Portal:Calvinism

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Calvinism, also called Reformed Christianity, is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and various other Reformation-era theologians. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible.

Calvinists broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Calvinists differ from Lutherans, another major branch of the Reformation, on the spiritual real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, theories of worship, the purpose and meaning of baptism, and the use of God's law for believers, among other points.

The namesake and founder of the movement, French reformer John Calvin, embraced Protestant beliefs in the late 1520s or early 1530s, as the earliest notions of later Reformed tradition were already espoused by Huldrych Zwingli. The movement was first called "Calvinism" in the early 1550s by Lutherans who opposed it, however many in the tradition find it either a nondescript or inappropriate term and prefer the term reformed.

The most important Reformed theologians include Calvin, Zwingli, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, John Knox, and John à Lasco. In the 20th century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Louis Berkhof, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, R. C. Sproul, and J. I. Packer were influential. More contemporary Reformed theologians include the late Tim Keller, Desiring God Ministries founder John Piper, as well as Joel Beeke and Michael Horton. (Full article...)

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Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499 – 1562) was an Italian-born Reformed theologian. His early work as a reformer in Catholic Italy and decision to flee for Protestant northern Europe influenced many other Italians to convert and flee as well. In England, he influenced the Edwardian Reformation, including the Eucharistic service of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer. He was considered an authority on the Eucharist among the Reformed churches, and engaged in controversies on the subject by writing treatises. Vermigli's Loci Communes, a compilation of excerpts from his biblical commentaries organized by the topics of systematic theology, became a standard Reformed theological textbook.

Vermigli's best-known theological contribution was defending the Reformed doctrine of the Eucharist against Catholics and Lutherans. Contrary to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, Vermigli did not believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ's body and blood. He also disagreed with the Lutheran view that Christ's body is ubiquitous and so physically present at the Eucharist. Instead, Vermigli taught that Christ remains in Heaven even though he is offered to those who partake of the Eucharist and received by believers.

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Image 1Cover of Calvin's magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion, published in 1536 (from Calvinism)
Image 2The seal of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, an early American Presbyterian church founded in 1789 (from Calvinism)
Image 3Fall of Man by Jacob Jordaens (from Calvinism)
Image 4John Calvin depicted on his deathbed with church members in The last moments of Calvin, a late 19th century portrait by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. (from Calvinism)
Image 5Stephen Bocskai, leader of Hungarian Calvinists in the anti-Habsburg rebellion and first Calvinist prince of Transylvania (r. 1605–1606) (from Calvinism)
Image 6A Reformed church in Koudekerk aan den Rijn in the Netherlands in the 19th century (from Calvinism)
Image 7Calvin preached at St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. (from Calvinism)
Image 8The Grote Kerk in Haarlem in the Dutch Republic, c. 1665 (from Calvinism)
Image 9Early Calvinism was known for simple, unadorned churches as depicted in this 1661 portrait of the interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (from Calvinism)
Image 10Statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox, the most influential theologians in developing the Reformed faith, at the Reformation Wall in Geneva (from Calvinism)
Image 11The Bay Psalm Book was used by the Pilgrims. (from Calvinism)
Image 12Moses Amyraut formulated Amyraldism, a modified Calvinist theology regarding the nature of Jesus' atonement. (from Calvinism)
Image 13Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper initiated Neo-Calvinism. (from Calvinism)
Image 14The Parable of the Prodigal Son depicted in a portrait by Rembrandt illustrates forgiveness. (from Calvinism)
Image 15A Calvinist church in Semarang, Indonesia (from Calvinism)
Image 16An abandoned Calvinist church in Łapczyna Wola, Poland (from Calvinism)
Image 17The burning of the Guernsey Martyrs during the Marian persecutions in 1556 (from Calvinism)
Image 18The Shield of the Trinity diagrams the classic doctrine of the Trinity. (from Calvinism)

Did you know...

...that Peter Martyr Vermigli was allegedly challenged to a duel with a double-edged axe by Theodore Bibliander over the doctrine of double predestination?

...that as he lay dying, the American Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen declared that there is no hope without the active obedience of Christ?