“When the truth was suffocated by such pervasive, thick darkness; when religion was polluted by so many godless superstitions; when the worship of God was corrupted by horrid sacrilege and His glory was lying prostrate; when the benefit of redemption was buried under many twisted opinions, people drunk on the destructive confidence of works sought salvation elsewhere than in Christ, the administration of the sacraments was partly mangled and destroyed, partly corrupted by many human inventions mixed in, partly defiled by for-profit markets; when the government of the church had degenerated into a totally confused wasteland; when those who were sitting in the place of pastors first damaged the church very much by a loose way of living; when they exercised harsh and especially harmful tyranny over souls, the people were led like a herd of cattle to destruction by every kind of error—Luther emerged, then others appeared, who with united devotion sought out reasons and ways by which religion could be freshly purged from so many corruptions, the doctrine of godliness be restored to its purity, and the church be brought together out of such distress into a tolerable condition. We still proceed in this course today.” (Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, 22-23)
— Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Source: John Calvin. The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1544). Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2020.
The members of the “Theology Study Group” at Redeemer Presbyterian Church as we celebrated the conclusion of our study through Berkhof’s “Manual of Christian Doctrine”
Throughout the Fall months we will be studying the “History and Theology of the Reformation.” What is our plan? Specifically, we will interact with John Calvin’s masterful treatise The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1544), and hear lectures from Pastor Marcus Serven on the key people and core doctrines of the Protestant Reformation. Our group of serious adult learners meets at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, on Thursday mornings (9:30-11:30 AM) in room 208 of Calvin Hall. The first class begins on Thursday, September 15, 2022. For more information, or to reserve your place contact Pastor Marcus Serven (mserven@redeemerpres.org).
Our text for the Fall
The publishers of our text book–Reformation Trust Publishers–capture the main theme of John Calvin’s treatise quite well when they portray an upside down church as symbolic of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Church. Rather than emphasizing the priority of a living and active faith in Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholics wrongly emphasize the authority and power of the Church. It is a point well taken, and Calvin forcefully argues that the proper role of the Church is to humbly serve as an assembly of believers who faithfully obey and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the central reason that the church in the time of the Reformation needed to be thoroughly reformed–the church had forsaken their “first love” (Rev. 2:4). Thankfully, through the work of Calvin and many other Reformers, it was reformed. And as “heirs of the Reformation” we have received all the benefits. Soli Deo Gloria!
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. ” 1 Cor. 11:27
St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland–Calvin’s pulpit is at the center-left
Who possesses the authority to admit a person to the Lord’s Supper or to ban the unrepentant sinner from it—the civil magistrates or the officers of Christ’s Church? This central question plagued the city of Geneva for several decades during the time of the Reformation. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances, written by John Calvin in 1541 and received by the Small Council of Geneva in that same year (November 20th), clearly specifies that the Church retains the right to properly order the Lord’s Supper. This would include who is admitted to the Table and who is banned from the Table. Many of Calvin’s biographers have commented on these controversial events, but what original documents can be found to show exactly what happened? Two sources are notable (1) The Resister of the Company of Pastors in Geneva in the time of Calvin: 1546-1564, translated and edited by Philip E. Hughes (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), and (2) Life of John Calvin, written by Theodore Beza in 1564 immediately following Calvin’s death (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983).
William Farel
The citizens of Geneva formally decided for the Reformation, against Roman Catholicism, on May 21, 1536. With right hands raised, they swore to live by the Word of God and to reject Romanist idolatries. This initial effort was led by two missionary evangelists, William Farel (1489-1565) and Pierre Viret (1511-1571). Shortly after this, John Calvin was also added to the team of Reformers working in Geneva. These ministers of the gospel envisioned a reformation that would not only bring about the adoption of a new Protestant Statement of Faith, which was presented to the Small Council in January 1537, but also a complete reformation of the morals of the town. They rightly reasoned that for any reform effort to be successful a change in doctrine (orthodoxy) must always be accompanied by a change in behavior (orthopraxy). Geneva had been long known for its loose morals. Dr. John T. McNeill, a highly regarded Reformation historian, comments,
Moral conditions were, indeed, such as to invite drastic reform. Medieval Geneva, by common consent of historians, abounded in centers of dissolute pleasure. Even contemporary opponents of the Reformation freely accuse the pre-Reformation clergy and friars of appalling misbehavior; and while this was resented by the people, it was also imitated by them. Genevese gaiety was often associated with intemperance, obscenity, and licentiousness.
McNeill, The History and Character of Calvinism, 166
John Calvin as a young Pastor
Calvin drafted a plan for the reformation of the church and society of Geneva and he called it the Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1541). It was composed by Calvin right after his return to Geneva. His basic plan was to establish four offices within the church—pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons. These men had the spiritual responsibility to advance the teaching of biblical doctrine and behavior. Violations of these biblical standards would be enforced by the Genevan Consistory; which was made up of representatives from both the church and civil government. If the violations were of a serious nature and recurrent then a person could be suspended from the Lord’s Table. What breaches might lead to suspension from the Lord’s Table? Here are seven stipulations listed in the Ecclesiastical Ordinances,
(1) If anyone speaks critically against the received doctrine”, (2) “If anyone is negligent to come to church in such a way that a serious contempt of Christians is apparent”, (3) “if any one shows himself to be scornful of the ecclesiastical order”, (4) “those who mock at the specific admonitions of their neighbor”, (5) “for those notorious and public vices which the Church cannot condone”, (6) “for those crimes which deserve not only verbal rebuke but correction with punishment”, (7) “If through contumacy or rebelliousness such a person attempts to intrude himself contrary to the prohibition.
Hughes, Ed. The Register, 48-49
The length of the suspension, whether it was temporary or permanent, would depend upon the offending person’s repentance. Accordingly, the pastor who was responsible for administering the Lord’s Supper was also responsible to “fence the Table” so that those who were “unworthy” partakers would not be able to receive the Lord’s Supper. The Reformers insisted that the “three marks of a church” are these: (1) the true preaching of the Word of God; (2) the right administration of the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper); and (3) the faithful exercise of church discipline (cf. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 576-578). Calvin strongly resolved that upon these three foundational marks the Church of Jesus Christ in Geneva would be built.
Here is a “primary source” that reveals the reforming work of the Genevan Church
During the fourteen years that followed the approval of the Ecclesiastical Ordinances by the City Council (November 20, 1541) wide-ranging conflicts raged throughout Geneva. It proved far easier to reform the doctrine of the people than to reform their behavior. As a result an opposition party was formed by some of the key families of Geneva (the Perrins, Favres, Vandels, Bertheliers, etc.). They called themselves the Libertines (also known as the Enfants de Geneva). Here is an example from The Register of the Company of Pastors (December 23, 1552) where a certain individual complained to the Small Council (referred to as the Messieurs or Senate) about being suspended from the Lord’s Table.
On the same day and at the same hour Messieurs proposed to us that some reconciliation should be made in the case of those who had been banned from the supper by the Consistory. Monsieur Calvin replied at once in the name of all the brethren, making two requests on our behalf: firstly, that they should not give the ministers the authority which belonged to the whole Consistory, of which each was a member, since it was not for us as individuals to deprive anyone of the supper, nor did we have authority, apart from the decision of the Consistory, to readmit those who had been deprived; and, secondly, that they should exhibit the same impartiality to all. Philibert Berthelier was then sent into our presence. He showed the same or even greater rebelliousness than before, saying that it was not his understanding that the Consistory possessed such authority nor that the people were bound by its decisions. Messieurs therefore confirmed the sentence of the Consistory and pronounced him unworthy of the supper.
hughes, ed. The Register, 205
Who exactly was Philibert Berthelier? Dr. Philip E. Hughes, a capable and well-known Calvin scholar, writes,
Philibert Berthelier, son of the hero and martyr for Genevan freedom, was one of Calvin’s most intransigent adversaries in Geneva. Communion was forbidden him in 1551 because he had publicly declared that he was “just as good a man as Calvin,” and despite his repeated protestations, this ban was regularly renewed. In defiance of the authority of the Consistory, Berthelier appealed to the Council, and the latter attempted to set aside this ban, to the great offense of Calvin’s followers.
Hughes, ed.The Register, note #39, 205
The decision of the Small Council to uphold the Berthelier’s suspension from the Lord’s Table became a focal point of controversy. The Libertines argued that suspension from the Lord’s Table was an “individual matter”, and at other times they argued that it should be decided by the Small Council and not by the Genevan Consistory.
Michael Servetus
Ten months later in the midst of the heresy trial for Michael Servetus (August 17, 1553 through October 26, 1553), the determined Philibert Berthelier once again requested permission from the Small Council to be readmitted to the Lord’s Supper (September 1, 1553). It should be pointed out that the excommunicate Berthelier was also serving as the defense attorney for Servetus. This stormy trial was utilized by the Libertines as a means for undermining the authority of the Reformers. Bringing up once again the issue of Berthelier’s ban from the Lord’s Supper was simply a way of increasing the pressure on Calvin and the other Reformers. The Register of the Company of Pastors states,
At the beginning of September 1553 this church was greatly troubled since Philibert Berthelier, who had been excommunicated and forbidden the Sacraments because of his rebellion against the Consistory, had been granted absolution by Messieurs, without the Consistory being given a hearing. This action was opposed by the ministers, who unanimously declared that they could not admit this man, or others like him, to the supper until the Consistory had evidence of repentance, and had absolved him. It was objected, moreover, that the order of the Church laid down that authority to forbid or admit to the Lord’s supper belonged to the Consistory, and not Messieurs. Maitre Jean Calvin protested publicly from the pulpit, in the same sermon when the supper was administered, that under no circumstances would he receive such a rebel at the supper, and that it was not for men to compel him to do what was scandalous, but that Messieurs rather should be urged to prevent Berthelier from presenting himself at the sacrament.
hughes, ed. The register, 285-286
The City Hall of Geneva
Why, then, was this precise moment the opportune time to push the point of Berthelier’s excommunication? Several citizens who were members of the Libertine party had recently secured key positions on the Small Council and in the Council of the Two Hundred. With Ami Perrin, one of their own, now in charge as the First Syndic, they reasoned that they could overthrow the power and authority of the Church (and Calvin) at this crucial moment. There had also been several small victories in the Servetus trial for the defense and it was theoretically possible that he could be set free and Calvin held liable for bringing false charges against an innocent man. This political scheme could very well have worked, but they did not reckon with the steel-like resolve of Calvin. Theodore Beza comments,
So far this year seems to have been divided between hope and fear, the former, however, prevailing in the end. But while the cause of Servetus was under discussion, one of the factious, Berthelier by name, a man of the most consummate impudence, whom the Presbytery, for his many iniquities, excluded from the Lord’s Table, comes before the Senate, and prays to be absolved by their authority. Had this been done, there cannot be a doubt that the bond of ecclesiastical discipline being forthwith dissolved, everything would instantly have gone to wreck. Therefore Calvin, in name of the Presbytery, made strenuous and unremitting opposition, showing that magistrates ought to be the vindicators, not the destroyers, of sacred laws. In short, he omitted nothing which a contest of so much moment demanded. However, the false clamors of those who said that the Presbytery were in some things arrogating to themselves the authority of the magistrates prevailed, and it was, accordingly resolved, in the Council of the Two Hundred, that, in excommunication, the ultimate right belonged to the Senate, who were entitled to absolve whom they pleased. In consequence of this resolution having been passed by the Senate, who had then given little attention to the subject, Berthelier surreptitiously obtained letters of absolution under the seal of the Republic. Perrin, with his followers, hoped that one of two consequences would follow—that if Calvin refused to obey the Senate, he would be able to overwhelm him by means of a mob; that if Calvin obeyed, he would have no difficulty in depriving the Presbytery of all authority, in other words, in removing every restraint upon wickedness.
Beza, Life of John Calvin, lxii
Regardless of Calvin’s appeals, the Small Council upheld the decision to restore Berthelier to the Lord’s Table. However, several members of the Small Council began to waver in their convictions—they became afraid that if they defied Calvin and the Genevan Consistory there would be a general uprising leading to a complete collapse of law and order. Therefore, Berthelier was privately ordered by his friends to not partake of the Lord’s Supper; but Calvin knew nothing of this secret decision.
Calvin barring the Libertines from the Lord’s Table as “the despisers of sacred mysteries”
When the day for worship arrived two days later St. Pierre’s Cathedral was unusually crowded (September 3, 1553). All of the Libertines swaggered in with their hands placed on the hilts of their swords, and took their seats near the Lord’s Table. Calvin boldly preached his sermon, and after descending from the pulpit he firmly placed himself behind the Lord’s Table refusing to serve any “despisers of sacred mysteries”. He said, “These hands you may crush; these arms you may lop off; my life you may take; my blood is yours, you may shed it; but you shall never force me to give holy things to the profane, and dishonor the table of my God.” (Wiley, The History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, 327) These words hit the Libertines like a thunder-clap, and those who had entered the church so proudly now left it very ashamed of themselves. Beza reports,
But Calvin, though he had been informed of what was done only two days before the usual period of celebrating the Lord’s Supper, raising his voice and his hand in the course of his sermon, after he had spoken at some length of the despisers of sacred mysteries, exclaimed, in the words of Chrysostom, “I will die sooner than this hand shall stretch forth the sacred things of the Lord to those who have been judged despisers.” These words, strange to say, had such an effect upon these men, however lawless, that Perrin secretly advised Berthelier not to come forward to the Table. The sacrament was celebrated with extraordinary silence, not without some degree of trembling, as if the Deity himself were actually present.
Beza, Life of John Calvin, lxii-lxiii
Later that afternoon Calvin prepared to preach what he thought would be his final sermon in Geneva. It was his firm expectation that he would once again be banished from the tumultuous city as had previously happened in 1538. Thus, he chose for his text Acts 20:17-38, where Paul gives his farewell address to the Ephesian Elders. Beza writes,
Theodore Beza
In the afternoon Calvin, taking for his text the celebrated passage in the Acts of the Apostles, in which Paul bids farewell to the Church of Ephesus, declared that he was not a man who knew or taught others to fight against magistrates; and after exhorting his audience at great length to persevere in the doctrine which they had heard, as if it was the last sermon he was to deliver at Geneva, concluded thus:–“Since these things are so, allow me also, brethren, to use these words of the Apostle, ‘I commend you to the Lord, and to the Word of his grace’.” These words made a wonderful impression even on the most abandoned, while they, at the same time, seriously warned good men what their duty was.
Beza, life of John calvin, lxiii
But, in God’s gracious providence, Calvin was not removed as he feared from his position as head pastor of the Genevan Church. Instead, the Small Council did nothing and the Libertines retreated into their parlors to make further strategies of how they could defeat the Reformers, especially Calvin. This extraordinary standoff at the Lord’s Supper surely can be compared with Martin Luther’s dramatic declaration of faith at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Whereas Luther defied the edict of Charles 5th and the assembled Roman Catholic priests in a great doctrinal battle, Calvin defied the schemes of Berthelier and the Libertines in a great moral battle. Dr. James A. Wylie, the preeminent Scottish historian of the Reformation, summarizes,
We know nothing more truly sublime in the whole history of the Reformation, that epoch of heroic men and grand events. The only thing we can compare with it is Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms. If we abstract the dramatic accompaniments of the latter scene—the gorgeous hall; the majesty of the emperor; the blaze of princely and knightly rank gathered around him; the glitter of stars and decorations; the men-at-arms; the lackeys and other attendants—and look only at the principle at stake, and the wide and lasting good achieved by the prompt vindication of the principle, the act of Calvin in the Cathedral of St. Peter’s, in 1553, stands side by side, its equal in spiritual sublimity and heroism, with the act of Luther in the Hall of Worms, in 1521. “I cannot,” said Luther. “I will not,” said Calvin. The one repelled the tyrant, the other flung back the mob; the one stemmed the haughtiness of power, the other bridled the raging fury of ungodliness; in both the danger was equal, in both the faith and fortitude were equal, and each saved the Reformation at a great crisis.
Wylie, The History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, 328
Even though this one battle was narrowly won by Calvin and the Reformers it was only a few weeks later that the Libertines launched a fresh attack (November 7, 1553). This time Berthelier and the Libertines sought to influence the more malleable Council of the Two Hundred.
On Tuesday 7 November the Council of the Two Hundred was convened in connection with the question of the authority of the Consistory and to consider the problem of respecting to whom it belongs to excommunicate and to absolve. Before the Two Hundred had entered, however, Messieurs declared that it was their intention to reserve to themselves the power of absolving those who had been banned from the supper. Thereupon the Consistory asked to be allowed to consult among themselves and, having withdrawn, resolved that they could not possibly consent to the pretensions of Messieurs, which were contrary to the order of the church, and they requested to be heard before the Council of the Two Hundred. In the presence of the Council Maitre Jean Calvin, speaking for the Consistory, stated the case most adequately and explained why it was impossible to acquiesce in the pretensions of Messieurs; and then the declaration which had previously been presented in writing to Messieurs by the ministers was read before all. On the following Thursday, after hearing the decision of the Council of Two Hundred that the whole right of forbidding from and readmitting to the supper should be taken away from the Consistory, the ministers presented themselves before Messieurs and unanimously declared that they were unable to consent to this ruling, and that to compel obedience would be to drive them from their charge, for they would choose death rather than consent to the abandonment of so holy and sacred an order, which had so long been preserved in this church. The ministers—and especially M. Jean Calvin, in accordance with the written promises he had received from Messieurs—requested to be heard before the Council of Two Hundred and the General Council. This was not granted, but they were told the request would receive attention.
hughes, ed. The Register, 291
This apparent defeat suffered by Calvin and the Reformers shows that they did not, in fact, dominate the political affairs of Geneva as some have wrongly asserted. The ongoing struggle shows that there was a lively dissent against the reformation of morals in Geneva, and that the Libertines had every possibility of defeating the Reformers.
A few weeks later on December 21, 1553 the controversy continued on, but this time within the chambers of the Small Council. The Genevan Consistory was summoned to defend themselves against charges of intolerance and spiritual tyranny.
An artist’s conception of the Genevan Consistory at work
On Thursday 21 December the Consistory was summoned before Messieurs in connection with the case of Philibert Berthelier, who insisted on being admitted to the supper. The Consistory opposed this until such a time as Berthelier should give evidence of repentance and humble himself before the Consistory, against whom he had been rebellious. Immediately Francois Berthelier, who had accompanied his brother, burst out, in the presence of Messieurs, with outrageous accusations against the ministers, asserting that they wished to tyrannize and dominate and were disobedient to the Seigneurie. Because of these harmful and monstrous accusations Messieurs commanded him to leave. As for Philibert, no further ruling was given, except that he could continue to abstain from the supper.
hughes, ed. the register, 293
The Genevan Consistory responded to this angry outburst with their own summons for Francois Berthelier to appear before them.
On the same day Francois Berthelier was summoned before the Consistory and asked how he could conscientiously partake of the Lord’s Supper in view of the outrageous things he had uttered that morning in the presence of Messieurs. He, however, continued his calumnies, declaring that so far as the Consistory was concerned he was addressing himself only to the ministers, whose treatment of his brother had been satanical, in holding him to be excommunicated and reprobate, without being able to produce any reason for doing so. He claimed, further, that he had power to give absolution just as much as they had to excommunicate, with a number of outrageous utterances. Thereupon he too was banned from the supper, and it was resolved that on the following Thursday all the members of the Consistory should present themselves before Messieurs to complain of the outrageous charges which had been made by Francois.
hughes, ed. the register, 293
In time, the Genevan Consistory was successful in thwarting the attack of the Berthelier brothers and the Libertines; this later led to Francois Berthelier’s repentance on March 8, 1554.
On Thursday 8 March, by order of Messieurs, Francois Berthelier attended the Consistory where he declared that he had been carried away by affection for his brother, with the result that he had said things against the ministers which should not have been said, and that he was sorry for having said them. He requested that he should be readmitted to the supper, which had been forbidden him. After various exhortations this was granted.
hughes, ed. the register, 294
His brother, though, was unrepentant when he appeared a few weeks later,
On Thursday 22 March Philibert Berthelier also attended the Consistory by order of the Messieurs. He was sent out and recalled three or four times, but refused to acknowledge his fault and his rebelliousness, despite the fact that a number of good and godly admonitions were addressed to him. Accordingly, the ban against his partaking of the supper of our Lord remained in force.
hughes, ed. The Register, 294
The controversy surrounding the Lord’s Supper see-sawed back and forth for several months until the elections of January 1555 changed the political mix of the Small Council and the Council of the Two Hundred in favor of the Reformers. With renewed vigor Calvin and the other ministers persuaded the Small Council to formally adopt the Ecclesiastical Ordinances, and they did so on January 24, 1555. A comprehensive victory for the Reformers was finally achieved!
On Thursday 24 January the Council of 60 and the Council of Two Hundred assemble in connection with the question of the authority of the Consistory and excommunication, and at both Councils M. Jean Calvin, in the name of the Consistory, the ministers of the city also being present with him, very adequately refuted the arguments which had been advanced for the diminution or rather the demolition of the Consistory’s authority, and demonstrated from passages of Holy Scripture and from the practice always found in the Church when it was in a state of purity what was the true use of excommunication, and to whom it belonged to excommunicate and to admit to communion. Thereupon, despite every effort of Satan to overthrow so godly and useful an order, Sr. Amblard Corne, the first Syndic, announced to the ministers in full Council that God had been victorious, and that both the Council of 60 and the Council of 200 had resolved that the Consistory should retain its status and exercise its accustomed authority, in accordance with the Word of God and the ordinances previously passed.
Hughes, ed. the register, 305
John Calvin in his maturity
Following the election and the success of the Reformers, the Libertines became desperate to bring about a change—and they sought to do this through anarchy and revolution. Their fractious spirit culminated in a not-too-secretive plot to foment a public riot (May 16, 1555). It was their hope was to kill Calvin and several other church officers in one swift blow. Thankfully, these murderous plans were discovered and the riot turned out to be a small affair carried out by an inebriated rabble. The rioters were quickly apprehended, yet Perrin and Berthelier fled the city and later were tried in absentia. The Libertines were finally defeated.
Who, then, possesses the authority to admit a person to the Lord’s Supper or to ban the unrepentant sinner from it—the civil magistrates or the officers of Christ’s Church? In answer to this question it is helpful to remember that God has given each one of the separate jurisdictions an implement to accomplish its mission:
the civil magistrate is given the “sword” to enforce the laws of the land (Romans 13:4)
the family is given the “rod” to enforce the laws of the home (Proverbs 13:24)
the church is given the “keys” to enforce the laws of the Bible (Matthew 16:19)
Specifically, the Lord Jesus said to his Apostles, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). A few chapters later our Lord powerfully states the doctrine of excommunication that his Church should always follow. He gives precise instructions about how to treat an unrepentant sinner,
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
matthew 18:17-18
It is clear, then, that our Lord gave authority to the Apostles to admit the believer to the Lord’s Table or to ban the unrepentant sinner from it—these men and their fellow church officers are given authority from the Lord both to “bind” and to “loose”. In this way they are using the “keys of the kingdom”. It is also helpful to recall what Calvin wrote that is based upon these biblical principles. He says,
The church does not assume what is proper to the magistrate; nor can the magistrate execute what is carried out by the church…Their functions ought to be so joined that each serves to help, not hinder, the other.
calvin, institutes, 4:11:3
And so in conclusion, who possesses the authority to admit a person to the Lord’s Supper or to ban the unrepentant sinner from it—the civil magistrates or the officers of Christ’s Church? It is not the civil magistrate, nor the family, but the officers of Christ’s Church who have the sole authority from God to admit to the Lord’s Supper or to ban the unrepentant sinner from it.
Resources for Further Study:
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Fourth Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1939.
Beza, Theodore. Life of John Calvin. Edited and translated by Henry Beveridge, included in the Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts and Letters. Volume 1. Originally published in Edinburgh by the Calvin Translation Society, 1844. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Library of Christian Classics, vol. XXI. Edited by John T. McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1960.
Hughes, Philip E., ed. and trans. The Register of the Company of Pastors of Geneva in the Time of Calvin. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966.
McKim, Donald, ed. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992.
“Authority”, by W. Stanford Reid
“Beza, Theodore”, by Philip C. Holtrop
“Calvin, John”, by Hughes O. Old
“Calvinism”, by W. Stanford Reid
“Confirmation/Admission to the Lord’s Supper”, by James A. Whyte
“Church”, by Jack L. Scotts
“Discipline, Church”, by J. Wayne Baker
“Ecclesiastical Ordinances”, by Robert D. Linder
“Elders”, by Elsie Anne McKee
“Farel, William”, by Charles Partee
“Geneva Company of Pastors”, by Robert M. Kingdon
“Geneva Consistory”, by Robert M. Kingdon
“Genevan Reformation”, by Robert M. Kingdon
“Liturgy, Reformed”, by David G. Buttrick
“Lord’s Supper”, by Geoffrey W. Bromiley
“Sacraments”, by M. Eugene Osterhaven
“Servetus, Michael”, by Nathan P. Feldmeth
“Theology, Reformed”, by John H. Leith
“Viret, Pierre”, by Robert D. Linder
“Worship”, by Hughes O. Olds
McNeill, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism. London: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Wylie, James A. The History of Protestantism. 3 Volumes. Kilkeel, N. Ireland: Mourne Missionary Trust, 1990.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved
John Calvin (1509-1564) is best known as a distinguished theologian and leading Protestant Reformer. However, it must be remembered that he functioned first and foremost as a pastor to the congregation of believers at Geneva for 25 years, and at Strasbourg for a brief interlude of 3 years. The esteemed Calvin scholar Jean-Daniel Benoit had the following to say about Calvin’s pastoral ministry,
The work of Calvin is immense and varied. Theologian, churchman, organizer of Protestantism in France, founder of the Academy of Geneva, public lecturer, Bible commentator, preacher at Saint Peter’s – Calvin was all of these. But to forget or to neglect the fact that Calvin was essentially and above all a pastor would be to misunderstand precisely that aspect of his personality which discloses the essential unity of his work, and to overlook the deep source of those waters which fecundate the entire field of his activity. In fact, theologian though he was, Calvin was even more a pastor of souls. More exactly, theology was for him the servant of piety and never a science sufficient unto itself. His thought is always directed towards life; always he descends from principles to the practical application; always his pastoral concern occurs.
Jean-Daniel Benoit, “Pastoral Care of the Prophet”, quoted in John Calvin Contemporary Prophet, 51
John Calvin as a young Pastor in Strasbourg
In this consolatory letter, written by Calvin to Monsieur de Richebourg, he shows the caring heart of the young minister of the gospel. Calvin was only thirty-one years old at the time he penned this letter, and he was away on an important mission to Ratisbon, Germany where he represented the city of Strasbourg at an ecclesiastical gathering. Two deceased men are mentioned in Calvin’s benevolent letter; (1) Louis – the young son of Monsieur de Richebourg, and (2) Claude Ferey – the distinguished Professor at the Academy of Strasbourg and Louis’ personal tutor. Sadly, both men were carried away by the Plague that swept through Strasbourg with deadly consequences in April, 1541. Calvin writes,
The son whom the Lord had lent you for a season, he has taken away. There is no ground, therefore, for those silly and wicked complaints of foolish men: O blind death! O horrid fate! O implacable daughters of destiny! O cruel fortune! The Lord who had lodged him here for a season, at this stage of his career has called him away. What the Lord has done, we must, at the same time, consider has not been done rashly, nor by chance, neither from having been impelled from without; but by that determinate counsel, whereby he not only foresees, decrees, and executes nothing but what is just and upright in itself, but also nothing but what is good and wholesome for us…
In what regards your son, if you bethink how difficult it is, in this most deplorable of ages, to maintain an upright course through life, you will judge him to be blessed, who, before encountering so many coming dangers which were already hovering over him, and to be encountered in his day and generation, was so early delivered from them all. He is like one who has set sail upon a stormy and tempestuous sea, and before he has been carried out into the deeps, gets in safety to the secure haven…
But what advantage, you will say, is it to me to have had a son of so much promise, since he has been torn away from me in the first flower of his youth? As if, forsooth, Christ had not merited, by his death, the supreme dominion over the living and the dead!…However brief, therefore, either in your opinion or in mine, the life of your son may have been, it ought to satisfy us that he has finished the course which the Lord had marked out for him. Moreover, we may not reckon him to have perished in the flower of his age, who had grown ripe in the sight of the Lord…Nor can you consider to have lost him, whom you will recover in the blessed resurrection in the kingdom of God…
Neither do I insist upon your laying aside all grief. Nor, in the school of Christ, do we learn any such philosophy as requires us to put off that common humanity with which God has endowed us…set bonds, temper even your most reasonable sadness; that having shed those tears which were due to nature and to fatherly affection, you by no means give way to senseless wailing…May Christ the Lord keep you and your family, and direct you all with his own Spirit, until you may arrive where Louis and Claude have gone before.
John Calvin, Selected Works: Letters, vol. 4, 246-253
Here we have an open window into the heart of John Calvin. And surprisingly, for some skeptical readers, it reveals a heart that is warm and tender towards those who suffer through the trials of life rather than one which is cold and hard. It is the heart of a true shepherd and pastor to his people. May we learn from Calvin’s compassionate example.
Select Bibliography:
Benoit, Jean-Daniel. “Pastoral Care of the Prophet,” from John Calvin Contemporary Prophet. 450th Anniversary volume celebrating the birth of John Calvin. Jacob T. Hoogstra, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker book House, 1959.
Calvin, John. Selected Works of John Calvin: Letters. Vol. 4. Jules Bonnet, ed. David Constable, trans. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983.
Calvin, John. Letters of John Calvin. Selections from the Bonnet Edition, 1851. Reprint, Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980.
Henderson, Henry F. Calvin in His Letters. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1996.
Walker, Williston. John Calvin: Organizer of Reformed Protestantism. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904. Reprint, New York: Schocken Books, 1969.
Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin. Geneva, and the Reformation: A Study of Calvin as Social Worker, Churchman, Pastor and Theologian. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Academic Press, 1990.
Wendel, Francois. Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. New York: Harper and Row, 1963. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright (2012) – All Rights Reserved
By anyone’s measure John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, especially the mature 1559 edition, is a historically significant Reformed treatise that has greatly shaped the ministerial practice of Protestant churches worldwide. In it Calvin extensively addresses the doctrine of the church (Book 4, Chapters 1-12). This lengthy section within Calvin’s Institutes, entitled “The True Church,” is foundational to virtually every other theological tome written on ecclesiastical concerns over the past four hundred and fifty years. For this reason alone, it is important for modern-day Christians to understand Calvin’s thinking on ecclesiology and how his principles of ministry flow out from the text of the Bible. Rather than inventing new practices and procedures for leading the church, modern-day church leaders would benefit from reading one of the great theologians of the past—and one who was also an indefatigable shepherd to the flock in Geneva, Switzerland.
Its Context:
The context of Calvin’s ministry is not to be overlooked when evaluating his doctrinal teaching on the church. He lived at a time of tremendous transition when many of the social institutions that had seemed so stable in his childhood—home, church, and nation—were undergoing significant changes. During this time serious efforts at religious reform were taking place in Germany, France, England, Holland, and Switzerland. It is also important to observe that Calvin was preceded by several notable reformers: Martin Luther (1483-1546), Martin Bucer (1491-1551), William Tyndale (1494-1536), and Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples (1455-1536). Each one of these men lived and ministered during the first wave of the Reformation (approx. 1505-1535). John Calvin (1509-1564), however, lived and ministered during the second wave and consequently benefited from the biblical insights and publications of these older more mature men. For example, when Calvin came to Geneva, Switzerland during the summer of 1536 two tenacious reformers, William Farel (1489-1565) and Pierre Viret (1511-1571), were already fully engaged at preaching in this strategic city. Calvin teamed up with them to bring about the reform of the Genevan church and a change in the morals of the people of Geneva. The efforts of Farel, Viret, and Calvin were not always welcomed by the populace. After two years of arduous ministerial labor they were removed from their positions by the Genevan Small Council in 1538 and forced to relocate to other cities. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin settled in Strasbourg and became a pastor to a French-speaking congregation of refugees. While there he received many profitable insights from the older and more experienced Martin Bucer on the nature of the church—its head, its worship, its structure, and its pastoral care. He also found a wife, marrying the widow Idellette de Bure in 1540. A year later, in 1541, Calvin was invited back to Geneva and ministered there for the next twenty-three years until his death in 1564. His ministry was filled with endless controversies, difficulties, and trials. Yet, through his steady perseverance, and God’s blessing, Calvin and the other reforming pastors who joined him were able to witness remarkable changes in the morals of the city and a progressive strengthening of the Genevan church. Some of Calvin’s greatest achievements—the adoption of the Genevan Catechism (1545), the establishment of the Genevan Academy (1559), the publication of the Geneva Bible (1560), and the completion of a metrical Psalter (1561)—were significant in advancing his overall goal of reforming the Genevan Church. In addition, these achievements resulted in changing the morals of the people of Geneva, so much so, that John Knox referred to Geneva as “the most perfect school since the Apostles. In other places, I confess Christ to be truly preached; but manners and religion so sincerely reformed, I have not seen in any other place.” (Sefton, John Knox, 22)
Its Elements:
What are some of the key elements for Calvin’s doctrine of the church? First of all, Calvin presupposes that, “We must leave to God alone the knowledge of his church, whose foundation is his secret election” (Institutes 4:1:1). Calvin understood that true believers within the church are members solely by God’s electing grace. The election of believers is unconditional, Calvin would argue, in that the elect do not deserve it by their family background, earn it by their efforts of personal reformation, nor warrant it by their individual decision to follow Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:12-13). God alone, gets the glory in the matter of election. Secondly, those within the church experience a deep sense of community that is missing from other organizations in the world. Calvin goes on to explain,
This clause (the communion of saints), though generally omitted by the ancients, ought not to be overlooked, for it very well expresses what the church is. It is as if one said that the saints are gathered into the society of Christ on the principles that whatever benefits God confers upon them, they would in turn share with one another. This does not, however, rule out a diversity of graces, inasmuch as we know the gifts of the Spirit are variously distributed. Nor is civil order disturbed, which allows each individual to own his private possessions, since it is necessary to keep peace among men that the ownership of property should be distinct and personal among them. But a community is affirmed, such as Luke describes, in which the heart and soul of the multitude of believers are one [Acts 4:32]; and such as Paul has in mind when he urges the Ephesians to be “one body and one Spirit, just as” they “were called in one hope” [Eph. 4:4]. If truly convinced that God is the common Father of all and Christ the common Head, being united in brotherly love, they cannot but share their benefits with one another.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:1:3
In addition, Calvin readily acknowledged that the church is both invisible and visible in its nature. It is invisible in that it is made up only of those who are divinely elected by God. On the other hand, the church is visible in that its activities, its buildings, and its people are evident to themselves and to a watching world. He affirms that not all who are part of the visible church are of the elect—in other words, there are weeds mixed in amongst the wheat. Jesus teaches this basic truth about his church in Matthew 13:24-30, and 36-43. Calvin clearly develops his view from Jesus’ teaching. Calvin also taught that since God is his “father,” then the church of God is surely his “mother.” He persuasively wrote,
Because it is now our intention to discuss the visible church, let us learn even from the simple title “mother” how useful, indeed how necessary, it is that we should know her. For there is no other way to enter into life unless this mother conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly, unless she keep us under her care and guidance until, putting off mortal flesh, we become like the angels [Matt. 22:30]. Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all our lives. Furthermore, away from her bosom one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation, as Isaiah [Isa. 37:32] and Joel [Joel 2:32] testify…By these words God’s fatherly favor and the especial witness of spiritual life are limited to his flock, so that it is always disastrous to leave the church.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:1:4
This understanding of the church, as “mother,” demonstrates the significant role that the church plays in the life of the believer—she gives birth, nourishes, protects, and cares for her children. In essence, Calvin believed that the church should receive the same affection and honor that an earthly mother receives from a grateful son or daughter.
Another prominent element of Calvin’s ecclesiology is the concept of the “marks” of the true church (notae ecclesiae). Calvin identifies the two “marks” that are found in the Bible as follows,
The pure ministry of the Word and pure mode of celebrating the Sacraments are, as we say, sufficient pledge and guarantee that we may safely embrace as church any society in which both of these marks exist. The principle extends to the point that we must not reject it so long as it retains them, even if it otherwise swarms with many faults.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:1:12
These are the evidences that Christians must look for when evaluating a church. During the Reformation many who came to saving faith found themselves awkwardly connected to churches whose “marks” were questionable. Calvin urged his readers to not be too quick in separating from such churches. He recognized that all churches, to one degree or another, have faults. Some faults may be “doctrinal,” and other faults may be due to “what displeases us.” Hence, special care is necessary when departing from a church so that decency and order are maintained. Calvin contends,
What is more, some fault may creep into the administration of either doctrine or Sacraments. But this ought not to estrange us from communion with the church…But I say we must not thoughtlessly forsake the church because of any petty dissensions. For in it alone is kept safe and uncorrupted, that doctrine in which piety stands sound and the use of the Sacraments ordained by the Lord is guarded. In the meantime, if we try to correct what displeases us, we do so out of duty. Paul’s statement applies to this: “If a better revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent” [1 Corinthians 14:30]. From this it is clear that every member of the church is charged with the responsibility of public edification according to the measure of his grace, provided he perform it decently and in order. That is, we are neither to renounce the communion of the church nor, remaining in it, to disturb its peace and duly ordered discipline.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:1:12
In addition, Calvin acknowledges that churches should not be abandoned because of “trivial errors,” but only when those errors harm or destroy the “chief articles of religion.” He explains,
It has already been explained how much we ought to value that ministry of the Word and Sacraments, and how far our reverence for it should go, that it may be to us a perpetual token by which to distinguish the church. That is, wherever the ministry remains whole and uncorrupted, no moral faults or diseases prevent it from bearing the name ‘church’. Secondly, it is not so weakened by trivial errors as not to be esteemed lawful. We have, moreover, shown that the errors which ought to be pardoned are those which do not harm the chief doctrine of religion, which do not destroy the articles of religion on which all believers ought to agree; and with regard to the Sacraments, those which do not abolish or throw down the lawful institution of the Author.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:2:1
Thus, Calvin places a high value on the church of Jesus Christ. Although it may have many faults, it ought not to be abandoned for insignificant reasons; but instead serious efforts of reformation should be made so that it might bring glory to God once again.
Its Organization:
Calvin understood that the ministry of church leaders is one of the ordinary means for accomplishing spiritual growth in the members of the church (cf. Acts 20:17-34; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Tim. 3:1-13). In other words, the officers of the church—pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons—are used by God to advance the spiritual maturity of every member. Calvin declared,
Paul writes that Christ, “that he might fill all things,” appointed some to be “apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to perfect manhood, to the measure of the fully mature age of Christ” [Eph. 4:10-13, Comm., but cf. also Vg.]. We see how God, who could in a moment perfect his own, nevertheless desires them to grow up into manhood solely under the education of the church. We see the way set for it: the preaching of the heavenly doctrine has been enjoined upon the pastors. We see that all are brought under the same regulation, that with a gentle and teachable spirit they may allow themselves to be governed by teachers appointed to this function.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:1:5
Calvin teaches that there are four offices in the true church—pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons. He reasons that the Lord could have supernaturally transformed men and women by means of his Spirit, but instead God has chosen to use the means of a “ministry of men to declare openly his will to us.” This ministerial authority and power is delegated by the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, when pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons carry out their ministries, they do so under the watchful eye of the head of the church. They are required to give an account of their ministerial labors to the heavenly Master—have they fed the sheep, rescued those who have strayed, and protected the sheep from wild predators who would do them harm? In as much as the officers of the church conduct themselves in an honorable fashion then they are blessed by God for their efforts. Calvin further notes,
Now we must speak of the order by which the Lord willed his church to be governed. He alone should rule and reign in the church as well as have authority or pre-eminence in it, and this authority should be exercised and administered by his Word alone. Nevertheless, because he does not dwell among us in visible presence [Matt. 26:11], we have said that he uses the ministry of men to declare openly his will to us by mouth, as a sort of delegated work, not by transferring to them his right and honor, but only that through their mouths he may do his own work—just as a workman uses a tool to do his work.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:3
Calvin thoughtfully describes the particular duties of pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons to great degree in the Institutes. Here are his observations regarding the responsibilities of pastors. He writes,
Here, then, is the sovereign power with which the pastors of the church, by whatever name they be called, ought to be endowed. That is that they may dare boldly to do all things by God’s Word; may compel all worldly power, glory, wisdom, and exaltation to yield to and obey his majesty; supported by his power, may command all from the highest even to the last; may build up Christ’s household and cast down Satan’s; may feed the sheep and drive away the wolves; may instruct and exhort the teachable; may accuse, rebuke, and subdue the rebellious and stubborn; may bind and loose; finally, if need be, may launch thunderbolts and lightnings; but do all things in God’s Word.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:8:9
In addition, Calvin wrote that a pastor should avoid thinking that the only duty he has to fulfill is to preach from the pulpit; he is also to exercise the care of a shepherd for his flock. He powerfully remarks,
Christ did not ordain pastors on the principle that they only teach the Church in a general way on the public platform, but that they care for the individual sheep, bring back the wandering and scattered to the fold, bind up the broken and crippled, heal the sick, support the frail and weak.
John Calvin,Commentary on Acts 20:20
Moreover, pastoral ministry is not to be seen as an itinerant office that travels from place to place, but it is one which cares for a specific flock of believers in a fixed location. Calvin argues that pastors can “aid other churches” as occasion dictates, but that primarily a pastor focuses his energy upon his own flock.
Although we assign to each pastor his church, at the same time we do not deny that a pastor bound to one church can aid other churches—either if any disturbances occur which require his presence, or if advice be sought from him concerning some obscure matter…Consequently, this arrangement ought to be observed as generally as possible: that each person, content with his own limits, should not break over into another man’s province.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:7
In regards to the deacon Calvin gives the following description of his responsibilities,
The care of the poor was entrusted to the deacons. However two kinds are mentioned in the letter to the Romans: “He that gives, let him do it with simplicity;…he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness” [Rom. 12:8]. Since it is certain that Paul is speaking of the public office of the church, there must have been two distinct grades. Unless my judgment deceive me, in the first clause he designates the deacons who distribute the alms. But the second refers to those who had devoted themselves to the care of the poor and the sick…If we accept this (as it must be accepted), there will be two kinds of deacons: one to serve the church in administering the affairs of the poor; the other, in caring for the poor themselves. But even though the term diakonia itself has a wider application, Scripture specifically designates as deacons those whom the church has appointed to distribute alms and take care of the poor.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:9
The offices of the true church should not be taken upon oneself without the endorsement of a church. These offices necessarily involve receiving an outward call, or public invitation, to minister in a local church by its own members. In addition, ordination signifies that a man is set aside for sacred service within Christ’s church. In these following quotations Calvin explains ministerial calling and ordination.
Therefore, in order that noisy and troublesome men should not rashly take upon themselves to teach or to rule (which might otherwise happen), especial care was taken that no one should assume public office in the church without being called.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:10
I am speaking of the outward and solemn call which has to do with the public order of the church. I pass over that secret call, of which each minister is conscious before God, and which does not have the church as witness.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:11
There remains the rite of ordination, to which we have given the last place in the call. It is clear that when the apostles admitted any man to the ministry, they used no other ceremony than the laying on of hands. (Institutes 4:3:16)
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:16
Although there exists no set precept for the laying on of hands, because we see it in continual use with the apostles, their very careful observance ought to serve in lieu of a precept. And surely it is useful for the dignity of the ministry to be commended to the people by this sort of sign, as also to warn the one ordained that he is no longer a law unto himself, but bound in servitude to God and the church.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:3:16
These statements by Calvin demonstrate the way in which he elevates the outward call to ministry. It is a serious matter for a man to be called to serve Christ’s church, and his calling must be outwardly confirmed by the local church. It should never solely be a matter of an inner call, or “secret call,” which is only between that man and God. Church officers should be confirmed by a public calling.
Its Worship:
The true church also has the responsibility to regulate its worship by the Word of God. This does not mean, Calvin argues, that specific forms of worship are to be needlessly perpetuated “for all ages,” but that changes in the forms of worship can be carefully “accommodated to the customs of each nation and age.” His method for making changes to the order of worship is, first and foremost, to measure all such changes by the Holy Scriptures. Secondly, that those who are responsible for making changes to the order of worship genuinely love God so that the Lord is supremely glorified by this change. Thirdly, to love the people so that any changes in the worship service do not “hurt” them, but rather “edify” them. Calvin explains this method in the following manner,
[the Master] did not will in outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in detail what we ought to do (because he foresaw that this depended upon the state of the times, and he did not deem one form suitable for all ages), here we must take refuge in those general rules which he has given, that whatever the necessity of the church will require for order and decorum should be tested against these. Lastly, because he has taught nothing specifically, and because these things are not necessary to salvation, and for the upbuilding of the church ought to be variously accommodated to the customs of each nation and age, it will be fitting (as the advantage of the church will require) to change and abrogate traditional practices and to establish new ones. Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, all will be safe.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:10:30
In this way, the worship of God remains pure, but it is also sensitive to the culture of the people. Calvin writes in other books and tracts more specific principles and policies regarding the worship of God. In particular, his short treatise, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, makes a strong appeal to regulate worship “only to his voice.” Calvin forcefully argues,
Moreover, the rule which distinguishes between pure and vitiated worship is of universal application, in order that we do not adopt any device which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of him who alone is entitled to prescribe. Therefore, if we would have him to approve our worship, this rule, which he everywhere enforces with the utmost strictness, must be carefully observed. For there is a twofold reason why the Lord, in condemning and prohibiting fictitious worship, requires us to give obedience only to his voice. First, it tends greatly to establish his authority that we do not follow our own pleasure, but depend entirely on his sovereignty; and secondly, such is our folly, that when we are left at liberty, all we are able to do is to go astray. And they when once we have turned aside from the right path, there is not end to our wanderings, until we get buried under a multitude of superstitions.
John Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, 17
Hence, churches within the Calvinistic tradition have sought to regulate their worship services according to the Scriptural elements, the forms that are acceptable to God, and the circumstances of the church which may require minor variations in liturgy, place, and time.
Its Discipline:
How does the church maintain purity in the lives of its members? Our Lord established a government for his church—specifically he set in place a means of discipline. The officers of the church have received “the keys” of the kingdom and are required by the Lord to “keep watch over the souls” of their congregants (Matt. 16:19-20, 18:15-20; Heb. 13:17). With this thought in mind, Calvin soberly notes,
For this purpose courts of judgment were established in the church from the beginning to deal with the censure of morals, to investigate vices, and to be charged with the exercise of the office of the keys…Now these admonitions and corrections cannot be made without investigation of the cause; accordingly, some court of judgment and order of procedure are needed. Therefore, if we do not wish to make void the promise of the keys and banish excommunication, solemn warnings, and such things, we must give the church some jurisdiction.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:11:1
Hence, the officers of the church must approach the exercise of church discipline with much care and thoughtfulness. Offenses must be investigated, and disciplinary actions must fit the sin. It would be easy for church offers to become arbitrary and heavy-handed in their disciplinary actions. Thus, it is essential for church officers to recall that they are acting in the name of Jesus Christ, the head of the church.
Discipline depends for the most part upon the power of the keys and upon spiritual jurisdiction…But because some persons, in their hatred of discipline, recoil from its very name, let them understand this: if no society, indeed, no house which has even a small family, can be kept in proper condition without discipline, it is much more necessary in the church, whose condition should be as ordered as possible. Accordingly, as the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the church, so does discipline serve as its sinews, through which the members of the body hold together, each in its own place. Therefore, all who desire to remove discipline or to hinder its restoration—whether they do this deliberately or out of ignorance—are surely contributing to the ultimate dissolution of the church….Therefore, discipline is like a bridle to restrain and tame those who rage against the doctrine of Christ; or like a spur to arouse those of little inclination; and also sometimes like a father’s rod to chastise mildly and with the gentleness of Christ’s spirit those who have more seriously lapsed.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:12:1
Calvin reminds all church officers that the purpose of disciplinary action is threefold—to expose sin, to protect the innocent, and to bring about repentance. He states,
In such corrections and excommunication, the church has three ends in view. The first is that they who lead a filthy and infamous life may not be called Christians, to the dishonor of God, as if his holy church [cf. Eph. 5:25-26] were a conspiracy of wicked and abandoned men…The second purpose is that the good be not corrupted by the constant company of the wicked, as so often happens…The third purpose is that those overcome by shame for their baseness begin to repent.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:12:5
Calvin differentiates between excommunicating a sinner and pronouncing an anathema upon a wicked and unrepentant person. Excommunication, he argues, holds the hope of repentance and restoration. Whereas, pronouncing an anathema upon a person suggests that there is no possible restoration. In this way, Calvin shows the different approach to church discipline between Protestants (who excommunicate) and Roman Catholics (who pronounce an anathema). Calvin explains,
For when Christ promises that what his people ‘bind on earth shall be bound in heaven’ [Matt. 18:18], he limits the force of binding to ecclesiastical censure. By this those who are excommunicated are not cast into everlasting ruin and damnation, but in hearing that their life and morals are condemned, they are assured of the everlasting condemnation unless they repent. Excommunication differs from anathema in that the latter, taking away all pardon, condemns and consigns a man to eternal destruction; the former, rather, avenges and chastens his moral conduct. And although excommunication also punishes the man, it does so in such a way that, by forewarning him of his future condemnation, it may call him back to salvation.
John Calvin, Institutes 4:12:10
Calvin’s clear preference is that excommunication offers the safest way to properly order the church when it comes to dealing with sin and sinners. Eternal judgment is left to God alone. As his agents, church officers exercise discipline with much soberness and care, always prayerfully hoping for the repentance and restoration of the sinner. The gospel of forgiveness is preeminent in Calvin’s ecclesiology.
In Conclusion:
Much more is said about the doctrine of the church in Calvin’s masterful Institutes of the Christian Religion. For example, Calvin gives a detailed explanation of the ancient church—its people, its practices, and its patterns (Institutes 4:5-7). He also records the key developments in the Roman Catholic Church that have led to serious departures from orthodoxy and abuses in orthopraxy (Institutes 4:8-10). The church councils of the Middle Ages receive a careful evaluation under Calvin’s critical eye, and he finds a lot of trickery, deception, and abuse in the decisions of those councils (Institutes 4:9). Finally, Calvin explains the practice of fasting, and the Christian liberty of marriage for the clergy (Institutes 4:12:15-28). Church leaders who have served congregations within the Calvinistic tradition have adopted a saying that summarizes Calvin’s attitude toward the true church; it is, “The church reformed and always being reformed” (Latin: ecclesia reformata semper reformanda). The true church always measures itself by the eternal Word of God, and thus, it constantly reforms itself as circumstances occur in the expansion of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.
Calvin’s doctrine of the church in his Institutes of the Christian Religion is historical and comprehensive (Book 4, Chapters 1-12). Some critics might contend that his treatment of the doctrine of the church is woefully out of touch with modern-day issues and concerns. I believe, however, that all of the basic principles for properly ordering Christ’s church can be found within its many pages and chapters. I highly recommend it to others, and highly regard it for my own study and reflection on how the church should be advanced, led, and organized. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless his church.
Select Bibliography:
Calvin, John. Calvin’s Commentaries. 46 vols. Various translators. Edinburgh, Scotland: Calvin Translation Society, 1847-55; reprint edit. in 22 vols., Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998. See: Vol. XIX, Commentary on Acts 20:20.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. John T. McNeil, ed. Ford Lewis Battles, trans. 2 vol. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1960. See: Book 4, Chapters 1-12.
Calvin, John. The Necessity of Reforming the Church. Dallas, TX: Protestant Heritage Press, Reprint, 1995.
George, Timothy, ed. John Calvin & the Church: A Prism of Reform. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990. See the following chapters:
“The Church as the Elect in the Theology of Calvin” by David N. Wiley
“The Place of the Academy in Calvin’s Polity” by Charles E. Raynal III
“Calvin’s Teaching on the Elder Illuminated by Exegetical History” by Elsie Anne McKee
“Calvin’s Doctrine of the Proclamation of the Word and Its Significance Today” by John H. Leith
“John Calvin and the Prophetic Criticism of Worship” by Hughes Oliphant Old
McKim, Donald, ed. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992. See the following informative articles:
“Calvin, John” by Hughes Oliphant Old
“Calvinism” by W. Stanford Reid
“Church” by Jack L. Stotts
“Deacons” by Elsie Anne McKee
“Discipline, Church” by J. Wayne Baker
“Ecclesiastical Ordinances” by Robert D. Linder
“Elders” by Elsie Anne McKee
“Geneva Academy” by Robert M. Kingdon
“Geneva Bible” by Dan G. Danner
“Geneva Catechism” by Charles Partee
“Geneva Company of Pastors” by Robert M. Kingdon
“Genevan Consistory” by Robert M. Kingdon
“Genevan Reformation” by Robert M. Kingdon
“Pastoral Theology” by Andrew Purves
“Psalmody” by LindaJo McKim
“Theology, Reformed” by John H. Leith
“Worship” by Hughes Oliphant Old
McNeil, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Sefton, Henry R. John Knox: An Account of the Development of His Spirituality. Edinburgh, Scotland: Saint Andrew Press, 1993.
Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation: “A Study of Calvin as Social Worker, Churchman, Pastor and Theologian. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.
Zachman, Randall C. John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2015 – All Rights Preserved
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)
“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
John Calvin as a young man
During the balmy summer days of July, 1536 the twenty-seven year old John Calvin (1509-1564) was on his way from France into exile in Strasbourg, Germany. As he quickly sped along the stone-paved main highway with his younger brother Anthony and his half-sister Marie perhaps he asked himself, “Why are we fleeing?” Calvin lived during the tumultuous days of the Reformation when any man who rejected the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church was hunted-down, imprisoned, and often-times martyred. The cruel death in Paris of Calvin’s personal friend Stephen de La Forge in late 1534 made a significant impact upon his resolve to continue defending the evangelical cause. Thus, it was out of necessity that he flee from his native country to the safe-haven of Germany where he could write his books and carryout his biblical studies. On this hasty and clandestine journey Calvin was forced to detour from his initial route and travel a circuitous southern road through Geneva, Switzerland. At this time the armies of King Francis the 1st (1494-1547) were on extensive military maneuvers and every Protestant reformer (especially those of Calvin’s notoriety) would want to avoid the French troops at all costs. Calvin was rapidly becoming known as the author of a newly published treatise, Institutes of the Christian Religion (printed in Basle, March 1536). This potent book of only six short chapters was the clearest exposition yet of the basic doctrines of the Reformation. It was immediately identified as subversive literature by Roman Catholic scholars, yet the first edition sold out so quickly that another printing was eagerly sought by sympathetic readers. One modern theologian has thoughtfully stated,
Even from the point of view of mere literature, it holds a position so supreme in its class that every one who would fain know the world’s best books, must make himself familiar with it. What Thucydides is among the Greeks, or Gibbon among eighteenth-century English historians, what Plato is among philosophers, or the Iliad among epics, or Shakespeare among dramatists, that Calvin’s Institutes is among theological treatises.
Benjamin Warfield, Works, Vol. 5, 374
Guillaume Farel (1489-1565)
Calvin’s unplanned trek through Geneva figured to be one of the most significant turning-points of his life for it was here that he providentially met the zealous French missionary-evangelist Guillaume Farel (1489-1565). A few months prior to Calvin’s arrival in Geneva both Farel and Pierre Viret (1511-1571) participated in a formal debate with the leaders of Roman Catholic Church. As a result, on March 21, 1536 the city fathers voted decisively to reject the Roman Catholic faith and to recover the gospel as it was directly taught from the pages of the Bible. Following that signal victory Farel was strongly motivated to build a team of earnest and learned pastors to teach and preach biblical truth. He was especially eager to encourage someone of Calvin’s superior gifts to remain in Geneva to help with the reform effort then currently underway in the city. It was Calvin’s plan to remain only one night in Geneva, and so while eating dinner that evening at a local inn Calvin innocently remarked to Farel that he felt his place in life was to pursue a “quiet life of scholarship” in Strasbourg. Immediately, Farel stood up (some have suggested that he actually jumped on the table sending all of the dishes clattering to the floor in a loud series of crashes!), and with fiery eyes flashing and red-beard wagging he angrily denounced Calvin with an accusing finger shouting,
You are following your own wishes, and I declare, in the name of God Almighty, that if you do not assist us in this work of the Lord, the Lord will punish you for seeking your own interest rather than his.
Theodore Beza, Life of John Calvin, 29
Calvin was horrified by this impassioned denunciation and he timidly recoiled from the threat of divine judgment. Nevertheless, after reflecting on all that Farel had said, he determined to remain in Geneva and from that point on his ministry became inextricably tied to the city. He wrote later in the Preface to his Commentary on the Psalms, “I felt…as if God had from heaven laid His mighty hand upon me to arrest me from my course…I desisted from the journey which I had undertaken.” Thus, on September 5, 1536 when the Genevan City Council providentially appointed Calvin to be their “Professor of Sacred Literature” they probably had no idea that they were beginning a pastoral relationship with Calvin that would make a significant impact upon the whole Protestant world. Not all in Geneva were enthused about Calvin’s arrival, since he was a religious refugee from France, and they snidely referred to him in the minutes of the Genevan City Council as “ille Gallus” (or, “that Frenchman”). Yet, the sovereign Lord did indeed have a place of on-going ministry for Calvin, although it proved to be turbulent place filled with many troublesome people.
Calvin’s personal call to minister in Geneva was put to a serious test during the spring of 1538. The three pastors of Geneva, Calvin, Farel, and the blind and elderly Elie Courault (d. 1538), believed that the city was in so much turmoil over the efforts of reform that taking the Lord’s Supper would “profane so holy a mystery”. As Easter Sunday approached on April 21, 1538 the tension became so thick that Calvin reported more than sixty musket blasts shot off in front of his home late one night. Since the ministers stubbornly refused to offer the Lord’s Supper the Little Council voted to ban Calvin, Farel, and Courault from their pulpits. Despite this prohibition the ministers preached and did not serve the Lord’s Supper as they had been ordered to do. The next day the Little Council voted to oust the rebellious preachers. They gave them only three days to get their affairs in order and to leave the city. Theodore Beza recalls this chaotic time with Calvin’s own words,
This decision being intimated to Calvin, “Certainly”, says he, “…had I been the servant of men I had obtained a poor reward, but it is well that I have served Him who never fails to perform to his servants whatever he has promised.”
Theodore Beza, Life of John Calvin, 33
Martin Bucer (1491-1551)
Therefore, on April 25, 1538 the three unwanted ministers departed the city leaving behind all of the angry denunciations, jeers, and threats. After making unsuccessful appeals in Berne and Zurich, Calvin was uncertain of where to go next. He was eventually recruited by the seasoned reformer Martin Bucer (1491-1551) to come to Strasbourg and serve as pastor to a congregation of French refugees. While there Calvin married a lovely French widow, Idelette de Bure, and further deepened his ties to Strasbourg by representing the city at the Colloquy of Hagenau (June, 1540), Worms (November, 1540), and Ratisbon (April, 1541). These three ecumenical conferences exposed Calvin to the wider world of Reformation theology and brought about a life-long friendship with the irenic German reformer Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). While living in Strasbourg he also regularly taught at an academy led by Johannes Sturm (1507-1589), and penned his first Bible commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Romans (1539). Overall, these were pleasurable and productive years, punctuated with only a few sorrows. It came as quite a surprise, then, when in the midst of this happy period an official summons came from the City Council of Geneva asking him to return. This unexpected request brought up all the deep personal wounds of his banishment and required that Calvin seriously reflect upon his ministerial call to serve the Lord in Geneva. He confided in an agonizing letter to Farel on October 27, 1540 his personal fears about returning to that disorderly city,
I have no doubt whatever that you have taken good care to apologize for me to those brethren who advised that I should return to Geneva, that I have not replied to them. For you are well aware how on that account I was thrown for two days into such perplexity and trouble of mind that I was scarcely half myself … Whenever I call to mind the state of wretchedness in which my life was spent when there, how can it be otherwise but that my very soul must shudder when any proposal is made for my return? … But, at the same time, while I call to mind by what torture my conscience was racked at that time, and with how much anxiety it was continually boiling over, pardon me if I dread that place as having about it somewhat of a fatality in my case … But now that by the favor of God I am delivered, should I be unwilling to plunge myself once more into the gulf and whirlpool which I have already found to be so dangerous and destructive, who would not excuse me?
John Calvin, Selected Works, Vol. 4, 210-212
Such frank correspondence continued back and forth between Calvin and his close confidants, Farel and Viret, for several months before it finally culminated in the decision that he would return to Geneva. There is little doubt, however, that an open letter written by Calvin from Strasbourg (September 1, 1539) and sent on Geneva’s behalf to Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto (1477-1547) demonstrated the sterling value of Calvin’s ministry and scholarship. In it Calvin forcefully argued for the cause of the Reformation and rejected Sadoleto’s faulty reasoning as to why the city of Geneva should return to the Roman Catholic Church. Calvin began his reply in this way,
You lately addressed a Letter to the Senate and People of Geneva, in which you sounded their inclination as to whether, after having once shaken off the yoke of the Roman Pontiff, they would submit to have it again imposed upon them. In that letter, as it was not expedient to wound the feelings of those whose favor you required to gain your cause, you acted the part of a good pleader; for you endeavored to soothe them by abundance of flattery, in order that you might gain them to your views.
John Olin, ed., A Reformation Debate, 49-50
What was Calvin’s motive to enter into this theological disputation and contest of wills? After all, he had been forcibly removed from Geneva by the people’s rejection of his plan of reformation. The following autobiographical comment from his letter to Sadoleto reveals that Calvin still felt a very strong call by God to minister to the people of Geneva. His personal resolve was evident despite their rejection and his on-going ministry in Strasbourg. He notes with some passion,
But when I see that my ministry, which I feel assured is supported and sanctioned by a call from God, is wounded through my side, it would be perfidy, not patience, where I here to be silent and connive…For though I am for the present relieved of the charge of the Church of Geneva, that circumstance ought not to prevent me from embracing it with paternal affection—God, when He gave me the charge, having bound me to be faithful to it forever. Now, then, when I see the worst snares laid for that Church whose safety it has pleased the Lord to make my highest care, and grievous peril impending if not obviated, who will advise me to await the issue silent and unconcerned? How heartless, I ask, would it be to wink in idleness, and, as it were, vacillating at the destruction of one whose life you are bound vigilantly to guard and preserve? (Olin ed., A Reformation Debate, 50-51)
John Olin, ed., A Reformation Debate, 50-51
Calvin went on further to challenge Sadoleto’s claim that justification by faith was an unbalanced doctrine that left no place in the Christian life for good works. He showed Sadoleto’s view to be an error in the following quotation,
You, in the first place, touch upon justification by faith, the first and keenest subject of controversy between us. Is this a knotty and useless question? Wherever the knowledge of it is taken away, the glory of Christ is extinguished, religion abolished, the Church destroyed, and the hope of salvation utterly overthrown. That doctrine, then, though of the highest moment, we maintain that you have nefariously effaced from the memory of men. Our books are filled with convincing proofs of this fact, and the gross ignorance of this doctrine, which even still continues in all your churches, declares that our complaint is by no means ill founded. But you very maliciously stir up prejudice against us, alleging that, by attributing every thing to faith, we leave no room for works.
John Olin, ed., A Reformation Debate, 66
Having received this stinging reply from Calvin nothing more was ever heard from the pen of Cardinal Sadoleto regarding the “very dear brethren” of Geneva. All efforts at persuasion simply stopped. An opposite effect though, and certainly one that was completely unintended, came about when the leaders of Geneva began to wonder if they had made great mistake in 1538 by forcibly removing Calvin from his office as Pastor and “Professor of Sacred Literature”. They earnestly began to make every effort to get him back at all costs; and these exertions finally paid off. Calvin returned to Geneva on September 13, 1541. He picked-up his preaching exactly where he had left off two and half years prior. It appears that both Farel and Bucer played key roles in bringing about this favorable decision. Beza later remarks of Bucer’s efforts, “He never would have obtained Calvin’s consent, had he not given warning of Divine judgment, and appealed to the example of Jonah”. Surely, Farel would have approved of such tactics since he had used them before in 1536 with such very good results.
John Calvin in his maturity
Over the next twenty-three years of Calvin’s ministry (1541-1564) the gospel steadily prevailed and Geneva became widely known as the foremost city of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin’s continual ministry of preaching, teaching, catechizing, writing, counseling, and discipling brought about so many changes for good that the general population in time came to greatly appreciate him. Following the crucial elections of 1555, when Calvin’s plans for reformation triumphed, his value grew as an esteemed teacher, pastor, and theologian. On December 25, 1559 the Council members gratefully extended to him full citizenship in thanks for all that he had given to the city. More than ever before the motto of Geneva, Post Tenebrus Lux or “After Darkness, Light”, reflected the profound deliverance from darkness that the entire city felt as a result of the gospel’s progress in their lives. Think of it, in God’s providence the simple act of one man taking a different road proved to be such a great benefit to so many. Moreover, by God’s grace that same man endured and overcame the numerous difficulties that arose in Geneva and positively influenced the culture for good. He was faithful to his ministerial call. As a result, the Lord abundantly blessed the entire city through one man’s indefatigable labor and personal sacrifice. Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory!
Here is a portion of the “Monument to the Reformation” in Geneva, Switzerland. (L-R) Guillame Farel, John Calvin, John Knox, and Theodore Beza
Resources for Further Study:
Beza, Theodore. Life of John Calvin. Edinburgh, Scotland: Calvin Translation Society, 1844; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, Reprint 1983.
Beveridge, Henry and Jules Bonnet, eds. Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts & Letters. 7 Vols. Edinburgh, Scotland: Calvin Translation Society 1844-1858. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, Reprint 1983.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ford Lewis Battles, trans. 2 Volumes. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, Reprint 1960.
Calvin, John, Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, Reprint 1998.
D’Aubigne, Merle. History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin. Harrisonburg: Sprinkle Publications, Reprint 2000.
de Greef, Wulfert. The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1993.
De Koster, Lester. Light for the City: Calvin’s Preaching, Source of Life and Liberty. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004.
George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers. Nashville, TN: The Broadman Press, 1988.
Hunter, A. Mitchell. The Teaching of Calvin. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1920, Reprint 1999.
Olin, John C., ed. A Reformation Debate: John Calvin & Jacopo Sadoleto. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1966.
Parker, T. H. L. John Calvin: A Biography. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1975.
McNeill, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Stickelberger, Emanuel. Calvin: A Life. London, England: James Clarke & Company, 1959.
Van Halsema, Thea B. This Was John Calvin. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959.
Van Til, Henry R. The Calvinistic Concept of Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1959.
Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1990.
Warfield, Benjamin B. Calvin and Calvinism. Vol. 5. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1932, Reprint 2003.
Walker, Williston. John Calvin: Organizer of Reformed Protestantism. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1969.
Wendel, Francois. Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1963. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, Reprint 1997.
Zachman, Randall C. John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2006.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
John Calvin (1509-1564)
What kind of man was John Calvin (1509-1564), the Reformer of Geneva? Many people have very strong opinions about him, but few have ever read anything he actually wrote, or heard any of the fascinating stories from his life. Consider this compelling event from December 12, 1547: Calvin’s bold entry into the Council of the Two Hundred during the midst of a deadly sword fight! It is a fine example of his courageous character, positive reputation, and frank outspokenness. This challenging situation came about as Calvin and the other ministers of Geneva sought to advance spiritual and civil reform in that troubled city. The Company of Pastors was on its way to the Small Council to complain about the outcome of a trial against Ami Perrin, the leader of the Libertines, and against Laurent Maigret, a French refugee and personal friend of Calvin. What was the background of this explosive situation?
Ami Perrin and Laurent Maigret had been accused of treasonous activity for making a secret alliance with the French to house troops within the walls of Geneva. With the threat of invasion by the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V (1500-1558) a very real possibility, it only seemed natural for independent Geneva to align itself with its powerful neighbor, France. However, this arrangement became extremely awkward when it was pointed out that France also had imperialistic ambitions towards Geneva and all of western Switzerland. Thus, Ami Perrin and Laurent Maigret were widely suspected of high treason. It must be remembered that the Libertines (also known as the Enfants de Geneva) were clever and determined opponents of Calvin. They sought to gain an unfair advantage over the pastors of the Genevan church whenever and wherever possible. This political situation was no different, and the Libertines cunningly played the Genevan Nationalists against the “foreign” Reformers. Noted Reformation scholar, Brian G. Armstrong, remarks that essentially the Libertines were,
…Genevan patriots and influential families (the Perrins, Favres, Vandels, Bertheliers, etc.) who led the republic to independence and the Reformation. They resented the dominant influence of Calvin and “foreigners” in Genevan affairs. A bitter struggle with Calvin ended in their complete disgrace in 1555.
Armstrong, “Libertines,” quoted in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, 595.
Thus, upon his arrest Ami Perrin immediately lost his position as the Captain-General over Geneva’s militia. Both he and Maigret were imprisoned, and a public trial was conducted. Throughout this lengthy trial emotions ran high on both sides; with some clamoring for a guilty verdict and others for acquittal. The city was thrown into turmoil. In a short time, Ami Perrin was acquitted due to a lack of evidence and the Libertines celebrated his exoneration, while Maigret languished in prison. And once again, Geneva was seriously divided over this lop-sided outcome. The Council of Two Hundred was so sufficiently agitated that scuffles and sword fights broke out. It was just at that time (on Monday, December 12, 1547) that the Company of Pastors was passing by the building. Hearing all of the commotion, Calvin ran for the doors and burst inside into the middle of a heated argument. He threw himself into the cauldron of swirling opponents and calmed the warring parties with bold words. The official entry in The Register of the Company of Pastors of Geneva reports the tumultuous event in this way,
On Monday 12 December 1547 it was decided by the brethren to present themselves before Messieurs for the purpose of objecting strongly to the insolence, debauchery, dissoluteness, and hostility which were leading the church and city to ruin; and this was done on the same day. It was further resolved that similar action should be taken by us at the next meeting of the Council of the Two Hundred which was held on the Friday following, namely the 16th day of the same month. On this day we left the Congregation sooner than was customary. This was not done without great blessing from God, for when we arrived at the public hall, where the Two Hundred were assembled, a variety of disputes had already arisen and the minds of nearly all were so inflamed that they were not far from insurrection. Indeed an atrocious shedding of blood would have followed had not the Lord intervened. When he heard the alarming clamor and uproar Calvin rushed ahead into the midst of the tumult which was now quite out of hand, and the others followed him. Nearly all were so agitated and enraged that it was impossible to hear anyone clearly. But after a little while calm was restored and the Two Hundred were brought to order. Presenting ourselves to them, we used the same exhortations as we had used before the Council previously, but on this occasion when insurrection threatened, everything was handled by Calvin much more forcefully.
The Register, from December 12, 1547, 70
On the following day Calvin wrote these revealing and descriptive lines in a personal letter to his friend and fellow-minister, Pierre Viret (1511-1571),
The Two Hundred had been summoned. I had publicly announced to my colleagues that I would go to the senate-house. We were there a little, indeed, before the hour of meeting. As many people were still walking about in the public street, we went out by the gate that is contiguous to the senate-house. Numerous confused shouts were heard from that quarter. These, meanwhile, increased to such a degree as to afford a sure sign of insurrection. I immediately ran up to the place. The appearance of matters was terrible. I cast myself into the thickest of the crowds, to the amazement of almost everyone. The whole people, however, made a rush towards me; they seized and dragged me hither and thither, lest I should suffer injury. I called God and men to witness that I had come for the purpose of presenting my body to their swords. I exhorted them, if they designed to shed blood, to begin with me. The worthless, but especially the respectable portion of the crowd, at once greatly relaxed in their fervor. I was at length dragged through the midst to the Senate. There fresh fights arose, into the midst of which I threw myself. All are of opinion that a great and disgraceful carnage was prevented from taking place by my interposition. My colleagues meanwhile were mixed up with the crowd. I succeeded in getting them to all sit down quietly. They say that all were exceedingly affected by a long and vehement speech, suitable to the occasion, which I delivered. The exceptions were at least few, and even they, not less than the respectable part of the people, praised my conduct in the circumstances. God, indeed, protects myself and colleagues to the extent of the privilege implied in the declaration of even the most abandoned, that they abhor the least injury done to us not less than they detest parricide. Their wickedness has, however, reached such a pitch, that I hardly hope to be able any longer to retain any kind of position for the Church, especially under my ministry. My influence is gone, believe me, unless God stretch forth his hand…Adieu, brother and most sincere friend. Salute your colleague and all the brethren. My wife and I wish yours every greeting. May the Lord be perpetually present with you.—Amen.
John Calvin, Selected Works, A personal letter to Pierre Viret of Lausanne dated December 14, 1547.
Calvin’s bleak prognosis for the demise of his ministry, however, simply did not come true. The Lord “stretched forth his hand” and protected the fledgling church of Geneva. Calvin suffered through many other extraordinary difficulties, yet he persevered and prospered through them with the Lord’s blessing. In time, the Libertines were discredited and the reformers were rewarded with the appreciation of the entire city (1555).
It is also important to note that Calvin’s words were not those of a dictator or a tyrant, but those of servant of the living God who was pressed by dangers on every side. Sadly, Calvin has been falsely accused of oppressive and self-serving behavior. Yet, the numerous facts stand as a stark testimony to his indefatigable service to God and to the citizens of Geneva. He certainly demonstrated the characteristics of bold courage, resolute determination, and self-sacrifice. It has often been said that you don’t really know the character of a man until you see how he acts in the midst of trouble. Here, then, is a window into the personal character of John Calvin that is wide-open for all to see. He was ready to lay down his own life for the sake of others. He presented himself before the swords of his enemies, so that if there was to be any shedding of blood it should begin with him. Moreover, he sincerely believed that the people of the city must be reformed in both doctrine and moral conduct before lasting spiritual fruit would come forth. This outcome, that of true spiritual reformation, was the object of all of his labors. And in time, by God’s grace, he realized his goal.
Resources for Further Study:
Calvin, John. Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts and Letters. Volume 5. Edited by Jules Bonnet and translated by David Constable. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,1983.
Douglas, J. D., ed. New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
“Calvin, John”, W. S. Reid
“Calvinism”, W. S. Reid
“Geneva Bible”, Robert D. Linder
“Genevan Academy”, W. S. Reid
“Genevan Catechism”, W. S. Reid
“Libertines”, Brian G. Armstrong
“Reformation, The”, Robert D. Linder
Hughes, Philip E. ed. and trans. The Register of the Company of Pastors of Geneva in the Time of Calvin. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966.
Parker, T. H. L. John Calvin: A Biography. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1975.
McNeill, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Stickelberger, Emanuel. Calvin: A Life. London, England: James Clarke & Company, 1959.
Walker, Williston. John Calvin: Organizer of Reformed Protestantism. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1969.
Wendel, Francois. Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1963.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2014 – All Rights Reserved
