Today, July 10, 2009 is the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Protestants around the world will remember today the contribution this servant of God made to the Reformation.
Calvin was born in Noyon, France. He began training to be a lawyer, but (like many others) had to flee for his life after coming to see that the teachings of the Roman Catholic church were unbiblical.
Calvin eventually ended up in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spent most of the rest of his life. He laboured to properly understand the Scriptures and apply them to himself and the congregation he served. In a period of intense strife, those who would be leaders of the re-formed church in other countries often sought refuge in Geneva, where they also benefited from Calvin’s work.
Under Calvin’s leadership, Geneva sent more than 100 missionaries to France and other parts of the world. He had a hand in the development of sewerage systems that helped Geneva survive the Plague better than many other centres, and Calvin’s Institutes – an apology (that is, a defence) of true Biblical Christianity and his commentaries (which cover most of the Bible) are still being printed and consulted today. He also promoted learning, starting the institution that eventually became the University of Geneva.
Calvin did all of this work because he became convinced – as were Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, Knox and countless others – that salvation is not something we earn, but the free gift of God, gained only by faith (itself a gift of God), only through Christ and only through the teaching of God’s Word, the Bible (and all to the glory of God alone!). These men explicitly rejected the concept of our works adding to or taking away from what Christ has done, rejected the idea of the Pope (or anyone else) being able to add to what the Bible says, rejected the adoration of Mary (which has no basis in the Bible) and of ‘saints’ (all believers are saints) and proclaimed the priesthood of all believers.
Millions of people around the world today can say that they have benefited from the work of Calvin and his colabourers. It’s not that Calvin was a ‘special’ person. He was one of many through whom God worked to free His church from the grip of error and superstition into which it had fallen (for the most part) during the ‘dark ages’.
Having said that, we are thankful for his work.
So, John Calvin, happy 500th birthday! May the work you have done continue to benefit God’s church until our Saviour returns!