John Calvin
1509-1564
Founder of Calvinism. John Calvin, a French scholar who be-
came 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 reli-
gious 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 insti-
tutes 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.
ARTIST'S NOTE: The lack of warmth in the colors indicates the
hard, disciplined, cold theology that characterized his
writings.
Ruckman '66

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Christian Biographies