To call the arrest, trial, scourging and crucifixion of Jesus Christ a miscarriage of justice is true as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Christ’s death on the cross was not an accident but, as his resurrection attests, was accomplished according to the sovereign, loving will of God, by which sinners can be reconciled to the One who made them, and can pass by grace from death to life.
In this memorable set of sermons which date from 1557 to 1558, Calvin, chief pastor of the Genevan church, offers a sensitive reading of Matthew’s account of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. The preacher’s focus, however, is not so much on the events themselves as on their significance, on what he calls the fruit and efficacy of Christ’s redemptive work. What, in practical terms, is the import of the Easter message for the life of faith? Calvin’s answer has vital implications not only for what we believe but for the way we live, serve, worship and pray.
Newly translated from the French of 1558 by Robert White.
‘If we seek for salvation, the name of Jesus alone teaches us that it is in him. … If we desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we will find them in his anointing. If we are looking for strength, we have it in his lordship…If we ask for redemption, his passion provides it. In his condemnation we have our absolution. If we want pardon for sin’s curse, that gift lies in his cross. Atonement we have in his sacrifice and cleansing in his blood. Our reconciliation was effected by his descent into hell; the mortification of our flesh lies in his burial, and newness of life in his resurrection, through which we also have the hope of immortality.’ — JOHN CALVIN
John Calvin (1509 - 1584)
Was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of his seminal work The Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.Calvin's writing and preachings provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Reformed, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of his seminal work Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Calvin's writing and preaching provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin's thought exerted considerable influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements, such as Puritanism, and some have argued that his ideas have contributed to the rise of capitalism, individualism, and representative democracy in the West.
Founder of Calvinism. John Calvin, a French scholar who became a leading preacher and dominant force in the Reformation of the 16th Century, studied at the University of Paris and at the University of Orleans. He became dissatisfied with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and allied himself with the cause of the Protestant Reformation in 1532.
When the king of France decided to settle the religious question in his country in favor of the Catholics, Calvin fled to Geneva, Switzerland, where his writings and lectures made Geneva the Rome of Protestantism. His institutes of the Christian religion became the basis for the Presbyterian way of thought and church life. Calvinism is the main doctrine of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches.
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