Success of Calvinism due to ... (24)

Intro

• started reformation in 1536 with Farel as bishop was run out with his forces defeated and the city had agreed to reform
• although Calvinism was not as successful as Lutheranism it was still important in the wider picture of reform
• Calvinism was popular as it came from below

Calvinist Church

• provided an organised way of running a protestant church something that had never been done before
• Calvin set out the aims for his church in the Ecclesiastical Ordinances and was made out of 4 offices
  • pastors
  • doctors
  • deacons
  • elders
• Calvin set out strict rules such as denouncing fashion items and only wearing simple dress, condemned singings and whistling, banned any dancing, gambling, drunkness, swearing, and fortune telling were banned and anyone who didnt follow these rules was disciplined by the Consistory
  • was made up of 12 lay elders and all the pastors whose numbers changed as time did
  • has the duty to enforce the high standards set out in the ordinances dealt with moral standards and personal conduct ie sexual misconducts and neighbour disputes
  • in 1550 pastors were able to make an annual visit to each house to make sure rules were being upheld
  • punishments could involve humiliations, prison, excommunication or execution

Suppression of opposition

• Calvin's victory in overcoming opposition was an important reason for success
• took 14 years of constant struggle for him to be unopposed (1555) 
• religious opposition was most serious problem as they attacked him where he hated to be challenged
• the Servetus affair - Servetus adopted extreme views and took it badly when others did not accept them was described as extremely confrontational he condemned infant baptism and the doctrine of the trinity and had to go undercover. After writing a book he…