What Influence Did John Calvin Have On Church History

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

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 began during the Renaissance time period, it was the attempt to reform the Roman Catholic church. It led to the creation of Protestant churches. This reformation began after multiple church leaders started demanding individuals to supply them with such large quantities of goods, food, and money that individuals did not have much left to provide to their own family. Several believed if they did not contribute and present the church with what they asked, they would be denied entrance to heaven once they passed away. People saw how the church thrived while those who contributed were ravenous and penniless. Martin Luther, a monk, noticed several inaccuracies between what the Roman Catholic Church practiced and the Bible as he studied the Bible. He decided to speak out by creating the 95 Theses, and nailing it on the entrance of a catholic church. Protestants who had similar view as Luther’s began Luther-ism. John Calvin, had very similar views as Luther and was even inspired by him to reform the Catholic Church as well. I most admire Martin Luther because of how he spoke up and protested against the Roman Catholic church when he knew it could put him in danger, but I am most similar to John Calvin because of how he believes in predestination and how faith is revealed by living a righteous life.

John Calvin  He spelled out his doctrine in 1536 called Institutes of the Christian Religion.  He formed Calvinism.

1.John Calvin- Martin Luther’s follower as a Protestant theologian, and the biggest figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.

John Calvin, a Genevan, modified Martin Luther’s ideas of the Reformation to create the faith of Calvinism, and later wrote the Latin tome Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.

Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were the two of the most influential reformers during the Protestant Reformation. Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Chapel in 1517 in response to the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church. In Switzerland, Calvin also had new ideas about religion, the main being predestination (the belief that people's fates (whether they go to Heaven or Hell) are predetermined when they are born). Their reforms and ideas definitely laid the foundation for capitalism, free government/democracy, religious tolerance, and individualism, but I do not believe that the reformers (people like Luther and Calvin) had the direct intention of doing these things.

The Reformation was a high religion stage that took place during Western Churches of the 16th century. Martin Luther King Jr. and also John Calvin was one of the greatest leaders of all time. The ability to have these two powerful men; at which Martin and Calvin both had brought forth an economic, political, and social effect. This had made the Reformation a founding of Protestantism. This made this one of the three major branches of Christianity.

John Calvin of Geneva: religious leader that elaborated Luther’s ideas and founded Calvinism (dominant ideo. of New England Puritans)

John Calvin: Believed a reformation was needed so much he had ideas that affected the New World’s future

John Calvin, the founder of Calvinism, believed in absolute dominance of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal sentence. He wrote many commentaries on most books in the Bible and created a lot of controversy. Calvin helped reform the church in Geneva. His spent his final years promoting reformation throughout

John Calvin was a lawyer, but he became dedicated to reforming the church. In the 1520s the people of Geneva revolted against their rulers and Calvin was invited to build a Reformed Church of Geneva. He rearranged the organization of the church governing system and the social organization of the church and the city. He organized based entirely on biblical principles. He imposed a strict moral code derived from the scriptures.

Calvin was forced to take refuge with some other reformers at a castle in Pau with Queen Marguerite of Navarre (King Francis I's sister: she was a noble name in church history). After living this fugitive life style for a while he decided to flee to Switzerland, where at twenty six he published the writings of his catechism, Institutes for the Christian Religion. He published these works with a bold preface addressed to King Francis I to help convince him that protestants were of no threat to his rule, but that did not work (Lord).

Martin Luther and John Calvin were both leaders in the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was a monk, or priest, in the Augustinian friars’ order and his ideals were that Catholicism were corrupting the New Testament beliefs and people were saved by faith alone not by buying their way into heaven. John Calvin studied law “but in 1533 he experienced a religious crisis, as a result of which he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism. Calvin believed that God had specifically selected him to reform the church” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448). “The cornerstone of Calvin’s theology was his belief in the absolute sovereignty and omnipotence of God and the total weakness of humanity” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448).

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.