The Protestant Movement: How John Calvin Changed The World

The Protestant movement was as successful as it was due to the theologian, John Calvin. This movement changed the lives of many people, and the world's view on religion. For most, the movement had a positive impact on people's lives. John Calvin was the most influential of all religious leaders in sixteenth century Europe, during the Reformation. John Calvin's early years greatly influenced what he would achieve in his later years. Calvin was born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France to Gerand Calvin, a notary, secretary for the local bishop, and attorney for the church, and Jeanne Lefanc. On the other hand, Calvin died on May 27, 1564 in Geneva, Switzerland, the main city of the Protestant movement. Due to his father's relationship with the

John Calvin set out to Strasbourg, but due to the war, he ended up in Geneva ("John Calvin [3]"). To help shape the early church, Calvin created an organization to regulate all Reformed churches (Johnston, 184). His unrelenting interpretation of scripture was the basis of the developing church, which then allowed the town to become the center of the growing Protestant movement, Calvinism ("John Calvin [2]"). “Geneva thus became the model Protestant city, and the University of Geneva was a training ground for Calvinism” ("John Calvin

In The Institutes, Calvin attempted to establish the essential Protestant beliefs in a thematic way based on Scripture alone ("John Calvin [4]"). As of the publication of the Institutes in 1536, predestination did not appear as an independent doctrine, it evolved over time, prayer and study. Calvin repeats the Augustinian argument that “since all are unworthy to be saved, election is wholly gratuitous" (Johnston, 187). This doctrine of predestination, along with the subsequent idea of “double predestination” are perhaps the most divisive beliefs in all of evangelical orthodox theology; the belief that God “predetermines” who goes to Heaven and who spends eternity in hell. “Double Predestination” according to critics violates the nature of God while to the adherent it validates the absolute Sovereignty of God ("Calvinism"). Following Calvin’s death in 1564, his successor, Frenchman Theodore Beza continued Calvin’s pattern and spent the next forty years dominating Geneva religion and refining Calvin’s systematic theology. Beza was more systematic than Calvin and came to conclusions that were not explicitly outlined in Scripture; things that he determined were entailed by the things that were in Scripture, predestination being one of these