John Calvin (1509-1564)
Artist: Enoch Seeman the Younger (British, c.1694-1744)
Date: 1714-1744
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: National Trust Collections, London, United Kingdom
John Calvin, French Theologian
John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) (1509-1564) was born in Noyon, Picardy, the son of an ecclesiastical lawyer. He attended the University of Paris to train for the priesthood but then began to train for the law at Orleans and Bourges and received his first interest in theology. He then began to preach the reformed doctrines and travelled to Paris, Noyon, and Nerac. On his return to Paris, he realized that his life was no longer safe in France and fled to Basel.
In 1536 he published The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin taught that certain people 'the elect' are predestined for eternal life and the remainder are damned, also that salvation was a gift from God and man's good works were a sign of that salvation and not its cause.
He eventually settled in Geneva and took over the work of Guillaume Farel of directing the religious and political life of the city. Among other reforms affecting the lives of the citizens of Basel, he banned all public entertainment, issued regulations on dress and insisted on absolute puritanism in their private lives. He was expelled from the city in 1538, but returned three years later and imposed a code of intolerance on religious matters and strict social and puritan morality.
The ethic of hard work, thrift and sobriety brought great trade and wealth to the city. A college which later became Geneva University was founded to create a body of educated priests who would be able to continue Calvin's work. The presbyterian churches in Scotland, the Huguenots in France and the Dutch Reformed Church were all greatly influenced by Calvin's teaching.