Ever since its inception, Christianity has been drastically changing. Creeds have been established and doctrines revised. The religion has been both outlawed and imposed by those in power, and has even become a world religion in two separate time periods. Most importantly, it has been continually challenged since the day that Christ walked on the earth. Even the nature and extent of its sacred, God-breathed Scriptures have been disputed, and to this day are still not agreed upon. One of the greatest schisms in Christian history is related to the Reformation. Although multi-faceted, a notable disagreement within the Reformation concerns one of the greatest mysteries within Christianity: how is the free will of man reconciled with the sovereignty of God? One of the most influential theologians on this topic was John Calvin; he was so influential that a branch of Reformed beliefs, “Calvinism,” has been named after him. With his idea of predestination, John Calvin made a huge impact on the structure of the church, the outcome of the reformation, and the beliefs of Christians today.
John Calvin was an influential theologian born in 1509 in Noyon, France. He was “raised in a staunch Roman Catholic family,” where his father was pushing him towards a life of priesthood. Although Calvin spoke little about it, he was converted to Christianity around 1529. Around seven years later, he published Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was a landmark work on the Protestant faith, and is still widely studied today. “It is impossible to exaggerate the influence of Calvin’s single largest work. The book lodged itself at the bottom of the minds of Reformed Christians everywhere in Europe, Britain and the New World, thereafter to effervesce both consciously and unconsciously for centuries among those who had been steeped in it.” Calvin was a child of the Reformation, and therefore he worked in the wake of many other important theologians. “John Calvin understood himself to be a junior member of a team of theologians, pastors and teachers who were directly called by God to restore a Church that they thought had had [sic.] fallen into captivity and ruin under the tyranny of the papacy in Rome.” Among these theologians was Martin Luther. Luther was in the center of the action, as he had posted his reknowned 95 Theses in 1517, essentially lighting the spark of the Reformation. Other pre-reformers who likely influenced Calvin were Jan Hus, Peter Waldo, and John Wycliffe. Afterwards, Calvin became a minister in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1564, the theologian passed away, after a six-year-long struggle against malaria.
John Calvin had a huge influence on the structure of the church. It is at least apparent that there was no end to his working for the church’s benefit. “Once back in Geneva, Calvin sought to rebuild the Church by tirelessly and faithfully carrying out his office as teacher and pastor of Geneva.” He not only was a loyal servant of the church and of others, but also had a mission to make the Bible of utmost importance to everyone. “In order to make sure that Scripture was brought to bear on all aspects of people’s lives, Calvin created the institution of the Consistory, which was made up of the pastors of Geneva as well as elected lay elders (usually members of the City Council).” This Consistory, known as the Genevan Consistory, came to existence in 1541. For years it struggled with other forces such as the City Council, resisting unreasonable limitations, riots, and rebellions; but by the late 1550s, Calvin was largely able to make the Consistory an independent organization. It is clear that Calvin was a focused and dedicated laborer of the Word.
In addition, John Calvin’s work greatly affected the result of the Reformation. First of all, the inception of the Protestant movement was a direct outcome of the Reformation—reformers such as Calvin and Luther sought for the Christian life to be based upon Scripture rather than church tradition. Because the Catholics would not accept this, the reformers split off and became known as the Protestants. John Calvin’s influence on the Reformation also indirectly led to the creation of the Presbyterian denomination. “Calvin was a Frenchman who had to take refuge in Switzerland, where John Knox visited, studied under and became a follower of Calvin and then returned to Scotland and led the Reformation there, organising the Presbyterian Church.”
Finally, John Calvin’s theology has made a huge impact on the beliefs of Christians today. The easiest way to realize this is that there is a entire school of thought named after him—Calvinism. Calvin is one of the first names that comes to mind when terms such as atonement or predestination are mentioned. “Calvin’s theology, together with its social and political concomitants, came to influence public and private life profoundly in Holland, Switzerland, Scotland and what was to be the United States of America.” This is not by chance, however. The paradox between God’s sovereignty and humankind’s free will was a topic that, even at his time, had been debated for centuries. Through his diligent study of the Scriptures, Calvin came to a conclusion that has taken root in Christian society today. “Calvin links the Christian’s duty to follow Christ’s example with God’s purpose of conforming believers to Christ.” Calvin’s reconciliation of doctrines in tension went even further than this. As if anticipating attacks by liberals, he began to make defenses for the most seemingly obvious of biblical laws: “Calvin’s interest in remnants of the image of God arose out of a concern for ethics. Regard for God’s image in humans, even fallen humans in whom ‘sparks still gleam,’ motivates respect for human life as sacrosanct and offers theological warrant for the command, “thou shalt not kill.’ ” It is important to remember how a standard, seemingly obvious intepretation of Scripture has actually been largely shaped by the studies of past theologians such as Calvin. Even today, there is a huge dispute about how to intepret many passages of Scripture, particularly concerning the atonement of Christ. For example, many followers of Calvin believe that because not all people are saved, Christ must not have fully atoned for the sins of all people. In general, this requires a more logical view of Scripture, where passages in question are resolved by clearer ones to prevent contradiction. On the other hand, a group referred to as Arminians rejects Calvin’s idea of limited atonement, by taking a more literal view of Scripture (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 John 2:2, and Hebrews 2:9). Calvin’s influence is clear, if only in the amount of contention his views have caused.
The doctrines of modern Christians, the Reformation’s history, and the church hierarchy were all greatly affected by the profound studies of John Calvin. Calvin was dedicated servant of Christ who preached tirelessly, worked to resolve issues in the church, and labored to make the Scriptures a priority in the Christian life. He was one of the central figures of the developing Protestant movement, and today is known as a world-class theologian. Christianity, although ever-changing, has been dramatically altered because of the life and work of John Calvin.