喀尔文(1509～1564年)

Calvin, John

法语作Jean Cauvin

法国新教神学家，他是宗教改革运动的主要人物。出生於皮喀第的努瓦永，喀尔文在巴黎大学攻读宗教，并在奥尔良、布尔日研习法律。1531年回到巴黎，开始研究《圣经》，隶属於强调藉恩典而非作品获得救赎的运动。政府对此感到不悦，致使他迁居瑞士巴塞尔，在那里写下《基督教法典》（1536）第一版。在新教领袖之中获得声誉後，他到日内瓦协助建立该城的新教教会。1538年被该城的教父们驱逐出境，而在1541年城镇议会按照他的「宗教仪式」设立教会礼仪时－－包括强制实施性道德和废止天主教「迷信」－－回到日内瓦。他批准了塞尔维特为异端，并将之逮捕定罪。1555年喀尔文在日内瓦成功建立了神权政治，他在那里担任牧师和日内瓦学院的院长，撰写布道词、圣经评论和信件，构成喀尔文派基础。

English version：

1509～1564年

Calvin, John

French Protestant theologian and major figure of the Reformation. Born in Noyon, Picardy, he studied religion at the University of Paris and law in Orléans and Bourges. When he returned to Paris in 1531 he studied the Bible and became part of a movement that emphasized salvation by grace rather than by works. Government intolerance prompted him to move to Basel, Switzerland, where he wrote the first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536). Gaining a reputation among Protestant leaders, he went to Geneva to help establish Protestantism in that city. He was expelled by city fathers in 1538, and returned in 1541, when the town council instituted the church order outlined in his Ecclesiastical Ordinances, including the enforcement of sexual morality and abolition of Catholic “superstition.” He approved the arrest and conviction for heresy of Michael Servetus. By 1555 Calvin had succeeded in establishing a theocracy in Geneva, where he served as pastor and head of the Genevan Academy and wrote the sermons, biblical commentaries, and letters that form the basis of Calvinism.