“There is nothing upon which men need to be more instructed than upon the question of what Calvinism really is,” Charles Spurgeon once said (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 7:301). This article will deal with the heart of Reformed theology and consider Reformed theology from a historical perspective.

Born out of Protest⤒🔗

The sixteenth-century movement of religious renewal in Europe that we refer to as the Protestant Reforma­tion was not an isolated phenomenon. It didn’t really begin, either, with Martin Luther’s act of posting his 95 Theses on the church doors of Wittenberg, even though those theses were later translated into numer­ous languages and distributed to the masses. Rather, the Reformation flowed out of earlier attempts for revival, the most notable of which were led by Peter Waldo and his followers in the Alpine regions, John Wycliffe and the Lollards in England, and John Hus and his followers in Bohemia. Other lesser-known divines, such as Thomas Bradwardine and Gregory of Rimini, came even closer to what would become known as Protestant theology. All these men are properly called forerunners of the Reformation rather than Reformers because, although they anticipated much of the emphases of the Reformation’s doctrine, they lacked a complete understanding of the critical doctrine of jus­tification by gracious faith alone.

These forerunners of the Reformation were morally, doctrinally, and practically united in their opposition to medieval Roman Catholic abuses. This is critical to note, since the Reformation itself was a reaction to the abuses of Roman Catholicism. Luther did not set out to destroy the Roman Catholic Church and to establish a new church. His initial intent was only to purge the Roman Catholic Church of abuses.

Reformed theology thus cannot be fully understood apart from its reaction to abuses in the church, such as:

• Papal abuses. The medieval papacy was rife with abuse in theology and practice. Immoral conduct was lived out and condoned, even by the popes, and grace became a cheap, commercialized religion throughout the church via a complex system of vows, fasts, pilgrimages, masses, relics, recitations, rosaries, and other works. The papal attitude was “Do penance” (as translated in the Vulgate) rather than “Be penitent,” or “repent,” as Jesus commanded.
• Papal pretentiousness. Fresh biblical and historical study done by Protestant forerunners led them to question papal claims to exercise apostolic authority as head of the church. For example, the Reformers concluded that the rock on which the church was built was the content of Peter’s faith rather than Peter himself, which meant that the bishop of Rome possessed no more than a position of honor. Though the Protestants were initially willing to accept a reformed papacy that would honorably serve the church, the cruel opposition of the popes to reform eventually persuaded the Protes­tants to regard the pope of Rome as Antichrist (cf. Westminster Confession of Faith, 25.6).
• Captivity of the Word. Protestants taught that the Roman Catholic Church held Scripture captive, withholding it from the laity, thus keeping them in bondage to church councils, bishops, schoolmen, canonists, and allegorists for interpretation. The Protestants worked hard to deliver the Word from hierarchical captivity.
• Superiority of monasticism. Protestants opposed the Roman Catholic concept of the superiority of the so-called religious life. The Protestants did not believe that monasticism was the best or only way to spirituality. By stressing the priesthood of all believers, they worked hard to eliminate the Roman Catholic distinction between the inferior life of the Christian involved in a secular calling and the higher religious world of monks and nuns.
• Usurped mediation. Protestants opposed the Roman Catholic idea of mediation by Mary or the intercession of saints, as well as the automatic transfusion of grace in the sacraments. They rejected all forms of mediation with God except through Christ. They reduced the sacraments to two, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, thereby stripping priests and the church of mediating power and the sacramental dispensation of salvation.
• The role of good works. Protestants rejected the ideas of semi-Pelagianism, which are that both grace and works are necessary for salvation. This theological difference was at the heart of Protestant opposition to Roman Catholicism, though it was largely through moral and practical corruption that the issue came to the fore.

The Protestant response to Roman Catholic abuses gradually settled into five Reformation watchwords or battle cries, centered around the Latin word solus, meaning “alone.” These battle cries, which will be expounded in next month’s article, capsulize Protestant teaching over against Roman Catholicism in the following ways:

The first of these battle cries deals with the funda­mental issue of authority, the middle three deal with the basics of salvation, and the final watchword addresses worship.

In early Protestantism, both Lutheran and Reformed believers embraced these five solas. Sadly, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), the early leader of the Swiss Reformation, parted ways in October 1529 during the infamous Marburg Colloquy, when they could not reach agreement on the nature of Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper. From that time on, Protestantism divided into two traditions, Lutheranism and Calvinism — the latter being the Reformed tradition as understood and expressed in the writings of John Calvin and his fellow Reformers.

The Spread of the Reformed Faith←⤒🔗

The Reformed tradition has its earliest roots in Switzerland with Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), who established and systematized it after Zwingli’s death. John Calvin (1509-1564), its greatest representative and most influential exponent, established Geneva as a model Reformed city. Due to Zwingli’s premature death on the battlefield and Calvin’s able work in systematizing Reformed Protestantism through his Institutes, commentaries, sermons, and leadership, the terms Reformed and Calvinism became virtually synonymous.

The Reformed movement then spread to Germany. The city of Heidelberg, where the Heidelberg Catechism originated, became an influential center of Reformed thinking. Nonetheless, Germany remained for the most part staunchly Lutheran. A minority of Lutherans in Germany were affected by Calvin’s thinking, most notably Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), a close asso­ciate of Luther, who was unkindly referred to by his peers as a crypto-Calvinist. Eventually, a number of Melanchthon’s followers, estranged from the Lutherans after Luther, joined the Reformed Church in Germany.

Calvinism also took hold in Hungary, Poland, and the Low Countries, particularly the Netherlands. John Knox (1513-1572) brought it from Geneva to Scotland and became its most notable spokesman. The remainder of the British Isles embraced Calvinism in varying degrees. Eventually, Calvinism moved from Britain across the Atlantic to the British colonies in North America, where Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) took the lead in expounding Reformed theology. With the exception of America, all of this movement hap­pened by the end of the sixteenth century.

The Reformed movement also made substantial inroads into France, but it was soon nearly eradicated by Roman Catholic persecution. The most extensive and enduring strongholds of the Reformed movement became the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Great Britain, and North America.

In time, the Reformed movement developed into two very similar systems of theology: the Continental Reformed, represented primarily in the Netherlands by its Three Forms of Unity, the Belgic Confession, Hei­delberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort; and British-American Presbyterianism, expressed in the Westminster standards of faith. These two systems were not opposed to or entirely separate from each other, however. For example, the British Puritans pro­foundly influenced the Dutch Second Reformation (Nadere Reformatie) movement. Likewise, the Italian-Swiss Francis Turretin (1623-1687) profoundly affected American Presbyterianism. Turretin’s systematic theology was taught at Princeton Seminary until the 1870s, when it was replaced with that of Charles Hodge.

Calvinism and the Lutherans←⤒🔗

Both systems of Reformed theology parted ways with Lutheranism. By the end of the sixteenth century, Calvinism differed from Lutheranism in the following ways:

• In their approach to the Lord’s Supper. Lutherans continued to maintain the doctrine of consubstantiation, which says that Christ is physically present in, with, and under the elements in the Lord’s Supper. They resisted any attempt to explain “this is my body” as a metaphor, saying that this opened the door to allego­rizing away the gospel itself. Furthermore, they said, if all that is offered in Communion is a spiritual Christ, how can we, whose bodies will eventually die, find comfort in such a truncated gospel? Lutherans would be satisfied only with a concrete, historical Christ.
  The Reformed leaders said that their concern about the incarnate, historical Christ was what led to their conviction that He was now risen and ascended and therefore not present in the Supper in the way He was prior to His ascension. Furthermore, Christ’s spiritual presence does not mean something less than complete, but refers to His ongoing work through His Spirit. The Reformed believed they were affirming all that the Lutherans wanted to protect but in a clearer, more bib­lical manner.
• In the primary function of the Law. Luther generally regarded the Law as something negative and closely allied with sin, death, or the devil. Luther believed that the dominant function of the Law is to abase the sin­ner by convicting him of sin and driving him to Christ for deliverance.
  Calvin regarded the Law more as a guide for the believer, to encourage him to cling to God and to obey God more fervently. The believer must try to follow God’s Law not as an act of compulsory obedience but as a response of grateful obedience, Calvin said. With the help of the Spirit, the Law evokes gratitude in the believer.
• In their approach to salvation. Both Lutherans and Calvinists answered the question “What must I do to be saved?” by saying that Spirit-worked repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary work of atonement are necessary. But Lutherans had a tendency to remain focused on the matter of justification, whereas Calvinists pressed toward sanctification, which asks, “Having been justified by God’s grace, how shall I live to the glory of God?” In that sense, Calvinism became more compre­hensive than Lutheranism in explaining how salvation works itself out in the life of a believer.
• In their understanding of predestination. In the late sixteenth century, most Lutherans moved away from Luther and the Calvinists who asserted double predestination (election and reprobation) rather than single predestination (election only). Reformed theologians believed this shift in thinking was at odds with the content of Romans 9 and similar passages, as well as the comprehensive sovereignty of God.
  The Calvinists were convinced that election is sovereign and gracious, and reprobation is sovereign and just. No one who enters heaven deserves to be there; no one who enters hell deserves anything different. As Calvin said, “The praise of salvation is claimed for God, whereas the blame of perdition is thrown upon those who of their own accord bring it upon themselves.”
• In their understanding of worship. The Lutherans and Calvinists held a different view on how Scripture regu­lates worship. The Lutherans taught that we may include in worship what is not forbidden in Scripture; the Calvinists maintained that we may not include in worship anything that Scripture does not command.

Calvinism Today←⤒🔗

Calvinism has stood the test of time. Most Protestant denominations that originated in the Reformation were founded on Calvinistic confessions of faith, such as the Thirty-Nine Articles (Anglicanism), the Canons of Dort (Reformed), the Westminster standards (Presbyterian­ism), the Savoy Declaration (Congregationalism), and the Baptist Confession of 1689 (Baptists). All of these confessions essentially agree with each other, with the major exception being the doctrine of infant baptism.

Calvinism has also produced a number of smaller churches and denominations around the world. Reformed churches exist in the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom, North America, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Korea, China, Russia, and to a smaller degree, in numerous additional African and Asian countries. Since the 1950s, there has been a resurgence of interest in Calvinistic literature. Calvinistic conferences are being offered in numerous countries. Let us pray that the number of biblical Calvinists would greatly multiply in this millennium.