500 year Reformation Celebration - Who was John Calvin?
John Calvin (1509-1564) is the most influential pastor in church history. He wrote commentaries on nearly the entire Bible , which are still in print today. His systematic theology, The Institutes of the Christian Religion , is arguably the most significant Christian book ever published. Calvin was the architect of Protestant theology , and his teachings gave rise to republican government, public education, and even capitalism. Calvin was first and foremost a preacher, generally giving six sermons a week. He moved the baptismal to the back of the church, and placed the pulpit in the middle, marking a change in the purpose of corporate worship— Christians would no longer gather for sacraments, but instead for the preaching of the Word. Born north of Paris , he was converted to Christ in his 20’s and then forced to flee France—Protestants were not welcome there. He eventually settled in Geneva , where he spent the rest of his life pastoring. Under Calvin’s preaching, Geneva was