John Laurie

Period 7

May 5, 2010

JOHN CALVIN

Jean Cauvin, or John Calvin, was born in the French city of Noyon on July 10, 1509 to

Gerard Cauvin and Jeanna le Franc. His father intended that he and his two brothers go into the

Catholic priesthood, and Calvin acquiesced gladly. He was a very ambitious and hard working

youth, and was employed by the bishop as a clerk at the age of twelve. He was very witty and

charming, and made friends quickly. Some of these friends were very influential, and with their

help he was admitted to a prestigious Parisian college simply called “The University”. He

excelled in his studies, and later transferred to the College de la Marche. Here he studied Latin

and Greek under many famous personages, including the renowned Mathurin Corderius who

later taught at the University that Calvin established in Geneva. Discovering that the college was

too liberal for one who intended to enter the priesthood, Calvin transferred to the more

conservative College de Montaigu. Here he studied philosophy under Noel Beda. At this

particular venue, he earned the nickname “the accusative case”. He lived in such piety and

cleanliness, that he was horrified by the least of sins and confronted those who committed them.

Thus he did not make many friends at the college. Outside of school life however, Calvin’s

social life was very prominent. He was essentially an aristocrat from the day he was born, despite

his humble parentage. He always felt at home in the higher circles of society. All he had to offer

were his opinions, brilliant conversation, and charm, but these were sufficient to eventually

surround him with a great number of influential friends who he spent a great deal of his time

with.
 At this point in his life, his destiny took an abrupt and unexpected turn. His father fell out

of favor with the bishop, and was excommunicated. Thus, Calvin’s chances of attaining the

priesthood were slim to none. Bearing this in mind, he decided to become a student of law. He

made rapid progress, and impressed all of his teachers. He mastered Greek and Latin, and

devoured book after book with a fervor that his professors had seldom seen. It was during this

time that he began reading books written by Reformers. Let it be known that he was still a

staunch Catholic, but his curiosity drove him to read every single book that he could lay his

hands on. It was also during this time that he began to read the New Testament, in the privacy of

his home of course. Soon after this, his life took another unexpected turn. His father, Gerard,

died.

With his father gone, Calvin no longer felt any pressure to become a lawyer, and his

interest in theology rekindled into a considerable flame. He began to develop opinions that were

looked down upon by the Catholic church, but very seldom voiced them except in the privacy of

his own home. He knew all too well the dangers of going outside the boundaries laid down by

his schoolmen. Nevertheless, he did voice them at times, and not necessarily as offhand pieces of

mildly interesting trivia. He taught them to others. One friend said of him, “This man [Calvin]

teaches us something new”. (Reyburn, 14). He attached himself to the College of Fortet, and

began to give lectures on theology. He would always end these with the words, “If God is for us,

who can be against us?” We can gather from this that he sensed an impending struggle. Calvin

was secretly moving to the side of the Reformers. However, he had not as yet proclaimed an

open attack on the Romish church.

It was at this point in his life that Calvin’s conversion to true Christianity and Godliness

took place. The exact date cannot be discovered, but we know that it was between the years of
1532 and 1533. He said in a letter to a friend that his conversion had consisted of a sudden

realization of an emptiness inside him that the strictures and dogma of Catholicism always

seemed to leave behind. He realized that the church was corrupt; and that the clergy were as bad

or worse than the basest sinners in the congregation. Horrified by this realization, he turned to

the doctrine of the Reformers and found peace and respite from his constant guilt, misery, and

suffering. He said to another friend in a letter that he had experienced “true Godliness” and

wished to continue in that path. Shortly after, he wrote the first edition of “The Institutes of the

Christian Religion”. Calvin had openly declared his alliance with the Reformers.

It was at this time that the Catholic Church decided that they had had quite enough of the

pests that called themselves Reformers and issued a decree that all such heretics must reconcile

themselves to the Catholic Church… or else. Calvin, being a wise man, took the hint. He fled to

Strasbourg, a popular refuge for persecuted Reformers. In order to reach Strasbourg, he had to

take a detour. This was because the Emperor and King Charles were at war, again, and thus he

needed to travel south to avoid the battleground. He arrived in a small town called Geneva and

resolved to spend the night. Little did he know that he would spend his entire life there.

The Reformation had only recently reached Geneva, and the leading Reformer in the

town was a fiery and passionate young man named William Farel. Farel was struggling to keep

the flame that had been lit in Geneva alive, and was in desperate need of help. When he heard

that Calvin was in Geneva, he sped to his house and told him forthright that if he did not stay and

aid him in his efforts, he would be cursed by God. Calvin said to him at a later date that his

words struck him with terror (Reyburn, 58) and for that reason he agreed to stay. However,

despite his efforts in preaching, teaching, lecturing, and writing it was a seemingly impossible

task to make the people leave their lives of wickedness. And that was just the problem. Geneva
was a moral train-wreck when Calvin began his ministry there. It is a witness to his incredible

abilities that he succeeded in taking this Sodom and turning it into an Antioch!

Calvin’s ministry in Geneva was truly remarkable. He was renowned as possibly the most

accomplished scholar of his time, and thus was accosted for advice on all levels. We find from

his letters that he was at different times a preacher, a physician, a fashion advisor, a matchmaker,

a counselor, and practically everything else you could think of. Whether it was Farel asking

which pair of boots to wear with his new green trousers, or Knox consulting him on the doctrine

of predestination, Calvin gave helpful, clever, and clear answers. His ministry also involved a

mass purging and cleansing of the town that he essentially ruled. Any rule breaking, however

slight, was dealt with immediately and enthusiastically. Men were punished for criticizing a

sermon, not coming to church, failing to wear a shirt outside, failing to maintain sufficient

hygiene, or for laughing during a sermon. At first, as can be imagined, the citizens resisted this

highly regimented way of life, but soon realized that such holiness and purity was conducive to

righteousness and thus bore the burdens gladly.

Calvin was well known for his brilliant yet simple and easy to understand sermons. He

could convey concepts that would normally baffle the cleverest scholars to a common merchant

in such a way that he could understand perfectly and impart the knowledge to others. He did not,

however, only teach theology. Near the end of his life he built a University in Geneva which he

staffed with brilliant and world renowned men. The young men of Geneva were all instructed in

Mathematics, Physics, Theology, Philosophy, Greek, and Latin. Thus, Geneva became a town

where the common man was a scholar. Thus, Calvin was able to send reinforcements to all areas

of the battlefield where the Reformation was caving under the sheer force of Catholicism. The

fortunate young man that profited from his instruction was as capable of defeating a Romish
layman or member of the clergy in debate as, “A well trained soldier with a fine tempered blade

defeats a lout with a crude wooden cudgel” (Reyburn, 334). Those are Calvin’s own words,

which shows that he was very happy with the progress that his pupils made. We can thus see that

Calvin’s ministry was eclectic and effective, whether he was creating a model city or finding a

suitable young lady for a friend’s son!

Next, we will examine Calvin’s Theology. As has already been explained, it is simple yet

brilliant; straightforward yet intricate. It can be well represented by the well known acrostic,

TULIP. “T” Stands for total depravity. All parts of man are corrupted by sin from the day he is

born. Man’s heart is corrupt, as well as his mind and his body. This is supported by scriptures

such as Mark 7:21-23 which tells us that Man’s heart is evil. Or one can turn to Romans 6:20

where Paul tells us that Man is a slave to sin. “U” stands for Unconditional Election. This is the

most commonly attacked facet of the gem that is Calvinism. It says that some are predestined to

be saved and some are not. This is simply because of God’s will, not because of any unusual

merit or holiness that God has foreseen in them. Make no mistake, the elect are to be holy and

pure. However, this is not the reason why they are God’s elect, this is because they are the elect.

God sends his Spirit to those who he has in his good pleasure foreordained to spend eternity with

him in heaven, and the Spirit manifests itself in good deeds. Oddly enough, while this is the most

commonly attacked view of the Calvinist, it is the one that can be most easily defended.

Ephesians 1:4-8 says in no uncertain terms that God chose us, before we were created, to “be his

sons through Jesus Christ”. Christ died for those who God predestined to be his “sons”. This

leads us to the next point in the fivefold doctrine of Calvinism. The “L” stands for Limited

Atonement. This is also an unpopular belief of the Calvinist. It says that Christ died for the elect,

and only for the elect. This position is supported by such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 in which it is
said that Jesus died for “many”. He died for the sheep, but not for the goats, as illustrated in

Matthew 25:32-33. The second to last point in Calvin’s theology is represented by the “I” in

tulip. It stands for Irresistible Grace. It says that all hear the Gospel message, but only the elect

take it to heart. This is the work of the Spirit in them. This point draws support from Acts 13:48.

The passage states that a crowd of Gentiles heard a sermon, but only those who were appointed

for eternal life believed. Irresistible Grace is the method that God uses to effectually apply his

word to the elect. Thus, it is the manner in which God executes his will in Unconditional

Election. The final letter in tulip, “P”, stands for Perseverance of the Elect. It is commonly

known as the “Once saved, always saved” postulate. The name is relatively self explanatory. It

states that we can by no means fall from election if we are one of God’s elect. God the Father has

elected, the Son has redeemed us with his blood, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation to us.

With this threefold seal on our Salvation, none can take it away! Romans 8:1 states that we have

passed out of judgment as God’s elect. This is not, however, an excuse to live in sin. Those who

live in sin, yet believe that they are the elect and are thus safe from sin because they cannot fall

from salvation are deluding themselves. They are not God’s elect and never were. While many

feel that TULIP is a childlike and foolish way to portray the work of a great mind, their complex

and lengthy treatises on Calvin’s doctrine are simply these five principles interspersed with

unnecessary prosaic language and complications. Thus, we can safely take this as a concise yet

thorough examination of Calvin’s doctrine.

The biggest way that Calvin’s theology impacted his life was in his constant search for

holiness and righteousness. He had a deep and abiding fear of sin, and constantly sought to free

himself from it, or as nearly as he could in his fallen state. As I have already mentioned, his

virtuous nature earned him the nickname “the accusative case” during his school days. In
Geneva, he succeeded in legislating morality until the citizens had undergone sufficient moral

cleansing to strive for righteousness by their own volition. From this we can see that it was his

deep and abiding wish to make others aware of the dangers of sin. We can also see this in his

doctrine. He stressed the idea of original sin: sin that we cannot escape from, sin that is with us

from the day of our birth. He also emphasizes the severity of this hereditary monochromatic

moral palette. It is not white paint which covers the canvas of our lives, nor is it grey (a popular

assumption). It is deep, deep black. And this was what John Calvin was constantly trying to

escape from and aiding others in flight from. This was the most prominent way that we can see

his theology impacting his day to day life.

Finally, I will address what impressed me most about the faith of John Calvin. I was

always amazed by his perseverance. His doctrine was attacked from all sides. He was arguably

the most widely hated man in all of Europe. He was pummeled, bludgeoned, and abused. Yet

never once did he falter in his faith. He continued to govern and teach and instruct despite what

others did to him. At first, even the Genevans who he worked so hard to edify and cleanse hated

him. They would write obscene songs concerning him or fire weapons into the air in front of his

house. Some of the bolder offenders would throw rocks through the glass windows in his study.

Even later in his life there were many in Geneva who opposed him. The Libertine party sought to

tear him apart piece by piece. Those who felt that his punishments were too strict worked

tirelessly to subvert his authority. Most men would have cracked under the pressure that was

exerted on Calvin. Many Reformers did. Calvin, on the other hand, endured abuse and ridicule.

Calvin, where others would have almost inevitably failed, remained strong in the faith.

However, all good things must come to an end, frequently an untimely one. Calvin, for

the majority of his life, had been a very sick man. He also had a monumental workload, and his
sleeping patterns were erratic at best. The combination of this bodily debilitating triumvirate

finally caught up with him near the end of his life and he became an invalid. On May 27, 1564,

one of the greatest minds the world has ever known died, in his hometown of Geneva,

Switzerland.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Reyburn, Hugh Y. John Calvin: His Life, Letters, and Work. London: Hodder and Stoughton,

1914. Print. 371 pages read.

2. Slick, Matthew J. "The Five Points of Calvinism, TULIP." Untitled 1. Web. 04 May 2010.

<http://www.calvinistcorner.com/tulip.htm>. 2 pages read.