John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -
PROF. M. M. NINAN
In March 1536, Calvin published the first Latin edition of his Institutio Christianae Religionis or
Institutes of the Christian Religion
The word “institutes” derives from the latin “Institution” which means instruction. The work, written in
Latin, published in Basel in March 1536 was with a preface addressed to King Francis I of France,
entreating him to give the Protestants a hearing rather than continue to persecute them. In the
foreword to the French king François I, Epistle to the king, Calvin claimed that the Protestants were
good Christians who did not mean to contest the King’s power.
Francis I (French: François Ier) (12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was the first King of France from the Angoulême
branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and
Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a son.
A prodigious patron of the arts, he initiated the French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to
work on the Château de Chambord, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him,
which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute
monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French
exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and
paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire.
The first edition comprised six chapters in which Calvin reworked on Luther’s notion of free salvation,
and explained the main characteristics of the christian faith, i.e.
the ten commandments(the decalogue ),
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