John Calvin

             John Calvin created the patterns and thought that would dominate Western culture throughout the modern period. North American culture, in particular, is thoroughly Calvinist in some form or another; at the heart of the way North Americans think and act, you'll find this fierce and imposing reformer. Calvin was originally a lawyer that was saturated with the ideas of Northern Renaissance humanism. He was dedicated to the reform of the church and he got his chance to build a reformed church when the citizens of Geneva revolted against their rulers in the 1520's (Barry, par. 3). Calvin's efforts radically changed the face of Protestantism, for he directly addressed issues that early Reformers didn't know how or didn't want to answer. His most important work involved the organization of church governance and the social organization of the church and the city. He was, in fact, the first major political thinker to model social organization entirely on biblical principles. The 5 main points of Calvinism, also known as the "TULIP" formula are crucial in understanding the basic foundation of Jon Calvin's teachings.
             The core of Calvinism is the literal reading of Christian scriptures. Calvinism is a system of biblical interpretation taught by John Calvin. As a theologian, Calvin always based his doctrine on God and not on man (Balke 223). Anything not contained explicitly and literally in these scriptures was to be rejected; on the other hand, anything that was contained explicitly and literally in these scriptures was to be followed unwaveringly. It is the latter point that Calvin developed his model; not only should all religious belief be founded on the literal reading of Scriptures, but church organization, political organization, and society itself should be founded on this literal reading (Kingdon and Linder 12). According to Mullet the history of the earliest church recounted in the New Testament book, The A...

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John Calvin. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:31, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/24870.html