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          John Calvin was a key figure in the French Protestant Reformation. He was regarded as second in importance to Martin Luther. John Calvin was born in northwestern France in 1509, twenty-five years after the birth of Martin Luther; and he died in 1564. His actual name was Jean Cauvin, which became Calvin years later when he adopted the Latin form (Calvinus). John Calvin was born in Noyon, which was an old and important center of the Roman Catholic Church in northern Europe. He was from a middle-class demographic. His father Gerard served in various offices in the Roman Catholic Church including notary public. He later acquired the position of the Bishop’s secretary.

Because of the status of his dad, John Calvin was closely tied to church. He was brought up with children of the aristocracy. This background caused him to be free of life’s impurities. John Calvin received the best of everything life offered. He had the best education possible because his father wanted him to advance to a position of ecclesiastical importance. At age fourteen John Calvin was enrolled in the University of Paris. During that time, this University was the intellectual center of Western Europe. John Calvin also pursued a career in theology; yet for several reasons his life took on unexpected turns:

Ø  First, the new teaching of the Renaissance, Humanism was waging a successful battle against scholasticism, which was the Old Catholic theology of the late middle Ages

Ø  At the same time, a strong movement for church reform was being led by Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples in 1455-1536, and

Ø  Finally, Martin Luther’s writings and ideas had circulated in Paris

John Calvin’s father had begun to experience disagreements with church officials in Noyon, including the Bishop in 1528 just as John Calvin was completing his Master of Arts Degree. His father sent word for him to leave theology and study law. John Calvin worked diligently mastering the materials and after three years of study at Oroleans, Bourges, and Paris, he earned a Doctorate in Law. John Calvin learned the Greek language and was interested in classical studies. Most of his associates were students that were at odds with the teachings and practices of Roman Catholicism. When his father died in 1531, his death freed John Calvin to choose his own career path. He spent the next three years traveling in Switzerland, and Italy.

 He was granted income support from the Roman Catholic Church for his studies, and because of the disputes his father had with the church he made a decision in the spring of 1534 to return to Noyon to resign from accepting his ecclesiastical income. His integrity would not allow him to continue to collect the income with a clear conscience before God. His resignation permanently burned all bridges to Roman Catholicism. John Calvin regarded himself as a pastor and theologian who spent most all of his years as a foreigner in the Geneva republic. He was given citizenship five years before his death. Before John Calvin arrived in Geneva, Geneva had a reputation of being one of Europe’s most immoral communities.

         John Calvin held serious life views and he also held a divine call to the work of God’s Kingdom approaching his calling with great zeal. He set high expectations for himself and others. He was committed to his deep theological convictions and believed that as God’s creation, he was put on earth to glorify God. He deliberately avoided the limelight and he did not allow any detraction from the message of God’s Grace in Christ Jesus. He was completely awed by the concept that sinful human beings had been reckoned righteous in Christ Jesus and accounted worthy to serve the profound Holy and Sovereign God of the Universe. Humility and self-denial were his principal Christian virtues. He lived modestly and he never owned a home - he lived in borrowed quarters and he was adamant about receiving salary increases.

          A French historian by the name of Joseph Renan, who was not a reformer, said that John Calvin back in the nineteenth-century was the most pure Christian man of his time.