2.2 An Introduction to Calvinism

The religious Reformation that began with Luther's protest in Germany in 1517 would spread throughout northern Europe during the 16th century. Inspired by a religious fervor to reform abuses within the Catholic Church, the Reformation took on political overtones as princes and kings in Germany and England undertook the reform of the Church to meet their own political ends. As Lutheranism spread throughout the northern German states and into Scandinavia, Calvinism, a new form of Protestant expression, had taken root in the Swiss city of Geneva. Inspired by the spiritual teachings of John Calvin, the Reformed Church was rapidly spreading as a spiritual challenge not only to Catholicism but to Lutheranism and Anglicanism as well.

John Calvin (Jean Chauvin) was born in Noyon, France in 1509. Intending to become a Catholic priest, Calvin studied theology and philosophy at the University of Paris, but his father insisted that he study law. Calvin took a law degree from the University of Orleans, where he became interested in the movement for religious reform that had been prompted by Luther. He was convinced that reform of the Church was essential and became a committed and active proponent of reform. Seeing political conditions in France as dangerous for reformers, Calvin relocated to Basel, Switzerland in 1534.

Switzerland was receptive to reformers. In 1519 Ulrich Zwingli, a former Catholic priest inspired by Luther, became the leader of a reform movement in Zurich that swept through the region. Zwingli's interpretation of scripture, however, came to differ from that of Luther and the two eventually quarreled. The Swiss reform movement, consequently, would have to be separate from the Lutheran. Catholic resistance to reform led to a religious civil war in Switzerland that would not be resolved until 1531. Taking up arms in defense of his beliefs, Zwingli was killed in battle the same year. The Swiss settled the conflict though a compromise where each canton (province) would determine its own spiritual identity. It would be Calvin, however, who would give Swiss Protestantism its distinctive characteristics.

While in Basel, Calvin wrote in Latin The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), which became the theological basis of Calvinism and the most influential work of the Reformation. From Basel, Calvin moved to Geneva where he soon became the leader of the city's reform movement. Organized with rigid spiritual discipline, the reformers became the most effective force in the city. In 1541 Calvin became the ruler of Geneva.

For the next 23 years until his death in 1564, Calvin ruled Geneva as a virtual theocratic dictatorship basing its laws on strict interpretation of Biblical law. With his Reformed Church as the only legal church for the city, Calvin's doctrines regulating a proper Christian behavior permeated all aspects of Geneva's social, economic, and political life. The reality of a reformed Christian state in Geneva attracted reformers from all over Europe. By the hundreds they came to Geneva to study at Calvin's Genevan Academy (today the University of Geneva) from which they returned to their homelands inspired to spread the Calvinist doctrine to their own peoples.[1] Geneva had become the "Protestant Rome," the spiritual center of Protestantism in Europe. When Calvin died in 1564, Calvinist reformed churches were active in Germany, France, England, Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland. In Switzerland, Scotland, and the Dutch Netherlands, Calvinism had become the dominant form of Christian belief.

The basic spiritual tenets of Calvinism are threefold. As with other forms of Protestantism, Calvin saw the Bible as the only source of authority for all Christian doctrine and belief. Secondly, as with other Protestants, Calvin saw spiritual validity in only two of the sacraments: baptism and communion.

In the matter of the communion, however, Calvin varied from both the Catholic and Lutheran beliefs. In the Catholic Church the doctrine regulating the communion was the doctrine of transubstantiation. Here, the belief was that, in the performance of the mass, the communion bread and wine, while retaining their outward forms, were actually transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. In the Lutheran Church, the belief was that of consubstantiation, that the substance of the body and blood of Christ coexisted in the communal bread and wine. In Calvinism, the belief was that the communion was commemorative of Christ's sacrifice. The communal bread and wine were only symbolic of the body and blood of Christ.

While differences in interpreting the communion marked a departure between Calvinism and Catholicism and other forms of Protestantism, the doctrine regarding salvation provided the fundamental difference. The third and most important spiritual tenet of Calvinism was the Doctrine of Predestination. In his book, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin expressed the belief that one has absolutely no control over one's spiritual future. God in His all-knowing and eternal wisdom, Calvin maintained, already knew who would be saved and who would be damned. Before one's birth one was already predestined by God to salvation or damnation, and the quality of one's life or faith would have no influence on that outcome. Thus, to Calvin, acts of repentance and contrition as required by the Catholic Church were worthless. The Lutheran doctrine of "Justification by Faith" was equally meaningless. One was either saved or not.

Calvin called those who were predestined to salvation "The Elect." While they would not know for sure that they were indeed saved, those who were among the Elect could somehow sense their special status and would live lives of exemplary faith and Christian practice.

The Reformed Church (it would have different names in different countries) would be organized according to a basic plan. For each Christian congregation there would be a governing council of elders called a presbytery. The presbytery would be elected by the members of the congregation and responsible for overseeing the Christian life of the community. The clergy of the church would conduct worship services and provide spiritual instruction and direction for the community. The joyous emotional appeal of the color and mysticism of the Catholic mass was replaced by a simple worship service highlighted by a long edifying sermon. Churches were to be plain and devoid of decoration that might distract the worshipper from the purpose of prayer and contemplation of one's sin-filled life. General public confession replaced the private confession of the Catholic Church. Liturgy (forms of worship) and scripture would be in the vernacular language not Latin.

In Calvinist practice, it was the obligation of all Christians to live as godly and proper a life as possible. Since one did not know if one were saved or damned, it was essential that all live as good Christians so that during the mortal life one might know the joys of Christian life before experiencing the eternal fires of hell. Those joys and the quality of Christian life would be strictly regulated by the church and the community according to laws based on Biblical sources. One must live by high moral standards as an example to others. It was the obligation of all good Christians to look after their neighbors to assure that all in the community conformed to Christian law and practice. Consequently, life in Calvinist communities was one of stern discipline and complete dedication to God's will. There was to be no toleration of the heresy of other so-called Christian churches or other expressions of conscience. There was one true church – the Reformed Church.

Among reformers, Calvin's Geneva became the model for a proper Christian community. Laws regulated all phases of life. Outward show of wealth or extravagance was forbidden. Singing, swearing, card playing, dancing, drunkenness, excesses in entertainment, and theatrical performances were all prohibited. To protect Christian minds from heretical ideas, there was strict censorship of books and other writings. Teams of inspectors made periodic visits to private homes. Punishments for violations of regulations ranged from reprimands to fines to exile to execution. In one case a child was beheaded for striking his parents.

A "democratic" element can be seen in Calvinism. The governing presbyteries were elected. In the Institutes, Calvin maintained that the Christian community had the moral obligation to challenge the secular state on matters of religious regulation. Secular governments, he wrote, did not have the power to make law governing religion. Rather, it was the purpose of Christians to make government subordinate to religion; in effect, to Christianize the state so that its laws and policies reflected Christian values. Calvinism also maintained that all men, regardless of their rank, had dignity in God's sight. Still, Calvinists tended to take an elitist view, seeing themselves spiritually superior to other Christians.

Calvinism had a strong appeal to the middle classes of northern Europe. In his Institutes Calvin wrote that whatever one's "calling" (vocation), regardless of how insignificant it might seem, had dignity in God's sight. If one did one's work honestly and industriously, God would be pleased. One's labors would be rewarded with continued success. Therefore, success in one's livelihood was, according to Calvin, a sign of God's favor.

Many middle class businessmen saw the Catholic Church's pronouncements forbidding the charging of interest for credit and the making of profit in providing goods and services as spiritually hindering necessary business practices. The Calvinist view that success in one's labors was a sign of God's favor was highly appealing to the middle class. Profit was certainly a sign of success in business. If one made one's wealth honestly and did not use it selfishly for one's own personal benefit, then one was in conformity with God's will. The most active Calvinist reformers in France (the Huguenots) and England (the Puritans) were from the middle class.

By 1600 Calvinism had spread throughout northern Europe. Its appeal came from a combination of factors: the simplicity of its doctrine, its strict and disciplined guidelines for a godly life, its emphasis on community, its rejection of state regulation of religion, its accommodation of business, its extension of dignity to all regardless of livelihood, class, or background. Calvinist majorities dominated the spiritual life of Switzerland, Scotland, and the Netherlands where Calvinist churches had become the established (only legal) churches. Calvinist minorities actively challenged the spiritual authority of the state in Bohemia, Western Germany, England, and France. France would experience some 40 years of civil war as the Huguenots challenged the Catholic monarchy for the right to worship freely. In England the Puritans challenged the crown seeking to reform the Anglican Church. Soon Calvinism would cross the Atlantic and come to dominate the New England and Middle colonies of English America.

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The image is from the Wikipedia source for John Calvin.

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Sources for Calvinism

Brinton, Crane et al. A History of Civilization. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1961.

Durant, Will. The Reformation. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.

Knapton, Earnest. Europe, 1450 – 1815. New York: Scribners, 1958.

Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe. New York: Norton, 1996.

Palmer, Robert R. et al. A History of the Modern World. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002.

Simon, Edith. Great Ages of Man: The Reformation. New York: Time-Life Books, 1966.

Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. Minneapolis: West, 1997.

[1] Notable among these reformers was John Knox, a Scottish priest from England who had converted to Anglicanism. When the Catholic Tudor monarch Mary I attempted to restore England to Catholicism, Knox fled to Geneva. Imbued with Calvinist teaching and spirit, Knox returned to his native Scotland and assumed leadership over a rebellion of Scottish nobles against their Catholic Queen Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots). Victorious over Mary (who fled to England seeking the protection of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I), Knox and the new Scottish leadership established the Presbyterian Church (Calvinist) as the only legal Church of Scotland.