Jean Calvin

Biography

It is, with Martin Luther, one of the initiators of the Protestant Réforme, in opposition to some Dogme S and Rite S of the Roman Catholic church. It develops a Doctrine relatively different from that of Luther, doctrines which it exposes in its Institution of the Christian religion , but it is especially by the practice of the Culte that the Calvinisme is distinguished from the Luthéranisme. One generally regards the doctrines of Calvin as a development of that of Luther.

It was wire of an legal adviser named Caruvin. It was high in the religion Catholique and was initially intended for the Protestant Church; but it left this career for the Jurisprudence, and went to study with Orleans, then with Bourges under Alciat.

Initially intended for a career of juridist, being bound with several partisans of Martin Luther, he will embrace soon the principles of the Reform for then, towards 1531, to convert and develop the theories of the Reform and began as of 1532 to propagate them in Paris. Threatened of prison, it took refuge initially with Angouleme, then with Nérac near Marguerite de Navarre, which supported the Protesting S. In 1534, following the Affaire of the Wall cupboards and the persecutions carried out against the Protestant French (also called Huguenot S), it must flee the France to exile itself with Basle where it publishes in March 1536, the Christian Institution , which contains the essence of its ideas on the law, the faith, preaching, the sacraments and the relationship between the Christians and the civil authority. It is about a talk of the doctrines of the innovators, whom he translated itself into French and who became like the Catéchisme Reforms of France. For example, he recognizes nothing any more but two sacraments: the Baptism and the Communion. The pastors from now on are elected by the faithful ones, and each church calvinists is directed spiritually by an elected council. This book will have an immense repercussion. In 1536, it lives with Geneva where it was named there professor of Théologie, where the Reform had just been adopted. It plays an at the same time religious and political part there. It is Guillaume Farel which is at the origin of the reformed Church of Geneva. It is however Calvin who directs it. Two years afterwards, he was banished of this city to have deployed an excessive rigorism. He withdraws himself then with Strasbourg in April 1538, where he propagated the new doctrines. He was recalled to Geneva in September 1541.
Calvin takes part in the installation of a République calvinist in the city. Nevertheless, this theocratic government protesting is not in full rupture with the system of government and the frame of mind of medieval Catholicism (catholic): he fights against those which are not favorable to the Réforme, sometimes even by condemning them to the exile or the Capital punishment. Since this time, it became very influential in this city: also its adversaries called it the pope of Geneva . It made adopt by the council its articlees of faith, like its ordinances on the ecclesiastical discipline; it reformed manners as well as the beliefs, and, pushing the heat until intolerance made burn the Italy N Gentili and the unhappy Michel Servet to have tackled the mystery of the trinity (October 27th 1553).
En 1559 it founds the Académie of Geneva from which it entrusts the vice-chancellorship to Theodore de Bèze.
Calvin was distinguished from Luther by a more radical reformation, proscribing any posterior worship and any hierarchy, not recognizing more the character of bishop and priest only that of pope, rejecting the mass, the dogma of the real presence, the invocation of the saints, etc; he taught the absolute predestination of the elected officials and of damnés, thus destroying the free will.

Bossuet traced an admirable parallel between the two chiefs of the Reform declaring that “transported by their successes they are both raised with the top of the authority of the fathers” catholic Bossuet bishop of the 17th century refers obviously to the fathers of the Church, of the men like Irenee of Lyon or Augustin d' Hippone. It was obvious for all the reformers that it was the Bible which was to have the first place and it was to be diffused with large scales and to be accessible to greatest number the what will support the elimination of illiteracy of the Protestant countries. Neither Luther nor Calvin however returned to the ideal of a separate Church of the State (as it existed at the time of Irenee of Lyon or Tertullien de Carthage), a Church which would thus not take the responsability to take care on manners of a city or which would not work in this direction in connection with the temporal sovereigns. The ideal of a Church completely freed from the temporal responsibilities will be incarnated by the peaceful branch of the Anabaptistes with men like Michael Sattler, Balthazar Hubmaïer or Menno Simons which should not be confused with Thomas Müntzer and enlightened of Münster. Like Bernard Cottret in his biography shows it on Calvin, the Genevese reformer was also a man of his time and it yielded to the psychosis and the charges of sorcery towards certain inhabitants during the Peste which devastated Geneva in 1545. It would be nevertheless unjust to characterize the teaching of Calvin or Luther only by their declarations on sorcery which are remainders of moyenâgeuse collective mentality. If the whole of their writings is considered, Luther and Calvin contributed to fight against the superstition and to start the modern time.

Calvin and lawsuits in sorcery

The hunting for the witches, which had begun at the same time as the enquiry about the 13th century but only was little applied to the beginning, developed and extended as well in the catholic countries as in the Protestant countries from the Central Europe as from the years 1450. The reformers Martin Luther and Jean Calvin recommended hunting to the witch and their execution. Jean Calvin rested on the old will Exode 22,17, “you will not agree to let live a witch” to say that God himself wanted the capital punishment for the witches. Calvin was pressed on the Old will to organize the reform in Geneva being given the tendency which the emphase had its theology to put on continuity between the Old one and the New will, like because the Gospels and the epistles of Paul and other apostles seemed more conceived to invite to Christian charity and not-resistance that to provide to the legislator the rules necessary to the establishment of a theocracy. The witch hunts are also regarded as approaching the phenomenon of the collective psychoses which appeared in time of crisis lasting the Middle Ages and which took this particular form lasting the Rebirth (of others sees there also a means used by the civil capacities to sit their influence by taking care themselves of the judgments and the judgments, or a fruit of the spirit of the rebirth whose valorization of the reason involved a deep mistrust towards all that could concern irrational like the magic, the witches or the healers). Calvin as many of other Genevese believed that during three years of the men and the women of Geneva had propagated the plague by magic. The constitution of the theocratic State of Geneva recognized the capital punishment for the blasphemers, the heretics and the wizards.

Calvin himself said that all the witches of Peney were to be éradiquées. Sermons were known as in this direction. In 1545, in a few months hardly, 34 individuals, after they had been martyrisés, were burned as wizard in front of the houses which they were supposed to have pestiférées.

In 1602 Anton Praetorius, Pasteur calvinist in Germany, protested against this part of the theology of Calvin and published his work “of the thorough study of sorcery and the wizards” (Von Zauberey vnd Zauberern Gründlicher Bericht).

Principal works

Calvin left a great number of works, written in French; one finds in a whole a remarkable scholarship, a serious tone, a style often involving.

Institution of the Christian religion , 1535, of which it gave itself several editions originally published in Latin in 1536 republished in French in 1541
Traité of Cène , (1540)
Traité relics , (1543)
Traité scandals , (1550)
Commentaires on the Scriptures
a singular writing on the Sommeil of the hearts
Catéchisme of Geneva. Chosen life… , Editor/Edition: Kerygma, ISBN 2905464200
Inform me in your truth , Editeur/Edition: Excelsis, ISBN 2911260155
Small treaty of the holy cene , Editor/Edition: Shepherds and Magi, ISBN 2853041324
a spirituality with human face , Editor/Edition: Excelsis, ISBN 2911260810

Old publications

It appeared several editions of its works; the best quoted by the Dictionnaire Bouillet at the 19th century is that of Amsterdam, 1667.

Its Latin Lettres was published by Theodore de Bèze, 1586 (translated by Antoine Teissier, 1702); its French Letters , by Jules Bonnet, 1854.

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