Evangelization of Geneva
Conversion can only come after someone has heard the gospel, and it was through the evangelistic preaching of William Farel that many in Geneva had come to know salvation by grace alone through faith alone. They learned that no amount of human merit could save them, only Christ’s completed work of redemption.
In Geneva, Switzerland, as in other European cities during the Reformation, people from every walk of life became Christian. From the bottom levels of society to the ruling classes, hearts were warmed by the Holy Spirit’s power. The transformed Genevan citizens were hungering and thirsting for more and more instruction from God’s Word. They had never really heard it preached before, and now their ears were unstopped and an insatiable hunger developed. It was in this time of need when the young scholar John Calvin would be especially valuable to the new converts.
Hostility Toward Calvin
When the Genevan Reformation occurred, the lives of those who had been enslaved to sin began to change. Thievery and lawlessness decreased throughout the city. Eventually there was a cry from the people for the cessation of certain wicked activities like prostitution.
While the Reformation was swirling around about them, and was producing welcome fruit in the lives of their neighbors, there were those who did not have the ears to hear the good news. Their lifestyles began to be markedly different from those around them, and tensions began to develop. The curbing of immorality did not please them. They banded together under the title of Libertines to oppose the religious and social reform. They fought for their liberty (i.e., liberty to live in the manner that pleased them—not in conformity to God’s Word). This group, although a numerical minority, was eventually strong enough to have the city council demand both Calvin and Farel to leave.
After just a few short years of godly reformation, Geneva was turned over to the Libertines. It was a dark day for the city on the beautiful lake.
Reformers Leave
Farel quit Geneva and made his home in nearby Neuchâtel, never to return except as a visitor. Calvin left for Strassbourg, a city that had fully embraced reformation, and found successful ministry there—plus a lovely wife! However, the Reformers’ expulsion forced Geneva to choose between the darkness of Catholicism and the light of the Reformation. In God’s good providence they chose to continue in the pathway of reform. The city begged Calvin to come back. He returned under conditions highly favorable to a complete reformation, including a new city constitution written by Calvin himself.
Calvin in Geneva
Calvin would remain in Geneva and minister there for the rest of his life. He would be active on many fronts: as a pastor to God’s people, a preacher, a professor, a wise advisor, and a civic leader. While a detailed analysis of his ministry in Geneva would take too many pages, a quick outline of his activities is both fascinating and instructive.
Calvin was very busy with normal pastoral duties. Between 1550 and his death nine years later, he performed at least 270 weddings as well as 50 baptisms (certainly other pastors did more baptisms!). Also included in his regular pastoral work were two weekly meetings. The first was with the Genevan church session to make sure that the church’s disciplinary and diaconal needs were being met. The second was for Bible study and prayer with all the pastors of the city (Geneva was divided into quarters, each with a number of pastors) and the surrounding area.
Calling upon the sick was also a heavy burden, because anyone who was bedridden for three days was called upon. A peculiar work for the Genevan pastors was calling upon those who were sick with the bubonic plague, fortunately not something normal today. At times the city was swept by a tidal wave of plague and the pastor’s job carried great personal risk. During the height of one of the plagues, all the other pastors, save one, refused to minister at the hospital any longer. Calvin and his colleague were left alone to care spiritually for the dying.
Calvin was also busy with preaching. As he began ministry in Geneva, he preached two different sermons on Sunday and three more during the week. Usually he expounded the New Testament on Sundays, occasionally preaching from the Psalms as well, and he opened up the Old Testament during weekday worship. Later, this pattern changed slightly. He would preach each day for a week and then not preach for a week, reducing his sermon output from five to three per week. He usually preached through one book of the Bible at a time. He used no sermon notes and expounded directly from the Greek or Hebrew text.
While rightfully remembered for his monumental Institutes of the Christian Religion—a classic textbook of theology that is still valuable to students of the Bible—Calvin should also be known as a dynamic preacher. In the past few decades quite a number of his sermons have been translated and reprinted, and there is much to be gained from reading these sermons. Calvin the preacher brought to his people a depth of scriptural understanding that was no dry academic exercise. He spoke from the vantage point of one whose heart had experienced the deep love of Jesus and knew how to apply that knowledge to everyday living.
The Scriptures were read in Geneva in a version understandable to the people (no longer in Latin), and in his sermons Calvin oftentimes would paraphrase what he thought the biblical author was saying. The biblical text was expounded in light of the Bible’s own cultural and historical context, and then applied to the lives of the Genevan hearers. Even now there is a freshness to Calvin’s sermons; though his examples from 16th Century life are outdated, the modern reader will be able to see how the text applies to him or her today.
Calvin was also active as a civic leader and a letter writer. Calvin wrote many letters to people all over Europe, from commoners to nobles. As Calvin’s fame grew, so did the demands upon his time for help and advice for other people and cities. His collected letters fill over five volumes. His work and responsibilities as a civic leader were not under the auspices of serving as an elected official; yet he did his best to help Geneva facilitate the growing swells of French refugees (as well as others), to continue to bring order to the population as they experimented in actively living out their Christianity, and to provide for the needs of the poor. It was here in Calvin’s Geneva where the Protestant office of deacon developed.
Another important part of Calvin’s life is his work in education. At the time of his ministry, Geneva had no university—neither did Zürich or the capital, Berne. It was Calvin’s firm conviction that the city needed well-educated citizens and the work of the Lord needed men who could rightfully exegete God’s Word and proclaim it clearly and boldly to God’s people. To establish a school of higher education, however, was just as expensive then as it is now! The money had to come from the city treasury, but it was simply not there. Geneva’s leaders needed to be convinced of the great need—and Calvin was intent to do just that.
The process took years, but a beautiful site for the school was located and purchased. After the land was purchased, the city fathers were finally on board with the idea, so the high school and university started to move forward. Now Calvin had to find competent instructors, which was not easy for the precise reason the college needed to be established—there were not many places where Protestants could go to receive adequate training. Eventually, faculty were hired and two schools were established—roughly equivalent to our college and seminary. The school was a success. Within five years there were 1,300 students enrolled. This school was the foundation for the modern University of Geneva, a lasting tribute to Calvin.
Besides his pastoral work, one of Calvin’s tasks was seminary teaching. It was from Calvin’s lectures to the seminarians that we have his extensive biblical commentaries. Those commentaries, like his sermons and Institutes, continue to be of great value to serious Bible students.
Lessons from Calvin’s Life
There are certain lessons that flow from this brief look at Calvin’s life. First, granting that he was enormously gifted intellectually, his life stands as an admonition for all of us to exercise whatever talents of mind we have on the Lord’s behalf.
Second, Calvin was faithful to fulfill God’s calling in his life wherever that would take him. Calvin did not want to return to the raucous Geneva from the beautiful Strassbourg, but he resumed ministry there because he was certain of God’s call. The return to Geneva brings up what some have termed Calvin’s motto: a heart in a hand with the words “Promptly and Sincerely.” When Farel wrote to Calvin in Strassbourg wondering if Calvin would return to Geneva, Calvin said that he would want to do anything but return. Nevertheless, if it were God’s will, he would offer his heart to the Lord promptly and sincerely.
We too must offer our hearts sincerely to the Lord and be obedient to God in those callings He has placed in our hands. Whether the call is to an active ministry like Calvin’s, or to more quiet work in God’s world, we must be faithful in all of our undertakings.
In conclusion, Calvin’s life and ministry, performed 500 years ago, presents a model of biblical faithfulness at a time of unparalleled conversion and reformation. Oh, may our great God revive us again!