John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -
PROF. M. M. NINAN
While in Paris he changed his name to its Latin form, Ioannis Calvinus, which in French became Jean
Calvin.
So although the new theological teachings of individuals like Luther and Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples
were spreading throughout Paris, Calvin was still closely tied to the Roman Catholic Church. He was
getting ready to enter into priesthood within the Roman Church. Suddenly, his father changed his
mind and decided that he should learn law since that would be a better profession in terms of his
future income and status as lawyers earned more than priests.
Here, he got interested in the area of Renaissance humanism. He learned Greek, read widely in the
classics, and added Plato to the Aristotle he already knew.
Calvin agreed with his father’s suggestion to move from Paris to Orleans in March of 1528, and joined
the University of Orleans. He changed his career to a study of law under Pierre Taisan de L’toile, the
most distinguished lawyer of his day. (Pierre de l'Etoile - Petrus Stella- afterwards became the
president of the parliament of Paris, France) Calvin was quick to pick up his subject areas well so that
he was frequently called upon to lecture, as a substitute in the absence of one or other of the regular
teaching staff in the College. Other studies, however, besides those of law occupied him while in this
city, and moved by the humanistic spirit of the age he eagerly developed his classical knowledge.
Such was his reputation for learning, that, in the absence of the professors, he was frequently called
upon to take their place; and when he left Orleans the degree of doctor was by unanimous consent
offered to him which Calvin declined to accept.
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Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism is the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across
Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. It ideal was the fullness of the total person in all
areas of human life both physical and spiritual
Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) was considered as the "Father of Humanism" because of his
devotion to Greek and Roman cultures. The Catholic Church was deeply involved in this are and
many who were involved were in holy orders, like Petrarch, while others were lawyers and chancellors
of Italian cities,
As the grip of medieval supernaturalism began to diminish, secular and human interests became more
prominent. The facts of individual experience in the here and now became more interesting than the
shadowy afterlife. Reliance upon faith and God weakened. Fortuna (chance) gradually replaced
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