The Inspirational Calvin - Part I

John Calvin, speaking of the Gospel, said in 1536:

“Our doctrine must stand sublime above all the glory of the world, and invincible by all its power, because it is not ours, but that of the Living God and His Anointed, whom the Father has appointed king that He may rule from sea to shining sea, and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth.”

The Frenchman John Calvin (1509-1564) was undoubtedly the greatest expositor and commentator on the Scriptures that the Reformation period produced.  In fact, his brilliant set of commentaries on most books of the Bible sells well even today.

Although a multitude of reasons (both good and bad) have been suggested to explain his continued influence on Christian leaders, his skill in explaining the meaning of the Scriptures, particularly emphasising the majesty of God’s Sovereignty, is his primary legacy. He was a truly God-centred preacher and teacher.

Not much is known about his conversion experience except that he describes himself as stubborn and his repentance as ‘sudden and unexpected’. His immense intellectual powers were then powerfully redirected from the study of law to the Bible.

Having experienced conversion, Calvin began telling others about it. Normally, nowadays, that’s a good thing. But it wasn’t back then, in the France of the 1530s!

The heretic hunters were coming, and Calvin was known to be a so-called ‘Lutheran’. He fled Paris. The year following his departure, 24 ‘heretics’ were burnt at the stake. Ultimately Calvin was forced from his own land.

In Switzerland, and only 26 years old, Calvin published what has become one of Christianity’s greatest classics: ‘The Institutes of the Christian Religion’. An alternative translation could be ‘Instruction in the Christian Faith’.

The first edition was dedicated to the King of France, and was written to demonstrate to both Christians and non-Christians that the teachings of the Reformers were neither ancient heresies, nor new innovations but the orthodox, apostolic Christian Faith.

He described his purpose in writing by saying, ‘I laboured at the task especially for our own Frenchmen, for I saw that many were hungering and thirsting after Christ and yet that only a very few had any real knowledge of him.’

Calvin knew that, as a Christian leader, he had an evangelistic responsibility.

He also hoped that the King of France would read it, be convinced by it, and call an end to the terrible persecutions that were taking place.

Urr… Nope! That didn’t happen. Rather, Calvin himself was, once again, declared to be a heretic.

© 2009 Lex Loizides

To read more from Lex, visit his blog, which contains many short, inspirational stories and illustrations from church history.