On July 10 1509 John Calvin was born in France. Be broke
with the Catholic Church, but eventually had to flee to Switzerland due to religious
tensions. It was in Basel Switzerland that he published “The Institutes of the
Christian Religion,” which became very influential in Protestant thinking. He
was sent to reform the church in Geneva. One of his ideas had been to insist
that all member of the church would have to take a vow of confession, but most
had not done so yet and they didn’t want to force anyone. Also they didn’t have
the Eucharist during the Easter services, which caused quite a tumult. This caused
the City Council to reject his ideas.
Martin Bucer invited Calvin to Strasbourg, where he became
the minister to a French church. Eventually Geneva became more cooperative and
allowed him to lead. Calvin preached over 2,000 sermons when in Geneva, two
sermons on Sunday and three other times a week. His sermons would usually last
an hour and he did not use notes and although there had been some attempt at
recording his sermons by secretaries, very little of these sermons survive.
Being one of the first protestant leaders, Calvin faced much
opposition. A group, sometimes known as the Libertines, opposed Calvin from a
different angle. They argued that if we were saved by grace then there should
not be subject to ecclesiastic or civil authority. This group was composed of
the wealthy and powerful, and harassed Calvin through his time in Geneva. With
more French refugees coming into the city, Calvin’s political position improved
and the Libertines tried to burn down a house filled with Frenchmen, but this
backfired and they fled form the city or in some cases tried and killed.
John Calvin was also instrumental in the trial and execution
of Michael Servetus, who denied the Trinity and infant baptism. He was wanted
by the Inquisition and wrote letters to Calvin. He stopped in Geneva and was
recognized, tried, and burned at the stake. Calvin pressed to have him beheaded
instead. This helped him to secure a position as a lead reformer and give him
political stability at home. He varied with Martin Luther on several points and
was dismayed that the reformers were not united. He worked on reforming and
expanding his “The Institutes of the Christian Religion,” and finished the
final version shortly before his death.
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