John Calvin - Research Paper Example

This paper briefly analyses the life of John Calvin and his contributions to global culture. “John Calvin was born in 1509. He died in 1564. John Calvin was the son of a lawyer. He was born in Noyon, Picardy and was therefore a Frenchman” (John Calvin, n. d). John Calvin was very much interested in religious studies and initially he studied theology; however later went for law studies because of the pressure from his father. The death of his father in 1531, gave freedom to Calvin and he started to learn more about humanities and religion.

“Calvin was highly critical of the abuses in the French Catholic church but he never doubted that he was God’s chosen instrument in the spiritual regeneration of the world” (John Calvin, n. d). During the period of Calvin, devotional songs with the help of musical instruments had an important role in worshipping in Roman Catholic Churches. Calvin criticized such customs and argued that such devotional songs actually distract the concentration of the people from real worshipping. He has pointed out that Bible consists of excellent songs in psalms which should be used during worshipping in churches instead of the songs accompanied by musical instruments.

“He placed great importance on the sermon. . ed that the New Testament and baptism and the Eucharist had been created to provide Man with continual divine guidance when seeking faith (John Calvin, n. d). Roman Catholic Church teaches the people that a person can get salvation through Mass and pilgrimages. Moreover, Roman Catholics believed or still believe that saints can help people immensely for getting salvation. In most of the Roman Catholic churches, saints are getting almost similar recognition as Jesus Christ is getting.

Calvin ridiculed these beliefs and customs and pointed out that such beliefs are against the teachings of God or Bible. He has declared that according to the teachings of Bible, a person can attain salvation only through the belief in Jesus Christ. No other short cuts may help a person in getting salvation. Calvinism was a belief that was dependent on the strength of the individual. You controlled your own goodness on Earth and this depended on the strength of your inner conviction. This was a personal belief not dependent on the whims of an individual pope or relics, indulgences etc.

You may have been a reprobate in the eyes of God but you would not know this and so a person would lead a life for God to fully know him (John Calvin, n. d). Roman Catholics gave more emphasize to rituals and customs in their worshipping whereas Calvinism gave more emphasize to the strength and actions of the individual. Calvinism pointed out that ultimately the activities of an individual decides whether he may get heaven or hell. No custom or tradition alone can save a person if he commits sins and take shelter in customs or traditions for getting salvation.

According to John Calvin, the most important thing in getting salvation is the belief in Jesus Christ and strict observance of the life principles