John Calvin, Pilgrim and Pastor, by W. Robert Godfrey

Robert Godfrey gives us a delightful short biography of the life of John Calvin one of the most renowned Reformer in the 16th Century. Calvin spent his life studying, writing and preaching the word of the God. As part of that influence he also was involved in the local politics of the community as during that time the church and state were fairly closely tied.

One example pointed out in the text of this tie is the fact that Calvin believed that The Lord's Supper should be celebrated once a week during the normal worship time for the church. But the local city government declared that communion would only be held once a quarter, so that is what happened (this was a concession as it had been once a year). While we today would frown upon the state having control over when we administer communion it was not as harsh an edict during Calvin's life. The church and state often worked together.

Calvin was not a fan of the Catholic Church, he was a Reformer. He was driven out of France and went to live in Geneva. He was also run out of Geneva and went to Germany. But soon was inticed to come back to Geneva as the city fathers realized they made a mistake and they needed the intellect and piety of John Calvin to restore order to the church, and to defend the church against those whom took exception to their teachings.

As such Calvin at times would come under attack by critics. Some of those Critics were actually arrested, tried and put to death because of the heresy that they were teaching. Times were certainly different during Calvin's life than what we experience today.

Calvin found time to write commentaries on each book of the Bible as well as write a multi volume set on the Doctrines of the Church. He also preached, taught at the local Bible School and wrote hundreds of letters to correct both critics and other pastors who were in error.

This short book contains chapters regarding Calvins thoughts on;
1. The Church and Worship
2. The Church and the Sacraments
3. The Church and Predestination
4. The Church, the City, and the Schools
5. Calvin and the Institutes (his written work on Theology)

If you have never read anything on John Calvin this would be a wonderful place to start. After reading this you might consider picking up one of the books that contains his letters to others, or some of his sermons. Also you can find reprints of individual volumes of his commentaries or the whole set.

This book was written to commemorate the 500th birthday of John Calvin. I trust you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Enjoy!