John Calvin
John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Calvin is credited with developing the doctrine of predestination and of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation.
About John Calvin in brief
John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Calvin was originally trained as a humanist lawyer. He broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions erupted in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of the Institutes. In 1541, Calvin was invited back to lead the church of the city of Geneva. He introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, despite opposition from several powerful families in the city who tried to curb his authority. Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe. He died in Geneva on 27 May 1564, and was buried in Geneva’s Saint-Germain-en-Laye church. He is the main evidence for his conversion to the evangelical faith in 1529 or 1529. Some have placed the date of his conversion around 1533, shortly before he resigned his chaplaincy. However, T. H. Parker argues that while this date is a terminus for his religious conversion, the more likely date is late 1530 or early 1530, and that his resignation is the direct evidence for the conversion to evangelical faith. Calvin’s son, Jean Calvin, was also a theologian and a reformer, but he died in 1564 before he was able to publish his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin is credited with developing the doctrine of predestination and of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation.
He also wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises. His doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions, and have spread throughout the world. Calvinism is now considered one of the most important movements in Christianity, along with the Reformed and Reformed Churches, and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the Anglican Church in England. He had a son, Charles, who became a priest in the 16th century. His daughter, Anne, became the first woman to be a member of the French House of Representatives. She died of an unknown cause in Calvin’s childhood, after having borne four more children, and died in 1605. Calvin also had a daughter, Jeanne le Franc, who was the daughter of an innkeeper from Cambrai, and who died in 1705. His father, Gérard Cauvin, had a prosperous career as the cathedral notary and registrar to the ecclesiastical court. He intended his three sons—Charles, Jean, and Antoine—for the priesthood. He withdrew his son from the Collège de Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law. After his 18-month stay in Bourges, Calvin learned Greek, a European intellectual movement which stressed classical studies.
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