john calvin

27
John Calvin Systematic Writer of the Reformed Faith

Upload: slamerson

Post on 12-Jan-2015

2.244 views

Category:

Spiritual


1 download

DESCRIPTION

The life of John Calvin

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: John calvin

John CalvinSystematic Writer of the Reformed

Faith

Page 2: John calvin

Three Big Names

• There are three “Big Names” in Reformed Theology that everyone should know about:

• Augustine• Luther• Calvin

Page 3: John calvin

Calvin’s Life

Page 4: John calvin
Page 5: John calvin

Calvin is Loved and Hated

• “He (Calvin) the most Christian man of his age.” Ernst Renan, French Historian

• “Calvin has, I believe, caused untold millions of souls to be damned…” Jimmy Swaggart,

• “If Calvin ever wrote anything in favor of religious liberty, it was a typographical error.” Roland Bainton, Yale Church Historian

Page 6: John calvin

Loved and Hated• [Calvin was] the “cruel” and “the

unopposed dictator of Geneva.” Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church

• “Calvin is the man who, next to St. Paul, has done most good to mankind.” William Cunningham, Scottish Theologian

• “The longer I live the clearer does it appear that John Calvin’s system is the nearest to perfection.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon,

Page 7: John calvin

Early Life and Conversion

• Calvin was born July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France, when Martin Luther was 25 years old and had just begun to teach the Bible in Wittenberg. We know little of his conversion

• Calvin’s father wanted him to study law rather than theology.

• He began to study theology at age 21 and immersed himself in Dunn and Occam.

Page 8: John calvin

Later Life

• When persecution arose in Paris where he had returned to teach in one of the colleges, he was forced into hiding now here, now there, in France. At last, he had to leave the country altogether. He sought refuge in Basel.

• In that city, 450 years ago, he published the first edition book with which his name was always to be associated—“Calvin’s Institutes.”

Page 9: John calvin

Calvin in Geneva

• With his brother and sister Calvin moved toward the free city of Strasbourg. As it was, because of soldiers, he had to go round two sides of a triangle, into what we now call Switzerland. They got to Geneva, a safe town for them, since it had declared for the Reformation a month or two earlier. Here they put up at an inn for the night, intending to resume their journey in the morning. –

Page 10: John calvin

Geneva• Straight to the inn went William Farel, who

needed help in Geneva. Calvin, however, was obdurate. He was a scholar, a writer, not a pastor or administrator. Farel would have to find someone else. Calvin was headed for Strasbourg in the morning.

• At last Farel, baffled and frustrated, swore a great oath that God would curse all Calvin’s studies unless he stayed in Geneva.

Page 11: John calvin

Geneva

• During this time, after having had many try to “set him up” he married Idelette whose first husband had died.

Page 12: John calvin
Page 13: John calvin

Geneva• Through all that followed, this belief that

God had called him to work here, and not somewhere else, never wavered.

• This belief was challenged only once, when he and Farel were banished from Geneva eighteen months later in 1538.

• He returned to Geneva in 1541 and began preaching from the very text that he had left off at three years earlier

Page 14: John calvin
Page 15: John calvin

Calvin’s Work

• He preached twice every Sunday• He lectured every day in alternate weeks

at the school.• He was Old Testament professor.• He was on a number of committees and

was constantly be asked for advice.

Page 16: John calvin

• Drawing of Calvin by one of his students

Page 17: John calvin

Calvin’s Suffering• He suffered from Migraines.• He had gout (as did Spurgeon).• He was at times incapacitated by lung

hemorrhages.• He often had to be carried in a chair to the

church to preach because he couldn’t walk.

• When he could not get to school he brought the students to his bedroom for lectures.

Page 18: John calvin

Calvin’s Health

• He suffered from kidney stones in a day when there was little pain relief.

• In 1559 Calvin, during a period of ill health, finished the fourth edition of the “Institutes”

• He continued to preach and lecture as best he could until 1564 until he became very ill in February, and went to be with the Lord three months later.

Page 19: John calvin

Lessons from Calvin

• He could be a kind man:• Once when Calvin was sending a letter to

his close friend Pierre Viret by one of a pair of students, he noticed that the other was a little jealous at not being the messenger. Calvin quickly dashed off another letter to Viret. The letter contained only the request that Viret pretend it was a valuable letter.

Page 20: John calvin

Lessons

• He was a hard worker for the Kingdom:• We have a great deal of writing that has

been preserved from Calvin• In addition to the Institutes, there are

commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible as well as many, many books of sermons

Page 21: John calvin
Page 22: John calvin

Lessons

• He was a hard worker:• Calvin did not like to waste a minute of his

time. Even on his death-bed, his friends pleaded with him to refrain from his labors. He replied: “What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when he comes?”

Page 23: John calvin

Lessons

• He was a man who loved the Scripture.• One cannot read any of his works without

the clear realization that Calvin was determined to be Biblical regardless of what it cost him either in life, liberty, or popularity.

Page 24: John calvin

Lessons

• He was a humble man:• Nearing his journey’s end, Calvin gave

strict instructions that he be buried in the common cemetery with no tombstone. He wished to give no encouragement to those who might make it a Protestant shrine. Today, his grave site is unknown for certain.

Page 25: John calvin

Lessons

• The so-called “five points of Calvinism are the most famous part of Calvin’s legacy:

• T total depravity• U unconditional election• L limited atonement• I irresistible grace• P perseverance of the saints

Page 26: John calvin

To Learn More

• Christian History Magazine, Vol. 12• John Piper’s Biographical Sermon

(DesiringGod.org/resourcelibrary)• John Calvin: His Life and Influence by

Robert Reymond• The Institutes of Christian Religion by

John Calvin

Page 27: John calvin

• “I labored at the task [writing The Institutes] . . ., for I saw that many were hungering and thirsting after Christ and yet that only a few had any real knowledge of him.”