Calvinism

The term Calvinism was originally a polemical label meant to denigrate those deemed to be followers of the French reformer John Calvin (1509–1564). Those who in fact were most influenced by Calvin chose not to be named after a person—Calvin or anyone else—and instead most commonly referred to themselves as members of the "Church reformed according to the Word of God" or simply as "those of the cause."

If Calvinism cannot be traced exclusively to one person, it also cannot be reduced to the presence of two or three fixed teachings. If one is to judge from the Westminster Confession and Catechisms (1646–1647), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Second Helvetic Confession (1566), the most prominent components of Calvinism include the centrality of the person and work of the Mediator; the work of the Holy Spirit in the right interpretation of the normative Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; the emphasis on the Church as the body of the elect and their assurance of salvation; justification and sanctification by grace alone through faith and the positive use of the law in guiding believers; the importance of the ordinary means of grace; and the need to translate the sovereignty of God into transforming political, educational, and economic structures. In polemical debate Calvinists were often divided over the implications of any given doctrine of predestination, especially concerning the question of free will and whether atonement is universal or limited.

See also CHRISTIANITY, REFORMED, ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Bibliography

Graham, W. Fred, ed. Later Calvinism: International Perspectives. Kirksville, Mo.: Sixteenth Century Journal, 1994.

McNeill, John Thomas. The History and Character of Calvinism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1962.

Prestwich, Menna, ed. International Calvinism: 1541–1715. Oxford: Clarendon, 1985.

E. DAVID WILLIS