John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -
PROF. M. M. NINAN
strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil … never avenge yourselves.”
The cross itself was the ultimate example of what he taught.
After years as a minister, writer and leader in Geneva and then Strassburg, Calvin returned to Geneva
and resumed efforts to make the city a model Christian community, in part through tight restrictions on
individual and social behavior and by the scrutiny (and punishment) of citizens by church and civil
authorities. Thus Calvin’s name is often connected with grim moral austerity and denial of pleasure.
John Calvin allowed no art other than music, and even that could not involve instruments.
The Libertines : Spirituels or Patriots
Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva. Around 1546, the uncoordinated forces
coalesced into an identifiable group whom he referred to as the libertines, but who preferred to be
called either Spirituels or Patriots. According to Calvin, these were people who felt that after being
liberated through grace, they were exempted from both ecclesiastical and civil law. The group
consisted of wealthy, politically powerful, and interrelated families of Geneva.
At the end of January 1546, Pierre Ameaux, a maker of playing cards who had already been in
conflict with the Consistory, attacked Calvin by calling him a "Picard", an epithet denoting anti-French
sentiment, and accused him of false doctrine. Ameaux was punished by the council and forced to
make expiation by parading through the city and begging God for forgiveness.
A few months later Ami Perrin, the man who had brought Calvin to Geneva, moved into open
opposition. Perrin had married Françoise Favre, daughter of François Favre, a well-established
Genevan merchant. Both Perrin's wife and father-in-law had previous conflicts with the Consistory.
The court noted that many of Geneva's notables, including Perrin, had breached a law against
dancing. Initially, Perrin ignored the court when he was summoned, but after receiving a letter from
Calvin, he appeared before the Consistory.
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Ami Perrin, (died 1561), Swiss opponent of the religious Reformer John Calvin at Geneva and leader
of the anti-Calvinist Libertines.
A member of a prominent Genevese family, Perrin was associated with the city’s anti-Savoyard party
Huguenots (Eidguenots) and commanded a company outfitted against the Duke of Savoy in 1529.
Between 1544 and 1555 he stood as one of the most powerful figures in Geneva, serving many times
as the city’s intercantonal and foreign emissary.
He was instrumental in bringing Calvin into Geneva through Farel.
Perrin early embraced the Reformation and championed the cause of Geneva’s seminal Reformer,
Guillaume Farel. Consequently, he opposed the growth of the Calvinist theocracy, siding with
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