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What
made John Calvin great?
The answer his brilliance as a thinker and writer and,
above all, his ability to interpret the Bible, according
to Bruce Gordon, professor of Reformation history at
Yale Divinity School.
As Christians across the globe celebrate the 500th
anniversary of the birth of Calvin on Friday, believers
are paying tribute to the 16th century reformer whose
life was not without controversy, but one to
commemorate.
For some, the name Calvin may conjure up a negative
image of a Frenchman who was intolerant to anything or
anyone he regarded as a threat to the Church.
As Gordon, author of Calvin, put it, "The enduring image
of Calvin as an unyielding, moralistic and stone-faced
tyrant who rejected all the pleasures of life has been
his opponents' greatest victory." Sam Storms, pastor of
Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City, believes Calvin's
personality at times comes across as strict when it came
to matters of personal holiness and discipline, which
put people off, he told Desiring God Ministries.
Perhaps what most Calvin critics point to is the
execution of Michael Servetus, a Spaniard and a heretic.
He was burned at the stake for his teachings on the
Trinity and infant baptism. He had also denied original
sin and that Christ was the Son of God.
Heresy was a capital offence and although Calvin
supported a severe sentence against Servetus, he did not
want the Spaniard to die, Gordon writes in his book. The
reformer wanted Servetus to recant instead. When
Servetus' punishment was announced, Calvin attempted to
alter the form of execution from the stake to the use of
a sword. The Genevan council rejected the request.
Controversy around Calvin persists today but mainly over
some of his teachings such as predestination and
election. Despite disagreements, many Christians agree
that Calvin indeed deserves to be celebrated. His
commitment to interpreting Scripture and his absolute
submission to God are reasons enough for celebration.
As Kevin DeYoung, pastor of University Reformed Church
in East Lansing, Mich., says, "Calvin's confidence was
in the Word of God, and that's why his theology and
vision of the world continues to capture the minds and
hearts of people in the 21st century. That's why five
hundred years later we remember his birth. That's why
Calvin the preacher and expositor has millions more
spiritual children than Erasmus the scholar and
hermeneutical skeptic."
And while there's much to celebrate about Calvin,
Christians caution against carrying the banner of
Calvinism over that of Jesus Christ. "Do not be known
more for being a follower of John Calvin than Jesus
Christ," said Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern
Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., to a
group of Baptists last month. "Pay careful attention to
who and what you talk about the most."
Calvin, keenly aware of his shortcomings, was solely
devoted to demonstrating the sovereignty and glory of
God. He rarely included himself in his writings and even
in death he avoided turning attention to himself. His
wish was to be buried without memorial and in an
unmarked grave. To this day, the exact location of his
grave is unknown.
“Calvin's greatness was not in his service to himself
but in his surrender to God," says Burk Parsons, author
of John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and
Doxology.
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