A special celebration will take place on July 10, 2009, for on that day churches and individuals around the world will remember the 500th anniversary of the birth of the great French reformer John Calvin. Ordinarily no one takes note of someone born five centuries ago. We consign such people to ashes and oblivion. Yet that is not the case with John Calvin. Five hundreds of dust may cover his grave but not his memory. Rather he continues to be a figure that intrigues historians, challenges theologians, attracts sociologists, surprises economists, and gladdens publishers. Indeed, the last decades have seen the appearance of a steady stream of essays, papers, and books about this ancient man. So what accounts for all of this fame and attention? What makes him so popular still?

That is a hard question to answer. It is hard not because there is nothing to say about him but because there is so much. Calvin was in many ways a multi-faceted reformer. Consider only the following:

Biblical Reformer⤒🔗

The first thing that strikes someone who examines the life and work of Calvin is his immense literary productivity. His commentaries are many and deal with most of the books of the Bible. In a very careful, respectful, and scholarly manner he interacts with the biblical text. At the same time his comments are replete with references to both of the main biblical languages: Hebrew and Greek.

In the process some may complain that the remarks he makes are on the dry side, or that they are too scholarly, or too wordy. They would prefer to see more application and illustration. Be that as it may, no one who takes up the challenge to read Calvin will ever come away saying that he does not take the Bible seriously or do his utmost to unearth and apply what it has to say. Nor will they ever come away empty handed, for there is always some truth expounded or some teaching explained to stir one’s mind and fill one’s soul.

Historical Reformer←⤒🔗

Although it is present in his commentaries too, a reading of his Institutes of the Christian Religion brings one face to face with Calvin’s many references to the fathers of the early Christian church and with the church controversies and issues of the past. Already very early on in his ministerial career, Calvin was involved in theological disputations and debates throughout Switzerland and beyond. What astounded many who witnessed these events and later commented on them is the extensive knowledge that Calvin had of the fathers of both the Greek and Western churches. Ambrose, Augustine, Irenaeus, or Tertullian, he could quote them all, and he often did.

The result of this is that Calvin’s arguments are never superficial or speculative. He could and he did bring the weight of church history to bear on the issues of his day. Often the impression that one is left with is that when you are arguing with Calvin you are not just arguing with him alone but with the whole church of the past as well.

Doctrinal Reformer←⤒🔗

By means of tracts and treatises, as well as catechisms and forms, Calvin set forth his doctrinal views; however, there is no doubt that it is especially in his Institutes that one finds the most detailed and extensive treatment of what he believed and professed. In that most famous work of his, Calvin supplies us with a very systematic, thorough, and elaborate defence of Reformed doctrine.

At the same time it is good to realize that the Institutes was not a work of the spur of the moment but rather it represents the labour of a lifetime. Calvin wrote the first edition of it at a relatively young age and thereafter he kept on coming back to it, adding and deleting, revising and correcting, almost to the time of his death. Indeed, it is a fascinating thing to read what the well-known Calvin scholar Ford Lewis Battles writes about the evolution of Calvin’s Institutes.

Church Reformer←⤒🔗

In spite of Calvin’s voluminous writings it would, however, be wrong to limit his influence to the study. Rather what Calvin learned from Scripture, church history, and church fathers spilled over into the church. His stress on biblical preaching shifted the focus in the worship services from the mass to the Word. He reformed and revitalized the church by moving it away from the rituals and inventions of the Roman church and back to the biblical elements of Word, sacrament, prayer, offering, and singing. He abolished the office of the priest and revived the biblical offices of elder, pastor, teacher, and deacon. He, just like Martin Luther, denounced the clergy-laity distinction and promoted the office of all believers.

Liturgical Reformer←⤒🔗

One area of Calvin’s church reforming work that merits additional attention has to do with the area of worship or liturgy. It was during his Strasbourg years (1538-1541) that Calvin translated and adapted the liturgy developed by Martin Bucer, a fellow reformer and mentor. In it he stressed the following order of worship: invocation, prayer, confession, absolution, singing of the Ten Commandments, Scripture reading, sermon, singing of a psalm or hymn, and the benediction.

It should also be noted that Calvin was convinced that the Book of Psalms was the real and true songbook of the church. Hence he promoted its use vigorously and wanted to bring the churches of Geneva and the Reformation into line with the church of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the apostolic period. In 1539 Calvin compiled a book that contained eighteen psalms. These psalms were versified in French by Clement Marot and accompanied with musical notation. Later Marot came to Geneva and, together with Louis Bourgeois, added more psalms and hymns. Meanwhile, Calvin directed the process and added several hymns of his own composition to the Genevan version of the psalter.

Polemical Reformer←⤒🔗

Throughout his ministry Calvin was never afraid or hesitant to defend the Reformed faith against all critics and detractors. When Cardinal Jacopo Sadeleto wrote a letter inviting the citizens of Geneva to return to the Roman fold, it was Calvin who took up his pen and wrote his famous Reply to Sadoleto. When a number of Anabaptist radicals championed the cause of soul sleep, it was Calvin who countered their views in his tract called Psychopannychia. When Pierre Caroli, a Protestant minister, accused him of Arianism, Calvin defended his belief in the Trinity. And so it went with countless others, such as Jerome Bolsec, Joachim Westphal, and Sebastian Castellio. Calvin’s pen was rarely idle and his life was rarely without controversy.

Gentle Reformer←⤒🔗

I realize that in calling Calvin a “gentle reformer” I am moving into controversial territory, but still it is a point that needs to be made. For what is the common impression that people have of Calvin? Surely it is one of coldness, ruthlessness, and fanaticism.

No doubt some of paintings and portraits that we have of Calvin contribute to this. None of them exactly portray or depict him as a friendly and approachable person. The eyes, the mouth, the dress all make him out to be very intimidating.

In addition, there is no doubt that at least in his younger years Calvin had a temper and that it often came to the fore. As well when one reads some of his tracts in which he defends the faith and attacks his critics, the language comes across as strong, blunt, and almost offensive. The gentle forms of debate that we have today were unknown in Calvin’s day by both him and his opponents.

Nevertheless, there was another side to the man. It is a side that not many know about. Still, it was there and it is illustrated and proven in a little known book written by Richard Stauffer called The Humanness of John Calvin. In it he quotes directly from Calvin’s letters and shows him to be a loving husband, a kind father, a faithful friend, and a sensitive pastor. In short, there was a gentle side to him.

Political Reformer←⤒🔗

Moving from one little known area to another, it may also be said that Calvin had a political impact as well. Of course, this is not to say that Calvin wrote about politics specifically. Nevertheless, a careful reading of Calvin’s works indicates that he had relevant things to say about the political realm and that any number of those things took root.

With regard to the ever thorny issue of church-state relations, Calvin made it quite clear that church and state occupy two different and separate spheres of activity and influence. He made this point especially in connection with his long struggle with the political councils in Geneva. Calvin consistently and constantly argued that the area of church discipline was beyond the jurisdiction of the state and urged the members of the various councils to leave it to the church to take care of the total spiritual welfare of the believers.

Another pressing political matter also had Calvin’s attention and it had to do with the Christian’s duty to obey tyrants. He said that political rulers must be obeyed as God’s servants, but that in cases of dispute, God is to be obeyed rather than man. Furthermore, he added that in the final analysis wicked rulers will face the judgment of almighty God. And as for the matter of resistance or civil disobedience, Calvin insisted that it was the task of the lesser magistrates to protect the people and that it was up to them to lead the people if resistance proved necessary.

Social Reformer←⤒🔗

Just as Calvin never wrote a separate treatise on politics, so he also never wrote a separate treatise on social and economic matters either. Nevertheless, here again Calvin proved influential, for a careful reading of his commentaries indicates that he passes along many pertinent comments having to do with the areas of money, poverty, wealth re-distribution, interest rates, unemployment, state-sponsored industries, property, salaries, and trade.

Those who have a particular interest in these areas as they relate to Calvin should consult a seminal work written by Andre Bieler called Calvin’s Economic and Social Thought (Geneva, 2005). It will furnish you with wonderful, but also surprising insights into both Calvin’s social and economic thinking.

Educational Reformer←⤒🔗

In June of 1559, Calvin founded the Genevan Academy and appointed to it many of the teachers and preachers who had been expelled from the city of Bern. Among these teachers was Theodore Beza who was made the rector and later became his successor. Things went well and in 1564 a building was erected which still stands in Geneva to this day as part of the University of Geneva.

This Academy was divided into two distinct divisions, one provided a more general arts education and the other specialized in theological education. Most of the students in the latter were foreigners and were greatly used by the Lord over the years to spread the teachings of Calvin to other lands. In time this Academy evolved into a university, but in its early years, it was noteworthy for the impact that it had in advancing the cause of the Calvinist Reformation throughout Europe.

In conclusion what the above shows you is that Calvin was a man immensely gifted by God. Over the last five hundred years, his teaching in many different areas has shaped and moulded our lives and also the life of the Western world. We have ample reason to be thankful to God for him and to hope and pray that in our rapidly secularized society his contributions to the faith will not be forgotten.