Revival - Part 6: John Calvin

John Calvin was born in Noyen France and his father was Gerard Cauvin the secretary of the local diocese. He was educated in Paris and Orleans to be a lawyer but on his "sudden conversion" in 1533 he began to preach the new Reformed doctrines. When persecution broke out in France Calvin sought refuge in Basel. Calvin was asked by Farel to assist him in his work in Geneva where an attempt was made to establish a theocratic state, that is one in which God is the accepted supreme ruler. However, the city was not ready for such reforms and Calvin's enemies known as the Libertines forced him and Farel to be expelled in 1538. During his exile in Strasbourg Calvin married a converted Anabaptist. Recalled to Geneva in 1541 he continued to put into practice his ideas of the Godly society. He founded a College of Pastors and Doctors and a Court of Discipline to regulate the lives of the citizens. Gradually Calvin overcame the opposition of the Libertines and became virtual dictator in 1555.
A study of the lives of such men as Calvin can cause us to gasp at how much work they were able to get through. His great work "The Institutes" was worked on and revised over many years from 1536 to 1559. It is a systematic theology divided into four books.

1. God the creator.
2. God as Redeemer in Christ.
3. The way of grace in the Christian.
4. The Church.

Calvin's commentaries on most of the books of the Bible are still regarded as models by the best commentators. His approach is one that starts from a profound regard for the majesty of God and veneration for the Bible. He did not seek any novel explanations but sought to bring out the plain meaning of the text. Few were written in his study as such but were sermons and lessons that were recorded in shorthand by his secretary or students. Calvin with the other Reformers placed the sermon at the centre of worship, replacing the Catholic mass. He preached up to five sermons a week as well as teaching in the academy.
It is sometimes claimed that Calvin was not interested in missionary work but this is far from the truth. He sent preachers into France and his influence was felt all over Europe through the work of men such as John Knox who spent some time in Geneva. Calvin also sent missionaries to South America. In common with all of the Reformers Calvin was a man of his time and should not be judged by present day standards. His persecution of the Anabaptists and execution of Servetus cannot be condoned but need to be understood in the context of that time.
Calvin built on the foundation laid by Luther and his great contribution was to put the doctrines of the Reformation into a systematic form and to organise the worship and practice of the Church. Some of us today complain that there are too many meetings in the church. I wonder how we would have managed in Calvin's Geneva. There were two meetings on a Sunday with a children's service in between. There were also early morning meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when candles were provided for the people to see. Attendance was compulsory, enforced by civic officers, and all work stopped while the services were going on. Communion was celebrated four times a year and each person was visited by a minister and an elder to make sure that everyone who took communion was fit to do so.
Calvin and the other Reformers were not perfect but were men that God used to accomplish a great revival of true religion in Europe that has had a profound influence on the Church and Western Civilisation as we know it today. Let us continue to pray for our ministers of the Gospel, who will never be perfect in this life, that God will place in them the same spirit that animated Luther and John Calvin and that in our day we shall see the power of God reforming the Church and society.