Predestined Reformer
All things being at God’s disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
He may be the most polarizing man in church history.
He is loved by many and despised by others. Hailed by some theologians and dismissed by others. Some consider him to be one of the most significant thinkers and Reformers in history while others think he undermined the world’s view of God.
Saint or devil? Over five hundred years later people are still arguing about this shy, sickly Frenchman named John Calvin.
Education of a World Changer
Calvin was born in Noyon, a small town sixty miles from Paris. His father was a lawyer who worked for the church. His mother died just a few years after Calvin’s birth, the cause unknown. His father, Gérard Cauvin (Calvin is a shortened, Latinized version of Cauvin), valued education and sent Calvin, only fourteen at the time, to Paris so he could study with the finest academic minds. There John developed a writing style that would forever influence French prose. He also developed a keen sense of logic. Both talents would serve him during his life and ministry.
Initially, Calvin’s father planned for his son to work in the church, but that changed with a falling-out between his father and the Catholic Church. Calvin was forced to switch from theology to something his father believed would earn Calvin more money: law. Calvin studied law at the University of Orleans and Bourges, but his heart remained drawn to theology and the classics. He wanted to spend his life in study and teaching. Such a career suited his shy, antisocial leanings, but it was not what his father wanted. But in 1531, Calvin’s father died after a two-year battle with testicular cancer, freeing Calvin to pursue his academic dreams. He returned to Paris to study, looking forward to a scholar’s career.
Not all of Calvin’s education came from books and professors, however. Some things he learned through life experiences. He made friends with Nicholas Cop, who had recently been appointed rector at the University of Paris. In general, Reformers like Martin Luther were disdained at the college, but Cop, in his inaugural speech, aligned himself with those who believed the Catholic Church needed reform and renewal. Charges of heresy were brought against him and within two days he was forced to flee. John Calvin chose to flee with Cop, and because of their friendship many assumed Calvin had written or at least contributed to Cop’s speech. Calvin eventually landed in Basel, Switzerland. There the young scholar first gave his greatest gift to the church.
The Institutes
In March 1536, Calvin released the first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion. The work is considered one of the greatest and clearest descriptions of Protestant thought ever conceived. Calvin would continue the work through his adult life, expanding it over time. The first edition brought fame to the twenty-seven-year-old theologian, and that fame drew the attention of a man who would alter the great Reformer’s life.
Calvin wanted to go to Strasbourg, but war in the area forced him to detour to Geneva. His plan was to spend one night there, but William Farel, a Reformer in the city, heard the author of the Institutes was in town and sought him out. After a discussion, Farel insisted Calvin join him in his Reformation efforts. At first Calvin wanted nothing to do with it. He simply desired a quiet place to study, which was for him, heaven. Farel refused to let the matter rest, accusing Calvin of chasing his own interests instead of those of God. He promised God’s punishment on Calvin and the threat worked. Farel’s strong words and tone terrified Calvin. He said it was as if God had reached from heaven and touched him. Geneva became his new home.
Church and City
Geneva was a city in turmoil and known for its lax morality. In an interesting combination of work, Calvin—perhaps because of his law degree and his theological aptitude—was given a position in the city: Professor of Sacred Scripture. In this role, and the role he would later play in the city, he blended church and city, at least in function and administration.
Calvin drew up a confession of faith, a set of doctrines, that everyone who wanted to be a citizen of Geneva had to agree to. He also worked on an education program for the population and delved into the operations of the city government. He had no desire to be a city manager, but he did long to set up a city for God. He even established rules for excommunication.
It is easy to understand how some people would object to this. One dispute centered on who was responsible for excommunicating those who gambled, skipped church, drank too much, or went dancing. It was a tense dispute, one that Calvin and Farel’s opponents won. This defeat forced them to leave Geneva within three days.
After his forced exit from Geneva, Calvin finally made his way to Strasbourg, and for three years did what he had always wanted to do: study and write. He also served as pastor to a church of French refugees. He even found a wife, the widow Idelette de Bure, who remained with him until her death in 1549. He never remarried.
Yet Geneva wasn’t finished with John Calvin. His supporters regained power in the city and pleaded with him to return to take up his Reforming work again. He did so from a sense of duty to God. His three-year forced sabbatical was over.
The next few years would see great progress in the church and in the city, with many of his ideas put in place, but opposition still remained and he came close to being forced out of town several times. John Knox, the Scottish Protestant Reformer, visited Geneva and called it, “The most perfect school of Christ that ever was on earth since the days of the Apostles.”1
Black Spot
In 1553 an event happened in Geneva that many consider a smudge on Calvin’s reputation, a stain that is difficult to overlook. A Spanish physician held a doctrine the Roman Catholic Church considered heretical. Protestants felt the same. Michael Servetus was a polymath, capable of working in many fields. He wrote on theological matters that challenged traditional doctrine, especially the Trinity and infant baptism. Having been declared a heretic, he fled Spain and came to Geneva, where he was recognized and arrested. He had as much to fear from the Protestants as the Catholics.
Calvin wrote to his friend William Farel in August of 1553 recounting some of the early events:
After he [Servetus] had been recognized, I thought he should be detained. My friend Nicolas summoned him on a capital charge, offering himself as a security according to the lex talionis (punishment resembles offense). On the following day he adduced against him forty written charges. He at first sought to evade them. Accordingly we were summoned. He impudently reviled me, just as if he regarded me as obnoxious to him. I answered him as he deserved . . . of the man’s effrontery I will say nothing; but such was his madness that he did not hesitate to say that devils possessed divinity; yea, that many gods were in individual devils, inasmuch as a deity had been substantially communicated to those equally with wood and stone. I hope that sentence of death will at least be passed on him; but I desired that the severity of the punishment be mitigated.2
Calvin felt beheading was kinder than burning at the stake. The others ignored his suggestion. Still, Calvin believed Servetus’ doctrinal crimes deserved death. It is difficult to overlook the irony of Calvin’s consent to Servetus’ execution since he fled Paris to escape a similar manhunt. There is, however, more background to the issue.
Today, church and state are often kept apart. One does not control the other. In Calvin’s time things were different. Church and state were inseparable, a blend of heavenly and earthly kingdoms. To attack one was to attack the other. Church leaders believed it was the responsibility of the state to protect and enforce church doctrine. This was especially true in Geneva where Calvin helped set up the city as a near-theocracy (a God-led government). When Servetus came to town, it was the theological equivalent of an invading army. At stake was not just belief but the operation of the city and the churches within.
Calvin had had dealings with Michael Servetus in the past. The latter had taken a copy of Calvin’s Institutes and wrote challenging notes on nearly every page. In response Calvin said every page had Servetus’ vomit on it. So there were certainly also personal issues at stake.
To Calvin and those around him, Servetus presented a real danger to church, city, country, and person.
T.U.L.I.P.
Some of Calvin’s doctrine split the Reformers in Geneva, primarily his view of predestination. Although the idea was not unique to Calvin, as others including Martin Luther held to a form of predestination, the doctrine is most clearly defined by, and therefore associated with, him.
Predestination, in Calvin’s doctrinal view, is the belief that God has, from the beginning of time, elected (selected) some people to be saved, and by doing so leaves those not elected to be forever outside God’s love and grace. This doctrine walks in lockstep with other key beliefs. Over the years a memory device has been used to help students remember these elements. Each doctrine is defined by a letter that spells tulip.
T: Total Depravity
The belief that sin from Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden affects all people, leaving everyone spiritually dead and therefore unable to do anything to help in his or her salvation.
U: Unconditional Election
Since all humans are spiritually dead and unable to do anything about it, God must do something about it and he has, in eternity past, selected some to receive salvation. This is “unconditional,” meaning that a person’s election is not based on their response. It is solely God’s doing.
L: Limited Atonement
Jesus died on the cross so the elect—not everyone or anyone—and the elect alone could be saved. In other words, Christ’s death and the salvation that comes from the sacrifice applies to the elect alone. Jesus died for the elect, not all humanity.
I: Irresistible Grace
Those whom God chose and Christ died for will come to faith. God has willed it and every one of the elect will be saved. There can be no change.
P: Perseverance of Saints
None of the elect will be lost. Their salvation is eternally secure. God through the Holy Spirit will cause the saints (the elect) to persevere.
These elements are at the heart of several denominations, including Presbyterians, some Baptists (but not all), Congregational churches, and Reformed churches. Others, however, are uncomfortable with Calvin’s conclusions (see chapter on Arminius) and find in the Bible passages that suggest the opposite of the above. Instead of “total depravity,” they believe that all humans inherit a sin nature but still have free will to accept or reject Christ. They deny “unconditional election,” believing instead that God loves everyone and each person has the opportunity to accept salvation should they choose. “Limited atonement” doesn’t work for the non-Calvinist who believes that Christ died for the world, not just the elect. They also reject the idea that grace is irresistible, believing that people have free will and can resist God. Perseverance of the saints is accepted by some non-Calvinist groups and rejected by others, primarily Church of Christ and Pentecostal churches.
Impact
Agree with Calvin or not, there is no denying that he has shaped the church and theology as much as Luther or Augustine. His ideas have also shaped governments and philosophy. His Institutes is a tour de force in theological writing and his writing style influenced French composition.
The young man who wanted to be a classical scholar became one of the most influential people in church history.