July 10, 2018 (Tuesday)
On this day in 1509, Reformer John Calvin was born (over 500 years ago).
The paragraphs below were found in Wikipedia and edited here.
John Calvin (French: Jean Calvin [ʒɑ̃ kalvɛ̃]; born Jehan Cauvin; July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of
Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the doctrines of predestination and of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation, in which doctrines Calvin was influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions erupted in widespread deadly violence against Protestant Christians in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of his famous “Institutes.” In that same year, Calvin was recruited by Frenchman William Farel to join the Reformation in Geneva, where he regularly preached sermons throughout the week; but the governing council of the city resisted the implementation of their ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees. He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and in 1541 he was invited back to lead the church of the city.
Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of church government and liturgy. He overcame his opposition and later spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe.
My professors taught me that Baptists generally believe in a modified Calvinism, in which allowance is made for the free will of human beings in the process of predestination. In recent years, however, a more traditional Calvinism has seen a resurgence among some Baptist theologians and has been associated doctrinally with other emphases and movements among Baptists.The resurgence of Calvinism seems to be associated with the teaching of Reconstructionism, a movement that would make America a Theocracy, with the laws of the Bible becoming the law of the land. Our founders specifically rejected that model for our government with the adoption of the First Amendment. God laid down the principles of man’s free will and God’s sovereignty with no conflict between the two. Mysterious, but true.
Click here if you would like to read more about Calvin and Calvinism, by viewing a short video, interesting and packed with information. The video is by a high school teacher of Advanced Placement History, Tom Richey. He is completely unknown to me. You’re on your own if you want to listen to him.