Just as John Calvin had been the penman who systematically preserved the doctrines of the Continental Reformers, so William Symington stood at the crossroads between eras and preserved the fruits of the Second Reformation in Scotland. Symington was, in many ways, the one who put the voice of the Second Reformation into a comprehensive theology. His two principal works, therefore, can be regarded as a theological testament bequeathed from the Second Reformation Covenanters to their heirs and all serious-minded Christians.”

–Michael LeFebvre

July 10, 2009 marked the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Just as many exiles flocked to 16th Century Geneva to find refuge and hear the Word of the Lord, people from all corners of the earth again converged upon Geneva, in 2009 (and other venues across the world, including Rome, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Prague). They remembered with gratitude the gift of John Calvin’s life and rejoiced in its lasting legacy—the Scriptures proclaimed in spirit and in truth.

To participate in a meaningful way during this significant time for the Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) acted as an official sponsor of Calvin 500, one of this year’s numerous international and interdenominational commemorations of the work of the great reformer (see www.Calvin500.org). The Calvin 500 ten-day tour and conference began in Paris on June 30 and concluded in Geneva on July 10. It took a number of people from various walks of life and parts of the world (including 11 RPTS friends) to the settings of Calvin’s life—his birthplace in Noyon, France, and places of study and ministry in Paris, Orleans, and Strasbourg. After stops in Reims and Bern as well, the tour culminated with a five-day conference of lectures and sermons in Geneva at the historic church of Saint Pierre where Calvin preached and taught. RPTS President Jerry O’Neill served on the Calvin 500 Presidential Council and led the congregation in prayer from Calvin’s pulpit.

“RPTS believed it important to take a part in this historic event for a number of reasons,” Dr. O’Neill explained. “Certainly, to recall with particular appreciation the priceless heritage of biblical doctrine afforded to the Church through John Calvin, which is the heart of RPTS instruction and RPCNA standards, was at the forefront of our thinking.

“Also, John Calvin was not only an eminent theologian, he was eminently a pastor. He was a pastor during an intensely difficult period when God’s flock was scattered and longing for the nourishment and training of the preached Word. As one of only a few seminaries which stresses pastoral as well as theological training for those entering gospel ministry by providing study exclusively under pastors, RPTS’s participation took on additional significance, particularly in light of the Seminary’s 2010 bicentennial.

But just as significant,” O’Neill pointed out, “there is the aspect of Calvin 500 that urges us to look forward: to pray and labor fervently for another revival of expository preaching of the Scriptures in our day, that the Church of Jesus Christ and its members may be built up; that once again cultures and societies around the world may be transformed for the glory of God and the good of humanity.”

John Calvin’s heart’s desire was that the knowledge of God’s glory and grace, as revealed in the Scriptures, be restored to the Church and heralded throughout the earth. As the resplendence of God’s marvelous majesty-in-mercy to sinful man again shined forth in its fullness, every aspect of human life, of human society, was ennobled and elevated. Grace and dignity adorned all of life.

Declared a free city in 1535, Calvin’s Geneva became a city set on a hill. Exiles from Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, France, and the British Isles, fleeing persecution, were welcomed. Geneva’s ethnically diverse population doubled during Calvin’s lifetime. As instruction in the Word of God went forth in its purity and simplicity, learning and literacy burgeoned. Labor, whether manual or intellectual, was no longer viewed a drudgery, but done in joyful diligence as a thankoffering to God; excellence was its result. The manners of human society became increasingly and genuinely gracious, honest, and kind. As government rule conformed to God’s good law, true liberty and justice engendered a commonwealth for everybody. Above all, the worship and ministry of the Church were reformed in accordance to the commandments of God rather than the traditions of men.

RPTS Professor of Systematic Theology Richard Gamble attributes the radical transformation of societal mores to the cross of Christ. “Calvin realized the ‘wonderful change’ for the world [made possible] as a result of the gruesome cross. From [the] foundation of forensic justification, still in imitation of Christ’s cross, Calvin set about to ‘restore order’ to the world of Geneva. On the basis of Christ’s saving work, a political system could now be established in a godly fashion.”

Dr. David Hall, executive director of Calvin 500 and pastor of a PCA Church in Powder Springs, Ga., also reflected on the profound and far-reaching effects of sola scriptura proclaimed from Saint Pierre: “Calvin’s doctrine was a bracing tonic for the accumulated arrogance of the day, complete with its opulence and outer [often in excess] success.” Relating it to our own day, Hall continued, “The Renaissance hubris, with its focus on man-centered culture, art and leisure, collapsed like the sub-prime mortgage market. From the ruin, Calvin’s faith in God—not man—brought restoration that would remain.” The tenets of scriptural faith were codified and perpetuated in catechisms, creeds, and in Calvin’s Institutes—crystallized as precious diamonds that would endure, carry light and enrich the many who would receive and treasure them.

Those attending Calvin 500 were witnesses that the faith once delivered to the saints has continued to all generations and the ends of the earth. Several of the guardians (diaconal assistants) at Saint Pierre were Turkish Kurds. Testimony was given of the increase of the Reformed faith in China and throughout Asia. In attendance was Dr. Stephen Tong, who pastors the largest Reformed Church in the world with a sanctuary seating 5000 in the center of Jakarta, Indonesia. Africans blessed the conference with sermons from Ugandan Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi (who has oversight of 9 million believers), and his assistant, Onesimus Asiimwe, and greetings from the president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Dr. Setri Nyomi of Ghana. Dr. Peter Vimalasekaran, originally from Northern Ireland, encouraged believers to remember Calvin’s ministry to refugees as he now leads a ministry to German gypsies in Freiburg.

Participants in the Calvin 500 tour enjoyed the sights and senses of historic European cities and towns. Members of the RPTS group, including Jerry and Ann O’Neill, delighted in exploring quaint quarters reminiscent of another time and rhythm of life. (Photos from the trip can be viewed at www.rpts.edu/calvin.php.)

But not surprisingly, for many the highlight of Calvin 500 was the five days of lectures and especially the sermons delivered by ministers from diverse nations. Lectures were presented in the same l’Auditoire de Calvin, adjacent to Saint Pierre, where John Knox had ministered in English from 1556–1559 and where Calvin taught after establishing an academy in 1559. A wide range of topics representing Calvin’s influence was covered during the daytime addresses, including “Recent Research in Calvin Studies” by RPTS’s own Dr. Richard Gamble.

Three sermons were delivered nightly from the pulpit of Saint Pierre where Calvin preached for nearly 30 years. Archbishop Orombi exhorted every Christian to “Be a Faithful Servant.” On Day 5, “More than Conquerors” was proclaimed by RPTS alum Pastor Edward Donnelly of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Belfast and principal of the Reformed Theological College in Belfast. Donnelly reminded believers that the Church in all ages has existed in a continual warfare. Calvinism was born in suffering and produced men and women with steel in their spines. We, too, must be willing to take up this spiritual warfare. Dr. Derek Thomas, also a Calvin 500 preacher, commended Rev. Donnelly’s sermon through the Reformation21 blog the same night it was given: “Ted Donnelly [gave] a superlative exposition of the closing verses of Romans 8 (if you can get a hold of this sermon you should).” The president of Westminster Seminary in California, Dr. Robert Godfrey, preached Calvin’s “cherished text,” John 17:3: “For this is life eternal, to know the only true God,” which became the motto for Harvard. Marvelous, as well, many claimed, was the congregational singing of the Psalms to the same tunes within the same walls as our fathers and mothers in the faith had sung them so long ago.

“After the Darkness, the Light” became the motto of the city of Geneva. The light of God’s Word preached in Calvin’s Geneva dispelled the darkness that had shadowed all of life. From that time and place, Marian exiles such as John Knox returned to their homelands with shining lamps. The gospel’s radiance would also be sown in diverse lands throughout successive generations of this Glorious Restoration.

In 2009, sons and daughters of the Reformation from afar returned to Geneva to give thanks for John Calvin’s ministry. To see God’s majesty given its rightful worship his singular purpose, the reluctant reformer eschewed anything that would perpetuate his own name or memory. From the Scriptures he saw birthdays as simply an opportunity to thank God for the precious gift of another’s life and wisely and humbly number our earthly days; he instructed that his grave be unmarked. Though given no natural progeny, he was satisfied that God had given him many sons and daughters in the faith. But surely his God has done immeasurably beyond all he might have asked or thought.

And surely Calvin would have been pleased that his spiritual sons and daughters gathered not to give homage to an earthen vessel, but to render thanks to God for the treasure that had been poured forth in abundance and excellence from an earthen vessel. In 2009, RPTS joined others with Calvin 500 in saying, Jean Cauvin, nous sommes ici pour attendre la Parole de Dieu: John Calvin, we have come to hear the Word of the Lord!

–Beverly Simpson

Beverly Simpson is a part-time student in the master of theological studies program at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in Pittsburgh, Pa. A seminary feature appears semiannually in the Witness.