WHAT DO I MAKE OF CALVINISM AS A MODEL
FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH ?
by Robert Brow (www.brow.on.ca)
Aurora, Ontario May 2008
After his training as a priest and then a lawyer John Calvin (1509-64)
broke with the Roman Catholic Church in 1533. With the aim of
restoring the church to its original purity according to the
Scriptures he wrote The Institutes of the Christian Religion (written
in Latin and French, 1636-41). He taught this Protestant model of
theology in Geneva and Strasburg, and then for fourteen years
(1641-55) he succeeded in establishing the Presbyterian church in
Geneva strictly on this basis. He enforced very severe rules (for
example against dancing and games of any kind), he practiced ruthless
excommunication of those who disagreed with him, and he even used the
torture and execution of his opponents. From 1555 to his death in 1564
he was the absolute ruler of the city. The Calvinistic model of
theology was adopted by the Dutch Reformed Church, some Protestant
churches in Europe, and it was officially established in the Reformed
Church of Scotland (1660). In its extreme form God predestines some
to salvation and others to damnation, but this is rejected by moderate
Calvinists. With many variations the model includes the denial of
human free-will. Calvin also adopted the Roman law court model of
justification which is rejected in this website (see the Commentary on
the Epistle to the Romans).
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