Happy 500th Birthday John...

Yes, John Calvin turned 500 on the 10th of July (although he has been dead for most of this time). Who is John Calvin, I hear you ask? He is up there with Martin Luther as the major players in what most would call the "Protestant Reformation" in the 1500s. He was very bold in his challenges to the mainstream Roman Catholic Church of the day and had a lot to say against beliefs and practices that he believed to be false.

Love him or hate him, Calvin was an amazingly influential figure. Such was his influence, that a whole branch of Christian theology called "Calvinism" was developed, based on his teachings. The most well-know tenets of Calvinism are probably the amazing grace of God and the election or pre-destination of Christians. There is even a theological approach to life called "Hyper-Calvinism" (and I include that piece of information here soley because I love the name). Some say that Calvin's ideas even contributed to the development of capitalism and democracy in the West. He wrote heaps on his ideas in various letters, treaties and commentaries and preached many, many sermons - most which are still available for us today.

Why am I bringing John Calvin to your attention? Mainly because he was one of most significant religious people in modern history and his life is currently being remembered across the planet because of his quincentenary. I think that its good to know a bit about these things if you're interested in the kind of private/public spirituality issues that this blog goes on about. Also, if you're a Protestant, then you are probably influenced in some way by Calvin and Calvinism, but you might not have ever known that. I think its good from time to time to look at this thing called Christianity that some of us are trying to live out and ask how much of it is "pure" Christianity (if we can ever discover such a thing), and how much of it is Christianity based on a particular theological, geographical, denominational influence. These kind of questions help us to keep our own truth claims in check , to keep ourselves humble, and to allow ourselves to be open to the views of others.

For more information on John Calvin, you could simply google his name and go for your life, or have a look at some of these sites:

• Wikipedia - John Calvin
  
• History Learning Site
  
• New Advent - Catholic Encyclopedia
• The Australian - Decline of John Calvin

I listened to an interesting podcast about John Calvin on the ABC Radio National program, "The Spirit of Things". Host, Rachael Kohn, interviewed Randall Zachman (a "Calvin Scholar" - who knew you could be such a thing?) about the life, teachings and influences of John Calvin. It is worth a listen if you're into such things.

Anyway, "Happy Birthday John Calvin" and I hope the rest of you have a nice day too...

Shalom...