July 10th was John Calvin's birthday.  He was born in 1509 and the 10th would have been his 499th birthday.  He died on May 27th, 1564.  We have no marker to commemorate his death, to lay down flowers or even to take pictures.  Why?  Because he desired to be buried in a pauper's grave so that no one would think about visiting his grave in pilgrimages.  There was too much of that in the Roman Catholic world at that time.  Well it is that kind of humility that marked the life of the Reluctant Reformer.  It is also one of the reasons that the Reluctant Reformer and Doctor of Geneva's work, theology and passion for Christ carries on in our modern era.  John Calvin was probably converted sometime in 1533.  His only mention of his conversion comes from his introduction to his commentary on the Psalms.  He didn't talk about himself very much.  But he did preach and he preached volumes.  T.H.L Parker, a Biographer of Calvin notes that Calvin preached one hundred and eighty-nine sermons on the Acts between 1549 and 1554, a shorter series on some of the Pauline letters between 1554 and 1558, and sixty-five sermons on the Harmony of the Gospels between 1559 and 1564. During that time he preached a series on Jeremiah and Lamentations (up to 1550), on the Minor Prophets and Daniel (1550-2), then one hundred and seventy-four on Ezekiel (1552-4), then one hundred and fifty-nine on Job (1554-5), then two hundred on Deuteronomy (1555-6), then three hundred and forty-two on Isaiah (1556-9), then one hundred twenty-three on Genesis (1559-61), a short set on Judges (1561), one hundred and seven on 1 Samuel and eighty-seven on 2 Samuel (1561-3) and a set on 1 Kings (1563-4).   That is just a sampling of his volumous works in preaching.  He also wrote his Institutes of the Christian Religion and a mass of commentaries on the Scriptures.  John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a monumental work that stands among the greatest works of Christian theology and Western literature.  Calvin's Institutes did much to shape the church's understanding of Christian doctrine for generations and has had a tremendous amount of influence in the development of Western thought in both the religious and civil arenas.  His Institutes represent his life's work in teaching theology. Originally Calvin wrote the Institutes to give his readers a basic understanding of Christian doctrine.  Can you imagine that?  Basic?  Amazing.  Anyway the Institutes became one of the earliest systematic theologies of the Reformed tradition. In writing the Institutes Calvin wanted to give the reader the necessary background to read and accurately handle the great doctrines and promises of the Bible.  Calvin sent a copy to the King Francis I to encourage him to stop persecuting the Christians who were embracing the gospel as taught by the Reformers. His basic argument was that if the king understood what these people believed he would stop killing them as heretics but rather see them as faithful adherents of historical Christianity. His two-volume work is broken down into four books that loosely follow the outline of the Apostle's Creed. Book 1 concerns knowledge of God. Book 2 is about Jesus Christ as redeemer. Book 3 is about the Holy Spirit's role in applying Christ's redeeming graces. Book 4 is about the church and practice.  Calvin was the first in the great Protestant tradition to pen a Biblical, systematic theology that every Christian could and should read. 

Calvin's Institutes should be read by anyone who desires an understanding of the development of Western thought, literature and theology. The Institutes is not just  great theology, which it is, but what you find out when you read the Institutes is that they are also extremely pastoral and devotional. They are not like reading a modern systematic theology. Calvin understood doctrine to be more than just heady intellectualism, but it was actually something to mold our understanding of God, and ourselves and the world in which we live.

John Calvin was a scholar to be sure, and wished for nothing but a life of books and scholarship.  But one encounter with a fiery eyed preacher named Farel changed all of that.  No, no providence changed all of that.  Calvin had no intention of staying in Geneva that providential night.  No he was passing through and that was all.  But Farel wouldn't hear of it.  Farel greatly desired reformation in Geneva and he knew he needed the helpful, pastoral scholarship of someone like Calvin.  Farel oh so genlty coaxed Calvin into staying in Geneva.  He simply threatened the curse of God on Calvin if Calvin left.  So Calvin reluctantly agreed to stay for a time.  He later became Pastor and was fired.  After the Roman Catholics looked as though they would take back over the chancel, through the influential arguments of a crafty Cardinal named Sadoleto Calvin was called back.  He went back to the Church which had fired him.  A point of which speaks to his humility and forgiving spirit.  I for one would have probably called down fire on such a place, but not Calvin.  No he had the heart of a Pastor.  His heart for God's people and God's Word made him unique.  It made him someone way ahead of his time.  It made him, Calvin the great Doctor of Geneva.  Happy belated birthday John Calvin.  May all of us who wear the Reformed badge immulate your humility, your courage, your love for Christ and your love for God's people.

"True and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." Institutes 1.1.1

Gage Browning

Post Tenebras Lux