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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -<br />
PROF. M. M. NINAN<br />
A second public disputation in June, 1535, was a major triumph for the reformers, after which Farel<br />
pressed hard his victory, inspiring an outbreak of image-smashing, gaining the pulpit of the cathedral,<br />
<strong>and</strong> persuading the CounciI of Two Hundred to suppress the Mass. This latter decision, taken on<br />
August I0, I535, marks Geneva’s formal adherence to the Reformation. If that crucial step had been<br />
taken, the city’s general security, however, remained more troubled <strong>and</strong> perilous than ever. Still<br />
beleaguered by the Duke of Savoy, she sought new aid from Bern. This aid was forthcoming at a<br />
strategic moment in January, I 536, when Bern, taking advantage of the Duke’s retreat from Geneva’s<br />
environs because of a French threat to Savoy (the imminence of war between Francis I <strong>and</strong> Charles<br />
over Milan now cast its shadow), declared war on Savoy <strong>and</strong> proceeded to occupy Geneva <strong>and</strong> its<br />
countryside. Ambitious Bern now attempted to impose her suzerainty on her ally, but Geneva refused<br />
to submit <strong>and</strong> at length secured, in a treaty in August, 1536, Bern’s acknowledgment of her<br />
independence.<br />
Meanwhile, a general assembly of citizens in the cathedral of Geneva on May 21 had ratified the<br />
reform measures which the councils had already inaugurated, <strong>and</strong> had affirmed their will “to live<br />
according to the Gospel <strong>and</strong> the Word of God.” The political <strong>and</strong> religious revolution had been<br />
achieved. It had been achieved, but it had not yet been fully secured <strong>and</strong> consolidated. The fortunes<br />
of war, the resurgence of the Catholic cause, the weakness or failure of Protestant leadership could<br />
certainly have reopened the issue <strong>and</strong> altered the course of these recent events. That such did not<br />
occur was due in part at least to the arrival in Geneva of a young French scholar who was a recent<br />
convert to Protestantism: <strong>John</strong> <strong>Calvin</strong>"<br />
A Reformation Debate: Sadoleto's Letter to the Genevans, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Calvin</strong>'s Reply, With an Appendix on the Justification<br />
Controversy - Introduction by Olin, <strong>John</strong> C.<br />