John Calvin was born in 1509 in Noyon, France. At his father’s urging, he studied Latin and the liberal arts in Paris before going on to study law and Greek in Orléans and Bourges. During this time, Calvin absorbed the methods of Renaissance humanism and developed a lifelong habit of returning to original sources. In 1532, Calvin published his first work, a commentary on Seneca’s treatise On Clemency.
At some point between about 1529 and 1534, Calvin experienced what he would later term an “sudden conversion” (Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 1:xl) to the evangelical faith then taking root in France. Soon thereafter, he fled France in the face of intensifying persecution of the country’s Protestants, ultimately settling in the Swiss city of Basel. There, in 1536, Calvin published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, a defense and summary of Reformed theology that he would revise and enlarge several times. That same year, a brief stop in Geneva altered the course of Calvin’s life. William Farel, the city’s leading Reformer at the time, confronted Calvin, warning him that God would curse his studies if he refused to help the cause of the Reformation in Geneva. A terrified Calvin acquiesced. In 1538, however, Calvin and Farel were expelled from Geneva, having met stiff resistance in their efforts to reorder the church’s worship and discipline.
Calvin spent the following three years in Strasbourg pastoring a congregation of French refugees. These were formative years for Calvin both personally and as a theologian. It was there that Calvin married Idelette de Bure and formed a close friendship with the great Reformer of Strasbourg, Martin Bucer. The city council of Geneva invited Calvin to return, which he did in 1541, albeit reluctantly.
Calvin’s ministry in Geneva was immensely productive. He preached constantly, delivered numerous lectures, wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, and worked tirelessly to reform the church’s worship, doctrine, and discipline according to Scripture. Calvin’s mission also extended beyond Geneva. In 1559, he founded the Geneva Academy, which trained pastors to bring the Reformation across Europe. In the same year, Calvin published the final Latin edition of the Institutes. Beset by illness and worn thin by his labors, Calvin died in 1564.
Without a doubt, Calvin is among the most influential figures of the Protestant Reformation. The Institutes, his commentaries, and his thousands of sermons and letters are exemplary in their lucidity and are foundational for the Reformed tradition. Reformed and Presbyterian churches the world over still bear the marks of his central emphases. Describing the theology of such churches as “Calvinistic” speaks to his outsized impact, but Calvin, who requested to be buried in an unmarked grave, would not have wished such fame for himself. He would have pointed out that his theological program was by no means unique to him but was already anticipated by the church fathers in many respects, and more importantly, was the plain teaching of Scripture. Calvin’s deepest desire was that God might be known truly and worshipped rightly. This desire is beautifully captured by his personal motto: “prompte et sincere,” expressing his life’s great purpose to offer his whole heart to God, promptly and sincerely.
“For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.”
—Institutes 1.6.1, trans. Henry Beveridge
“By piety I mean that union of reverence and love to God which the knowledge of his benefits inspires. For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that nought is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience.”
—Institutes 1.2.1, trans. Henry Beveridge
“[Faith] is a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favour toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts, by the Holy Spirit.”
—Institutes 3.2.7, trans. Henry Beveridge
“I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;’ for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.”
—Commentary on the Book of Psalms, trans. James Anderson, 1:xxxvi–xxxvii
Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559) Reply to Cardinal Sadoleto (1539) Commentary on Romans (1540) Short Treatise on the Lord’s Supper (1541) The Catechism of the Church of Geneva (1542) The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1544) Sermons on Ephesians (1562)
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At Westminster Seminary California, study John Calvin and other scholars who have shaped the church by laying a rich theological foundation that continues to equip pastors and church leaders for faithful ministry.
