March 18 - System of Theology

March 18 – System of Theology

A highly disciplined man, a lawyer, a logical thinker, a man touched by God, exiled to Switzerland from France, a great Protestant Reformer, the author of the first systematic theology.

John Calvin was exiled from his home in France and forced to leave the University of Paris after infuriating the French government with speeches lifting up the Reformation. He ended up in Switzerland where he wrote “The Institutes of the Christian Religion,” a systematic summary of Christian theology.

He moved on to Geneva (Switzerland) and while the pastor at a church continued writing, churning out commentaries on nearly all the books of the Bible, devotionals and essays on doctrine.

In Geneva, Calvin’s work centered on saving the people. The city was desperate for change and a year after he arrived, it began to do just that. Calvin worked to excommunicate anyone whose lives didn’t live up to scriptural standards and soon everyone in Geneva had to abide by Calvin’s confession of faith.

But, he reformed the morality of Geneva, even though many didn’t approve of his methods. Finally the city council asked him to leave due to the number of political and religious arguments. He headed to Strasbourg and enjoyed a life of study and writing. In 1539, though, Geneva asked him to return to debate a Roman Catholic teacher. Expecting Calvin to be bitter and rebuke the leaders of the city, they were surprised when he began simply teaching.

Calvin worked on the “Institutes” throughout his entire life. These were his definition of Protestantism. He worked through the Apostles Creed, applying the theology of that statement to life. He taught on predestination, a doctrine that Luther and other reformers believed in. He taught on the sovereignty of God, opposing the salvation by works theology of the Roman Catholic church. He believed that Christians were to transform a sinful world and that the church should be based on scriptural order.

John Calvin was passionate about man’s relationship to the scriptures and to the church. He had charisma, intellect, energy and a high degree of morality. His teaching on Reformed doctrines and policies reached Scotland, Poland, Holland and America.