John Calvin :: essays papers

John Calvin John Calvin was the founder of the Calvinist faith, the Presbyterian denomination of Christianity today. Calvin was born and died in 1564. John Calvin was one of the chief leaders of the Protestant Reformation. From his early life and start in Protestantism, to his life in Geneva, and the Proclamation of his faith, Calvin was an incredible individual. Calvin was born in Noyon, France, near Compiegne. His father was a lawyer for the Roman Catholic Church. Young Calvin was educated in Paris, Orleans and Bourges. Calvin planned to be a lawyer as his father was, but it is likely that he never inwardly committed himself to that career. With his father died in May of 1931, Calvin was free to make his choice. He completed his doctorate in law but then came to study Greek and Latin and the University of Paris. Calvin's life then took a new direction that he refers to as a "sudden conversion". He writes about his experience in the introduction to his Commentary on the Psalms written in 1557: "Since I was more stubbornly addicted to the superstitions of the Papacy than to be easily drawn out of so deep a mire, God subdued my heart-too stubborn for my age-to docility by a sudden conversion." Therefore, by 1533 Calvin had declared himself a Protestant. In 1534 Calvin moved to Basel, Switzerland where there, two years later in 1536, he published his first edition on Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin's book was the most influential work in the development of the Protestant churches of the Reformed tradition. It sets forth his basic ideas of religion, and he expanded it throughout his life. After much persuasion in 1536, Calvin became a leader of Geneva's first group of Protestant pastors, even though he was probably never ordained a priest. In 1538, Calvin and some of the other Protestant pastors were banished for their strict doctrines. While Calvin was banished from Geneva he became the pastor of a French refugee Protestant church in Strasbourg, Germany. There he met Martin Baucer who greatly influenced him. Calvin adapted many of Baucer's ideas on church government and worship. Also while in Strasbourg, Calvin met and married Idelette de Bure, a widow. The couple's only child died in infancy. In 1541 the Geneva city council begged Calvin to return due to their lack of able religious and political leadership. Calvin's wife died in 1549 and he never remarried. Calvin developed a constitution for Geneva with dealt with both secular and sacred matters.