Church History · 1536 to 1564

John Calvin and the Reformed Churches

French reformer John Calvin published the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536 and led the church in Geneva until his death in 1564. His teaching shaped the Presbyterian and Reformed churches, and the Calvinist and Arminian debate still goes on.

Read it in the Bible: Romans 9:14-18 Ephesians 1:3-14 John 6:37-44 1 Timothy 2:3-6 2 Peter 3:9

John Calvin was a French reformer who published the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536 and led the church in Geneva, Switzerland, until he died in 1564. He became the most influential teacher of the second generation of the Reformation. Presbyterian, Reformed and many Baptist and Anglican churches trace their beliefs back to him. His name is also tied to a famous debate about God's choice and human freedom that Christians still discuss over coffee, and sometimes over raised voices.

Who Was John Calvin?

Calvin was born on July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France. He studied law and the classics and was a brilliant student. Sometime in the early 1530s he embraced the Reformation. He described it later as a sudden conversion, God subduing his heart to teachableness, though historians think it happened over time.

France was dangerous for Protestants, so he fled. In Basel, at just 26 years old, he published the first edition of the Institutes in 1536. He dedicated it to King Francis I of France, asking the king to stop persecuting Protestants and see that they were faithful Christians. He kept expanding the book for the rest of his life. The final Latin edition came out in 1559.

How Did Calvin End Up in Geneva?

In 1536 Calvin stopped in Geneva for one night. A fiery preacher named William Farel heard he was in town and begged him to stay and help. When Calvin said no, Farel warned that God would curse his quiet studies if he refused. Calvin stayed. That is one way to recruit a pastor.

It did not go smoothly. In 1538 the city council threw Calvin and Farel out. Calvin went to Strasbourg, pastored French refugees, learned from the reformer Martin Bucer and married a widow named Idelette de Bure. In 1541 Geneva asked him back. He spent the rest of his life preaching several times a week, teaching, writing commentaries on most of the Bible and training pastors.

The Scottish reformer John Knox studied there and called Geneva the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the apostles. Refugees from all over Europe came, learned and went home to spread Reformed teaching.

What Were Calvin's Flaws?

Honesty matters here. In 1553 Geneva arrested Michael Servetus, a man who denied the Trinity. Calvin helped bring the charges, and Servetus was burned. Calvin asked for a quicker execution by the sword, but the council refused. Most Christians of that era, Catholic and Protestant, thought heresy was a crime. That explains it, but it does not excuse it. Today, Reformed churches openly regret it, and a monument of apology stands in Geneva.

What Is Calvinism?

Calvin's theology starts with the sovereignty of God. God is king over all things, including salvation. People are so broken by sin that they cannot turn to God on their own. God, in grace, chooses some to be saved, sends Christ to redeem them, draws them to Himself and keeps them to the end.

So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Romans 9:16

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44

Later Calvinists summed this up in five points, made official at the Synod of Dort in 1618 to 1619. In the 1900s people began remembering them with the word TULIP. Total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints.

What Do Arminians Believe?

Jacob Arminius was a Dutch Reformed pastor who died in 1609. He and his followers agreed that people are lost in sin and saved by grace alone. But they taught that God's grace goes before every person and makes it possible for them to respond. God chooses those He knows will believe. Christ died for everyone. And people can resist grace.

who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Methodists, most Pentecostals, many Baptists and many other evangelicals hold Arminian or Wesleyan views. Presbyterians, Reformed churches and many Baptists hold Calvinist views. Lutherans and Catholics have their own ways of explaining it. Both sides love these verses and believe all of them. They just fit them together differently. Charles Spurgeon, a Calvinist, and John Wesley, an Arminian, both led huge numbers of people to Christ.

What Churches Came From Calvin?

Knox brought Reformed teaching to Scotland, where it became the Presbyterian Church, named for its leadership by elders, called presbyters. The Dutch Reformed, the French Huguenots, the English Puritans and later many American churches grew from the same roots. The Geneva Bible, made by English exiles in Calvin's Geneva, carried his influence into English homes.

Calvin died on May 27, 1564. At his request he was buried in an unmarked grave so no one would make a shrine of him. His motto was a heart held out in an open hand, offered to God promptly and sincerely.

Why It Matters for You Today

You do not have to settle the whole Calvinist and Arminian debate before breakfast. Every side agrees on the main thing. Salvation is God's gift, and the glory belongs to Him. Calvin wanted Christians to know God, know themselves and rest in Christ. That is a good place to start, whatever your church sign says.

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Questions People Ask

What is Calvinism in simple terms?

Calvinism is the teaching, rooted in John Calvin, that God is sovereign over salvation. People cannot save themselves, and God graciously chooses, calls and keeps those who are saved. It is often summed up in five points called TULIP.

What is the difference between Calvinism and Arminianism?

Calvinists teach that God's choice of who will be saved does not depend on anything in the person and that His saving grace cannot finally be resisted. Arminians teach that God's grace enables everyone to respond, that people can resist it, and that God chooses those He foreknows will believe.

When did John Calvin write the Institutes?

Calvin published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in Basel in 1536, when he was 26. He expanded it many times, and the final Latin edition came out in 1559.

Are Presbyterians Calvinists?

Yes. Presbyterian churches come from the Reformed tradition of John Calvin, brought to Scotland by John Knox. Their historic confessions, like the Westminster Confession, teach Calvinist theology.

Sources

← Coverdale, Matthew's and the Great Bible The Jesuits and the Council of Trent →

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