John Calvin

John Calvin (born July 10, 1509 - May 27, 1564) was a theologian and ecclesiastical statesman. He was the leading French Protestant reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. His interpretation of Christianity, advanced above all in his Institutio Christianae religionis (1536 but elaborated in later editions; Institutes of the Christian Religion), and the institutional and social patterns he worked out for Geneva deeply influenced Protestantism elsewhere in Europe and in North America.

Calvin has often been seen as little more than a systematizer of the more creative insights of Martin Luther. He followed Luther on original sin, Scripture, the absolute dependence of human beings on divine grace, and justification by faith alone. However, Calvin’s differences with Luther are of major significance.  He was perhaps more impressed than Luther by God’s transcendence and by his control over the world. He emphasized God’s power and glory, whereas Luther often thought of God as the babe in the manger. Contrary to a general impression, Calvin’s understanding of predestination was virtually identical with that of  Luther, and, although Calvin may have stated it more emphatically, the issue itself is not of central importance to his theology. He considered it a great mystery, to be approached with fear and trembling and only in the context of faith. Seen in this way, predestination seemed to him a comforting doctrine, which meant that salvation would be taken care of by a loving and utterly reliable God.

in major respects Calvin departed from Luther, being in some ways more radical. Though he agreed with Luther on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he understood this in a completely spiritual sense. Most of his differences suggest that he was closer to the old church than was Luther. He was also more traditional in his clericalism, with his belief in the authority of clergy over laity being inconsistent with Luther’s stress on the priesthood of all believers.