John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY - PROF. M. M. NINAN By 1561, there were 2150 Huguenot churches in France and Calvinists were estimated to be about 10% of the population – about 1 million people. It has to be remembered that the first Calvinist ministers only got to France in 1553. Calvinism within France became a large minority religion. The Netherlands: Calvin made important gains in this state. Ministers first arrived here in the 1550’s aided by Huguenot preachers who were fleeing from France. They made slow progress at first. Lutheranism had already taken root as had Anabaptism so Calvinism was seen as another protest religion in a ever crowded field. There was also a lot of persecution in general against Protestants. In 1524, Charles V had introduced his own Inquisition to the region and in 1529 and 1531 new edicts were introduced ordering death to anyone who was found guilty of being a Lutheran or simply sheltered them or help Lutherans spread their beliefs. In 1550 Charles V removed the authority of city councils to try heretics. It was his belief that city magistrates were too lenient and that the provincial courts which took over this duty would have far greater control than the city magistrates. These measures did check the spread of Protestantism but Calvinism was the most successful of the three and the best equipped to survive: Its system of non-religious governments by elders allowed it to operate regardless of the authorities. The Anabaptists were too reliant on the role of the individual as opposed to strength in numbers and organization while the Lutherans were poorly organized and more open to attack from the authorities. By 1560, Calvinism had not spread far because the authorities were very active against it. In total, Protestantism accounted for 5% of the whole population in the Netherlands of which the Calvinists were just a small part. No noble men appeared to be interested as they were too concerned with their political power and economic well being. Their knew that the Catholic Church was corrupt but they found the Calvinists far too authoritarian as the church told you what you could do and what you could not. Most Calvinists were from Antwerp, Ghent and regions near Germany. Germany: Calvinism developed into a popular movement in NW Rhineland and Westphalia – both neighbours of the Netherlands. These were the only areas to convert. In 1562, Frederick III modelled churches in his territory on the Calvinist model which was contrary to the 1555 Religious Settlement of Augsburg which stated that churches could only be Catholic or Lutheran. Heidelburg became a leading intellectual centre but the spread elsewhere was very limited due to Lutheranism and the input of Calvinism into Germany served to disunite the Protestant movement and help the Catholic Church in the Counter-Reformation. John Sigismund of Brandenburg was to convert at a later date and his state followed. 128
JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY - PROF. M. M. NINAN Poland: The western area of Poland was German speaking which had helped Luther. However, Poland had a history of nationalism and a desire to be independent and this did not help Luther who had not spent time organising his church. Calvinism first reached Poland in 1550 and the nobles latched on to the idea of using the civilian population – and giving them some power in their religious rights – as a lever to expand their own power. Two leading nobles (Prince Radziwill the Black and John a Lasco) actively helped the spread of Calvinism as did two kings (Stephen II and Stephen Bathory). Regardless of this, Calvinism did not spread far. Why? Most Poles did not speak German and therefore language remained a major stumbling block as most Calvinist preachers did not speak Polish and could not communicate with the population. Another problem was that numerous Protestant religions already existed in Poland (Bohemian Brethren, Anabaptists, Unitarians etc.) and those who might be won away from the Catholic Church had already been so. In 1573 in the Confederation of Warsaw, both Catholics and Protestants agreed to make religious toleration part of the constitution to be sworn by each succeeding king. But the division among the Protestants meant that the Catholic Church dominated the country and her nickname at this time was the “Spain of the north”. Political Thoughts of Calvin Calvin's social thought was also influential. He believed that human beings were creatures of fellowship and that Church and State satisfied a human need for this type of grouping. According to Wolterstorff: "The concern of the church is the spiritual realm, the life of the inner man; the concern of the state is the temporal realm, the regulation of external conduct. In regulating external conduct, the general aim of the state, in Calvin's view, is to insure justice or equity in society at large. This equity has two facets. Obviously the state must enforce restrictive justice, but Calvin also believed that the state should secure distributive justice, doing its best to eliminate gross inequalities in the material status of its members." Like John Winthrop (see "A Model of Christian Charity"), Calvin believed that an ideal government would be a republic in which power is balanced among magistrates and in which a competent ruling aristocracy is elected by the citizen. Britsh Islands The Reformation in England proceeded unambiguously from its monarchs—Henry VIII, and then two of his three children, Edward and Elizabeth. The English monarchs confronted the daunting task of imposing their personal choice on a large, diverse, and in some cases remote, population in England, Wales and Ireland. That they succeeded for the most part in England and Wales remains beyond doubt. The essence was really the printing of the Bible in the local languages. The Church of 129
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John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

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