Download or read book Calvin written by Bernard Cottret and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2000-09 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Modesty, softness, and mildness"-such was John Calvin, in his own words. This brief self-portrait will surprise posterity, quick as it is to detect in Calvin a deeply passionate man of zealous action. Calvin adds elsewhere: "I acknowledge myself to be timid, soft, and cowardly by nature." He repeated the same idea feelingly on the eve of his death, calling himself "timid" and "fearful" before an astounded group of pastors who knew by experience that the old fellow could raise up storms. These various descriptions of Calvin strongly underline the vigor of a character that owed all its energy to God alone. At the same time, the apparent contradictions within Calvin's personality make it hard to capture his true nature. The large number of biographies attempted to date attest to this fact, many of which simply picture Calvin as a rigid fundamentalist or as a totalitarian who ruled Geneva with an iron hand. Such interpretations, however, are much too one-dimensional. This sterling new biography by Bernard Cottret opts for a Calvin "in movement," thus distinguishing itself from works that present Calvin as a man of relatively static character. The aim of this book is simply to recover the truth, or rather to reclaim the intelligibility of a man in his time. This is a historian's Calvin, the work of a university professor who is neither a theologian nor an ordained minister. Cottret's welcome approach sheds new light on the great Reformer's personality by concentrating on the milieu in which Calvin did his life's work. In the largest part of the book, Cottret explores Calvin's life chronologically. We are introduced to the world into which Calvin was born, a Europe in the throes of upheaval owing to the development of the printing press and divergent religious views. We follow Calvin from his birth and childhood in Noyon to his school years in Paris. We accompany Calvin on his humanistic and literary pursuits in Basel, his early ministry in Geneva, and his halcyon Strasbourg years. Finally, we move again to Geneva, where the brunt of Calvin's serious-and better known-life was lived. Along the way we encounter the major issues of Calvin's day-the sacrifice of the Mass, iconoclasm, predestination, the Arianism of Michael Servetus-issues to which he reacted with all his religious emotion. We tarry with him in Geneva and get an up-close look at the governance of Calvinism's "holy city." And we share in Calvin's joys and sorrows through a reading of his prolific correspondence. In the final chapters, Cottret explores thematic aspects of Calvin's persona-Calvin the polemicist, the preacher, and the writer-and looks in greater depth at his foremost work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Widely acclaimed in its French edition, this balanced and beautifully written biography will take its place among the best-and most enjoyable-portraits of Calvin's life, work, and lasting influence.
Download or read book John Calvin written by T. H. L. Parker and published by Presbyterian Publishing Corp. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Calvin was one of the most important leaders of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. In this revision of his major biography, T. H. L. Parker explores Calvin's achievement against the backdrop of the turbulent times in which he lived. With clear and concise explanations of Calvin's theology, analyses of his major works, and insights into his preaching, this definitive biography brings this crucially important reformer and his world to life for readers.
Download or read book A Life of John Calvin written by Alister E. McGrath and published by Blackwell Publishing. This book was released on 1993-10-08 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the best sources for understanding the impact of John Calvin, McGrath's work updates The History and Character of Calvinism by John T. McNeill with a fascinating biography that also explores Calvin's cultural importance.
Download or read book Calvin written by Bruce Gordon and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-21 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the glory days of the French Renaissance, young John Calvin (1509-1564) experienced a profound conversion to the faith of the Reformation. For the rest of his days he lived out the implications of that transformation—as exile, inspired reformer, and ultimately the dominant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin's vision of the Christian religion has inspired many volumes of analysis, but this engaging biography examines a remarkable life. Bruce Gordon presents Calvin as a human being, a man at once brilliant, arrogant, charismatic, unforgiving, generous, and shrewd. The book explores with particular insight Calvin's self-conscious view of himself as prophet and apostle for his age and his struggle to tame a sense of his own superiority, perceived by others as arrogance. Gordon looks at Calvin's character, his maturing vision of God and humanity, his personal tragedies and failures, his extensive relationships with others, and the context within which he wrote and taught. What emerges is a man who devoted himself to the Church, inspiring and transforming the lives of others, especially those who suffered persecution for their religious beliefs.
Download or read book John Calvin A Pilgrim s Life written by Herman J. Selderhuis and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-01-21 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor and renowned Reformation historian Herman Selderhuis has written this book to bring Calvin near to the reader, showing him as a man who had an impressive impact on the development of the Western world, but who was first of all a believer who struggled with God and with the way God governed both the world and his own life.
Download or read book The Life of John Calvin written by Théodore de Bèze and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book John Calvin s Institutes of the Christian Religion written by Bruce Gordon and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential biography of the most important book of the Protestant Reformation John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a defining book of the Reformation and a pillar of Protestant theology. First published in Latin in 1536 and in Calvin's native French in 1541, the Institutes argues for the majesty of God and for justification by faith alone. The book decisively shaped Calvinism as a major religious and intellectual force in Europe and throughout the world. Here, Bruce Gordon provides an essential biography of Calvin's influential and enduring theological masterpiece, tracing the diverse ways it has been read and interpreted from Calvin's time to today. Gordon explores the origins and character of the Institutes, looking closely at its theological and historical roots, and explaining how it evolved through numerous editions to become a complete summary of Reformation doctrine. He shows how the development of the book reflected the evolving thought of Calvin, who instilled in the work a restlessness that reflected his understanding of the Christian life as a journey to God. Following Calvin's death in 1564, the Institutes continued to be reprinted, reedited, and reworked through the centuries. Gordon describes how it has been used in radically different ways, such as in South Africa, where it was invoked both to defend and attack the horror of apartheid. He examines its vexed relationship with the historical Calvin—a figure both revered and despised—and charts its robust and contentious reception history, taking readers from the Puritans and Voltaire to YouTube, the novels of Marilynne Robinson, and to China and Africa, where the Institutes continues to find new audiences today.
Download or read book John Calvin written by W. Robert Godfrey and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the essential life and thought of one of history's most influential theologians, who considered himself first and foremost a pilgrim and a pastor. July 10, 2009, marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. As controversial as he was influential, his critics have named a judgmental and joyless attitude after him, while his admirers celebrate him as the principal theologian of Reformed Christianity. Yet his impact is unmistakable-a primary developer of western civilization whose life and work have deeply affected five centuries' worth of pastors, scholars, and individuals. What will surprise the readers of this book, however, is that Calvin did not live primarily to influence future generations. Rather, he considered himself first and foremost a spiritual pilgrim and a minister of the Word in the church of his day. It was from that "essential" Calvin that all his influence flowed. Here is an introduction to Calvin's life and thought and essence: a man who moved people not through the power of personality but through passion for the Word, a man who sought to serve the gospel in the most humble of roles.
Download or read book Calvin written by Thomas Henry Louis Parker and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1995-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Calvin (1509-64) was a key figure in what we now call the European Reformation; but his influence extends to the twentieth century, most notably through the theology of Karl Barth. Outstanding as biblical scholar, preacher and practical Church reformer, Calvin intended all his work to be service of the Word of God. Although couched in sixteenth-century terms, his theology drew on the wealth of previous Christian thinking and possesses an enduring quality which makes it relevant to the situation of the Church today. This book provides a solid and comprehensive introduction to the whole range of Calvin's theology. Concentrating on Calvin's major work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, it explains what he has to say to all Christians at all times. It leads readers through the text of the Institutes in a new and original way that will give them a serious sense of Calvin both as a Christian and as a thinker.
Download or read book The Life of Calvin written by Theodore Beza and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-08 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE LIFE OF CALVIN is a short biography about the famed reformer by an eye-witness who knew him. Beza was a theologian and an ardent follower of Calvin who became his successor. As such, his "Life of Calvin" is not what could be called an objective biography, but a work that highlights the events in Calvin's life that helped spur on the Protestant Reformation. A great introduction to a man who helped shape his generation and continues to influence millions around the world today!
Download or read book An Explorer s Guide to John Calvin written by Yudha Thianto and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2022-07-12 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this careful study of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Reformed theologian Yudha Thianto sets Calvin's writings in their historical context and outlines the significant aspects of his theology for those who would know more about Calvin's works and through it, the God who inspired them.
Download or read book John Calvin written by Robert L. Reymond and published by . This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "...despite his stern Calvinist upbringing" - Why is it that in the modern media the word 'Calvinist' is always accompanied by 'stern', 'dour' or 'strict'? Most of the people who use the terms together have next to no knowledge of what Calvinism is - and know even less about who Calvin was. An old-style reactionary? A hard-line ayatollah, raging at the world without any thought? - or is there more to this man than uninformed contemporary critics would have us believe? Robert Reymond brings us John Calvin the man. A reality quite different from the caricature often painted today. Here is a man of deep spirituality with a real love for his fellow man and God. A man also with tremendous intellectual abilities. Whether the moniker 'stern Calvinist' is applicable or not - his life has much to teach us.
Download or read book The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge written by Calvin Coolidge and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-10-17 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It was my hope to produce a book that would not only have some historical interest, but would be useful for those in public life, in educational work, in preparation for citizenship, and would be especially a book that parents would wish their children to read." —President Calvin Coolidge on his autobiography Today Americans of all backgrounds are on the hunt for a different political model. In fact, such a model awaits them, if only they turn their eyes to their own past . . . to America's thirtieth president, Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge's masterful autobiography offers urgent lessons for our age of exploding debt, increasingly centralized power, and fierce partisan division. This expanded and annotated volume, edited by Coolidge biographer Amity Shlaes and authorized by the Coolidge family, is the definitive edition of the text that presidential historian Craig Fehrman calls "the forgotten classic of presidential writing." To read this volume is to understand the tragic extent to which historians underrate President Coolidge. The Coolidge who emerges in these pages is a model of character, principle, and humility—rare qualities in Washington, then as now. A man of great faith, Coolidge told Americans: "Men do not make laws. They do but discover them." Although he emphasized economics, Coolidge insisted on the importance of "things of the spirit." At the height of his popularity, he chose not to run again when his reelection was all but assured. In this autobiography, Coolidge explains his mindset: "It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know that he is not a great man." For all his modesty, Coolidge left an expansive legacy—one we would do well to study today. Shlaes and coeditor Matthew Denhart draw out the lessons from Coolidge's life and career in an enlightening introduction and annotations to Coolidge's text. To aid Coolidge scholars young and old, the editors have also assembled nearly three dozen photographs, several of Coolidge's greatest speeches, a timeline of Coolidge's life, and afterwords by former Vermont governor James H. Douglas and two of Coolidge's great-grandchildren, Jennifer Coolidge Harville and Christopher Coolidge Jeter. This autobiography combats the myths about one of our most misunderstood presidents. It also shows us how much we still have to learn from Calvin Coolidge.
Download or read book Friends of Calvin written by M. A. van den Berg and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2009-04-08 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In two dozen short, readable biographies of John Calvin s friends including some who turned into enemies Machiel A. van den Berg paints an intimate portrait of the great Reformer s life and circle that most of us have never seen. / Here we accompany Calvin from his early boyhood in Noyon to his student days in Paris and Orleans, to his pastorate in and exile from Geneva, all the way to his deathbed. We meet his famous Reformer friends William Farel, Martin Bucer, Philip Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, John Knox, Theodore Beza and friends whose names are more obscure: his cousin Pierre Robert Olivtan, the first translator of the Bible into French; Rene de France of French royalty; Laurent de Normandie, the mayor of Noyon who later escaped to Geneva; Pierre Viret, his best friend of all ; and Idelette van Buren, his beloved wife during their brief but happy marriage. / Calvin may be known as a scholar who preferred his study to imperial and ecclesiastical politics, but he was also a rebel of faith against the papacy, which controlled most of the empires of Europe and had a price on the heads of all reform-minded citizens, especially their leaders. Peppered with quotations from Calvin s voluminous letters, Friends of Calvin abounds with secret court relationships, love affairs, death threats, poisonings, and narrow midnight escapes from the pursuing authorities showing a full-blooded and dangerous side of the bookish Reformer s life. Readers of these colorful narratives will come to see how much Calvin s friends influenced his life and thought. / This work provides fresh and accessible insights into John Calvin s inner circle. The highly readable translation offers vignettes that show the Reformer s capacity for deep and enduring relationships with friends and family members. Karin Maag / H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies, Calvin College and Seminary
Download or read book Calvin written by Willem van 't Spijker and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2009-02-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the main Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century. His thought spread worldwide, and today he is still looked to for theological insights and as a guide to Christian faith by millions of people. In this book, one of the world's leading Calvin scholars, Willem van 't Spijker, provides a compact guide to Calvin's life and the main elements of his thought. Van 't Spijker bases this work on the best contemporary scholarship. By tracing Calvin's influence, he shows both the development of Calvin's thought and the ways in which it was important in his time and later. This book will be an excellent introduction to Calvin's life and thought for both beginning students and those already acquainted with Calvin's work.
Download or read book The Life of John Calvin written by W. J. Grier and published by Banner of Truth. This book was released on 2012 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book the reader will find a straightforward introduction to the life and work of the great Reformer of Geneva. W J. Grier's fast-moving biography not only depicts the titanic struggle by which the gospel was established in Geneva, but also provides valuable insights into the work of God that we know as 'the Reformation'. In Calvin's own words, 'God's loving-kindness to us was wonderful, when the pure gospel emerged out of that dreadful darkness in which it had been buried for so many years.'
Download or read book The Writings of John Calvin written by Wulfert Greef and published by Apollos. This book was released on 1993 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the complete Calvin corpus is available in English for the first time, placing information on the Geneva Reformer's exegetical and controversial work within easy reach. This survey also includes a biography focusing on the people and events that swirled through his life. Throughout the guide de Greef relates Calvin's publications to their historical context. Interpretive biblical works, essays and confessional treatises, and theological debates are covered, along with Calvin's correspondence and miscellaneous writings. One chapter follows the development of the Institutes of the Christian Religion through its successive revisions. Extensive indexes and notes on major Calvin studies are included. The guide avoids quoting the works themselves but shows where to turn for Calvin's thoughts on a subject. Bibliographical data have been reworked from the Dutch edition to point out English translations.
