John Calvin (Jehan Cauvin; Jean Calvin ; 10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation.
He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation.
Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions.
Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
Calvin was a tireless polemicist and apologetic writer who generated much controversy.
He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger.
In addition to his seminal Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises.
Calvin was originally trained as a humanist lawyer.
John Calvin was born as Jehan Cauvin on 10 July 1509, at Noyon, a town in Picardy, a province of the Kingdom of France.
He was the second of three sons who survived infancy.
His mother, Jeanne le Franc, was the daughter of an innkeeper from Cambrai.
She died of an unknown cause in Calvin's childhood, after having borne four more children.
Calvin's father, Gérard Cauvin, had a prosperous career as the cathedral notary and registrar to the ecclesiastical court.
Gérard intended his three sons—Charles, Jean, and Antoine—for the priesthood.
Young Calvin was particularly precocious.
By age 12, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the tonsure, cutting his hair to symbolize his dedication to the Church.
He also won the patronage of an influential family, the Montmors.
Through their assistance, Calvin was able to attend the Collège de la Marche, Paris, where he learned Latin from one of its greatest teachers, Mathurin Cordier.
Once he completed the course, he entered the Collège de Montaigu as a philosophy student.
1525
In 1525 or 1526, Gérard withdrew his son from the Collège de Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law.
According to contemporary biographers Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, Gérard believed that Calvin would earn more money as a lawyer than as a priest.
1529
After a few years of quiet study, Calvin entered the University of Bourges in 1529.
He was intrigued by Andreas Alciati, a humanist lawyer.
Humanism was a European intellectual movement which stressed classical studies.
During his 18-month stay in Bourges, Calvin learned Koine Greek, a necessity for studying the New Testament.
Alternative theories have been suggested regarding the date of Calvin's religious conversion.
However, T. H. L. Parker argues that, although this date is a terminus for his conversion, the more likely date is in late 1529 or early 1530.
1530
He broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530.
1533
Some have placed the date of his conversion around 1533, shortly before he resigned from his chaplaincy.
In this view, his resignation is the direct evidence for his conversion to the evangelical faith.
1536
After religious tensions erupted in widespread deadly violence against Protestant Christians in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of the Institutes.
In that same year, Calvin was recruited by Frenchman William Farel to join the Reformation in Geneva, where he regularly preached sermons throughout the week.
However, the governing council of the city resisted the implementation of their ideas, and both men were expelled.
At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees.
1541
He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and in 1541 he was invited back to lead the church of the city.
Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, despite opposition from several powerful families in the city who tried to curb his authority.
During this period, Michael Servetus, a Spaniard regarded by both Roman Catholics and Protestants as having a heretical view of the Trinity, arrived in Geneva.
He was denounced by Calvin and burned at the stake for heresy by the city council.
Following an influx of supportive refugees and new elections to the city council, Calvin's opponents were forced out.
Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe.
