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John Calvin. 1509-1564. John Calvin was the son of a lawyer He was born in Noyon , Picardy and was therefore a Frenchman . In 1523 he went to the University of Paris where he studied theology .
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John Calvin 1509-1564
John Calvin was the son of a lawyer He was born in Noyon, Picardy and was therefore a Frenchman. In 1523 he went to the University of Paris where he studied theology. In 1528 he went to Orleans to study Law, and one year later Calvin went to Bourges also to study Law. At some point between 1528 and 1533 he experienced a "sudden conversion" and grasped Protestantism.
Calvin and the Church Government Calvin drew up the Ecclesiastical Ordinances. He rejected the organisation of the Medieval Church as contrary to the New Testament. He wanted a church modelled on the church in Apostolic times. Calvin believed that the church and state should be separate but the consistory tried moral and religious offenders.
Calvin’s Beliefs Calvinism was based around the absolute power and supremacy of God. Calvin believed that Man was sinful and could only approach God through faith in Christ - not through Mass and pilgrimages. Calvin believed that the New Testament and baptism and the Eucharist had been created to provide Man with continual divine guidance when seeking faith. In Calvin’s view, Man, who is corrupt, is confronted by the omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (present everywhere) God who before the world began predestined some for eternal salvation (the Elect) while the others would suffer everlasting damnation (the Reprobates). Calvinism was a belief that was dependent on the strength of the individual. You controlled your own goodness on Earth and this depended on the strength of your inner conviction.
Calvin and Europe Geneva became the most influential city in the Protestant movement. The first Huguenot (Calvinist) ministers arrived in France in 1553. By 1563, there were nearly 90 Huguenots in France and the speed of its spread surprised even Calvin. Calvinism did not spread far in Poland. Why ? Most Poles did not speak German and therefore language remained a major stumbling block as most Calvinist preachers did not speak Polish and could not communicate with the population. Another problem was that numerous Protestant religions already existed in Poland (Bohemian Brethren, Anabaptists, Unitarians etc.) and those who might be won away from the Catholic Church had already been so.
