The Works of John Calvin The Works of John

January 1997

The Workkss of John CalvinCalvin

on mmiiccrofiche

IEAN CALVIN, DDEE NNOOYYOON

EENN PPIICCAARRDDIIEF,, PPAASSTTEEVVRR DDEE LL''EE?GGLLIISSEE DDEE GGEENNEEVVEE..

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Editor: Francis Higman, Institut d'Histoire ddee lla Re?formation, Universite? de GGene?ve

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John Calvin, 1155009-1564

In the past few years, IDC Publishheerrss hhaass releeaasseedd sseevveerraalliimmppoorrttaannttccoolllleeccttiioonnssoonntthheeRReeffoorrmmaattiioonn,,ssuucchhasasTThheeLLutuhtehrearnan Reforrmmaattioionn, ,TThehePPeoepolpeleCaCllaeldleMdeMtheotdhiostdsi,sGtsu, yGdueyBdreesBra?nsdaHnudldHruycldhryZcwhinZgwlii.nIgfltih. eIrfethiseroeniesnoanme enathmaet cthaantncoatnbneoltebfte left out, it is that off Johnn Calvin. IDC Publisshheerrss is theerreeffoorree pplleeaasseedd too offffeerr yoouu thiss catalloogguuee,, iinn whicchh we present the original editions in their oorriiggiinnaall llaanngguuaaggeess..

Of all the major Reformers, John Calvin had the most far-reachingg influence on the modermn world. Unlike Luther and Zwingli, he worked from a city, Geneva, which was not his `'hhoommee town' but a place of exile, and his target was always wider than the local community: France, Europe (both Westerrnn and Eastern), and even the New World,, forr Calvin had a globaall vieww of his vocaattiioonn.. Calvin's name has been associated with the development of two major phenomena ooff tthhee mmooddeermn wwoorrlldd:: ddeemmooccrraaccyy aanndd ccaappiittaalliissmm.. WWhhiillee tthhee ccllaaiimmss mmaaddee ffoorr hhiiss ddiirreecctt ccoonnttrriibbuuttiioonn ttoo eeiitthheerr ooff tthheessee ttwwoo mmoovveemmeennttss hhaavvee bbeeeenn eexxaaggggeerraatteedd,, tthhee bbrreeaaddtthh ooff tthheeiirr iimmpplliiccaattiioonnss iiss ssiiggnniiffiiccaanntt.. CCaallvviinn''ss RReeffoorrmmaattiioonn wwaass nnoott ssiimmppllyy aa rreelliiggiioouuss mmoovveemmeenntt,, iinn tthhee sseennssee ooff aann eecccclleessiiaassttiiccaall rreeoorrggaanniizzaattiioonn oorr aa ddooccttrriinnaall rreevviissiioonn;; iitt wwaass ssoommeetthhiinngg tthhaatt ttoouucchheedd aallll aarreeaass ooff lliiffee,, aanndd wwhhiicchh iinnvvoollvveedd aa pprrooffoouunndd rreeoorriieennttaattiioonn ooff tthhee lliiffee ooff tthhee iinnddiivviidduuaall aanndd ooff ssoocciieettyy iinn lliinnee wwiitthh tthhee tteeaacchhiinnggss ooff tthhee GGoossppeell..

HHiiss wworrkkss

So who exactly was Calvin? Though we can easily outline the major events of his lifee,, gettiinngg to kknnooww his personalittyy is aa rather mmoorre ddifficult mmaatttteer. HHee wwaass,, surprisinngg to relate, a rreettiirriinngg andd tiimmiidd person, unwilling to talk about hhimmsseelf, concerned only with the task of communicatinngg the messagee which he believed had been entrusted to him. What he has leftt us is hiss works - his theological treatises, his biblicaall commentaries and sermons, and his monumennttaall IInssttitutiioonn of the ChriissttiiaannRReelligigioionn. .TThheeppreresseenntt collection seeks to make the writings of the Reformer available in the most direct form possible, by presenting, in almost eevveerryy ccaassee,, tthhee oorriiggiinnaall eeddiittiioonnss ooff hhiiss pprriinntteedd wwoorrkkss.. TThhiiss iiss CCaallvviinn aass hhee iimmppaacctteedd oonn tthhee rreeaaddiinngg ppuubblliicc ooff tthhee ssiixxtteeeenntthh cceennttuurryy..

HHiiss lliiffee

Manyy biogrraapphhiieess off Calvinn havvee been written, and this is not the place to provide yet another. A few words of introduction, however, will help to place the present collection in context. He was

born in Noyon, northheerrnn France, in Julyy 1509,, tthhee sonn off a lawyer employed by the Noyon Cathedral Chapter. He studied in Paris fromm about 115521 to 15266 ((ssttuuddyyiinngg Latinn,, rhetoriicc and dialectic, but not theology), at Orleans and Bourges fromm about 115526 to 11531 (studying law), and in Paris once again from 11531 to 115533, when he concentrated on classical literature. Some time between about 115528 and 1533, probablyy afterr a long period of hesitation, he was converted ttoo tthhee Reformed doctrines then sweeping EEuurrooppee,, aanndd hhaadd ttoo lleeaavvee PPaarriiss.. DDuurriinngg 11553344 hhee mmoovveedd ffrreeqquueennttllyy,, ssoommeettiimmeess lliivviinngg uunnddeerr aa ppsseeuuddoonnyymm,, ssttuuddyyiinngg tthhee

Bible and the Church Fathers ((and thereby laying the foundations of his self-taught theology), and writing his first works. His first published theological ssttudy, the CChhrristiiaanae Reelliigionis Institutio, was probably completed by August 11553355,, though publication (in Basle) was delayed until early 11553366.

Geneva

Afteerr furtthheerrttrraavveelslstotoItaItlaylyanadntdoto PPaarrisis,,hheefifnianlalyllyararrivrievdedatatht ethreecreenctleyntly reforrmmeeddccitiytyooffGGeenneveavaininJuJlyul1y51356.36. Here he founndd himsseellff accostteedd byy the forcceeffuull Guillaume Farel, who

dragooned him into joining in the work of the Reformation in the cciity. UUnnlliikkee Luther, Zwingli or Bucer, Calvin was never ordained in the Roman Catholic Church; he saw his ordination as a prophetic call fromm God (communicated by Farel) within the exceptionall context of the early RReeformation.

Exille

His firrsstt sojoouurrnn in Geneva lasted only 20 months, ending in apparent disaster when he was exiled from the ccity, along withh Farel, foorr oppossiinngg the city governmeenntt in a confflliicctt between the authorittyy of State and Church, and for makiinngg himmsseellff thoroouugghhllyy unpopular with the citizens by attemptinngg to impose on each individual a confession of Refoorrmmeedd faiitthh.. He then went to Strasbourg, where his three years as pastor of the French rreeffuuggee congregattiioonn and as lecturer in the Acadeemmyy enabled him to mature his thinkingg (this was to be the only period of his liffee durinngg which he was able to enjooyy the company of his intellectual and theological equals). He extensively revised and augmented the IInnstitutio aanndd ttrraannssllaatteedd iitt iinnttoo FFrreenncchh ((tthheerreebbyy ccrreeaattiinngg,, iinncciiddeennttaallllyy,, aa ttuurrnniinngg--ppooiinntt iinn tthhee eevvoolluuttiioonn ooff tthhee FFrreenncchh llaanngguuaaggee)).. He also composed the first of his long series of commentarriieess on Scripture (Romans) and the short TTrreeaattiissee oonn tthhee LLoorrdd''ss SSuuppppeerr,, the firsstt work that he wrote directly in French. He composed a liturgy for his congregation, and introduced the singing of metrical psalms in congregational worship. At the interdenominational colloquies at Worms and Ratisbon in 1155440 aand 11554411,, hhee mmaaddee ccoonnttaacctt wwiitthh tthhee rreelliiggiioouuss lleeaaddeerrss ooff tthhee LLuutthheerraann RReeffoorrmmaattiioonn..

Back ttooGGeenneeva

In 1540, the Geneva City authorities, unable to find suitable leadership for the newlyy refoorrmmeedd Church, asked Calvin to return to the city. Much against his will, and after procrastinating for aa yyeeaar, he finaallllyy returnedd in September 1541. It is then that his real work began. He firsstt proposseedd ordinances forr the

regulation of the Church (and its

relationship wwiith tthhe SSttaattee));; tthhiiss wwaass

followweedd by a catechism and a liturgy,

including the metriccaall psalmmss ooff Cl?ement Marot. He then undertook the mammoth task of education: educating

the local population througghh his massive series of sermons (about 250 each yyeear, each an hour long); eedduucating theological students and the wider scholaarrllyy community by his equally impressive series of commentaries oon the Bible; and explaining the need for a Reformatiioonn,, attacking the Roman CChhuurrcchh,, aass wweellll aass tthhee `'rraaddiiccaall Reformation', the Anabaptists and `'ssppiirriittuuaall libertines', in over 40 very vvaarriieedd ttrreeaattiisseess.. TThheessee rraannggeedd ffrroomm tthhee ppooppuullaarr aanndd eenntteerrttaaiinniinngg ((TTrraaiitteeddeess rreelliiqquueess,, 11554433)) ttoo tthhee ssaattiirriiccaall (Articuli ffaaccuullttaattiiss ppaarriissiieennssii ccuumm aannttiiddoattoa,, 11554444))

or the persuasively eloquent (Excuse aux Nicodemites, 1544), froomm the eirenical (Petit trraaiitte?ddee llaassaaiinnttee CCe?nnee, 1541) to the bitterly controversial ((ee..gg.. the exchanges with Joachim Westphal and Sebastian Castellio). On the whole, the earlier treatises were more general and more popular, while, after 11555500,, tthe emphasis lay more on doctrinal ccoonnfflliiccttss over predestination, the TTrinity, and the Eucharist.

The programme that Calvin set himself was of superhuman proportions, and it killed him: he died before his 55th birthday, in 1155664. Geneva, aand tthe world, had been changed by his intervention in history.

Francis Hiiggman

Institut d'HHiissttooiirreeddee llaa RRe?lfioxirumaatitoionn, ,UUnnivicvresrislcit?dedeGGeenne?vvee

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