Calvin, John

Calvin, John (1509–64), French Reformer and theologian. His sympathy with the Reformation movement led him to leave Paris in 1533. In 1534 he resigned his ecclesiastical benefices and, under threat of persecution, fled to Basle in 1535. The first (Latin) edition of Institutes was published there in 1536. Passing through Geneva later that year, he was persuaded by G. Farel to stay and help organize the Reformation in the city. In 1537 he and Farel drew up articles regulating the organization of the Church and worship. Opposition to their imposition of ecclesiastical discipline arose, and when in 1538 Calvin defied the city council's instructions to conform to the (Zwinglian) religious practices of Berne, he was ordered to leave the city. While pastor to the French congregation at Strasbourg, he produced an enlarged edition of the Institutes (1539), a commentary on Romans (1539), and the celebrated letter to Card. Sadoleto defending the principles of the Reformation. In Sept. 1541 he accepted an invitation from the city council to return to Geneva and spent the next 14 years establishing a theocratic regime. His ‘Ecclesiastical Ordinances’, adopted by the city council in Nov. 1541, distinguished four ministries of pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons; he introduced the vernacular into the liturgy and placed ecclesiastical discipline in the hands of a consistory which sought to enforce morality through the threat of temporary excommunication. Despite some opposition, by 1555 Calvin was virtually unimpeded in his promotion of the Reformation. The establishment of the Genevan Academy (1559) provided an international forum for his ideas. He was the most influential writer among the Reformers. See also the following entry.