Essay On John Calvin

In a time of chaos, the words, “God is in control,” can bring peace to believers and non-believers alike. This phrase has found its way to bumper stickers, Hallmark cards, and Facebook post, and in many ways it has become a junk drawer phrase – one that we pull out when we need a comforting cliché. When pandemonium breaks loose and we seem to have lost all control, then it is convenient for God to be in “control.” But what about when things are not? What if things are relatively normal.

When Calvin arrived in Geneva, William Farel saw in Calvin the leader that Geneva needed “and he urged the young scholar to go no farther but to stay in the city and help establish the work there” (Shelley, 2008, 256) . Calvin's patronage from Geneva helped with the growth and development of the French Protestant movement in the 1550s. Calvin trained French Protestant pastors at the Geneva Academy, and helped to smuggle them back into France to establish and develop local congregations. It was also during this time he wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion, in 1536, that put into words the

In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and put the Edict of Fontainebleau in its place. Because of this document, all religious toleration for Huguenots (previously allowed by the Edict of Nantes) was no longer allowed, leaving them with two options: convert to Catholicism or leave France. Through this law, Louis achieved national religious unity.

After this was when things started to get harder for Charles V. He was faced with Religious differences as a challenge to political authority. Charles V.

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

Henry took a big step against the Catholic Church when he began the, “Dissolution of the Monasteries” in 1538. Henry had sent inspectors to watch the behavior of the monks and if the monasteries were being run as Henry wanted. Henry discovered that doing the complete opposite of what he wanted or

Henry IV of France was able to act as a "fox" by evaluating what mattered more to him. When Henry converted to Catholosism out of being a Hugenot during the Saint Bartholomew 's Day Massacre, it was clear that he valued his own life over religion. Even when he coverted back to Calvinism afterwards, he soon relized his valued of being in power over religion would cause him to convert, once again, back into Catholism. “Paris is worth a Mass," he said as he gave into the Roman Catholic Church for the leadership of France. This value of state over religion made him a politique, believing that no religious truth was worth the ravages of cicil war. He kept France from futher civil war by issuing the Edict of Nantes which acknowledged Catholicism as th official religion of France but guaranteed the Hugenots the rights to worship. He was wise to recognize that tolerance can help establish peace in his nation and also to convert to Cathalosism because of their bigger population in France.

The monarchs only listen to god not their own subjects.Divine right was the idea that God made the monarchs.During the the war between the church and the protestants,leaders tried to get a grip on the church,and war and death broke lose from this

In John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion he spends a great deal of time expounding his doctrine of God's Divine providence in all of creation. He explains not only how God continually governs the laws of nature, but also how God governs man's actions and intentions to bring about His own Divine Will. Calvin believes that God's providence is so encompassing in creation that even a man's own actions, in many ways, are decreed by God. Because of this belief there arises the question, "Does Calvin leave room for the free will of man?"

Louis XIV preferred to delegate power to new nobles, or affluent bourgeois who had recently received their noble status from the king. The lords who were not hereditary nobles had not yet had enough time to gain any actual power that could be used in rebellion against the king. Philip II, however, did not diversify the existing hierarchy of power, but embraced it. Upon the building of the Escorial, many new Hidalgos were not created just to satisfy the needs of a larger bureaucracy. In addition, the Roman Catholic church even went inside the walls of the Escorial. This shows Philip II's embrace of the existing power of the Holy See. Conversely, at the court of Versailles, Louis XIV did not make the church a significant part of his chateau, therefore removing most of the internal persuasion from the clergy. (Even if there was a large religious influence at Versailles, by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), the ‘Galician' church was politically independent from the Holy See.)

The Avignon Papacy was another major conflict within the people and lasted from 1309 to 1376. In this time period there were 7 Popes that were all loyal to the king of France. The Popes did all they could to get as much money as they could out of the people. They sold church positions, paid to be forgiven of your sins, let nuns keep maids, ect. This

Because John was excommunicated this meant that he could never get to heaven until the pope withdrew the excommunication. Faced with this John climbed down and accepted the power of the Catholic Church. After this John returned to London demanding more money from taxes. This time, the barons were not willing to listen. They rebelled against his power and captured London.

The citizens of Geneva saw Calvin as imposing a new form of papacy on the people. Calvin was exiled from Geneva in 1538. Calvin moved to Strasburg and began writing commentaries on the Bible which he entitles "Institutes of

fought against France. The result of this misrule was the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. Richard, in handling the first big

Peter G. Wallace believes the growing number of French refugees helped Calvin defeat his main opponents (Wallace, 2004, p.105). The European Reformation does acknowledge almost all the Pastors were French; however, The European Reformation and some Primary Sources suggest Calvin showed tolerance of his opponents. In a letter to Oswald Myconius, a reformer in Basel, written in 1541 talks of tolerating the hostility of his critics ‘to avoid disturbing the peace of the church’ (Anthology, 2007, 2.11, p.138). Furthermore, The European Reformation tells us about a case in 1546 when the magistracy showed they still had power over Calvin. Following a dispute over dancing, of which Calvin disapproved, the magistracy stamped their authority. The magistracy ordered Calvin and influential members of the city accused of dancing to reconcile (Grell et al., 2011, p.59). But Peter G. Wallace’s opinion does have some merit, as the number of French refugees within the church meant they had much power. However, the letter to Oswald Myconius shows Calvin that was willing to work with colleagues who how did not share his ideology, which suggests Calvin was not power-hungry. Furthermore, Calvin was forced to reconcile with people whom he probably believed were morally inferior. This shows the strong influence French was not akin to a take-over is the magistracy showed there still had supreme power in Geneva.