Calvin, John

John (1509-1564), a religious leader of the sixteenth century. A native of Picardy. As a lad he was so fond of Latin and argument that his young friends nicknamed him the "accusative case." Calvin was well educated. He was intended for the law, but was attracted by the new doctrines of the Reformation and began to preach in Paris. When active repressive measures were taken by Francis I, Calvin fled in the disguise of a workingman--finally to Geneva, where, with the exception of a short banishment spent at Strasburg, he spent the rest of his life preaching and writing. His particular doctrines are known as Calvinism. They were held by the Church of Scotland, the Puritans, and by the various branches of Presbyterianism everywhere. One of these doctrines is predestination, as opposed to the Arminian doctrine of free will. The reader may consult a Westminster Shorter Catechism for details.

Calvin was earnest, able, and learned. Life was too serious to be frittered away in fun. He is the hard, strong, intellectual, unyielding, unamiable, arbitrary, yet heroic Puritan of the Reformation. The one great blot on his fame is his responsibility for the judicial murder of Servetus, a reformer whose doctrines were at variance with his own, and with whom he had been engaged in bitter controversy. Servetus was a Spanish physician living at Vienne, a town on the Rhone, below Geneva. He was arrested by the Catholics there, partly on charges of heresy furnished by Calvin. Servetus escaped their hands and took refuge at Geneva. Here he was arrested by Calvin's congregation and tried for heresy. His writings were tied to his girdle and were burned with him at the stake. Such was the savagery and bitterness of theological controversy.

See Presbyterians; Holland; Westminster; Catechism; Servetus