Paper 1
Caleb Russell Jacobs, L26572756
CHHI 302-D02
July 25, 2016
1
John Calvin had a tremendous impact on Christian culture and continues to have his ideas
used and shared in modern culture. Calvin created a reformation; that spread all across Europe
and today through all of Christendom. This paper will articulate the character and impact of
John Calvin with a biography, his theological stances, major events and situations that Calvinism
affected and significant writing’s that John Calvin contributed. Thesis statement, good.
John Calvin was the son of Gerard Cauvin and Jeanne Le France.1 Jeanne would have
little influence on John since she passed before he was able to reach maturity.2 John was one of
seven children.3 Gerard Cauvin held education in high regard and ensured that his children
received the best, which could have led to his decision to send John to the University of Paris, his
receiving of an ecclesiastical charge, and the becoming of a student at College de la Marche
where he was a pupil seated under Mathurin Cordier.4 In A.D. 1530 John Calvin received a
professorship of philosophy in the College Sainte-Barbe of the University.5
After John Calvin’s completion of undergraduate study’s in 1527 or 1528, he began to
seek out his life purpose.6 John’s father urged him to pursue a field with some specialization in
1 Williston Walker. John Calvin, the Organizer of Reformed Protestantism: 1509 - 1564.
New York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1909, 18.
2 Ibid., 24.
3 Ibid., 25
4 Ibid., 28-29, 34.
5 Ibid., 34.
6 Ibid., 44.
Theology but at the same time strongly urged him to continue his studies in the field of Law.7
John ended up pursuing Law at the University of Orleans, though his writing’s writings
regarding the subject suggest that he did so out of obedience to his father and not out of an actual
desire to pursue the Law.8 John was struggling with Law; it seemed as though he had little
interest in the subject but did enjoy the instruction.9 Amidst his studies his father passed, and
John moved back to Paris where he was then placed under the instruction of Pierre Danes in
College Fortet10 And he switched to theology. In 1532 John was still studying Greek and
Hebrew under Danes and was also immersed in his first book, 'Commentary on Seneca’s
Treatise on Clemency.'
John Calvin’s academic pursuits are extensive and worthy of mention but after his early
years of study and maturity came a man who played a significant role in a Reformation. It is
noted that John Use a person’s last name. preached two hundred and eighty-six sermons and
spoke around one hundred and eighty-six annually.11 I am not sure what you mean here: you say
he preached 286 sermons and spoke 186 times annually. Where was he when he did that?
Additionally, John contributed to the Christian framework of a reformation with “his Institutes,
other theological treatises, his long and frequent consultations with those who sought counsel,
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., 47-48.
9 Ibid., 51.
10 Ibid., 52, 54-55.
11 Ibid., 432.
and above all his correspondence.”12 On May 27, 1565, John Calvin passed away.13 The
moments leading up to his death were hard as he experienced many forms of un-comfort and
pain though he preached and spoke regardless.14 During his last few months, he spoke to friends
and associates regarding his life and teaching reminding them of the work of God, exhibiting
both humility and compassion towards his brothers in Christ.15 John Calvin was under the age
of fifty-five when he died, but it is agreed upon that his life was a completed work and that
Christ was shown through his life.16
The main theological contribution that John Calvin made in his reformation is
categorized as Reformed or Calvinistic Christianity.17 This theological framework affects the
modern denominations of Christianity known as “Presbyterians, Dutch and German Reformed
Churches, and many Baptists and Congregationalists.”18 Influenced by Martin Luthercomma
John Calvin discovered deep, biblical truths that can now be defined in five key principals that
reflect a theology of grace, sovereignty and working of God with man, that is commonly
referred
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid., 439.
14 Ibid., 435.
15 Ibid., 434-439.
16 Ibid., 440.
17 Bruce L. Shelley. Church History In Plain Language. 2nd ed. Dallas, TX: Word
Publishing, 1995, 257.
18 Ibid., 257.
to now as TULIP. No, TULIP developed at the Synod of Dort, which was fifty years after Calvin
had died, and so was not an idea that came from Calvin. He did not emphasize predestination.
In his well-known theology book, The Institutes, he only gave four chapters out of eighty to a
discussion of predestination. Later, by the early 1600s, predestination was promoted as the chief
of Calvin’s ideas. But that was never Calvin’s intention. After all, Calvin’s main point was the
sovereignty of God, which is absent in TULIP. TULIP is an acronym that stands for Total
Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of
the Saints, all of which communicate John Calvin’s fundamental theology. John Calvin held
these ideals, but it should be noted that they were not condensed into the TULIP acronym until
the seventeenth-century.19 Hennery Beveridge summarizes Calvin’s TULIP as follows, a person
is incapable of saving themselves, God does not choose who is saved based upon them, Christ’s
atonement is for only the elect, the elect is unable to reject salvation and that those who are saved
will not lose their salvation.20 These theological notions led into a movement that would sweep
through all of Europe in a chain of major events.21
When Calvin began his work as ‘Professor of Sacred Scripture’ in Geneva, the influence
of his theological position rose as he started a strenuous training regimen for Protestants in the
area.22 How did he get to Geneva? However, he was forced out of office in 1538 by the Council
in Geneva. He left and traveled to Strasbourg, where he preached, wrote, and married. He then
19 John Calvin. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry
Beveridge. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2008, xv
20 Ibid.
21 Bruce L. Shelley. Church History In Plain Language. 2nd ed. Dallas, TX: Word
Publishing, 1995, 263.
22 Ibid., 259.
began to preach at a church for French refugee’s but once again in 1541 John Calvin was asked
by new Geneva leadership to resume his work.23 Good point. Geneva then accepted the church’s
constitution and began to implement his ideas.24 As a result of Calvin’s work in Geneva, Geneva
became a refugee inhabitants for persecuted Protestants.25 Right. Calvinism spread to the
Netherlands, which offered a rallying point for persecuted persons under Catholic Spain.26
Calvinist leaders became some of the first persons to create resistance groups against the
Catholic oppression.27 In Scotland, Calvinist established a “land of one religion ruled by a
monarch of another.”28 John Knox, who was influenced by Calvinism, helped Calvinist take over
Edinburgh and spread the message of Calvinism, proposing to parliament the ideology of
Calvinism, leading to the abolishment of Catholicism.29 Right. Knox thencomma with the help
of Mary Queen of Scotscomma then no “then” helped form Scotland into a predominately
Calvinistic country.30
23Ibid.
24Ibid.
25 Ibid., 260.
26 Ibid., 262.
27Ibid.
28Ibid.
29 Ibid., 262-263.
30 Ibid., 263.
Lastly, is the central piece of writing that John Calvin contributed to his reformation
movement, Institutes of the Christian Religion.31 Italicize titles of books. Articulating the very
depths of Calvinism comma the Institutes of the Christian Religion still stand as an essential
reference for all Reformed Christians.32 Keith Mathison states: “Calvin has a passion to see God
glorified and Jesus Christ exalted, and this passion shines throughout the Institutes” and that “its
influence on the thought of all subsequent Reformed theology is immeasurable.”33 In addition to
the positive remarks delivered by Keith Mathison, is the perception of the Institutes offer a full
comprehensive window in which one can understand scripture. Yes, it was a complete
systematic theology from Calvin’s perspective. William A. Wright states: “The preceding
analysis of Calvin’s theology into two strands—one that provides unity and stability, the other
that departs from or leaves the gospel “stranded” through detours and complications—is a device
of significant usefulness in approaching the complex, overdetermined character of what may be
anachronistically called the “systematic” character of Calvin’s theology.”34 Wright then goes on
to say that the way that Calvin can intertwine both positive and negative experiences with his
Biblical understanding to articulate a full, broad and complete experience.35 Wright finishes his
article by stating: “…so that negative experience does not simply disrupt or deconstruct the
31John Calvin. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry
Beveridge. Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2008, xv
32Keith Mathison. "The Institutes of the Christian Religion." N/A, June 30, 2010.
33Ibid.
34William A. Wright, “"Negative Experience in Calvin's Institutes and Its Systematic
Consequences." Journal of Religion 93, no 1 (January 2013): 59.
35Ibid.
gospel, but productively opens the Word of the gospel to the subsidiary truths of the intransigent
fallenness of the world as well as the mysterious motions of the living God.”36 Note about using
quotes: in this paragraph you used quotes about Calvin’s book from Mathison and Wright. I
would rather read your comments about the book after you have studied the book more than to
hear what comments from those two authors. I know that they understand the book, but I need to
see that you understand the book. Using their quotes does not show me that you understand
about The Institutes.
John Calvin contributed to Christianity in endless ways and helped in the growth and
emergence of Protestantism in the face of Catholic prosecution. This paper articulated the
character and impact of John Calvin’s work and life with a biography, his theological stances,
major events and situations that Calvinism affected and significant writing’s that John Calvin
contributed.
36Ibid.
Bibliography
Calvin, John. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge.
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2008, xv
Mathison, Keith. "The Institutes of the Christian Religion." N/A, June 30, 2010. Accessed July
25, 2016. http://www.ligonier.org/blog/institutes-christian-religion/.
Shelley, Bruce L. Church History In Plain Language. 2nd ed. Dallas, TX: Word Publishing,
1995, 257-263.
Walker, Williston. John Calvin, the Organiser of Reformed Protestantism: 1509 - 1564. New
York and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1909. Accessed July 25, 2016, 18-440.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?
id=uc2.ark:/13960/t9s183508;view=1up;seq=9;size=125.
Wright, William A. "Negative Experience in Calvin's Institutes and Its Systematic
Consequences." Journal of Religion 93, no. 1 (January 2013): 59. Accessed July 25,
2016. http://rx9vh3hy4r.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
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al&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Negative experience in Calvin's Institutes and its
systematic consequences&rft.jtitle=The Journal of Religion&rft.au=Wright,
William&rft.date=2013-01-01&rft.pub=University of Chicago Press&rft.issn=0022-
4189&rft.eissn=1549-
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DocID=319162340¶mdict=en-US.
Grade: 82/100 or 115/140 Caleb, this was a good start, but more details about his life would
have been helpful, for example, his encounter with Farel that caused him to remain in Geneva,
his marriage, how he changed Geneva, and the Academy (This school drew many hundreds of
students from throughout Europe, and in turn his ideas were able to spread throughout Europe
quickly. For example, John Knox was a student from Scotland, who returned to Scotland and
helped create the Presbyterian Church.).
Please see the notes above, Dr. Nickens
