John Calvin as the Prominent French Theologian - Research Paper Example

John Calvin: Life and Work 2009 John Calvin: Life and Work John Calvin, the prominent French theologian and the father of Calvinism, was born in Noyon, a small town the Pcardie province in France, on July 10th 1509. His family was an ordinary one and, therefore, Calvin often spoke of himself as "merely a man from among the common people"1. His grandfather was either a boatman or barrel maker while Gerard Cauvin, John's father received a fairly good education and was a notary of the Cathedral Chapter, and registrar of the ecclesiastical court2. John had two or three brothers born to Gerard and Jeanne Calvin who died several years after Calvin's birth. His father's intention was to bring his sons to the priesthood. John turned out to be smarter and more quick-minded than his brothers, and by the age of twelve he already served as bishop's clerk. Furthermore, Gerard Cauvin managed to engraft John into the home of one of the best Noyon families, the Montmors where he "received a more thorough classical grounding, and acquired a polish of manners to which he must ever have remained a stranger had he grown up under his father's humble roof"3. The Montmors helped John get enrolled at the Collge de la Marche in Paris, a school where he took his first formal studies4. Upon finishing the school in 1525, Calvin entered philosophy faculty of the Collge de Montaigu, the second of Paris' two universities in those days (Sorbonne was the first one)5. At the university, John focused on the study of philosophy and logic for BA and MA degrees. The discipline practiced by Calvin's tutors was literally iron while the schedule was exceptionally tough. Thus, a typical day began at four o'clock in the morning, and the first lecture lasted until six. However, Calvin was so intent on studying his majors that missed mealtime and even "long after others were locked in sleep, he was still awake; he would be pouring over the pages of schoolman or Father until far into the morning"6. Despite impressive progress made by John in his philosophic endeavours, his preparation for the priesthood ended unexpectedly: John's father ordered him to study law in the University of Orlans. According to some authors, Calvin's father did so thinking that John would make more money as a lawyer than as a priest7. Despite his personal reluctance, Calvin obeyed his father and spent three years studying law from brightest lawyers of those days, Pierre de L'Estoile. In 1529, John entered the University of Bourges to continue his legal education. It was there that Calvin became interested in the ideas of Andreas Alciati, an outstanding humanist lawyer. During his one and a half years in the University Calving learned Greek which was necessary for reading and studying the New Testament8. During the period 1529 and 1533, Calving focused upon studying Greek, Hebrew and theology. It was here too that his prowess as an evangelist and teacher of theology was first recognized. God-fearing, harassed Protestants in the city clamored for his refreshing exposition of Scripture. Almost daily, men and women were "added to the church" as a result of the visits of Calvin to humble homes in the city. Before him stretched, he was convinced, a vast and profitable field for labor9. By 1532, Calvin received his diploma in law and published his first work, which was a commentary on Seneca's De Clementia. The year of 1533 saw gradually increasing tensions at the Collge Royal between the humanist/reformist and conservative wings of faculty members. Rector of the University, Nicolas Cop, represented the humanist wing and on 1 November 1533 he delivered his inaugural address emphasizing the need for reformation and renovation of the Catholic Church. Entitled "Christian Philosophy", the address included a scholarly statement of the doctrines of grace and immediately produced huge effect in the city. After Cop's speech, Catholic priests left the university hall muttering "Grace, pardon of God, Holy Spirit; that's all this speech is filled with. Nothing about indulgences, good workswhere will it lead to"10. Senior members of the faculty immediately demanded to arrest Cop, but he escaped and they started to look for the man known for his close friendship with him, namely John Calvin. When soldiers with a warrant for Calvin's arrest arrived to his place he managed to escape through the window with the help of his friends. Clearly, Calving was forced to leave Paris which marked the next important phase of his life. From Paris, Calvin went to du Tillet, in Angouleme where one of his close university friends resided. The place was quite and comfortable and Calvin had approximately 4,000 volume library to facilitate his further studies. Historians and Calvin's biographers are almost sure that the outlines of Calvin's greatest work titled "The Institutes of the Christian Religion" first took their shape in Angouleme: "Not that he wrote it here, but in this library he collected the materials, arranged the plan, and perhaps penned some of the passages11. After half a year spent at Angouleme, Calvin traveled back to Paris hoping that he would be able to continue work he had begun during his years at the University. However, Calvin's stay in Paris did not last long. He was again forced to leave the city in 1535 after several members of the reformist wing had plastered placards throughout Paris. The outcome of that action was a wave of anti-Protestant spirits and prosecutions with Calvin being one of many Protestants forced to escape. This time Calving traveled to Basel in Switzerland where he continued his work on "Institutes of the Christian Religion". In March 1536, the first edition of "Institutes of the Christian Religion" was published. In this work Calving defended his ideas on the nature of faith, described his theological views, and explained the doctrinal position of the reformist movement. Another Calvin's intention was to make the book a basic instruction manuscript for those interested in the Christian religion. Throughout his whole life Calvin updated the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" and issued new editions12. The work immediately became very popular and shortly after its publication, Calvin went to Ferrara, Italy. During his brief stay there he served as secretary to Princess Rene of France, and he return to Paris soon after. After the Edict of Coucy was issued offering a limited half a year period for Protestants to reconcile with the Catholic Church, Calvin went to Strasbourg which became a refuge for proponents of church reformation. However, on his way to Strasburg, Calving was forced by unexpected troop maneuvers to detour to Geneva, Switzerland. Although Calvin's intention was to stay in Geneva for one night only, William Farel, a French reformer who lived in the city at that time, persuaded Calvin to assist him in reformation of the church in Geneva13. That night became the turning point not only in life of John Calving, but also in the history of all Western civilization. In the beginning, Calving assisted Farel in the status of "Reader in Holy Scripture to the Church in Geneva"14. Farel noticed that despite exceptional giftedness and profound knowledge Calvin preferred obscurity to glory and was eager to deliver his brilliant lectures on Scripture without receiving any personal recognition or reward. However, the utter excellence of Calvin's lectures soon won him huge public acclaim, and after only several months he became pastor. Immediately after entering his new office Calving framed a confession of faith, and created Articles to be observed in governing the church at Geneva. According to Calvin's belief, these articles were critical to the institution of the new church and the consolidation of the reformist movement in Geneva. Although the municipal authorities of Geneva approved of Calvin's proposals, after some time the requirement of the Articles that the "consistory (session) of the church have power to excommunicate, became a source of sore and bitter strife"15. The problem was that the Council insisted to secure that right for itself as well as the authority to regulate other church affairs. The situation resulted in severe conflict between Calvin and other reformers and municipal authorities, and the former were forced to leave Geneva on April 25th, 153816. Calvin and Farel traveled to Bern and Zrich in an attempt to restore their good name and prove that the reforms they carried out in Geneva were reasonable. Although the synod in Zrich also put most of the blame on Calvin and his colleagues, it requested Bern to act as a mediator in settling down the conflict. However, the mediation was not successful since the council of Geneva refused to restore both Farel and Calvin. Following the refusal, they went to Basel, and soon after their arrival Farel was invited to lead the church in Neuchtel while Calvin received invitation from the leading reformers of Strasbourg to lead a church there. After some hesitations Calvin finally accepted the invitation: he took up the position of church leader in Strasbourg and applied for citizenship of the city. Over almost three years of Calvin's pastorate, he established and successfully maintained harmonious relationship with his appreciative congregation, attended ecumenical councils, delivered his always brilliant lectures in the local university, updated, revised and the work of his life, "Institutes", and wrote the first Commentary on Romans published in March 154017. Meanwhile Geneva that barely prospered in Calvin's absence began to reconsider his expulsion. Decreased church attendance, coupled with political changes and instability made the city leaders realize the mistake of forcing Calvin out Geneva. When Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto sent his letter to the Council of Geneva requesting the city to stick with the Catholic faith, the council did not have an ecclesiastical authority of caliber to properly respond to the cardinal. The Council asked Calvin and he agreed: the "Letter to Sadoleto" represented a brilliant example of Calvin's defense of protestant position regarding reformation of the traditional Catholic church18. When in September 1540, the embassy of Geneva approached Calvin with the invitation to return to the city, he refused claiming "Rather would I submit to death a hundred times, rather than to that cross on which I had to perish a thousand times daily"19. However, Calvin's friends and colleagues again managed to persuade Calvin accept the humble proposal of Geneva and despite internal reluctance Calving returned to Geneva on the 13th of September, 1541.20 In order to meet the conditions for Calvin's return to Geneva, the Council passed the "Ecclesiastical Ordinances" to determine form of governing the church. The document comprehensively described the orders of ministerial function namely, pastors to preach and to administer the sacraments; doctors to instruct believers in the faith; elders to provide discipline; and deacons to care for the poor and needy21. The "Consistory", an ecclesiastical court members of which were the city elders and the ministers, was also created under this document. The Consistory had the right to make judgments only in ecclesiastical matters while Geneva government had the power to summon citizens before the court. Originally, the court could also mete out sentences, with excommunication being the most severe punishment, but the Council contested this right of the court: on 19 March 1543 the Geneva council proclaimed that only government would be in charge of carrying out all sentencing22. This last article turned out to be the factor that caused much trouble for Calvin and population of Geneva over the years to come. In 1542, Calvin issued an adaptation of a service book he used during his stay in Strasbourg, namely "The Form of Prayers and Church Hymns". Calvin acknowledged the power of music and supported its use to facilitate reading and understanding of the Scripture. Another famous work of Calvin, "Catechism of the Church of Geneva", was published the same year: it dealt with the issues of Faith, Law and Prayer23. Over the whole period of Calvin's life and work in Geneva he faced strong opposition. Known as 'the libertines', the oppositionists were people who believed that after liberation through grace they would no more governed by either ecclesiastical or civil law. The libertines included wealthy and powerful citizens of Geneva which made them very influential and dangerous for Calvin24. As a result, by 1547 the opposition to Calvin and his followers/colleagues spread to the majority of the civil magistrates of the city, and Calvin got seriously concerned with the security of his family. Insulting and threatening the ministers, coupled with defying the authority of the Consistory continued repeatedly while the council of Geneva did not take effective measures to settle the conflict. However, when in summer 1553 admitting his defeat to the extremely powerful opposition Calvin requested the city council to allow him to resign, the decision was negative despite the libertines controlling the council. The reason for such unexpected decision was that the opposition understood that the influence Calvin had managed to gain over years of his work made his teaching too popular to simply banish it25. Information about personal life of Calvin in Geneva is scarce. On 28 July 1542, his wife Idelette gave birth to his first son, but he died soon, and in 1545 his wife fell ill and died four years later in 1549. After her death Calvin never married again26. Another important point in Calvin's life was meeting Michael Servetus, an outstanding Spanish thinker whom boldly opposed the most important Christian dogma, including the concept of Trinity. During his travel to Italy, Servetus stopped in Geneva and occasionally attended one of Calvin's sermons. Calvin ordered to arrest him and drew up and submitted to the court a list of accusations against Servetus. The prosecutor during the process was Philibert Berthelier, a representative of the libertine opposition. The influential libertines tried to take advantage of the process in order to undermine Calvin's reputation: Servetus and his ideas were widely known in Europe and the outcomes of the process were awaited for by many. Finally, the council condemned Servetus as a heretic and he was burnt alive on the borderline of the city of Geneva27. After the Servetus' death, Calvin was proclaimed a defender of Christian faith which meant a defeat for the libertines and the beginning of their ultimate downfall a couple years later. The last nine years of Calvin's life (1555-1564) were relatively calm and marked by his almost uncontested authority. During this period Calvin finally enjoyed the fruits of his toil and tears: his name was widely known all around Europe as the name of outstanding reformer of the same caliber as Martin Luther, another key figure of the Reformation period. However, Calvin also had serious polemics with Luther28. Although Calvin was very frustrated by the absence of unity among European reformers, Geneva definitely became a transformed city due to his efforts. Thus, in his letter form Geneva to friends in his native Scotland in 1556, John Knox made the following statement: "Here [in Geneva] exists the most perfect school of Christ which has been since the days of the apostles on earth. Christ is preached elsewhere too; yet nowhere did I find that morals and faith have been improved more sincerely than here"29. As a result, proponents of reformation from different regions of Europe sought refuge in Geneva to enjoy the genuine liberty. Calvin continued to actively participate in the process lecturing, preaching, and writing despite a bunch of diseases. His death on May 27th 1564 was a great loss mourned by thousands in various countries across Europe. The importance of Calvin's life and work was brilliantly summarized by Beza, one of his successors, "the great light of the church of God was taken heavenward. It has pleased God to show us in the life of a single man of our time how to live and how to die"30. References Cottret, B., Calvin: A Biography, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000, pp. 165-166 De Greef, W., The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, p.46 Ganoczy, A., "Calvin's life", in McKim, Donald K., The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp.15-17 McGrath, A. E., A Life of John Calvin. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990, pp.76-78 Parker, T.H.L., John Calvin: a biography. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, pp. 162-163 Parker, T. H. L., Calvin's Preaching. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992, pp.45-47 Parker, T. H. L., John Calvin: A Biography. Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2006, pp. 124-126 Stickleberger, E., John Calvin. Presbyterian Books, 1976, p. 21 Wendel, F., Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1963, p.50 Wylie, J.A., History of Protestantism (2 vols.). Volume 2, Mourne Missionary Trust, 1985, p.149 Read More