FREE ESSAY ON CALVANISM

CALVANISM

France
Calvanism
Before Martin Luther, few dared to openly question the Catholic Church. After his initial
challenge people were for the first time in 1000 years more comfortable questioning the
beliefs formerly pushed upon them. One of the most influential of those that dared to
have such original ideas was John Calvin. Living in France at this time, opposition to
the Catholic Church was not well received and he found it necessary to flee to
Switzerland. There he teached with the Protestant preachers in Geneva. His ideas were a
bit too controversial there as well though and he was asked to leave. His ideas, as
expressed in his book The Institutes of Christian Religion, consist of belief in
predestination and that man is naturally wicked. He believed that ever since Adam and Eve
committed their Original Sin, wickedness had been passed on to all of the human race and
therefore we all justly deserve to go to hell, but God's mercy has pre selected a few to
go to heaven. Basically, he believes no man can earn his way into heaven but only God's
goodness can provide that for him. Geneva generally respected his teachings and by his
death in 1564 he was often referred to as "the Pope of Geneva