Though John Calvin was a full generation removed from the initiators of the reformation (Luther, Hus, Zwingli) he was no doubt as influential as any during that movement of the 15th and 16th centuries. Whether you agree or disagree with Calvin doctrinally; his works along with the others of that great century helped lay the foundation upon which the church stands today.

John Calvin was born on July, 10th, 1509 in Noyon, France. His name John Calvin is the Latinized version of the French, Jean Cauvin. He was reared in a steadfast Roman Catholic family. John’s father, Gérard Cauvin had distinguished himself in legal and administrative business and was chosen by the Bishop to be the administrator of the Cathedral of Noyon. His mother was Jeanne, the daughter of a well-off retired innkeeper, Jean Le Franc.

 

Gérard, wanted John to become a priest, and because of the close ties with the Bishop and his noble family, in John's early life, his classmates and playmates in Noyon and then later in Paris were culturally prominent and aristocratic.

 

John went to Paris, to attend the College de Marche to prepare for his university study at the age of 14.  Music, rhetoric, logic, grammar, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy were his studies at school. Near the end of 1523, Calvin transferred to the College Montaigu and while in Paris, he changed his name to the Latin form, Ioannis Calvinus, Jean Calvin in French. His education was in part paid for by the income from small parishes.

It was not until 1527 that John Calvin came in contact with folks that were inclined to church reform. It was with these contacts of which he made friends that would lead to his conversion to the Reformed faith. It was at this time that Calvin’s father advised and encouraged him to study law instead of theology. Thereupon in 1528, John moved to Orleans for the study of civil law.

 

The next four to five years saw Calvin finish his studies in law and publish a non-theological book; However, in 1533 John Calvin had his conversion experience, which was sudden and unexpected, he writes about that time in his foreword to his commentary on the Psalms. He fled Paris because of his relationships with those who were writing and lecturing in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.

Over the next three years Calvin preached, studied on his own and began his first edition of the Institutes of the Christian religion, which would become a best seller. During this period, Calvin lived outside of France using a variety of names.

Calvin detached himself from the Roman Catholic Church by 1536 and was planning to leave France altogether and go to Strasbourg; because of war, he made a detour to Geneva where he ended up staying until 1538. He lectured and preached but was finally asked to leave over conflicts in theology.

Strasbourg was John Calvin’s next stop, he was there until 1541. While in Strasbourg he met a widow by the name of Idelette de Bure, they were married in August of 1540. Calvin, in response to his having been a Catholic priest and having married, wrote the following: “Even while I lived in subjection to the pope, I was never bound not to marry. But when God freed me from that bondage, I remained for a long time without taking a wife. At length I found so excellent a one, that I had reason to praise God for his giving her to me.”

 

John Calvin pastored French refugees, and he found himself peaceful and happy to the extent that when the Council of Geneva requested that he return to in 1541, he was torn-up emotionally over the invitation. He felt a responsibility to return to Geneva, but he really wanted to stay in Strasbourg.  Of course He did return to Geneva, and for the next twelve plus years he filled his days with lecturing, preaching, and the writing of the various editions of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, his treatises and commentaries.

 

 

On July 28th, 1542 John and Idelette, had a son and named him Jacques, but he lived only a few days. Seven years later, on March 29th, 1549 Idelette went home to be with the Lord. Upon her passing Calvin wrote: “I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life, who, if our lot had been harsher, would have been not only the willing sharer of exile and poverty, but even of death. While she lived, she was the faithful helper of my ministry. From her I never experienced the slightest hindrance.”

John Calvin remained in Geneva until his death on May 27, 1564, according to his Last Will and Testament; he was to be buried in an unmarked grave, to avoid any possibilities of idolatry.

Calvin’s legacy is found in his theology, which has influenced many Protestant denominations. The tenets of Calvinism which are accepted, shunned and debated across denominational lines, include the belief that the Holy Scriptures are the final authority for doctrinal decisions, a belief in predestination, and a belief in salvation by grace alone and not by works.

Resources for this biography of John Calvin:

John Calvin: The Organizer of Reformed Protestantism by Williston Walker, 1906.

The Life and Times of John Calvin, the Great Reformer by Henry Stebbing, Translated by Paul Henry, 1849.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library at: http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin