From the desk of the pastor for Nov. 30, 2025

The Lord be with you! When John Calvin broke with the Church in 1533 he understood the consequences. He had come to believe that God saved only a few people and the rest would be damned to Hell. Let’s find out how.

Born in France in 1509 Calvin grew up in a devout Catholic family, and his father initially intended him to become a priest. After some college, however, John started studying law. Influenced by humanism - the practice of reading direct sources - he started to question contemporary theology.

In 1533 he had a profound change in belief. Calvin says that God changed his mind decisively in prayer, and he accepted the Protestants precepts of “Faith Alone” and “Scripture Alone.” Matters came to a head, when his friend, Nicolas Cop, gave a homily that provoked an arrest warrant for heresy. Both fled Paris. Over the next few years Calvin devoted himself to writing On the Institutes of Christian Religion, his seminal work justifying the Protestant Reformation.

Calvin traveled to Geneva to seek refuge from the French government’s crackdown on Evangelical thought. He was invited to teach and preach in the city. Calvin and William Farel led the development of a new kind of religious community. Whereas the Church had used excommunication for mostly doctrinal ends, Calvin established that excommunication would be used if anyone would not repent of their sins. A board of elders would be consulted, and they would make sure that only the pure and virtuous would be admitted to church services. Eventually, the city council threw Calvin out of the city because his practices were so extreme.

Three years later the same council invited Calvin back after the situation had further devolved. In Ecclesiastical Ordinances Calvin created his blueprint for a new version of Protestantism. With clear roles and - even clearer moral boundaries - this presbyterian polity would not tolerate anyone or any idea going against it. With a governing council for the church and a strict doctrine, Calvinism was born.

Even as Calvin was still refining his theology, his practice of Christianity spread throughout Europe. Whereas Lutheranism remained largely a Germanic and Scandinavian experience, Calvinism and the presbyterian model spread in France, the Netherlands, and even to England. Calvin would not live to see how far his version of Christianity would spread. He died on May 27, 1564, and was buried, at his request, in an unmarked grave.

Next time we will delve into the theological depths of Calvin’s and Luther’s new religions. No one can deny that both of these men tried to live out their convictions. We will certainly question whether what they believed was worth their efforts. May the Lord, whose Mercy is infinite, always look with kindness upon us.

In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John