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.

 

Death Will Not Frighten Us If It Is God's Plan

Billy Graham was a prominent evangelical Christian figure of the United States in the 20th century, an ordained Southern Baptist minister who become well-known internationally. He died on February 21, 2018, at Montreat, North Carolina USA.

 

Billy Graham looked forward to the day when he would slip the bonds of earth and meet his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face to face in Heaven. He was excited to rejoin his wife, Ruth, and his parents and friends who had passed on before him.

 

Billy finished his autobiography just As I Am with these words: "I don't know the future, but I do know this: the best is yet to be! Heaven awaits us, and that will be far, far more glorious than anything we can ever imagine. As the Bible says, 'Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is' (1 John 3:2). This is the hope, and I pray that it is your hope as well.

 

"I know that soon my life will be over. I thank God for it, and for all He has given me in this life. But I look forward to Heaven. I look forward to the reunion with friends and loved ones who have gone on before. I look forward to Heaven's freedom from sorrow and pain."

"I also look forward to serving God in ways we can't begin to imagine, for the Bible makes it clear that Heaven is not a place of idleness. And most of all, I look forward to seeing Christ and bowing before Him in praise and gratitude for all He has done for us, and for using me on this earth by His grace-just as I am."

 

To Billy Graham, death was not the end, but the wonderful beginning of an eternal life in Heaven. Today, the above message seems to remind all people including us Cambodian, that life on earth is only temporary. The day is coming, the day of alienation from the earth, including our loved ones. But the time is not yet over. There is another place for us, and the place that Billy Graham mentioned is also a place we and our loved ones can go to. We are the ones who decide. The place he went to was one on no tears, no sickness, no suffering, no sadness like this on earth. And if we and our loved ones have Jesus in life like Billy Graham, we will never meet again.

...................................................

Source: Billy Graham Library