CALVIN, JOHN

born July 10, 1509, Noyon, Picardy, France died May 27, 1564, Geneva, Switz. French Jean Calvin, or Cauvin theologian and ecclesiastical statesman. He was the leading French Protestant Reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. His interpretation of Christianity, advanced above all in his Institutio Christianae religionis (1536 but elaborated in later editions; Institutes of the Christian Religion), and the institutional and social patterns he worked out for Geneva deeply influenced Protestantism elsewhere in Europe and in North America. The Calvinist form of Protestantism is widely thought to have had a major impact on the formation of the modern world. This article deals with the man and his achievements. For a further treatment of Calvinism, see Calvinism and Protestantism. born July 10, 1509, Noyon, Picardy, France died May 27, 1564, Geneva, Switz. French Jean Calvin, or Cauvin theologian, ecclesiastical statesman, and one of the most important Protestant Reformers of the 16th century. The ideas that he advanced in many publications, a model church that he created and directed in the city of Geneva, and the assistance he provided to the political and intellectual leaders of several countries profoundly influenced the development of Protestantism in many parts of Europe and in North America. Calvin attended elementary school in Noyon, the Collge de la Marche and the Collge de Montaigu in Paris (after 1523), and the law schools of Bourges and Orlans; then he returned to Paris (1531) to study. Late in 1533 he left Paris abruptly for political reasons. He was an active member of a religious reform movement inspired by Renaissance humanism, of which the government was becoming increasingly intolerant. Calvin converted to Protestantism while studying theology in Basel, Switz. There he wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), a comprehensive statement of Protestant belief. On his way to Strassburg in 1536, he stopped in Geneva and was persuaded to aid in the struggle to plant Protestantism there. He became the major figure in Reformed Protestantism and made Geneva its centre. Calvin's later treatises included Instruction in Faith (1537), Commentary on Romans (1539), Psychopannychia (1542), and Short Treatise on the Lord's Supper (1545). Additional reading The most complete edition of Calvin's works is Ioannis Calvini Opera quae supersunt omnia, 59 vol. in 26, ed. by Guilielmus (Johann Wilhelm) Baum, Eduardus (Eduard) Cunitz, and Eduardus (Eduard) Reuss (18631900; reprinted 59 vol. in 58, 1964). Supplementary material may be found in the series Supplementa Calviniana: Sermons indits (1961 ), which collects hitherto unpublished sermons, with 5 vol. published by 1988; and the Registres de la Compagnie des Pasteurs de Genve au temps de Calvin, ed. by Robert M. Kingdon and Jean-franois Bergier, 2 vol. (196264), a partial record of the deliberations of the Geneva Company of Pastors from 1546 to 1564, the first 2 vol. of a larger set, Registres de la Compagnie des Pasteurs de Genve, ed. by Olivier Fatio et al. The best English translation of Institutio Christianae religionis is Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. by Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vol. (1960). For selected other works of Calvin in English, see David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance (eds.), Commentaries, 12 vol. (195972, reprinted 197688), on the New Testament; and Donald K. McKim (ed.), Readings in Calvin's Theology (1984).Studies of Calvin are numerous. For guidance to older works, see Alfredus (alfred) Erichson, Bibliographia Calviniana (1900, reprinted 1979); and Wilhelm Niesel, Calvin-Bibliographie, 19011959 (1961). For literature since 1960, see the bibliographies ed. by Peter De Klerk and published annually in issue no. 2 of Calvin Theological Journal. A recent scholarly biography of Calvin is T.H.L. Parker, John Calvin (1975, reissued 1987). For a fuller account of his thought, see Franois Wendel, Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought (1963, reprinted 1987; originally published in French, 1950); and for Calvin in historical context, see William J. Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait (1988). Robert M. Kingdon, Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France, 15551563 (1956), deals with Calvin's interest in France. William J. Bouwsma