John Calvin

Dates of birth/death ~ places of birth/lived/death ~ information about their involvement in the reformation ~ importance of the person ~ what they achieved in terms of the reformation

John Calvin was born 10th July 1509 in Noyon, in France. He died aged 54, on the 27th may 1564 in Geneva Switzerland. He was a pastor and an author. John Calvin was born jean cauvin to Grard cauvin and Jeanne le Franc. As one of three brothers, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the tonsure, which meant to show his dedication to the church by shaving his hair. Through the assistance of an influential family, he attended the College de Montaigu as a philosophy student. In 1525 his father withdrew him from montaigu to study law at the University of New Orleans. In 1533, John Calvin experienced a powerful religious conversion which convinced him, on the one hand, of the absolute glory and power of God and, on the other hand, of the absolute sinfulness and depravity of human beings.

While visiting Geneva, Calvin wrote down a list of strict regulations which required, in part, that all citizens submit to the profession of faith created by the council. This made everyone pretty mad, so no one liked him and he had to flee, but he went back in 1541.

For him, the return was the opportunity to do what he most wanted: reconstruct the community along the lines of Old Testament social and moral standards. All forms of pleasure like dancing and gaming

were forbidden and terrible punishments were issued for even minor religious offenses. But he wasnt actually a dictator of Geneva because he never actually had any power. He had to answer to the city council who always disagreed with him. However, his ideas did have enormous influence and his responsibility for what happened cannot be ignored.

John Calvin was one of the most influential men of the reformation. He was a French protestant who developed the system of theology called Calvinism or the reformed theology. In Geneva he established a new scheme of ecclesial governance, and rejected the popes authority. With the exception of martin Luther, no man had a greater impact on the theology of the protestant churches today than john Calvin. Whilst impossible to condense oodles of information about his effect on the reformation, the five points of Calvinism are probably the best summary. These include the total depravity of man, that mans nature is basically not good, but evil. Unconditional election, that god only chooses his children. The limited atonement, that the death and resurrection of Christ is a payment for the sins of gods children only. The irresistible grace, that gods call is potent and the perseverance of the saints, that it impossible for one to lose their own salvation. Thankyou :)