Unit 19B - John Calvin / Other Notable Reformers
John Calvin by Hans Holbein the Younger
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commonshttps://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJohn_
Calvin_by_Holbein.png
19B.1 John Calvin (1509-1564)
John Calvin is considered as one of two major theologians , along with Martin Luther, who led and championed the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Calvin’s followers coalesced into a number of Protestant groups, among them, the French Huguenots, the English Pilgrims and Puritans, the Scottish and English Presbyterians, and the the Reformed Church of the Netherlands. His followers formed the majority of the nobility in 17th century Bohemia, were dominant in several areas of western Germany along the Rhine Valley and westward into France, included thousands in the mountain areas of northern Italy (the Lollards), and looked to Geneva, Switzerland as their central hub.
John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) was born at Noyon, France in 1609. His father was secretary and financial manager to the bishop of Noyon, and intended for John and his three brothers to become Catholic priests. Thus, Calvin graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology. 1528 seems to have been be a year of some change in the Calvin family, because at the advice of an older cousin, with the agreement of Calvin's father, Calvin shifted his attention from theology to law.
A young law professor in Paris, John Calvin, had been exposed to the writings of Luther for a number of years, and he, his father, and his brother quietly became converts to Lutheranism. Calvin placed his date of conversion at 1532, one year after graduating from law school, but the influence within his family towards Luther's theology preceded that date.
graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology.
Luther was the up-front, bold champion. Calvin was the more reserved, scholarly theologian of the Reformation.
Calvin was born in Noyon, France in 1509, the son of a local notary and financial manager for a local Catholic prelate. His father, even though employed had been persuaded by the writings of Luther. He urged John to study law, but he first graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology. He earned his law degree in 1531 from the University of Orleans. During his training he studied under a noted humanist, Mathurin Cordier, and under a Lutheran professor, Melchoir Wolmar. Hence, Calvin was well acquainted with both humanism and Lutheranism.
John Calvin is considered as one of two major theologians , along with Martin Luther, who led and championed the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Calvin’s followers coalesced into a number of Protestant groups, among them, the French Huguenots, the English Pilgrims and Puritans, the Scottish and English Presbyterians, and the the Reformed Church of the Netherlands. His followers formed the majority of the nobility in 17th century Bohemia, were dominant in several areas of western Germany along the Rhine Valley and westward into France, included thousands in the mountain areas of northern Italy (the Lollards), and looked to Geneva, Switzerland as their central hub.
John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) was born at Noyon, France in 1609. His father was secretary and financial manager to the bishop of Noyon, and intended for John and his three brothers to become Catholic priests. Thus, Calvin graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology. 1528 seems to have been be a year of some change in the Calvin family, because at the advice of an older cousin, with the agreement of Calvin's father, Calvin shifted his attention from theology to law.
A young law professor in Paris, John Calvin, had been exposed to the writings of Luther for a number of years, and he, his father, and his brother quietly became converts to Lutheranism. Calvin placed his date of conversion at 1532, one year after graduating from law school, but the influence within his family towards Luther's theology preceded that date.
graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology.
Luther was the up-front, bold champion. Calvin was the more reserved, scholarly theologian of the Reformation.
Calvin was born in Noyon, France in 1509, the son of a local notary and financial manager for a local Catholic prelate. His father, even though employed had been persuaded by the writings of Luther. He urged John to study law, but he first graduated from the University of Paris in 1528 with a masters degree in theology. He earned his law degree in 1531 from the University of Orleans. During his training he studied under a noted humanist, Mathurin Cordier, and under a Lutheran professor, Melchoir Wolmar. Hence, Calvin was well acquainted with both humanism and Lutheranism.
19B.2 Institutes of the Christian Religion
At the University of Paris Calvin became acquainted with students and professors who were sympathizers with the Reformation. He assisted the rector of the university in 1534 to write one particularly important address to the faculty in which he made clear a number of reformation ideas. The faculty reacted in an uproar. Both the rector and Calvin fled Paris that night.
Calvin fled towards Italy, and after months of alluding capture he stopped briefly at his home at Noyon to pick up his younger brother and sister. He traveled then to Basel, Switzerland to drop off a manuscript for printing. It was entitled, Institutes of the Christian Religion. The style and organization of content reflect that it was written and organized by a legal mind. The work was edited a number of times by Calvin and while it made little impact in 1534, it eventually became world renowned as the major theological statement of Calvinism. Calvin insisted that his desire was to place in writing the doctrines taught by Luther, who frequently was so busy in Reformation work that he took little time to write down his doctrines.
At the University of Paris Calvin became acquainted with students and professors who were sympathizers with the Reformation. He assisted the rector of the university in 1534 to write one particularly important address to the faculty in which he made clear a number of reformation ideas. The faculty reacted in an uproar. Both the rector and Calvin fled Paris that night.
Calvin fled towards Italy, and after months of alluding capture he stopped briefly at his home at Noyon to pick up his younger brother and sister. He traveled then to Basel, Switzerland to drop off a manuscript for printing. It was entitled, Institutes of the Christian Religion. The style and organization of content reflect that it was written and organized by a legal mind. The work was edited a number of times by Calvin and while it made little impact in 1534, it eventually became world renowned as the major theological statement of Calvinism. Calvin insisted that his desire was to place in writing the doctrines taught by Luther, who frequently was so busy in Reformation work that he took little time to write down his doctrines.
John Calvin, Budapest, Hungary, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Statue_of_John_Calvin_in_
Budapest,_Hungary.jpg)
19B.3 Geneva, Switzerland, 1536
On his way back and forth between Italy and France in 1536 Calvin stopped at Geneva, Switzerland. The city was in the throes of political and religious conflict. The city council called a meeting in May 1536 while Calvin was in the city to approve a new reformation of faith that had been brought to Geneva by William Farel. Farel persuaded Calvin to stay in Geneva and assist him with the work in the city. By November 1536 Calvin was appointed as one of the ministers of the new Reformation church in Geneva.
A dispute in 1537 over the relationship between the civil government and church leaders forced Calvin and Farel to leave Geneva. Calvin went to Strassbourg, France, home of many refugees from the many European conflicts. Calvin became pastor of the French church there where he had a successful ministry. While there he extensively re-worked the Institute of the Christian Religion and translating it from its original Latin into French. When it was published in 1541 it was a landmark in the history of the French language, much as Luther’s Bible was in the German language.
In 1541 Calvin was invited to return to Geneva by the city council. He only agreed to return if he could have a strong voice in shaping the government of the city and within several months a series of ordinances were approved that detailed the separation of powers of the civil authorities and church leaders, something that many had attempted in other areas of Europe. The whole controversy of lay investiture (see Unit 13), for example, developed because a lack of similar principles. The city council governed the city but the church consistory (made up of ministers and elders) ruled on all matters of faith and could refer citizens to the city council for disciplining.
Some historians see what developed in Geneva as a type of theocracy, because the consistory became involved in most of the city’s civil life. Dancing, gambling, and foul language were outlawed. Some in the city resented the strict moral code that developed. At times violence was threatened, but the city council did not back down. There tended to be a blurring, however, of the line between civil government and church government.
It was typical for cities in the 16th century to carefully determine the moral and behavioral codes for their citizens, in both Protestant and Catholic communities. Some cities regulated what people could wear, how they could celebrate feasts, what physical conditions they had to maintain their houses in, and even how elaborate a wedding ceremony could be. Concerning Geneva, when a Protestant refugee, John Knox of Scotland, arrived in the city, he commented that it was the best organized and operated city he had ever seen in his travels.
On his way back and forth between Italy and France in 1536 Calvin stopped at Geneva, Switzerland. The city was in the throes of political and religious conflict. The city council called a meeting in May 1536 while Calvin was in the city to approve a new reformation of faith that had been brought to Geneva by William Farel. Farel persuaded Calvin to stay in Geneva and assist him with the work in the city. By November 1536 Calvin was appointed as one of the ministers of the new Reformation church in Geneva.
A dispute in 1537 over the relationship between the civil government and church leaders forced Calvin and Farel to leave Geneva. Calvin went to Strassbourg, France, home of many refugees from the many European conflicts. Calvin became pastor of the French church there where he had a successful ministry. While there he extensively re-worked the Institute of the Christian Religion and translating it from its original Latin into French. When it was published in 1541 it was a landmark in the history of the French language, much as Luther’s Bible was in the German language.
In 1541 Calvin was invited to return to Geneva by the city council. He only agreed to return if he could have a strong voice in shaping the government of the city and within several months a series of ordinances were approved that detailed the separation of powers of the civil authorities and church leaders, something that many had attempted in other areas of Europe. The whole controversy of lay investiture (see Unit 13), for example, developed because a lack of similar principles. The city council governed the city but the church consistory (made up of ministers and elders) ruled on all matters of faith and could refer citizens to the city council for disciplining.
Some historians see what developed in Geneva as a type of theocracy, because the consistory became involved in most of the city’s civil life. Dancing, gambling, and foul language were outlawed. Some in the city resented the strict moral code that developed. At times violence was threatened, but the city council did not back down. There tended to be a blurring, however, of the line between civil government and church government.
It was typical for cities in the 16th century to carefully determine the moral and behavioral codes for their citizens, in both Protestant and Catholic communities. Some cities regulated what people could wear, how they could celebrate feasts, what physical conditions they had to maintain their houses in, and even how elaborate a wedding ceremony could be. Concerning Geneva, when a Protestant refugee, John Knox of Scotland, arrived in the city, he commented that it was the best organized and operated city he had ever seen in his travels.
St. Peter’s Church in Geneva,
home of the Reformation in Geneva;
at http://switzerland-geneva.com
19B.4 Organization of the Presbyterian church
It was in the organization of the church, however, that Calvin’s imprint was most clearly made. There were four types of clergy: pastors, elders, deacons, and teachers. Pastors were to preach the scriptures. Elders were to lead, govern, and correct. Deacons were to administer charity to the weak, homeless, elderly, widows, and orphans. Teachers were to teach and to interpret the scriptures to the children and youth. Teachers were honored on a par with pastors, and deacons with elders.
Through Calvin’s understanding of the biblical organization of the local church, and then developed by John Knox and the Scottish Presbyterians, the Presbyterian form of church government was established. “Presbyterian” means more about how a church is organized than what it believes, although virtually all Presbyterian churches embraced Calvin’s teachings.
The Presbyterian form of government is a representative form of government. Elders and deacons are elected to represent the church members. The church members do not vote on every issue. Their representatives do that work for them. If they do not adequately represent the members, they are not re elected.
The government of the United States of America is patterned after the Presbyterian form of government, which is not unusual in view of the heavy influence that Calvinism had in early America. The Pilgrims and Puritans and the heavy influx of Scottish Presbyterian pioneers that settled the Carolinas, Georgia, and Middle Colonies had a great impact on shaping the new nation.
The congregational form of church government is practiced by Baptists and Congregationalists. The congregation places an important part in most decisions in the local church. While this system might work well in small churches, it does not work well in larger churches, and certainly would not work well or efficiently in a nation the size of the United States. Everyone would have to vote on everything of importance.
A third form of church government is the episcopal system of bishops practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, and Methodist Church. The pope is the lead bishop in the Catholic Church. Other bishops oversee particular areas and sections. They appoint ministers and priests. They have final approval of major financial matters and usually own all property containing the local churches. Because the reformation in England was not theological but personal for the sake of Henry VIII obtaining a divorce, the episcopal system was simply modified in England to make the king the pope, or head of the church. The Anglican Church is episcopal in government. When it became unpopular for people to attend Anglican Churches during and after the Revolutionary War, the name was changed to the Episcopal Church, reflecting its form of government. Because Methodist Churches sprang out of the Anglican Church, they, too, practice the episcopal form of church government.
19B.5 The Academy
Education has always been a strength of Calvinist churches. Calvin founded the Academy in 1559 which became a model for Christian schooling throughout Europe. From its beginning, students came from all across Europe, were trained in Calvinist doctrine and practice, then returned to their homelands not only to minister but also to preach and evangelize. In this way, from about 1560 Geneva became an evangelical center, and Calvinism began to make its influence felt throughout Europe, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The Academy was strongly grounded in humanist methods, for both Calvin and its faculty had received solid humanist education. Tuition was free, but all students had to swear to the Confession of Faith; only Calvinists were permitted to attend the Academy. Subjects taught were logic, rhetoric, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Within only a few years it became one of the most influential centers of Reformed learning in Europe, and remained so for generations.
When graduates of the Academy returned to their homes, they not only took with them Calvinist doctrine and practice, they took also their educational experiences of the Academy and, in turn, formed schools of their own. Particularly those schools founded in England and Holland formed a model for the academies that developed in the American colonies. Christian academies were the dominant form of education in early America. Public schools did not gain popularity until after the Civil War.
19B.6 Calvin’s theology
Major concepts stressed by Calvin in the Institutes of the Christian Religion included: (1) the sovereignty of God; (2) the total sinfulness of all people; (3) salvation that comes from God to man by grace through faith alone and not by works; (4) predestination and election; (5) the preservation life-long by God’s strength of all believers; and, (6) the sole authority of the Bible, rather than tradition, for what is to be believed and how life is to be lived out.
A second early document revealing Calvin's theology was the Geneva Confession of 1536 produced by Calvin and William Farel and presented to the magistrates of Geneva for their study. It contains twenty-one articles.The same themes emphasized by Luther appear also in Calvin's Confession.
Article 1: The Word of God
"First we affirm that we desire to follow Scripture alone as rule of faith and religion, without mixing with it any other thing which might be devised by the opinion of men apart from the Word of God, and without wishing to accept for our spiritual government any other doctrine than what is conveyed to us by the same Word without addition or diminution, according to the command of our Lord."
Article 4: Natural Man
"We acknowledge man by nature to be blind, darkened in understanding, and full of corruption and perversity of heart, so that of himself he has no power to be able to comprehend the true knowledge of God as is proper, nor to apply himself to good works. . . ."
Article 7: Righteousness in Jesus
"Therefore we acknowledge the things which are consequently given to us by God in Jesus Christ: first, that being in our own nature enemies of God and subjects of his wrath and judgment, we are reconciled with him and received again in grace through the intercession of Jesus Christ, so that by his righteousness and guiltlessness we have remission of our sins, and by the shedding of his blood we are cleanse and purified from all our stains."
Article 10: All Our Good in the Grace of God
"In order that all glory and praise be rendered to God (as is his due), and that we be able to have true peace and rest of conscience, we understand and confess that we receive all benefits from God, as said above, by his clemency and pity, without any consideration of our worthiness or the merit of our works, to which is due no other retribution than eternal confusion. . . ."
Article 12: Invocation of God Only and Intercession of Christ
". . . . we reject the intercession of the saints as a superstition invented by men contrary to Scripture, for the reason that it proceeds from mistrust of the sufficiency of the intercession of Jesus Christ."
Article 14: Sacraments
"We believe that the sacraments which our Lord has ordained in his Church . . only two which are instituted by the authority of our Saviour: Baptism and the Supper of our Lord; for what is held within the realm of the pope concerning seven sacraments, we condemn as fable and lie."
Article 17: Human Traditions
". . . . all laws and regulations made binding on conscience which oblige the faithful to things not commanded by God . . . we condemn as perverse doctrines of Satan, in view of our Lord's declaration that he is honored in vain by doctrines that are the commandment of men. It is in this estimation that we hold pilgrimages, monasteries, distinctions of foods, prohibition of marriage, confessions and other like things."
Article 18: The Church
". . . . we believe that the proper mark by which we rightly discern the Church of Jesus Christ is that his holy gospel be purely and faithfully preached, proclaimed, heard, and kept, that his sacrament be properly administered, even if there be some imperfections and faults, as there always will be among men. On the other hand, where the Gospel is not declared, heard, and received, there we do not acknowledge the form of the Church. Hence the churches governed by the ordinances of the pope are rather synagogues of the devil than Christian churches."
(The Library of Christian Classics; Volume XXII; Calvin Theological Treatises; J. K. S. Reid, translator and author of explanatory notes; The Westminster Press: 1954. pp. 26-33)
19B.7 Calvin's Marriage
During his time in Strasburg, Calvin married Idelette de Bure in 1540. Adulate was born c. 1509 in Gelderland, Netherlands, in a well-regarded Dutch family. She married Jean Storder in 1525, an Anabaptist. The two eventually moved to Strasburg where they met John Calvin and were persuaded to adopt his teachings. Jean died of the plague, leaving Idalette with two young children.
Idelette bore three children to Calvin but all three died in infancy.
Idelette served as a nurse to Calvin’s many illnesses. He was constantly afflicted with asthma, allergies, and chronic migraine headaches.
When Catholic opponents taunted Calvin about the death of his children, suggesting they were stricken by God because Calvin was a heretic, he replied, “I am satisfied with the spiritual sons that God has given me.”
Idalette died in 1549 in Geneva, at the young age of 40, probably as a result of tuberculosis and weakened by her third pregnancy. A broken-hearted Calvin poured himself into writing and teaching after her death.
19B.8 Calvin’s written works
Calvin set out on a major project after leaving Paris in 1533. He greatly admired Luther and determined to put into a written, logical format the essential teachings of Luther and the Reformation. The finished work was the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was published in a number of editions: in Latin in 1536, in French in 1541, with the most complete editions published in 1559 (Latin) and 1560 (French). The Institutes were spread throughout Europe. Calvin died in 1564.
Calvin also wrote commentaries for most of the New Testament books except for Revelation. Neither he nor Luther quite knew what to do with John’s Revelation. Luther tended to dismiss it as not having a valid place in the New Testament canon. Calvin commented that only the confused attempt to interpret Revelation, and those others became so during the process!
Calvin also produced commentaries on most of the major and minor prophets, Genesis, Joshua, and Psalms. Many of his sermons delivered in Geneva have been published in recent years.
It was in the organization of the church, however, that Calvin’s imprint was most clearly made. There were four types of clergy: pastors, elders, deacons, and teachers. Pastors were to preach the scriptures. Elders were to lead, govern, and correct. Deacons were to administer charity to the weak, homeless, elderly, widows, and orphans. Teachers were to teach and to interpret the scriptures to the children and youth. Teachers were honored on a par with pastors, and deacons with elders.
Through Calvin’s understanding of the biblical organization of the local church, and then developed by John Knox and the Scottish Presbyterians, the Presbyterian form of church government was established. “Presbyterian” means more about how a church is organized than what it believes, although virtually all Presbyterian churches embraced Calvin’s teachings.
The Presbyterian form of government is a representative form of government. Elders and deacons are elected to represent the church members. The church members do not vote on every issue. Their representatives do that work for them. If they do not adequately represent the members, they are not re elected.
The government of the United States of America is patterned after the Presbyterian form of government, which is not unusual in view of the heavy influence that Calvinism had in early America. The Pilgrims and Puritans and the heavy influx of Scottish Presbyterian pioneers that settled the Carolinas, Georgia, and Middle Colonies had a great impact on shaping the new nation.
The congregational form of church government is practiced by Baptists and Congregationalists. The congregation places an important part in most decisions in the local church. While this system might work well in small churches, it does not work well in larger churches, and certainly would not work well or efficiently in a nation the size of the United States. Everyone would have to vote on everything of importance.
A third form of church government is the episcopal system of bishops practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, and Methodist Church. The pope is the lead bishop in the Catholic Church. Other bishops oversee particular areas and sections. They appoint ministers and priests. They have final approval of major financial matters and usually own all property containing the local churches. Because the reformation in England was not theological but personal for the sake of Henry VIII obtaining a divorce, the episcopal system was simply modified in England to make the king the pope, or head of the church. The Anglican Church is episcopal in government. When it became unpopular for people to attend Anglican Churches during and after the Revolutionary War, the name was changed to the Episcopal Church, reflecting its form of government. Because Methodist Churches sprang out of the Anglican Church, they, too, practice the episcopal form of church government.
19B.5 The Academy
Education has always been a strength of Calvinist churches. Calvin founded the Academy in 1559 which became a model for Christian schooling throughout Europe. From its beginning, students came from all across Europe, were trained in Calvinist doctrine and practice, then returned to their homelands not only to minister but also to preach and evangelize. In this way, from about 1560 Geneva became an evangelical center, and Calvinism began to make its influence felt throughout Europe, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The Academy was strongly grounded in humanist methods, for both Calvin and its faculty had received solid humanist education. Tuition was free, but all students had to swear to the Confession of Faith; only Calvinists were permitted to attend the Academy. Subjects taught were logic, rhetoric, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Within only a few years it became one of the most influential centers of Reformed learning in Europe, and remained so for generations.
When graduates of the Academy returned to their homes, they not only took with them Calvinist doctrine and practice, they took also their educational experiences of the Academy and, in turn, formed schools of their own. Particularly those schools founded in England and Holland formed a model for the academies that developed in the American colonies. Christian academies were the dominant form of education in early America. Public schools did not gain popularity until after the Civil War.
19B.6 Calvin’s theology
Major concepts stressed by Calvin in the Institutes of the Christian Religion included: (1) the sovereignty of God; (2) the total sinfulness of all people; (3) salvation that comes from God to man by grace through faith alone and not by works; (4) predestination and election; (5) the preservation life-long by God’s strength of all believers; and, (6) the sole authority of the Bible, rather than tradition, for what is to be believed and how life is to be lived out.
A second early document revealing Calvin's theology was the Geneva Confession of 1536 produced by Calvin and William Farel and presented to the magistrates of Geneva for their study. It contains twenty-one articles.The same themes emphasized by Luther appear also in Calvin's Confession.
Article 1: The Word of God
"First we affirm that we desire to follow Scripture alone as rule of faith and religion, without mixing with it any other thing which might be devised by the opinion of men apart from the Word of God, and without wishing to accept for our spiritual government any other doctrine than what is conveyed to us by the same Word without addition or diminution, according to the command of our Lord."
Article 4: Natural Man
"We acknowledge man by nature to be blind, darkened in understanding, and full of corruption and perversity of heart, so that of himself he has no power to be able to comprehend the true knowledge of God as is proper, nor to apply himself to good works. . . ."
Article 7: Righteousness in Jesus
"Therefore we acknowledge the things which are consequently given to us by God in Jesus Christ: first, that being in our own nature enemies of God and subjects of his wrath and judgment, we are reconciled with him and received again in grace through the intercession of Jesus Christ, so that by his righteousness and guiltlessness we have remission of our sins, and by the shedding of his blood we are cleanse and purified from all our stains."
Article 10: All Our Good in the Grace of God
"In order that all glory and praise be rendered to God (as is his due), and that we be able to have true peace and rest of conscience, we understand and confess that we receive all benefits from God, as said above, by his clemency and pity, without any consideration of our worthiness or the merit of our works, to which is due no other retribution than eternal confusion. . . ."
Article 12: Invocation of God Only and Intercession of Christ
". . . . we reject the intercession of the saints as a superstition invented by men contrary to Scripture, for the reason that it proceeds from mistrust of the sufficiency of the intercession of Jesus Christ."
Article 14: Sacraments
"We believe that the sacraments which our Lord has ordained in his Church . . only two which are instituted by the authority of our Saviour: Baptism and the Supper of our Lord; for what is held within the realm of the pope concerning seven sacraments, we condemn as fable and lie."
Article 17: Human Traditions
". . . . all laws and regulations made binding on conscience which oblige the faithful to things not commanded by God . . . we condemn as perverse doctrines of Satan, in view of our Lord's declaration that he is honored in vain by doctrines that are the commandment of men. It is in this estimation that we hold pilgrimages, monasteries, distinctions of foods, prohibition of marriage, confessions and other like things."
Article 18: The Church
". . . . we believe that the proper mark by which we rightly discern the Church of Jesus Christ is that his holy gospel be purely and faithfully preached, proclaimed, heard, and kept, that his sacrament be properly administered, even if there be some imperfections and faults, as there always will be among men. On the other hand, where the Gospel is not declared, heard, and received, there we do not acknowledge the form of the Church. Hence the churches governed by the ordinances of the pope are rather synagogues of the devil than Christian churches."
(The Library of Christian Classics; Volume XXII; Calvin Theological Treatises; J. K. S. Reid, translator and author of explanatory notes; The Westminster Press: 1954. pp. 26-33)
19B.7 Calvin's Marriage
During his time in Strasburg, Calvin married Idelette de Bure in 1540. Adulate was born c. 1509 in Gelderland, Netherlands, in a well-regarded Dutch family. She married Jean Storder in 1525, an Anabaptist. The two eventually moved to Strasburg where they met John Calvin and were persuaded to adopt his teachings. Jean died of the plague, leaving Idalette with two young children.
Idelette bore three children to Calvin but all three died in infancy.
Idelette served as a nurse to Calvin’s many illnesses. He was constantly afflicted with asthma, allergies, and chronic migraine headaches.
When Catholic opponents taunted Calvin about the death of his children, suggesting they were stricken by God because Calvin was a heretic, he replied, “I am satisfied with the spiritual sons that God has given me.”
Idalette died in 1549 in Geneva, at the young age of 40, probably as a result of tuberculosis and weakened by her third pregnancy. A broken-hearted Calvin poured himself into writing and teaching after her death.
19B.8 Calvin’s written works
Calvin set out on a major project after leaving Paris in 1533. He greatly admired Luther and determined to put into a written, logical format the essential teachings of Luther and the Reformation. The finished work was the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was published in a number of editions: in Latin in 1536, in French in 1541, with the most complete editions published in 1559 (Latin) and 1560 (French). The Institutes were spread throughout Europe. Calvin died in 1564.
Calvin also wrote commentaries for most of the New Testament books except for Revelation. Neither he nor Luther quite knew what to do with John’s Revelation. Luther tended to dismiss it as not having a valid place in the New Testament canon. Calvin commented that only the confused attempt to interpret Revelation, and those others became so during the process!
Calvin also produced commentaries on most of the major and minor prophets, Genesis, Joshua, and Psalms. Many of his sermons delivered in Geneva have been published in recent years.
Reformation Wall Geneva -- Farel, Calvin, Beza, Knox (Attributed: Paul Landowski [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons)
19B.9 Other Notable Protestant Reformers
Although the list can be posted with several hundred names of important early reformers, the following four are among those most frequently highlighted for mention.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) -- Although he lived almost 200 hundred years before Luther and Calvin, his teachings were almost identical with the later reformers. In 1382 he completed the translation of the first complete Bible in the English language.
John Hus (1369-1415) -- Hus was a priest and one of the earliest reformers, protesting against the mass, the supremacy of the pope, and the primacy of the Roman Church. He was burned at the stake as a heretic. His writings greatly impacted the Czech nation and by the time of Luther 90% of the Czech people (Bohemia) had left the Catholic Church.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) -- Zwingli was a contemporary of Luther and Calvin. His teachings almost completely obliterated the Roman Church from Switzerland. His simple principle was: if it is in the Bible it is truth; if it is not found in the Bible it is not truth. This was deadly on such Roman dogmas as the perpetual virginity of Mary, the existence of purgatory, indulgences, the primacy of the pope, and the required celibacy of the clergy.
John Knox (1514-1572) -- Scottish reformer who studied with Calvin in Geneva and was pastor of the English speaking church in Geneva. He returned to Scotland and helped to establish the Presbyterian Church as the national church of Scotland.
19B.10 Positive Results of the Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation shook Europe to its foundations. It was an extension of the Renaissance in its attacks on tradition and on a system of authority that demanded unthinking obedience. The true goals of the Renaissance were achieved by the Protestant Reformation.
Unfortunately, what followed was a generation of warfare, population decline, economic collapse, disease, and a resulting religious hatred that still exists to some degree in the 21st century. The division between the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches resulted in the European religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Although the list can be posted with several hundred names of important early reformers, the following four are among those most frequently highlighted for mention.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) -- Although he lived almost 200 hundred years before Luther and Calvin, his teachings were almost identical with the later reformers. In 1382 he completed the translation of the first complete Bible in the English language.
John Hus (1369-1415) -- Hus was a priest and one of the earliest reformers, protesting against the mass, the supremacy of the pope, and the primacy of the Roman Church. He was burned at the stake as a heretic. His writings greatly impacted the Czech nation and by the time of Luther 90% of the Czech people (Bohemia) had left the Catholic Church.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) -- Zwingli was a contemporary of Luther and Calvin. His teachings almost completely obliterated the Roman Church from Switzerland. His simple principle was: if it is in the Bible it is truth; if it is not found in the Bible it is not truth. This was deadly on such Roman dogmas as the perpetual virginity of Mary, the existence of purgatory, indulgences, the primacy of the pope, and the required celibacy of the clergy.
John Knox (1514-1572) -- Scottish reformer who studied with Calvin in Geneva and was pastor of the English speaking church in Geneva. He returned to Scotland and helped to establish the Presbyterian Church as the national church of Scotland.
19B.10 Positive Results of the Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation shook Europe to its foundations. It was an extension of the Renaissance in its attacks on tradition and on a system of authority that demanded unthinking obedience. The true goals of the Renaissance were achieved by the Protestant Reformation.
- Thousands of persons experienced for the first time a personal faith that brought them into personal contact with a God of love, mercy, and grace.
- Salvation was severed from any concept linking it to good works, penance, or family lineage.
- The Bible was elevated to the highest position of authority for faith and practice.
- The Bible was translated into the language of the people so that even the child and cattle herder could read it for themselves.
- Justification by faith was reclaimed as a biblical truth and viewed as the result solely of God’s grace and not earned merit or deserved payment.
- Christians were freed from the domination of Rome and the papacy. Christ was viewed again as the only true Head of the Church.
- A new self-respect gained from a fresh view of God’s grace and man’s importance to a God of grace produced a new prosperity in trade, production, and social improvements. A comparison of the economies of the nations where Protestantism prevailed in comparison with those unaffected by Protestantism shows a glaring economic and industrial advantage in the Protestant nations of England, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany, in contrast with Spain, Italy, and France.
- Education exploded, first through the advent of the printing press, second through the greatly expanded literacy rates, and third through the rise of schools and universities in Protestant nations.
- The Roman Church was no longer the only available form of the Christian faith, and to survive, it was forced to self-reform. Hence, the Reformation brought needed reformation to the Roman Church.
Unfortunately, what followed was a generation of warfare, population decline, economic collapse, disease, and a resulting religious hatred that still exists to some degree in the 21st century. The division between the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches resulted in the European religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.