John Calvin
(1509-1564)
"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.”
—John Calvin
John Calvin: Pastor who changed society
Although John Calvin was born 500 years ago, his life and teachings still have a profound influence, and many Christians claim that a return to his principles is just what we need today.
What must not be missed, however, is that Calvin spread his teachings by preaching, as the pastor of a church. That is a challenge to pastors today—to have such a level of influence that what is preached in the pulpit is discussed and implemented by Congress.
One man said after his death that “in this man there was exhibited to all an example of the life and death of the Christian, such as it will not be easy to depreciate, such such as it will be difficult to emulate.”
- During colonial times, the Puritan John Winthrop’s “city on a hill” principles for the Massachusetts Bay Colony followed Calvin’s model of a system of civil government built on biblical truths.
- Every colonial charter referenced God and some, like Delaware,openly required civil authorities to be Christians.
- The checks and balances our founders wrote into their constitutions are based on concepts of man’s sin nature that they learned about in the Church from the Bible and Calvin’s principles.
More Online Resources
Original documents by John Calvin at the Christian Classics Etherial Library
John Calvin (1509-1564)
John Calvin was born in 16th-century France. As a young man, his association with Christian Reformers who were opposed to the corrupt church came to the notice of the authorities. It became necessary for him to flee for his life. Eventually he became one of the leading lights of the reform movement.
In 1536 Calvin traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, for a one-day visit but was so well known that people prevailed on him to stay longer. Eventually in 1541 the Council of Geneva officially requested his return to Geneva. He remained there as an influential pastor in the city until he died in 1564.
Reformers like Calvin constantly reaffirmed that the Scriptures were true and that the Bible was the only acceptable standard for human behavior. Their beliefs could mean persecution or even death but they did not yield. Driven out of England, France, and Scotland, they came to Calvin for refuge in Geneva, which became the most important Protestant center of Europe.
It was said that men arrived as moderate Reformers and left as radical Calvinists who refused to allow the government to tell them what to do or to hinder them from fulfilling the will of God. They didn’t accept the myth that the Bible was suitable only for ceremonial occasions or private personal devotions. It applied to all of life.
