This document provides a biography and overview of the theological contributions of John Calvin. It discusses Calvin's background and education in France, his conversion to Protestantism, and his work establishing reformed churches and institutions in Geneva. The summary highlights Calvin's doctrines of God's sovereignty, justification by faith, predestination, the church and sacraments. It also notes Calvin's emphasis on church discipline and the role of the civil magistrate in enforcing morality.

1. G L O R Y T O G O D
JOHN CALVIN

2. General Information
 First of the second generation reformers.
 Born in Noyon, France into a well-to-do family;
(father worked for the bishop of Noyon as somewhat
of an administrative assistant and mother was the
daughter of an innkeeper).
 When he was 12 he obtained a benefice from the
bishop of Noyon and entered minor orders.
 Entered University at Paris in 1523 in preparation for
a career in the clergy.
 He was not too impressed by the sophistry of
scholastic theology at Paris.

3.  Left at the behest of his father in 1528 to study law,
first at Orleans and later at Bourges.
 His legal training afforded him two major things:
 A grounding in “practical affairs” that later came in very
handy as he reshaped the institutions of Geneva.
 It exposed him “to the study of ancient texts” as well as
the classics of antiquity.
 After the death of his father in 1531 he took up the
study of literature which was his true passion.

4.  Initially, he did not look favorably at the teachings
of Luther and the reformation.
 His conversion from Catholicism to Evangelicalism
came somewhere between 1527 and 1534.
 In commenting on his conversion in a 1555 poem,
Calvin portrayed three important trends of
thought:
 His conversion came as a direct result of God’s initiative.
 He saw God as subduing his heart until it became docile.
 Reticence as regards being on the forefront as a reformer.

5.  In 1533 he narrowly escaped from Paris with his
life. Nicholas Cop, a friend of his, preached a
sermon on All Saints Day that proclaimed Christ as
the only mediator, leaving no room for the saints.
 Fled to Basel, a city that had embraced the
teaching of the Reformation.
 First edition of his Institutes was published at
Basel in 1536; Erasmus, whose work he admired,
died at Basel in June of that same year.

6.  This volume was an instant success and its
publication marks the start of a new chapter in his
life.
 His intention was to produce a catechetical work so
that his countrymen would receive instruction in the
things of God.
 In 1536 he decided to move to Strasbourg but due to
military conflict he took a detour that saw him going
to Geneva.
 Was persuaded by Guillaume Farel to stay in Geneva
since if he should not do so he would be under the
condemnation of God.

7. First Geneva Period 1536 – 1538:
 Began his reform taking people back to Word of
God. Saw himself as a Reader in Holy Scripture
to the Church in Geneva.
 Presented lectures on Romans.
 Proposed the following reforms:
 Systematic discipline for all citizens
 Confession of faith by all
 Only believers are allowed to participate in the Lord’s Supper

8.  Young should be instructed in the faith and in good
citizenship.
 Introduced music in worship. Thus the Psalms were sung as an
embellishment of the divine service.
 Established a civil commission to judge matrimonial questions
by the Word of God.
 Established lay officials to watch citizen conduct.
 Instituted a system of Church discipline whereby Church
officials were appointed to the responsibility of carrying out
discipline.
 Pastors should not only preach but watch over lives of their
flock.

9. Strasbourg Period 1538 – 1541:
 Pastored a French congregation.
 Spent three days per week as a “lecturer in Holy
Scripture” in a local school.
 Published a revised edition of his Institutes,
August 1539.
 He also published his Commentary on Romans
that same year, 1539.

10.  Functioned as somewhat of a “Church statesman”
in an effort to reconcile the German and Swiss
Protestants.
 During this period he also participated with Bucer,
chief reformer in Strasbourg, in attempts to reunite
Protestants and Catholics.
 Got married to Idelette de Bure, a woman whose
“conversion” from Anabaptism to the Reformed
faith he was responsible for.

11. Second Geneva Period 1541 – 1564:
 Genevans basically were begging him to return
but he was not willing so to do.
 Persuaded by Bucer to return; Bucer compared
his reluctance to that of Jonah’s.
 Returned under condition that he had a salary
and a place to live
 Set up a Consistory which was a disciplinary
body for the church

12.  Felt the state was obligated :
to protect the church and establish the true
faith
safeguard private property
regulate morality to the word of God
 Believed in a republican form of government

13.  Experienced opposition from City Council
between 1546-55
 Michael Servetus, condemned as a heretic by the
Catholic Church came to Geneva in 1553.
 Servetus denied the Trinity as well as Christ’s divinity. He was
apprehended and burned at stake.
 Solidified Calvin’s shaky political base in Geneva.

14.  Wrote his final edition of the Institutes in 1559
 Established the Geneva Academy in 1559.
 This Academy was used for the purpose of training
young men for ministry.

15. Major Contributions to the Reformation
Doctrine of God:
 God is deserving of all glory because He is God.
 God is sovereign, has absolute authority and is
the lawgiver.
 God is gracious but He is also absolutely just.
 No one can bring God’s actions into judgment.
 Whatever God wills is, ipso facto, righteous.
 For the most part he rejects the scholastic
distinctions of potentia dei absoluta and
potentia dei ordinata.

16. Soteriology:
 Because of our sinful condition, salvation can
only be a reality through Divine intervention.
 Justification is the hinge on which religion turns.
 Justification involves acceptance, remission and
imputation.
 Justification is by faith and “faith unites the
believer to Christ in a ‘mystic union.”’

17.  It is through this “union” that the believer is led
to a justifying experience.
 Acceptance is the gracious acceptance by God.
God accepts us because of what Christ has done
for us.
 Remission is the forgiveness of sins.
 Imputation is the receiving of the righteousness
of Christ.

18.  What Christ has done on the cross is only
meaningful to us when we accept it.
 For him when one comes into union with Christ,
the process of regeneration begins.
 Regeneration is the process of being changed into
the image of God. This process is also known as
sanctification.
 Regeneration, just as is the case with
justification, is a concomitant of the believer’s
union with Christ.

19. Predestination:
 Calvin’s three main arguments for predestination
are:
 Jesus was foreordained from the womb before He had done
anything meritorious.
 God chose Israel because of His love for them. Israel did not do
anything that led God to choose them. Thus God has chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. God’s choice is
outside of the individual. The holy life of the Christian is the
evidence of God choosing him/her for salvation.

20.  Those who have been chosen by God are His and no one
can change that. Some people belong to God by His grace
and they have been given to Jesus. Grace chooses the
elect and the rejected are not rejected because of their
works.
 Predestination - eternal decree of God for all.
God has not created everyone in the “same
condition.”
 Predestination is the decretum horrible, not a
“horrible decree” but an awe-inspiring one.

21.  God actively chooses those who will be saved and
those who will be condemned.
 Context of Predestination follows exposition on
grace. To the “praise of His Grace” some are
chosen for salvation; and to the “praise of His
justice” some are chosen for damnation.
 Mystery of divine revelation and as such should
not be seen as being a product of human
speculation.

22.  God’s election is not limited to salvation; this can
be seen within the overall context of life.
 Predestination helps to shed light on the fact that
some respond positively to the message of the
Gospel and some do not.
 God is not circumscribed by law rather; it is His
sovereign will that is the “foundation of existing
conceptions of morality.”
 Ultimately predestination lies within the realm of
“the inscrutable judgments of God.”

23. The Church and the State:
 Marks of true church: Word of God preached and
Sacraments ministered.
 The Church is the divinely established body of
God.
 Church exists for the sanctification of the people.
 Church is necessary because God has instituted it
as an outward means whereby we can
understand the Gospel.
 The Church is a “communion of saints” where the
members practice sharing.

24.  Unlike Luther, he sees the Church as being
“mother.”
 The pastoral ministry is very important within
the Church. God has called human leaders to lead
the Church and we ought to obey them.
 A suffering Church; this is due to the fact that the
“Gospel provokes controversy.”

25.  Manifestations of the church
 Visible: Community of believers good and bad
 Invisible: Fellowship of saints and company of elect known
only to God.
 Church Organization: Four major positions
 Pastors: Preach word, administer sacraments
 Elders: Oversee life and discipline
 Doctors: Instruct in sound doctrine
 Deacons: Administration and welfare duties

26.  Role of the state finds its foundation in Divine
ordination.
 State is ordained by God as a means of
preserving human well-being; state is not a
punishment given by God to afflict humankind.
 State has the God-given authority to “shed
human blood in the public interest.”
 State is responsible for promoting human good
and restraining “human wickedness.”

27.  Obedience to the state is not “on the grounds of
human necessity, but on the grounds of
obedience to God.”
 God, at times, may use “tyrannical rulers … as a
means of punishment” for the sins of Christians.

28. The Sacraments:
 Identity giving; sacraments give form to the
Christian church
 Defined as being “an external symbol by which the
Lord seals on our consciences his promises of good
will towards us in order to sustain the weakness of
our faith.”
 “Visible sign of scared thing, or a visible form of an
invisible grace.”
 God’s gracious accommodation to our weaknesses,
adaptation to our limitations.

29.  Sees a close connection between the “symbol”
and the thing that is symbolized so that it is
possible to “easily pass from one to the other.”
 Two Sacraments
 Baptism:
 Public demonstration of allegiance to God
 Sign of initiation into society of the Church

30.  Communion:
 Divine promise of assurance that Christ’s sacrifice is for them
 Receiving Christ’s body
 Participates by faith in the benefits of Christ’s work.