t make an extended detur which brught him trugh newly independent city f Geneva. (McGrath, 70) Having recently gained independence frm the neighbring territry f Savy, Geneva was in a state f cnfusin. Under the leadership f Guillaume Farel and Pierre Viret, the lcal bishp had been evicted and fledging refrm mvement was in its infancy. (McGrath, 70) Calvin intended n staying in Geneva fr ne night. Hwever, upn learning f Calvin s presence in the city, Farel a fllwer f Zwingli, begged Calvin t stay and help rganize the refrm mvement in Geneva. (Hill, 264) Inclined t cntinue n his way t Strasburg, Calvin initially declined Farel s prmptings. A reply t which Farel is said, Yu are nly fllwing yur wn wishes! If yu d nt help us in this wrk f the Lrd, the Lrd will punish yu fr seeking yur wn interest rather than His. (Shelley, 256) Calvin was terrr-stricken. The last thing he wanted was t ffend Almighty Gd! S he cnsented t stay and immediately tk up the refrming cause in Geneva. (Shelley, 256) Apart frm a three year perid in which he was temprarily expelled, Calvin stayed in Geneva fr the duratin f his life. (Hill, 264) Tw years later, after a series f religius

3 3 and plitical quarrels, the Geneva city cuncil frced Calvin t leave the city. Calvin fund refuge in Strasbur, his riginal destinatin. There Calvin, cared fr French Prtestant (Hugents) wh, like Calvin had fled because f persecutin. Finally, he fund the life f study that he always wanted. In 1539 Geneva needed smene t debate a Rman Cathlic thinker. The city cuncil swallwed its pride and asked Calvin t return. (Jnes, 109) Calvin and Fare were banished frm Geneva in April 1538 fr refusing cmpliance with what they regarded as imprper interference f the civil authrities in the Church s sphere. The tw men had labred t make Geneva a mdel Prtestant cmmunity rganized in such a fashin that the church and state wrked tgether in harmny. (Laturette, 757) While in exile in Strasburg, Calvin cntinued t enlarge and revise his Institutes. Mrever, it was during this time that Calvin married, wrked n his skills as a preacher, and attended varius cnferences with ther refrmers where he meet and befriended Melanchthn, Luther s right hand man. (Laturette, 757) Meanwhile, a shift in the plitical situatin in Geneva brught int pwer the partly friendly t Calvin. It leaders besught him t return. Pressed by Farel and frm a deep sense f duty he reluctantly cmplied. Frm his arrival in September, 1541, until his death nearly a quarter f a century later, May 27, 1564, he was the dminate figure in the city. (Laturette, 758) In 1559, Calvin pened a new Academy despite being s lacking in funds that he was frced t g frm huse t huse in persn t raise the mney. The Academy taught Prtestant thelgy as well as prviding a rigrus training in science and humanism making it a Prtestant answer t the schls f the Jesuits that were ppping up acrss Eurpe. (Hill, 264) The Acadmy was enrmusly ppular, accepting 900 students in its pening yar and increasing class sizes in subsequent uptakes... Calvin recgnized that this was an excellent way f spreading Prtestant ideals. And spread they did, as alumni frm the Academy returned hme and preached what they had learned there. (Hill, 264) Calvin as well as Luther and Zwingli never escaped the idea that the church and gvernment ught t be linked with ne anther. (Jnes, 112) Under Calvin s directin, the gvernment f Geneva was transfrmed int smething like a Prtestant thecracy. It became knwn as the Prtestant Rme. (Hill, 264) The French philspher Vltaire went s far as t call Calvin the Prtestant Ppe. (Vance, 30) Under Calvin s leadership a clse cperatin between church and state was carried thrugh. A frm f church rganizatin was set up thrugh the Ordnnances, a catechism was prepared, and a liturgy was intrduced based n that which he had develped at Strasburg. He had the discipline f cmmunity mrals and the sumptuary legislatin enfrced which in thery had lng been advcated by the Rman Cathlic Church. (Laturette, 758) Althugh persecuted by Cathlics himself, Calvin did nt hesitate t set up a churchstate at Geneva, like his predecessr Zwingli did at Zurich... Calvin was a firm believer

4 4 in a united Church and State. Frm 1541 t 1546, fifty-eight peple were executed and seventy-six were exiled frm Geneva. Calvin was cnsulted in all imprtant affairs f the State, and his advice was usually fllwed. Press censrship cntinued in Geneva until the eighteenth century. Attendance at public wrship was cmmanded and watchmen were directed t see that peple went t church. Three men wh laughed during a sermn were imprisned fr three days. Death sentences were rutinely impsed: a girl was beheaded fr striking her parents and sme were burned fr witchcraft. (Vance, 37) The City Cuncil had abslute pwer in matters religius as well as civil, and it became the instrument f Calvin s will. The citizens were required t sign a cnfessin f faith r t leave the city. Strict rules were enfrced regulating the mrals and habits f the peple. The churches that had begun t grw up in bedience t New Testament teaching almst disappeared in the general rganizatin, fr papal rule was replaced by that f the Refrmer and liberty f cnscience was still withheld. (Bradbent, 236) The clearest example f the pwer f Calvin s Geneva can be seen in the executin f Michael Servetus. Servetus was a highly educated dctr f medicine wh spke six languages. He frced t live undercver n accunt f his heretical dctrinal views: Premillennial Rejected Calvin s Dctrine f Predestinatin Anti-Cathlic (ppe was the Dragn f Revelatin) Mass was Satanic All the Refrmers essentially agreed n these pints. S what gt Servetus in truble with the authrities in Geneva? First, he rejected infant baptism as a demnic inventin f the Papacy and was nt shy t infrm Calvin f his views in t letters addressed t him. Secnd, he unfrtunately was nt rthdx in his views n the trinity. (Vance, 37-39) In 1553, at Vienne, Servetus was imprisned by the Cathlics. Faking a trip t the uthuse, Servetus escaped and flishly fled t Geneva. Thedr Beza, Calvin s prtégé reprts the Calvin himself reprted Servetus s presence t the lcal magistrate wh arrested him. (Vance, 40) In a trial lasting mre the tw mnths Calvin himself drew up a dcument f thirty-nine accusatins against Servetus. Five days int the trial Calvin wrte t Farel, I hpe the sentence f death will at last me passed upn him. Despite Refrmed claims t the cntrary Calvin played a rle in the matter thrughut, the arrest, trial, and executin f Servetus. (Vance, 40-41) On Octber 27, 1553, Servetus was burned at the stake in Geneva. Calvin was nt alne in his views f killing heretics. Bullinger and Melanchthn apprved f the executin. Melachthn wrte Calvin, The Church wes and always will we a debt f gratitude t yu fr having put the heretic t death. (Vance, 42)

5 5 Influence f Geneva Under Calvin Geneva became a haven fr ppressed Prtestants frm many lands. In it men were trained wh went back t the native cuntries t further the Refrmatin. While they did n always slavishly reprduce what they had seen there, thrugh them and his writings Calvin became the mst pwerful single factr in shaping the distinctive feature f the Refrmed Churches. (Laturette, 758) Frm Geneva Refrmed Church mvements tk hld in Sctland, Germany, Netherlands, and France with the activities f the Huguents. Jhn Knx was perhaps the mst prminent f the religius exiles t take refuge in Geneva. Knx was a restless activist wh had tried earlier t pint England in the directin f Calvinism. Like many thers, hwever he was frced t fell England vernight when, in 1553, the cuntry returned t the Cathlic faith under Henry VIII s daughter Mary I. The queen s persecutin f Prtestant leaders earned her the title Bldy Mary. (Shelley, 262) Knx escaped t the Cntinent, where he develped the thery that Prtestants had the right t resist, by frce if necessary, any Rman Cathlic ruler wh tried t prevent their wrship and missin. That was farther than Calvin was willing t g, but many f the nbles in Sctland fund the idea attractive. (Shelley, 262) When civil war brke ut in Sctland in 1559, Knx rushed hme. By the summer f 1560 the Calvinists were in cntrl f Edinburgh. (Shelley, 263) Under Jhn Knx, the Sctts became Calvinists. In 1560 their parliament fficially disestablished the Rman Church and ratified a cnfessin f faith prepared by Knx. Here the Refrmed Church did away with bishps, hlding this frm f church gvernment t be unscriptural; a system f elders (r presbyters) was instituted as mre in keeping with the New Testament. Scttish Calvinism is thus smetimes knwn as Presbyterianism. (Hill, 268) Vance reprts that Presbyterianism became the state church f England due t the influence f Jhn Knx wh studied under Calvin. (37) When Calvin died in 1564, he left mre than a refrmed Geneva. All ver Eurpe and sn in distant America, his fllwers wuld spread his teachings all ver the wrld.

6 6 Wrks Cited Bradbent, E.H. The Pilgrim Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Gspel Fli Press, Hill, Jhnathan. Handbk t the Histry f Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Zndervan, Jnes, Timthy Paul. Christian Histry Made Easy. Trrance, CA: Rse Publishing, Laturette, Kenneth Sctt..A Histry f Christianity: Refrmatin t the Present, Peabdy, MA: Prince Press, McGrath, Alister. Christian Thelgy An Intrductin. Oxfrd, UK: Blackwell Publishers, Shelley, Bruce. Church Histry in Plan Language. Dallas, TX: Wrd Publishing, Vance, Lawrence M. The Other Side f Calvinism. Pensacla, FL: Vance Publicatins, 1991.