1
John Calvin
John was a major leader in the Protestant Reformation, Calvin was a French theologian,
reformer, and pastor. “He was born in 1509 when Zwingli was a Catholic priest, the year Luther
received a bachelor’s degree in religion, and the year Henry VIII became king.” 1 John Calvin
was born in Nyon, France to a devote Catholic family. Next to Martin Luther, John Calvin is the
most well-known Protestant Reformer. He was a second-generation Reformer and by age twelve
the Catholic church paid him to write scribes for the Catholic church. With the help of wealthy
benefactors, he attended college in Paris for religion. “Calvin’s father removed him from his
religious education and sent him to school to become a lawyer”.2 After his father’s death and
after finishing his law education, he returned to his studies in Paris for religion. During this time,
he began to reject Catholic beliefs and became a Reformer. There was an underground Protestant
movement, he became a part of during this time. “He decided to contribute to the increasingly
popular reform movement by writing its first systematic theology book (The is a book that
tackles the central doctrines of a movement and attempts to “systematize” or organize them all in
one book.” 3
1 Mark Nickens, A Survey of the History of Global Christianity, Second Edition. (Nashville TN, B&H
Academic, 2020), 115-116.
2 Ibid., 115.
3 Ibid.,
2
Under the Reformation movement of Europe, the phrase ‘Calvinism’ began. The
principles of Calvinism are in the acronym TULIP which stands for Total Depravity,
Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.
Calvinism was the belief that only through God’s will and kindness could someone be saved and
unbound from their sin. Jesus gave His life and only those chosen people are the selected
Christians to receive God’s kindness of salvation.
He was best known for his doctrine of predestination.
John died on May 27, 1564, in Geneva, Switzerland.
