John Calvin: Life & Times

1. John Calvin: Life & Times Sunday, September 13, 2009 Nathan Love

2. XVIth Century (France & Europe) • 1453 Fall of Constantinople • 1470 Printing Press ------------------------------- • 1467-1536 Erasmus • 1494?-1553 Rabelais • 1515 François Ier • 1517 Concordat of Bologna • 1517 Luther 95 Theses • 1534 Affaire des Placards • 1547 Henri II • 1559 Death of Henri II • 1562-1598 Wars of Religion • 1598 Edict of Nantes • 1509 birth of Calvin in Noyon • 1523 Calvin studies in Paris • 1528 civil law student in Orléans • 1534 Calvin flees Paris • 1534 Strasbourg • 1536 1st ed. of Institutes & first stay in Geneva • 1541 2nd ed. of Institutes & now in French • 1541 back to Geneva • 1557 Commentary on the Psalms • 1560 3rd ed. of Institutes • 1564 death of Calvin

3. John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) • born in Noyon in Picardy, France (son of Gérard Cauvin, or Caulvin) • studies in Paris, Orléans, Bourges (France). • associates with number of French intellectuals: Guillaume Farel, Nicolas Cop, Louis du Tillet, Lefèvre d’Étaples, Guillaume Budé. • even after early student days in Paris, frequently returns to Paris • first edition of the Institutes dedicated to François Ier (Francis I). • decides with the second edition of the Institutes, to translate it into French. • French claim him as important author for prose style; his 2nd ed. of Institutes are first theological writing in French. François Ier (Francis I)

4. John Calvin (IohannesCalvinus) • Calvin’s early studies in Paris – those of French humanism • learns Latin, Greek, Hebrew and reads authors of antiquity • publishes Seneca’s De Clementia in 1532 w/ commentary that displays his classical erudition • writes first ed. of Institutes in Latin only • rejects the Vulgate (Latin transl. of Bible • as a humanist, works at eloquent, clear, persuasive expression worthy of ancients • as a French humanist, finds self in conflict w/ the theology faculty of Sorbonne • as a French humanist, decides to “defend illustrate” the French language

5. John Calvin (law & Guillaume Budé) • One of the preoccupations of sixteenth-century France: law. • France had not enjoyed a unified legal system (and will not until Napoléon). • Guillaume Budé argued for a direct return to Roman law to meet new legal needs of France. • Humanist scholars provide direct access to classical legal sources at Orléans and Bourges, where Calvin studies. • Calvin will thus leave his legal studies w/ an appreciation of classical legal heritage and conviction that its legal institutions and codes are important for the present. • In Budé, Calvin has a model humanist scholar who writes on the New Testament and the codification of laws, and who is appreciated by François I.

6. Paris, François I, the Reform • Reform of the Catholic Church and Humanism have a common origin: a return to the texts (ad fontes) and critical reflection. • Initially, François I is the patron of the artists and humanist scholars. In 1530 he establishes the Collège des Lecteurs Royaux, the future Collège de France, where classical Latin, Greek and Hebrew are taught – victory for the spirit of the Renaissance and the Reform. • In France, the Reform first manifests itself by an “evangelical” movement, a return to the Gospels, in particular, to Holy Scripture, in general, as the sole authentic source of Christian beliefs. Guillaume Budé attempts to reconcile the wisdom of antiquity with the practice of the Christian religion. Marot, who translates Virgil, and Rabelais, who advocates the study of Greek and Latin, are attacked by the Sorbonne for their interest in humanist education.

7. Paris, François I, the Reform • For French Catholic orthodoxy, Scripture needs to be completed by patristic tradition. And in 1530, the Sorbonne condemns the proposition that “Holy Scripture cannot be understood correctly without Greek, Hebrew or other similar languages.” • To put the Bible within the reach of the faithful, Lefèvre d’Étaples translates it into French (1530); the Sorbonne condemns this translation. • Initially here too, François I, supports and protects the humanists, and guarantees freedom in matters of belief, over and against the faculty of the Sorbonne that worried that with the French évangéliques, Lutheranism would infect France, the elder sister of the Church. Martin Luther

8. Paris, François I, the Reform • A close associate of Calvin, Nicolas Cop, who had just become rector of the University of Paris, delivers an address on November 1, 1533, entitled, “The Ecclesiastic History of the Reformed Churches in the Kingdom of France.” It borrows slightly from Luther and, at one point, refers to the theology faculty of the Sorbonne as “sophists.” Result: Cop is fired and summoned to appear before the Paris parlement. Calvin decides to leave Paris by mid-November. • Then there occurs in1534 the Affaire des Placards. • Reformers place posters anonymously protesting the papal mass in public places throughout Paris, Orléans, and even on the door of François I’s royal bedroom. The posters were written by the reforming pamphleteer, Antoine Marcourt, of Neuchâtel. Loyal Catholics on their way to mass found the tabloid-size posters repugnant. Evangelism suddenly appears to be a religion of rebels.

9. Paris, François I, the Reform • The king was outraged and immediately adopted measures of repression. Marot fled, Rabelais went into hiding, Calvin got himself ready to go to Geneva. From this point forward, no one may oppose the Roman Catholic Church with impunity in France. Paris 16th cent. from towers of Notre-Dame

10. Geneva and Calvin: 1536 • Like Nicolas Cop, Calvin first headed for the safe haven of the Swiss city of Basel, passing through Strasbourg. • The University of Basel had recently wasted away, and Calvin felt all the more isolated since he did not speak German. • He followed from afar what transpired in France. His friend, Etienne de la Forge, for instance, was burned at the stake in Feb. 1935. He read how François I was to execute his religious reformers just as the German princes were executing the Anabaptists. • Calvin was outraged by the suggestion that the évangéliques were moved by political, rather than religious, motives. Indeed, Calvin says this was the reason why he decided to publish his Institution de la religion chrétienne.

11. Geneva and Calvin: 1536

12. Geneva and Calvin: 1536 • It was completed in August of 1535 in Latin, and ostensibly addresses the French evangelicals, anxious to consolidate their understanding of their faith. • Despite the prefatory letter, it seems instead to prove the falseness of the assertion that the persecution of the reformers in France can be justified by comparing them to the Anabaptists in Germany. • After a brief return to Paris, Calvin headed for Strasbourg. • Because of troop movements within the context of a was between François I and the Emperor, Calvin had to make a detour south. He ended up spending a night in Geneva. Although he intended to stay no more than one night, he allowed himself to be persuaded to stay at the insistence of his friend, Guillaume Farel.

13. Institutes 1536 – prefatory letter • Calvin, although self-exiled, dedicates his work to his “Most Christian king of the French, His Sovereign … ” • Given the persecution of the reformers following the Affaire des Placards, Calvin appeals to François I for clemency and a just consideration of the true nature of the Evangelicals. • François is invited to consider Calvin’s confession of faith. • By comparison, their detractors who are more concerned with the primacy of the Apostolic See, pilgrimages, Mass, purgatory, rather than inward and Scripture-based faith. • Calvin then turns to the specific accusations of novelty and doubtfulness of doctrine, the preposterous requirement of miracles, and the claim that the Church Fathers oppose Reformist teachings. • Finally, Calvin denies that the Evangelicals spread sedition and civil disorder.

14. Institutes 1541 – French edition • This is the edition that really does seem to address a French readership. • Would François I read it in French?

15. Institutes 1559-60 – final editions • BOOK FIRST. - Of The Knowledge Of God The Creator • BOOK SECOND. - Of The Knowledge Of God The Redeemer, In Christ, As First Manifested To The Fathers, Under The Law, And Thereafter To Us Under The Gospel. • BOOK THIRD. - The Mode Of Obtaining The Grace Of Christ. The Benefits It Confers, And The Effects Resulting From It. • BOOK FOURTH. - Of The Holy Catholic Church

16. Calvin’s writings at a glance • Calvin (1509–1564) produced many sermons, biblical commentaries, letters, theological treatises, and other works. Although nearly all of Calvin's adult life was spent in Geneva (1536-38 and 1541-64), his publications spread his ideas of a properly reformed church to many parts of Europe and from there to the rest of the world. • 1532 Seneca’s De Clementia in w/ commentary • 1542 Psychopannychia -- to refute the doctrine of soul sleep as promulgated by Christians whom Calvin called "Anabaptists.“ • 1536 Institutio Christianae Religionis 1541, with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 (Latin) and in 1560 (French) • 1540 His commentary on Romans. Calvin produced commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. • 1557 Commentary on the Psalms – account of his break with past (subita conversio)

17. Geneva and Calvin: 1541-64 • Calvin, although self-exiled, dedicates his work to his “Most Christian king of the French, His Sovereign … ”