Who was John Calvin? How should we see him? This article sketches a biography of Calvin.

Source: The Messenger, 2009. 3 pages.

John Calvin: His Life

This year, 2009, the Lord willing, it will be 500 years ago that the famous reformer, John Calvin, was born. It is ap­propriate, therefore, to reflect on the life, person and work of John Calvin and we plan to do this in a series of articles. Hu­manly speaking, we owe much to this brave Frenchman. We will begin by considering the life of John Calvin.

John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509 at Noyon, in Picardy, 60 miles northeast of Paris, France. He died in Geneva, Switzer­land on May 27, 1564. His French name was actually Jean Cauvin. He soon adopted the Latin version of this name: Johannis Calvinus. This became Calvin in the English-speaking world.

Education🔗

John Calvin was raised in the Roman Cath­olic faith and in 1521, when he was only twelve years of age, he was already studying for the priesthood. In 1523, at the age of fourteen, Calvin was sent to Paris to fur­ther his studies, where he went to live with his uncle, Richard Cauvin and entered the College de la Marche. It was there that he was instructed by Mathurin Cordier, one of the outstanding Latinists of his day. Cal­vin learned to write Latin so well that he would become one of the most outstanding Latin scholars of the sixteenth century. He enjoyed studying, but his joy did not last long in Paris.

After a year, Calvin transferred to the College de Montaigu. At this very conservative and strict Roman Catholic university a medieval spirit was present. The school was very harsh and the students re­ceived little food but many beatings. Yet Calvin learned much at this university: the prin­ciples of logic, philosophy, and medieval theology. He also became acquainted with the writings of the church fathers, especially with Augustine. Calvin’s keen mind and ca­pacity to retain knowledge were thoroughly trained here. The students learned to argue and to dispute according to the rules of log­ic of that time. For example, the students would dispute on matters such as, “who holds on to the pig as it is brought to the market: The man or the rope?”

In 1528 Calvin left this institution to study law in Orleans and in 1529 he stud­ied Roman law in Bourges. This is where he mastered Greek and became increasingly acquainted with the principles of the Refor­mation.

Conversion🔗

1533 was a crucial year in Calvin’s life. This is the year it is generally accepted that he was converted or at least the year when it is known that he personally acknowledged his adherence to the Reformed doctrines of grace. Calvin does not refer to a striking conversion experience and he seldom wrote about himself. There are two places in his writings where he writes about his conversion: Answer to Cardinal Sadoleto’s letter to the citizens of Geneva, and his preface to the Commentary on the book of Psalms.

Calvin states that he was especially held back from accepting Reformed ideas because of his great reverence for the church. In his preface to his Commentary on the Psalms he writes:

And at first, whilst I remained thus so obstinately addicted to the superstitions of the Papacy that it would have been hard indeed to have pulled me out of so deep a quagmire by sudden conversion, God sub­dued and made teachable a heart which for my age, was far too hardened in such mat­ters.

Geneva🔗

While on a trip in July 1536, Calvin ar­rived in Geneva with the idea of staying overnight and resuming his travels the next morning. At that time Guillaume Farel en Pierre Viret had achieved that the estab­lishment of the papacy was expelled from Geneva. But there was still much confusion in the city and Farel needed help. When he heard that Calvin was present in the city, he entreated Calvin to stay and help the min­isters in Geneva to implement the work of reformation.

The work of reformation in Geneva was difficult and Calvin was even banished from Geneva for a stint of three years, until in 1541, the magistrates requested him to re­turn to give spiritual guidance to the tur­moil stricken city. Calvin dreaded returning to Geneva and would have preferred never to see the city again. In a letter to Farel, dat­ed May 19, 1540, Calvin writes: “It would have been far preferable to perish once for all than to be tormented again in that place of torture.” But in September 1541 Calvin returned to Geneva.

Already in 1541 there were five pastors with three assistants in Geneva who togeth­er formed the venerable compagnie des pas­teurs. They were charged with the preach­ing of the Gospel, administering the sacra­ments, and admonishing and disciplining church members. They met every Friday to study the Bible and to discuss theology. Four times per year they discussed their own qualifications as ministers. The rule was that new ministers were to be elected by the venerable company after approval of the candidates by the city government.

The city of Geneva was divided into three parishes. On the Lord’s day, sermons were preached in two churches at daybreak in all three churches at 9 a.m. and at 3 p.m.; cat­echism classes were held at noon. Preaching was conducted in all the churches on Mon­days, Wednesdays and Fridays and by 1560 services were held every day of the week. Calvin desired to have the Lord’s Supper celebrated at least once a month but had to be content with four times per year.

The teachers were to instruct the youth in the doctrines of God’s Word. The el­ders were responsible for discipline and the deacons assisted in the relief of the poor. The consistory, as the church council was called, consisted of the ministers and the el­ders. Initially, there were five ministers and twelve elders.

Calvin’s Work🔗

The total literary output of John Calvin, as far as it has been preserved through the cen­turies, now comprise 59 volumes in Latin and French and would sell at around $1500 US at second hand book auctions.

The work Calvin accomplished is inesti­mable. Calculations have been made that show that Calvin preached 200 times per year and in addition, lectured 200 times. He wrote extensive commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible, besides many tracts, and he continually laboured on revising his major work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. His correspondence was extensive and far-reaching; it was very pastoral and comforting. There were days in which packages filled with letters left Calvin’s home. This would especially be the case when travellers from other countries arrived in Geneva who could readily take letters along to various parts of Europe.

Calvin worked long hours and would often dictate letters and treatises from his bed to a personal secretary. For instance, on December 29, 1555, Calvin wrote as many as nine letters to various people in Poland. Visitors and refugees often came to see him and his home on Rue des Chanoines in Ge­neva became the centre of the activities of the Reformed churches of Europe.

All this is very amazing when we realize that Calvin’s health was frail and he often suffered much pain. It was due to his enor­mous will power and the Lord’s sustaining hand that Calvin continued his great work.

In 1559 Calvin became a citizen of Ge­neva. In that same year the Academy was established in Geneva and Theodore Beza became the first principal. Many young men from Europe studied at Calvin’s theo­logical academy. Among them were John Knox, Guido de Bres, and Jean Taffin, the chaplain of Prince William of Orange of the Netherlands.

The result of Calvin’s work was that at the end of his life, three million of France’s total population of twenty million were considered to be adherents of the Reformed faith.

Calvin’s Death🔗

In May 1564 the end of his life on earth fi­nally came. The asthma and pains increased to the extent that Calvin de­livered his last sermon on Feb­ruary 6. On April 25 he made his will. His associate and suc­cessor, Theodore Beza, was present at Calvin’s deathbed.

On the day of his depar­ture, the 27th of May, he seemed to be stronger, and to speak with less difficul­ty. But it was nature’s last effort, for in the evening, about eight o’clock, symp­toms of approaching death suddenly appeared. I had just left him a little before, and on receiving intima­tion from the servants, im­mediately hastened to him with one of the brethren. We found he had already died, and so very calmly, without any convulsion of his feet or hands, that he did not even fetch a deep­er sigh. He had remained perfectly sensible, and was not entirely deprived of utterance to his very last breath. Indeed, he looked much more like one sleep­ing than dead. On that day, then, at the same time with the setting sun, this splendid luminary was withdrawn from us.

Some foreigners who had come to meet with Calvin asked permission to see his dead body in his house. Many citizens also were eager to take a last look and could hardly be torn away from the body of the deceased reformer. The following day, the Lord’s day, his friends decided it would be better to take his body and place it in a coffin, after they had wrapped it in linen. Two days later, John Calvin was buried in a grave in the common cemetery of Plein Palais, with no extraordinary pomp, as he had requested, and without even a grave­stone. Already a few weeks later, the exact place where John Calvin was buried was not known for certain any more. The location of his grave remains unknown to this pres­ent day.

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