1. The Swiss Reformations: The Maturation of International Calvinism
CHAPTER FOUR
The Swiss Reformations: The Maturation of International Calvinism

2. The Swiss Confederation
Origin and character of Swiss Confederation
Zürich and the cause of reform
Geneva and its allies

3. Ulrich Zwingli and Zürich
A more activist Erasmian humanism
Nationalism and opposition to Swiss mercenaries
Zwingli and the Plague
“Do as you will for I lack nothing. I am your vessel to be restored or destroyed.” —from Zwingli’s Pestlied (Plague Song)
The Politics of Reform
“Magisterial reformation”
The “Sausage Affair” and Zürich’s road to reform
Ulrich Zwingli

4. Ulrich Zwingli and Zürich
Zwingli and the Radicals
The origin and suppression of the Anabaptist movement in Zürich
The Marburg Colloquy (1529)
Political alliance depended on theological agreement between Lutherans and Zwinglians
Agreement on all points except the Eucharist
Issue was the nature of Christ’s presence
Luther,“It is obvious that we do not have the same spirit.”

5. Ulrich Zwingli and Zürich
Zwingli’s Death (Oct 1531)
Conflicts between Protestant and Catholic cantons
Second Peace of Kappel
Heinrich Bullinger
Zwingli’s successor in Zürich
Decades and Second Helvetic Confession (1561)
Unifier of Zwinglian and Calvinist branches of the Reformed Church
Heinrich Bullinger

6. John Calvin and Geneva An Accidental Reformer Fleeing Paris
1536 Institutes of the Christian Religion
Denied a quiet scholarly life
Meeting Guillaume Farel in Geneva
Calvin’s Early Life and Conversion
Early education
Legal studies after his father’s excommunication
Conversion around 1533–34?
No evidence of Protestant commitments prior to this
In his Psalms Commentary (1557) Calvin describes an “unexpected conversion”

7. John Calvin and Geneva
John Calvin
Guillaume Farel

8. John Calvin and Geneva Strasbourg Sojourn (1538–41)
Resistance to Calvin and Farel in Geneva
Tensions over Protestantism and pastoral oversight granted to Frenchmen
Pierre Caroli
Banished from city in 1538
Calvin and Strasbourg
Martin Bucer’s invitation and Calvin’s duties
Calvin’s writing and Bucer’s influence
Marriage to Idelette de Bure
Martin Bucer

9. John Calvin and Geneva Return to Geneva
Reply to Sadoleto (1539) on behalf of Geneva
A reluctant return
“I would rather submit to death a hundred times than to go to that cross [Geneva] …” —Calvin in a letter to Farel
Restructuring the church in Geneva:
Ecclesiastical Ordinances
Venerable Company of Pastors
Consistory

10. Calvin and Doctrinal Disputation
Calvin the Pastor
Never formally ordained, but was recognized as pastor
Preached many sermons each week
Lectio continua approach
Also ministered through letters and visitation
Calvin against the Libertines
Resentment toward refugees immigrating to Geneva
Conflicts between Calvin and prominent citizens of city
Calvin called some of his opponents “libertines”
A fragile relationship with Genevan authorities
Calvin and Servetus
On the Errors of the Trinity (1531)
Clarifying Calvin’s role in the trial and execution of Servetus

11. Calvin and Doctrinal Disputation
Calvin and Luther
Calvin was a second-generation Reformer
Mutual (but not blind) admiration
Calvin the Ecclesiastical Politician
Consensus Tigurinus (Zürich Agreement)
Unifying the Reformed branch of Protestantism
Calvin the Theologian
Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536–59)
Theology is a matter of the heart
Calvin’s debt to Luther’s ideas
Concerning Calvin and the doctrine of predestination
Calvin just one of several “sources” of Reformed faith

12. Calvin and Doctrinal Disputation
Calvin and Evangelism
Evangelism not at odds with predestination
Evangelism as expression of zeal for our salvation
Calvin and Missions
Geneva’s diversity and role as center for missions
Calvin role in training and sending missionaries
Great increase of Protestant churches in France

13. Calvin’s Legacy Calvin’s death (May 27, 1564) Calvin’s Legacy
An unmarked grave
Calvin’s Legacy
Theodore Beza
Genevan missionaries
Huguenots and the French Reformed Church
Wars of Religion
Dreams of Reformed France never realized
Calvinism in England, Scotland, the Palatinate, and the Netherlands
John Knox and the Reformation in Scotland