A Frenchman, John Calvin, introduced Calvinism and created a theocracy in Geneva.
John Calvin was born in 1509 and died in 1564. Calvin was the son of a lawyer, was born in Noyon, Picardy, and was therefore a Frenchman. Calvin developed a love for scholarship and literature (Trueman, 2015) Calvin studied to be a priest and later trained as a lawyer. In 1528, he went to Orleans to study Law, and one year later Calvin went to Bourges to study Law. Pressurized by his father to study Law but in 1531, his father died giving Calvin the freedom to resume his religious studies. In the same year that his father died, Calvin went to the College de France in Paris to study Greek. This college noted for its Humanistic approach to learning. In fact, …show more content…
This was Calvin’s foundational work for Calvinism. Calvinism based on the belief in predestination, since god knows all he simply knows who is going to go to Heaven and who is destined for hell. Calvinism was the belief that the few chosen were saved by the operation of divine grace, which cannot be challenged and cannot be earned by Man’s merits (Trueman, 2015). God already knows who will be saved even before these people are born, and therefore the lives of those destined for salvation. You might have lead what you might have considered a perfectly good life that was true to God but if you were a reprobate you remained one because for all your qualities you were inherently corrupt and God would know this even if you did not (Trueman, 2015). Thus, “good works” were not sufficient for salvation and there is no free will since god has already made his decision. God reveals if one is chosen for salvation by a conversion experience. However, a reprobate by behaving decently could achieve an inner conviction of salvation. An Elect could never fall from grace (Trueman, 2015). The “elect” are church members who have had their conversion experience. They should become model Christians or “visible …show more content…
With its population swelled by Protestant refugees, notably Huguenots, Geneva became a cosmopolitan intellectual center. During the 18th cent., when the stern theocracy of Calvin had mellowed into patrician rule, the city's intellectual life reached its zenith. Voltaire settled there; J. J. Rousseau, H. B. de Saussure, Jacques Necker, Albert Gallatin, and P. E. Dumont were among the famous sons of Geneva in the 18th cent.) (?????????)
In May 1536, the city adopted religious reform: monasteries are dissolved, mass was abolished, and papal authority renounced (Trueman, 2015). Calvin wanted a city controlled by the clergy – a theocracy. A theocracy is a government in which joined together are church and state, and the officials are considered divinely inspired.
In 1538, the Libertines won the day and Farel and Calvin fled the city and went to Strasbourg. (Trueman,