CALVIN, John
- Era: 1509 - 1564
- Location: France
- Categories: RELIGION
Along with Luther and Zwingli, one of the key protagonists of Protestant church movement to break from the Rome-centred version of European Christianity. In his early years he was influenced in this critical reaction by his father's views and then more especially by his exposure to Luther's writings during his Humanities studies in Paris. No longer acceptable in France, in 1533 he moved to Switzerland where he formulated and published his Institutes of the Christian Religion. This rationale for personal and social ethics formed the basis for the entire city of Geneva - a virtual theocracy. The irony of its celebration of a God-given freedom for humanity alongside its commanding control of any dissidence was as noticeable there as subsequently in its 17th century exponents in Massachusetts or its secularised manifestations in Soviet Marxism.
Life
Another brief biography of Calvin
The life and work of Calvin from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Writings