John Calvin the Journalist, Theologian and the Father of Presbyterian (1509 - 1564)

Synopsis

 

When talking about Presbyterian, we always remember John Calvin. Who is John Calvin? John Calvin is the Journalist and the Theologian. He made a powerful impact on the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism, and is widely credited as the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. He is also known  and called the Father of Presbyterian. He died in Geneva , Switzerland in 1564.

 

 

Background

 

John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509, in Noyon, Picardy, France. He was a law student at the university of Orleans when he first joined the cause of the reformation. In 1536 he published the Landmark Text Institute of the Christian Religion and early attempt to standardize the theories of Protestantism. Calvin's religious teachings emphasized the sovereignty of the scriptures and divine predestination a doctrine holding that God chooses those who will enter Heaven based His omnipotence and Grace.

 

Leading Figure of Reformation

 

John Calvin lived in Geneva briefly, until anti-Protestant authorities in 1538 forced him to leave. He was invited back again in 1541, and upon his return from Germany, where he had been living, he became an important spiritual and political leader. John Calvin used Protestant Principles to establish a religious government; and in 1555 he was given absolute supremacy as leader in Geneva. Calvin was known for an intellectual, unemotional approach to faith that provided Protestantism's theological underpinnings.

 

While instituting many positive policies, Calvin's government also punished "impiety" and dissent against his particularly spare vision of Christianity with execution. In the first five years of his rule in Geneva, 58 people were executed and 76 exiled for their religious beliefs. Calvin allowed no art other than music, and even that could not involve instruments. Under his rule, Geneva became the center of Protestantism, and sent out pastors to the rest of Europe, creating Presbyterianism in Scotland, the Puritan Movement in England and the Reformed Church in Netherlands.

 

Death and Legacy

 

John Calvin died on May 27, 1564, in Geneva, Switzerland. It is unknown where he is buried. Today, Calvin's teaching and doctrines remains widely credited as the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation and Presbyterian.