Gordon Tom

Kyle Lam
10/10/10
Period 1
The Life and Works of John Calvin

John Calvin was a French pre-Enlightenment thinker who was born in 1509 and died in

1564. Most of his contributions to the Enlightenment were indirect; his ideas led others to

question the system, which was based on either religion or a ruler backed by divine rights.

Studying theology as a young teenager greatly influenced his later contributions in life; most, if

not all, of his ideas had to do with religion (in other words, theological). All the colleges and

schools Calvin attended had many Humanistic leanings, which also proved to be influential in

his contributions.

His first writings were all based upon interests spawned from his studies of the Greco-

Roman classics and the Scriptures. In fact, his first publication (1532) was a commentary on

Seneca’s essay on clemency (death sentence). His most major contribution to the Protestant

movement (and in turn, the Enlightenment) was his first major published work, Institutes of the

Christian Religion (1536, first ed.). The book basically provided a clear, concise explanation of

his religious beliefs. Later versions also described how the church should be organized.

John Calvin, through his words, led others to question the Christian religion entwined so

rigidly with society then. Institutes of the Christian Religion may have been his greatest and

most detailed work, but many of his smaller written pamphlets are also very vital to revealing

small but important details about his thoughts and ideas. Many of his lectures and preaches to

groups of people were never recorded; looking at them now through secondary sources

showed how his thoughts slowly changed to be more on the free and radical side (compared to
the standard beliefs then).

John Calvin’s theology stated that human sin affects everything about the human

character, such as emotions, will, thoughts, and etc.  Unsaved people cannot save themselves

and only God has the power to save them, according to Calvinism.   In addition, Calvin’s

theology states that God only chooses some people to be saved and some people to be

damned.  “God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and

justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and

another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.” (John Calvin) However,

these are not based on one’s actions and rather based on God’s will.  Also, according to Calvin’s

theology, Christ died for the sins of those predestined to be in heaven and not those who were

predestined to go to hell.  Furthermore, when God has put his grace on someone, it was

because they have been predestined to heaven, and it is impossible for that person to not go to

heaven.  “For there is no one so great or mighty that he can avoid the misery that will rise up

against him when he resists and strives against God.” (John Calvin)  John Calvin’s theologies led

to a moral dilemma: if our fate is predestined by God’s will no matter what we do, what is the

point of trying to be good?  This led thinkers in the Enlightenment to ponder about human

nature if we are naturally good, evil, both, or neither. Many took this as a sign that said that

religion was no longer valid and its rules no longer important, and started moving on to more

worldly concepts such as self-knowledge and reason.

His ideas about theology were greatly influenced by what some call his “sudden

conversion” to Protestantism. Calvin described his experience as follows: “God subdued my

soul to docility by a sudden conversion” (John Calvin, 2010).

 Although Calvin’s ideas only seem to be religious contributions, they are actually strong

and influential contributions to the Enlightenment.  John Calvin and Calvinism strongly

influenced republican governments; however, it wasn’t his original intention.  John Calvin’s

ideas of representative bodies and boards of elders influenced Northern Europe.  These ideas

caused the abolishing of the divine right of kings and influenced people to start a new society

across Northern Europe.  

Not only did John Calvin’s ideas influence politics and religion, it also influenced

economics.  Calvinism influenced capitalism (otherwise known as laissez faire), which is an

economic system that prevents government from interfering with businesses and profit.

Capitalism spread throughout northern Europe and enabled economic growth.  Capitalism was

the best theory for the economy for hundreds of years.

John Calvin was one of the greatest follow-ups to the Enlightenment. He may not have

been an actual Enlightenment thinker, but his ideas on theology didn’t just explain his views on

religion. They questioned the system, which set the example for many other influential people

to come. Because religion in his time was so integrated into society and even into the

monarchy, ideas of his did not take long to sprout roots and morph into something entirely

new. In this way, he influenced a wide variety of topics, including economy with laissez faire,

government with his republican elements, and of course - his biggest impact - his ideas on not

just religion, but man and man’s self-knowledge.

Today, of course, evidence can be found anywhere and with anyone relating to John

Calvin’s influence over time – his main study and focus was religion, after all. Everybody has a

religion – it’s up to the person to interpret it as one.

References

Beveridge, Henry. “John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, A New Translation”. Center
for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. CRTA. 2010. 10 Oct 2010.
<http://www.reformed.org/master/index.html?mainframe=/books/institutes/>

Bouwsma, William J. “John Calvin”. Leibnitiana.  No editor. 2002. Lebniz Society of North
America. 9 Oct 2010. <http://www.gwleibniz.com/britannica_pages/calvin/calvin.html>

Ritchie, Mark S. “The Protestant Reformation”. Ritchies. Mark Ritchie. 1999. 9 Oct 2010.
<http://www.ritchies.net/p4wk5.htm>

Trueman, Chris. “John Calvin”. History Learning Site. Chris Trueman. 2000. 9 Oct 2010.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/John_Calvin.htm>