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person1536–1564

John Calvin

Disciplines:
theology
reformation
switzerland/geneva
theology/predestination

Summary

French Protestant reformer who built Geneva into the most rigorous Reformation city-state and developed Calvinist theology — particularly the doctrine of double predestination (some are elected to salvation, others to damnation regardless of their actions) — whose influence shaped Puritanism, the Dutch Republic, Scotland, and the American colonial character.

Core Contribution

Created the most rigorous and politically consequential branch of Protestantism — Calvinist theology's predestination doctrine combined with its covenant theology produced a distinctive political culture (representative government, resistance to tyranny, work ethic) that shaped the Dutch Republic, Scotland, and New England.

Notable Works & Achievements

Institutes of the Christian Religion

Historical Influences

Luther Augustine Zwingli

Intellectual Lineage

Noyon FranceParis Geneva Institutes of the Christian Religion

Contemporaries & Peers

Luther Zwingli Bullinger

Minds Influenced

Puritanism Dutch Reformed churchScottish PresbyterianismAmerican colonial cultureHistory 102

Intellectual Posterity

Calvinism Institutes of the Christian Religion Presbyterian churchPuritan movementWeber thesis

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