Friday, September 12, 2008

The Emergent Calvin -- Concluding Words


Calvin’s two discourses at Lausanne demonstrate the thoroughness of his preparation and the timeliness of Farel's prompting of Calvin as he stood to engage the disputation. Calvin’s emergence as a public leader of the Reformation is captured by Merle’s description of the scene surrounding his first speech at Lausanne: “The young man, whose face was unknown but full of expression, had been listened to with astonishment, and people recognized in him a master. Everyone felt the force of his words, and no one raised an objection . . . The minds of the hearers seemed to be enlightened by fresh knowledge.” (Merle 250) Without controversy, Calvin – fully prepared by his legal education and forcefully prompted by the presence of his mentor – rose to the question.

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Works Cited

Cochrane, Arthur C., ed., Reformed Confessions of the 16th Century, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1966.

Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization: Part VI – The Reformation, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.

Foxgrover, David, ed., Calvin Studies Society Papers: Calvin and Spirituality/Calvin and His Contemporaries, Colleagues, Friends and Conflicts, Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin Studies Society, 1998.

Gamble, Richard C., ed., Articles on Calvin and Calvinism, vol. I, The Biography of Calvin, New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1992.

Jones, Serene, Calvin and the Rhetoric of Piety, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.

Merle, J.H., History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, vol. VI, Scotland, Switzerland and Geneva, New York: Robert Carter & Bros., 1880.

Lim, Richard, Public Disputation, Power, and Social Order in Late Antiquity, Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1995.

Linder, Robert D., Brothers in Christ: Pierre Viret and John Calvin as Soul-mates and Co-laborers in the Work of the Reformation in Foxgrover, Calvin Studies Society Papers, pp. 134-158.

Partee, Charles, Farel’s Influence on Calvin: A Prolusion, in Gamble, Articles on Calvin and Calvinism, vol. I, pp. 73-85.

Reid, J.K.S., Calvin: Theological Treatises – Library of Christian Classics, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1954

Reid, W. Stanford, John Calvin, Lawyer and Legal Reformer, in Gamble, Articles on Calvin and Calvinism, vol. I, pp. 57-72.

Wilcox, Donald J., In Search of God & Self: Renaissance and Reformation Thought, Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1987.

Wiley, David N., Calvin’s Friendship with Guillaume Farel in Foxgrover, Calvin Studies Society Papers, pp. 187-204.

1 comment:

Mr. Mcgranor said...

The emergent Calvin of the postmodern church: invoking god by their very supposed election. As if saying: i am god of my mind.