John Calvin And The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation of the Catholic Church devastated the religious unity of Christian Europe, resulting in a great deal of antagonism, which in turn led to the persecutions, denial of civil rights, expulsion, and ultimately the torture and death of many men, women and children. The ongoing conflict was not consigned to one distinct European nation, but was experienced in every European nation that the Catholic Church ruled and reigned. There was no worldview in Europe at that time that allowed for the religious differences of men to coexist peaceably.

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

The Protestant Reformation was a pivotal time of European history that occurred during the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation was comprised of people called “reformers” that challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice (“The Reformation”). The Protestant Reformation was revolutionary due to the fact that the reformers preached against everything the Catholic Church had been teaching. Some famous reformers are John Calvin and Martin Luther. However, Martin Luther-- to some--- is named the most successful and influential reformer of the 16th century. Martin Luther was tremendously effective and influential due to how resourceful he was, and his teachings spread across Europe swiftly.

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.

The 16th century began with the migration of the Puritans to New England and the Catholics to the Spanish Southwest. Both of these religions influenced the development of their colonial societies differently. The religions influenced their societies differently because the Puritans from New England were stricter, favored independence, and did not believe in a hierarchy unlike the Catholics from the Spanish Southwest.

In 1527, King Henry VIII of England filed for divorce from his wife, Catherine. As insignificant as this event may seem, it actually marked the beginning of a religious and political reform from the corrupted Roman Catholic Church: the English Reformation. The English Reformation wasn’t the only movement that led to the separation from the Catholic Church, though. The Protestant Reformation, starting only ten years before the English Reformation did, first recognized the corruption of the Catholic Church. The English Reformation noticed the corruptions of the Catholic Church, but was more focused on creating new political and religious authority. Both of these reformations relate to one another greatly, but are still considered to be individual movements. Papal authority was stripped during these reformations, and all of Europe lived differently afterwards. While Catholicism still existed after the reformations and is still practiced today, many new religions exist today as an effect of the reformations. The political power that the Church held diminished and was replaced by the English state. Both the Protestant Reformation and English Reformation impacted the political power and religion of the Catholic Church and all of Europe. Without these movements, Christian religion would not be what it is today.

The original thirteen colonies were settled by Puritans.  The Puritans first settled at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and throughout a hundred years twelve more colonies were settled.  The last of them being Georgia in 1732.

There are many ways that Calvin influenced the church in his lifetime. “His studies brought Calvin into touch with reforming ideas circulating in Paris, and shortly thereafter one of those “events” in Calvin’s life turned him in a new direction. He called it an “unexpected conversion.” We can’t be certain about the date, but it was clearly more than a kind of spiritual enlightenment or the recognition of the supreme authority of the Scriptures. Calvin surrendered his will to God. He gave up his career as a classical scholar and identified with the Protestant cause in France” (Shelley, 258).

The intent of this paper is to evaluate the distinct character and quality of the expressions of the Protestant Reformation. This paper will discuss Lutheran Reformation, The Anabaptist, and The English Puritans as well as the Catholic Reformation also known as the Counter Reformation. It is the hope that after the reader has had the opportunity to view each of the characteristics and the expressions of each of the reformation the reader will have a better understanding of each and will be able to articulate the differences of each.

John Calvin was a timid man who indeed left an influence on church history during the Age of Reformation. He took on the task of reforming Geneva. Geneva was a city in disorder because of “its recent rejection of the Duke of Savoy and the pope in Rome had left public affairs in shambles, torn by dangerous factions” (Shelley p256). “William Farel had been preaching in Geneva for four years, but Geneva’s Protestantism rested chiefly on political hostility to the bishop, not doctrinal convictions” (Shelley p256). The city of Geneva needed someone to step forward and reshape the city’s religious institutions in reference to biblical law. Farel believed that Calvin was the best figure to take on such a task.

Synonymous with Augustinian thought, Calvin accepted that God was responsible for suffering however refused to believe that God was also guilty of it. Calvin composed the doctrine of Providence, this referred to God’s interaction in all that occurs during our lives; “everything is subject to God and ruled by his will and that when the world has done what it may, nothing happens than what God decrees” . This innovative concept sparked instant controversy as it potentially challenged many standing ideologies of existence and religious understanding; moreover it indirectly suggests that God is responsible and to blame for the sin and corruptness present in the world. Calvin, however, did not recognize the presence of sin as a problem when regarding God’s Providence. I will continue to analyse in detail Calvin’s principles, which refute that God is at all guilty for the suffering that occurs in this world

There have been many works of literature written over time that would be classified as ‘religious’, but only a portion of these pieces are graced with the approval of the Catholic Church. In 1536, John Calvin published his Institutes of the Christian Religion, which both criticizes and reforms various aspects of the practices that make up the Christian religion. St. Teresa of Avila also published a religious piece in regards to Christian meditation practices in 1588. Rather than reforming the religion, in Interior Castle, St. Teresa illustrates how Christians can reach a final destination of a union with God through seven stages of spiritual development. Although Calvin and St. Teresa have both written religious pieces of literature; Calvin’s

Puritanism was a church that was brought about by Martin Luther and John Calvin. This church was broken off of the Catholic Church and the Church of England. The Puritans believed in absolute sovereignty, human depravity, predestination, and individualism. Absolute sovereignty is simply stated as god is in total control at all times. This means that no matter if you wanted to be able to do something if it was not gods will it will not happen. Human depravity is that humans are inherently evil and there is nothing good in human apart from the saving action of god. Thus meaning that man will chose to do evil before he will do good. Predestination is simply put that we are chosen to do certain things and we will not do anything else. Thus meaning

The inevitable spilt of Western Christianity thus created two different and unique forms of the religion, Catholicism and Protestantism. In an effort to reform, many great individuals and perspectives stepped up in order to cast their beliefs and interpretations of the Christian Bible unto the world. Among the many individuals was French theologian John Calvin (1509-1564). This is the most unique form of Protestantism due to its dark perceptions of human nature, strict followings of the Bible, and drastic change in the religious political system.

John Calvin was born on July 10th, 1509 in Noyon, Picardy, France. He studied at the universities of Paris, Bourges, and Orleans. He was a key leader of the Protestant Reformation. He wrote many protestant works like Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin was also a revolutionary theologian and leader, developing the religion of Calvinism and doctrine of predestination. In addition, Calvin reorganized the city of Geneva, Switzerland and made it into an example theocracy. John Calvin died on May 27th, 1564 in Geneva, Switzerland, but his ideas and achievements have lived on. In fact, the average citizen should care about him because of the contributions he has made to the world, however positive or negative they may be. John Calvin’s three main contributions that make him historically significant are his development of the doctrine of predestination, his revolutionary reform of the education system, and his emphasis on the protestant work ethic.