What is Calvinism? - Brief History

What is Calvinism?

As a Presbyterian Church member, you must know about Calvinism. What is Calvinism? Calvinism is a denomination of Protestantism in Presbyterian Church that adheres to the theological traditions and teachings of John Calvin and other preachers of the Reformation-era. Calvinism theological belief is about  how God saves people, predestination and election of salvation, among others.

 

 

How did Calvinism start?

Calvinism began with the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland where Huldrych Zwingli originally taught what became the first version of the Reformed doctrine in Zurich in 1519. John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion was one of the most influential theologies of the Reformation-era. Calvin's writings impressed Guillaume Farel, the Reformer of Genevan reform. Geneva was to be Calvin's home until he died in 1564. Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their cry of origin, to succeed far beyond their border, and to establish their own distinct character.

What did John Calvin believe?

John Calvin believed that salvation is only possible through the grace of God. Even before creation, God has chosen some people to be saved. Calvin said it was clearly taught in the Bible.

For Calvin, God was above all else -- Sovereign. Like all the Reformers, he hated the way Roman Catholicism had degenerated into a religion of salvation-by-works. So Calvin's constantly repeated theme was this: You cannot manipulate God, nor put Him in your debt. If you are saved, it is his doing, not your own.

He believed God alone knows who is elected (saved) and who isn't. But, Calvin said, a moral life shows that a person is (probably) one of the elected. Calvin himself was intensely moral and energetic, and he impressed on others the need to work out their salvation -not to be saved but to show they are saved.This emphasis on doing, on acting to transform a sinful world, became one of the chief characteristics of Calvinism.

In emphasizing God's sovereignty, Calvin's Institute lead the reader to believe that no person-king, bishop, or anyone else can demand our ultimate loyalty. Calvin never taught explicitly that men have a "right" to revolution, but it is implied. In this sense, his works are amazingly "modern."

Read more about: What are the five points of Calvinism or TULIP?

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