August 3rd, 2010 12:17 am
John Calvin was born at Noyon, France on 10 July 1509. He was a prominent French theologian during the Protestant Reformation and the father of the theological system known as Calvinism. Calvin studied theology in Paris from 1521 to 1526. He then studied law at his father's bidding from about 1525 to 1530. He returned back to study theology after his father died.
In about 1534, he underwent a sudden conversion and became an ardent Protestant. He wrote a popular, systematic presentation of Christian doctrine and life-The Institutes, in Basel, a Protestant city in Switzerland. In 1536, he became one of the preachers in the city of Geneva, in 1538 he was banished, and in 1541 returned in triumph, and established a form of church government that has been associated ever since with churches called Reformed or Presbyterian. He died on 27th may 1564. By that time Calvin, in spite of a reserved personality, had generated profound love among his friends and intense scorn from his enemies.