Calvinist Strand

Calvinist strand

Geneva

• Europe being divided up
• Radical reformation in pockets
• Calvin inherited what Zwingli had begun
• looked on as "the Protestant Rome"

Calvin

Calvin

• clear & systematic mind at work
• overpowering sense of God's glory
• obedience to constituted authority

Comparison table

Further information (2 links)

• Calvin as Scholar
• Catholic perspective

Beyond Geneva

Bucer (moderating figure)

• central figure of Reformation?
• sought to avoid being explicit about sacraments (as Luther & Zwingli had been)
• stands out in Reformation figures for his tolerance

Knox

• connected the struggle of Scotland against England with Reformed theology
• what is the role of faithful viz a viz oppressive society?
• synod of Dort (5 principles) "uncompromising"

Noted emphasis in his theology

1. total depravity,
2. unconditional election,
3. limited atonement (arguing that Christ's atoning work was intended only for the elect and not for the rest of the world),
4. irresistible (or irrevocable) grace
5. perseverance of the saints.

Sacraments

• importance of Martin Bucer as a bridge figure
• insisting on Christ's presence (not a particular understanding)
• the church regulating its own life (discipline)
• normalcy of church/state overlap

Discipline of the community

• Community maintain discipline by regulating who could come to communion
• organization of community (Geneva) ministers, teachers, elders, deacons … "presbytery"

Church and State

• Calvin allowing for working against civil authority when they betray the faith
• John Knox in Scotland "seized" on those principles in his energy opposing the English
• France, Scotland, then England Calvinists thought about how to oppose an unjust society
• Scotland corrupt church, thus as in France political conditions drove Calvin's followers