John Calvin and Calvinism John Calvin is known as the founder of Calvinism, and had lots of different opinions striking him such as “Was John Calvin the founder of Calvinism?”, “Was John Calvin responsible for Calvinism?” and “Why is Calvinism so different from modern Calvinism?” So I am focusing on if John Calvin is the founder of Calvinism or not? When defining “Calvinism”, it says Calvin’s own theology and predestination. I say that we can’t say he was the founder of Calvinism because even if he was part of the founders, it was not only him contributed to make Calvinism. This question can have both yes and no depending on the people. I do agree with John Calvin leaving great impact on the society. For example, John Calvin helped to realize …show more content…
The issue is focusing on the Calvinism back then, and the modern Calvinism. Modern Calvinism is quite different from John Calvin’s teachings. It is based off from his teachings, but modified. The major example for is the TULIP which are the five categories that represents Calvin’s main points. It is not followed by everyone for modern calvinism. Some people decided to not follow the last category which is Perseverance of the Saints. That is known as the ones who are saved are always saved(Melton). So it is more likely to call the five categories TULI instead of TULIP because people who disagree with the last point is not less. This is where a lot of people argue whether Calvinism is the founder to Calvinism or not. There are some people who say Calvinism cannot be introduced as a reformation because the modern calvinism is not what the Calvinism used to be, so it doesn’t exist anymore. And the others would say modern calvinism still has connection with the past, and the past Calvinism was reformed due to John Calvin. I don’t agree with John Calvin having responsibility to Calvinism, because if he had his teachings clear, people can’t change the laws of Calvinism by themselves. This point supports how it is not clear if Calvinism had actually reformed or not. The modern society also has divisions on Calvinism having New Calvinist, Moderate Calvinist, and Free Grace believers. New Calvinist are …show more content…
It wouldn’t be hard to state him as a Calvinist, when we don’t know much about him, but when we research, we can find out how Calvinism doesn’t belong to John Calvin, because there were more contributors, influenced by others and also modern Calvinism is very different. Calvinism was finally made after all the contributors working together, and getting elements of previous theologians points. We can then doubt if Calvinism was actually reformed or not, or if people just thought Calvinism was reformed. There are still few calvinist around the world, but is it right to name then Calvinist? Are they actually a calvinist, or did they just learn it that way. For overall, the answer to the question “Was John Calvin the founder of Calvinism, or a Calvinist?” is not positive but neither the calvinists. Calvinist including John Calvin weren’t actually Calvinists but were belonging to the Reformation tradition. Works Cited Callifgracer. “Was John Calvin Really a Calvinist?” [“Was John Calvin Really a Calvinist?”]. Wordpress. N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2016. . Calvin, John. The Institutes of the Christian religion. Trans. Beveridge Henry. N.p., 1559. Print. Hopper, Birallen. “The Great Calvinist Reawakening” [“The Great Calvinist Reawakening”]. Religion and Politics. N.p., 17 June 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. . “John Calvin.” Britannica School.