The Long Reformation: Reformed (views of Penny Roberts) II: Geneva and Calvin

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  • Created by: Alasdair
  • Created on: 17-05-18 14:11
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  • The Long Reformation: Reformed (views of Penny Roberts) II: Geneva and Calvin
    • John Calvin
      • Led most successful and expansionist branch of Reformed movement
        • From base in Geneva, labelled 'the Protestant Rome'
      • According to Naphy
        • Calvin faced many difficulties setting up Church that have only recently come to light
          • Opposition from within Geneva itself
    • John Knox, Reformer, thought:
      • Genevan Churches were 'The Most perfect school of Christ that ever was since the days of the Apostles'
    • Difficulties faced by Calvin in Geneva
      • Faction-ridden city and unpopularity of rigour Farel and Calvin imposed discipline on its inhabitants
        • Led to Farel and Calvin being expelled in 1538
      • When Calvin and  Farel were invited back by City Council in 1541
        • Factional hostility to foreign pastors remained
          • political and religious opposition not easily crushed
    • Reasons Calvin gained a foothold in Geneva
      • Arrival of mainly French refugees in increasing numbers in 1540s
        • Led to near doubling of Genevan population and assured ascendancy of Calvin and his fellow ministers by mid-1550s
    • Reasons for Calvin's success
      • His education and implementation of doctrine
        • Education in theology and law in leading French universities and law schools of his day gave him rhetorical and analytical skills which he later put to good use in widely circulated sermons
        • Legal training has been credited with shaping clear and systematic statements of discipline and exposition of doctrine which characterises his major works
          • e.g. Institutes of the Christian Religion
            • Hugely popular and influential guide to a Christian life
            • visible and invisible Church
              • Those who God had chosen to save, the Elect, were known only to Him
      • His experience of cooperation and conflict with urban authorities
      • formation as a religious refugee
      • Calvin recognised practical structures were also needed for Church
        • embodied in 'Ecclesiastical Ordinances' of 1541
          • Constitution for Genevan Church
          • Showed how Genevan Church was to be organised and its members governed, disciplined and supported
          • Become model for all Calvinist churches to follow
      • Training of Pastors
        • Central
        • 1559, Genevan Academy was set up to choose and train pastors and meet growing demand for Reformed ministers
        • To assist ministry in its duties
          • Lay elders and deacons were also appointed
      • Consistory
        • Made up of lay elders, deacons and ministers
        • Body set up to resolve disputes and to discipline wayward  members of the Community
          • Allowed Church to regulate both private behaviour and public conduct
        • Excommunication
          • Only used in cases of unrepentant and repeat offenders
        • Discipline
          • Generally accepted as necessary for maintenance of godly society
      • Church provided care for sick, relief for poor and support for refugees
      • Calvin's insistence on independence of Church brought him into conflict with Genevan authorities, but allowed Reformed Churches to be established even within states where authorities were hostile or viewed as ungodly
      • Spread of Reform was due as much to Calvinists responding to requests for assistance from fledgling Churches abroad as to a conscious programme of expansion
      • Calvinism continued to develop under other people's influence after Calvin's death
        • e.g. Calvin's lieutenant in Geneva, Theodore Beza
      • Contribution of Calvin's contemporary, Heinrich Bullinger was enormous
        • Especially through declaration of doctrine, Second Helvetic Confession
          • Gordon suggests this is greatly important
        • Multiple influences explains historians' preference for term 'Reformed' over 'Calvinist' for international movement which Calvin and others propagated.

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