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John Calvin: His Life And Influence

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Have you ever seen a movie trailer, watched the movie and wondered: Why didn't I know what was coming, the trailer was clear? That is how I felt with this book. It is titled perfectly: His life and influence. Reymond stays focused on giving a great biographical look at this renowned reformer. Much is dedicated to who the man was apart from his theology. Most of the things that I read on or have read on Calvin are always focused on his theology; not this book. It gives great detail to his schooling, his professors, his break off from Rome, his friends, his writings and basically walks you through his life from beginning to end. Much appreciated work.

Reymond also does what many don't do: explains the burning of the heretic, Michael Servetus. I really appreciated this last part of the book that gives the background and actual facts of what happened. Reymond does not give excuses nor does he excuse the burning, but lays out what actually happened instead of some of the garbage that is out there on the internet and also in writing of anti-Calvinistic theology. Some seem to hold on to this one mistake in Calvin's life to refute all he stood for and wrote on. If they only had all their mistakes make headlines I wonder if their views would change on the matter?

I would highly recommend this to any reader as it is a great little biographical sketch of the reformer and what he meant for all of Protestantism. Do not stay away from this book if you are an Arminian as this book shows what this Reformer did for us all in the break off of the government and church and what he did as he placed holiness back into the church's ideals. Again, this book does not focus on his theology but on his life. Must read for anyone looking for insight to this great theologians life.

Depending on the perspective of the individual Christian, John Calvin may either be one of the greatest theologians or the worst charlatans who ever lived. For those who feel Calvin's teachings accurately interpreted the Bible, he is a great teacher and one who rediscovered doctrines of grace that had lay largely dormant for centuries. For those who feel Calvin's teachings are a gross misrepresentation of God's sovereignty and human freedom, Calvin is a deceiver and one who has led countless Christians away from biblical truths.

I am among those who count Calvin as a great theologian and one who was used by God to restore to the church the wonders of the doctrines of grace. Yet for a man whose theology has so impacted my own, I know surprisingly little about the man. This is, at least in part, owing to the fact that less is known about Calvin than about many other great figures in church history. A man who was often private and secretive, much of his life, and his early years in particular (including his conversion), are known only by conjecture based on comments he made in his books.

John Calvin: His Life & Influence is a brief biography of Calvin that was first delivered by Robert Reymond at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a series of four hour-long lectures. These speeches, targeted at a general audience attending Wednesday evening programs, were drawn from lecture material for a course on "Calvin's Institutes" taught by Reymond at Knox Theological Seminary. "I wrote the four lectures, taking my original audience on a journey through Calvin's intellectual and spiritual development, first from his youth, then through young manhood, then to the brilliant, energetic young Reformer that he became during his first Geneva period. In connection with this last period I addressed head-on Calvin's part in the most significant blight on Protestant Geneva's reputation, namely, the burning of Michael Servetus."

Through four chapters and approximately four hours of reading, Reymond leads the reader through a brief survey of Calvin's life and most important teachings. He does this in the hope that "this remarkable Frenchman's life and ministry will challenge Protestant Christians today to take more interest in their historical heritage and to read for themselves "the opus magnum of Christian theology" and the most influential systematic theology ever written, namely, John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion."

Though necessarily short, this book serves as a useful and compelling introduction to Calvin. It focuses primarily on his life, but also expends some effort in summarizing his teachings. Following the biography are three useful appendices, the first discussing "opposing Calvin biographers," the second discussing Calvin's influence on western history, and the third listing other recommended biographies and resources.

All-in-all, this is a good little book and one that would be at home in any church or personal library. It is a great place to begin in understanding the life and influence of a man who continues to impact the church almost five hundred years after his birth.

Although my only other exposure to John Calvin's biography was in an encyclopedia, I found this book to be well written and quite interesting. The author took pain-staking research about the Reformation, 16th century European history and eye witness accounts and turned it into a thoughtful, easily-read book that keeps the reader asking for more. Historical sketches of the social and religious attitudes of the time give the reader a broader understanding of what was going on during the lifetime of Calvin. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in biographies as well as religious history that helped shape his theology.

Depending on who you talk to you will receive mixed responses when mentioning the name John Calvin. He is a menace to some and hero to others. It seems that you either like him or are against him and there is no one riding the fence. To hear some talk about him you wonder if they have ever read anything he wrote. To hear others talk about him you wonder if they had just had lunch with him and read everything he wrote. Robert L. Reymond is one such man.

In his new book, John Calvin: His Life & Influence, Robert L. Reymond gives us a very informative, short and honest presentation of the life and ministry of John Calvin. Reymond provides a timeline as well as description of the life of Calvin without the boring nature typically associated with listing names and dates.

Chapter one deals with the providential way in which God prepared Calvin for his life and ministry. Calvin enjoyed some of the best schooling under some of the best teachers of his time. Though he was trained in humanism it certainly did not hinder him coming to the faith and Reymond argues that it later aided him in his writing. In 1532 Calvin wrote his first and only humanist book at the age of twenty three which is the same year he came to faith in Jesus Christ.

Chapter two deals with Calvin and his famous Institutes. Here Reymond charts Calvin's expulsion from Geneva and the events that led him to begin his work on the Institutes which was only two years after his conversion. Reymond points out that though Calvin's Institutes is a theological work, it was written with political motives as well as he sought to defend his Protestant friends from persecution by King Francis I (p. 48). It was the persecution brought on by the Placard Incident that caused Calvin to rush his first of a number of editions of the Institutes.

Chapter three gives us a survey and context for Calvin's many published works including his commentaries, further editions of the Institutes, sermons and various writings against the Catholic church and others. Interestingly enough, though Calvin was expelled from Geneva, he was later asked to return in an effort to bring moral and spiritual reformation to the city. After a year of deliberation and prayer he returned to Geneva where he would turn the city around. During his time in Geneva Calvin reformed the city, started a school and helped to write the Geneva Bible. What is very interesting about Calvin's second time in Geneva is that we see a man who, though very scholarly, was very pastoral. Concerning Calvin's work on the Institutes Reymond rightly states,

"It is evident that where the Bible took him, there he went; where its declarations ceased, there he stopped to, but always giving benefit of the doubt to Scripture as God's inspired and therefore inerrant Word (p. 93)."

As one who has read the entirety of the McNeill translation of the Institutes I concur with Reymonds summation.

Chapter four addresses what unfortunately is the only event of Calvin's life that his critics want to remember him for - the burning of Servetus. Despite the fact that Reymond favors Calvin's theology and work he is not supportive of Calvin's involvement in the situation. There are a number of aspects to the Servetus situation that Reymond brings to light that seem to have been lost in the darkness of Calvin criticism. Citing William Cunningham, Reymond notes that the putting to death of heretics was a law and duty held by Protestants and Catholics alike during Calvin's day. Though this does not excuse the act (similar to not excusing Christians from having slaves a few centuries ago though they used Scripture to support it) it is not right to unfairly single out Calvin above the rest for his part in this. Also, it is not commonly known that though Calvin did support Servetus' death, he did not support death by burning but rather some other means like decapitation. Further, though Calvin was in favor of Servetus' death, he was only one among many who made the decision. Even if he had totally rejected the idea it was still going to happen. Reymond concludes his discussion of the Servetus incident with the following statement,

"It is simply unfair to single Calvin out as if he were the originator of the practice of burning heretics of as if he were a particularly violent supporter of the practice at a time when a vast majority of the European continent's enlightened populace would have wished it otherwise (p. 119)."

In reflecting on the Servetus incident, Reymond makes one point of application that I find very helpful for our day:

"But clearly in the sixteenth century the sense of order of both Catholics and Protestants was horrified by something else - something quite sobering and something to which few in our day heed anymore at all - namely, the thought of immortal souls being destroyed by false doctrine, of churches being rent asunder by heretical parties, and of God's vengeance being poured out upon cities and nations that tolerate and endorse immorality by means of war, pestilence, and famine (p. 124)."

Though death for heresy is not tolerated, nor should have been, we can learn this from these sixteenth century men - that the death of the soul to false doctrine is worse than the death of the body.

At the end of his life Calvin died at age 54 after battling numerous physical ailments but having accomplished so much for God, his church, the city of Geneva and having unknowingly effected the course of the future of the Protestant church worldwide.

John Calvin: His Life and Influence is a must read if you do not know much about Calvin or are looking for a good short Calvin biography. The chapter on Servetus alone is worth purchasing this great little book.

How did Calvin's Institutes shape the theology of Christians in subsequent centuries? How did Calvin's early education prepare him to become a Reformer? What was Calvin's role in the burning of Servetus? These questions and more are answered in Robert Reymond's monograph, John Calvin: His Life & Influence.

Keep in mind the material contained in this book was originally presented in four one-hour lectures at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Reymond selected Calvin as his topic because "of his immeasurable (and continuing) historical and theological influence on the world and because the average twenty-first-century Christian knows very little about him and all too often what they do know or have heard about him has been badly distorted." (pg. 9) He does not presume to present new material, but has culled from numerous biographers and documents. He does attempt to be somewhat balanced in his summation of Calvin as he includes one appendix presenting opposing Calvin biographers and another appendix noting recommended Calvin biographers.

Reymond traces Calvin's education from his church benefice at age 12 to grammar school in Paris, to his switch to legal studies to please his father. Reymond provides helpful background information regarding those who most likely influenced Calvin's theological perspective in later life. I enjoyed reading Calvin's presumed description of his salvation experience in a passage taken from Calvin's "Reply to Sodaleto." The impact of Calvin's Institutes is the focal point of the second chapter. In Calvin's bold preface dedicated to the King he answered the question: " Who can rightly claim to represent the one true, holy, catholic, and apostolic church? Rome or the Evangelical Protestants?" (pg 48) He used the powerful two-edged Sword of God's Word to argue it would be the Protestants.

It was refreshing to read how Calvin revered God's Word and "self-consciously strove to be biblical in everything he wrote. He was a `wholesale plagiarist' of Scripture." (pg. 92) Regarding the unifying theme of the Institutes Reymond comments: "He was concerned to let the God who had revealed himself in the Second Person of the Godhead be for mankind the all-glorious God that he is." (pg. 95) What we know today as sixteenth-century "Calvinism" was essentially and simply a purer restatement of fifth-century Augustinianism eleven centuries later." (pg. 104)

Reymond focuses on the circumstances surrounding the burning of Servetus in his fourth and final chapter. It happened to be my favorite chapter. The book concludes with an overview of Calvin's final illnesses and his death on May 27, 1564. It's refreshing to note that Calvin was buried in an unmarked grave that cannot become an "idol."

After reading this book I do have an interest in reading a few of the biographies suggested and Calvin's Institutes. I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys a scholarly read and has an interest in Calvin's doctrines and influence. I would probably not re-read it. It seems this book could have easily been adapted to a more reader-friendly format. I would rather not be reminded that this was a lecture as I'm perusing the pages. This book is understandably not an unbiased work. While Calvin can be commended for his godly acts, a considerable amount of justification seems to be offered when it came to the issue of the burning of Servetus. The author is obviously a Protestant who believes in infant baptism, a doctrine I do not believe is a Bible doctrine.

Disclaimer: Christian Focus Publications provided a complimentary copy of this book to me. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

There is probably no other theologian who is as loved and hated by so many as, John Calvin. To some, he has set forth the Biblical principles of Christianity with such clarity that they in fact call themselves Calvinists. To others he is a heretic, a cold hearted rebel, who has mislead many from the faith. With such differing points of view it can be difficult to discern fact from fiction. Robert Reymond has set out to share some of the life and history of John Calvin and his influence upon the Protestant church, government, and even the world, in his book, John Calvin: His Life and Influence.

Reymond's book began as four lectures on Calvin that he originally gave at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, wanting to take his "audience on a journey through Calvin's intellectual and spiritual developement, first from his youth, then through young manhood, then to the brilliant, energetic young Reformer that he became during his first Geneva period, and finally to the maturer Reformer into which he developed, first at Strasbourg, and then during his second Geneva period." (preface)

I have always found the history of the Reformation very interesting and this work explores the life and contributions of one of its most influential members. Reymond shows how God was providentially providing the education and experiences needed for transforming the young Calvin into the Theologian and Pastor he was to become. With so much of Calvin being thought of today simply in terms of TULIP, I was surprised to see his influence in so many other areas of Christianity. His role in founding and establishing the Protestant Church as we know it today, and our Western ideals of the distinct separation and individual freedom of Church and State are some of his greatest, and yet least known accomplishments.

It's sad that so much of Calvin's life and influence has been lost in the midst of the controversy of "Calvinism." Truly, the Christian Church owes a debt to this great Reformer.

John Calvin: His Life and Influence, is an easy read weighing in at a mere 133 pages, not counting the appendixes, yet gives a thorough overview for any who wish to learn more about this great man. I'd like to thank Christian Focus Publications for sending me this free copy for review.