This Was John Calvin

by Thea B. Van Halsema

Book Overview

This Was John Calvin is a book written by Thea B. Van Halsema that provides a comprehensive and insightful look into the life and teachings of John Calvin, one of the most influential figures in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B000NZ8MSE
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: I.D.E.A Ministries
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A living sacrifice

This Was John Calvin, by Thea B. Van Helsema At the beginning of a Bible-school class last fall on the history and shaping of Western thought, Russ Pulliam, asked each of the students who they thought of as one whom God had used in shaping the modern world as we know it today. I knew that we might be asked to do a little research and writing on the name we chose, so I chose carefully. Since studying Reformation Church history, I have developed a growing appreciation and interest in the life and ministry of John Calvin. I have heard the name mentioned many times but confess that I knew little of the events of his life and of his significant contribution to understanding the whole of what the Bible teaches. I have heard of only a few names mentioned with such admiration and sometimes animosity as this Genevan pastor. Before I passed judgment on the man or his teachings, I resolved to learn what I could on my own and was surprised that I could find only a couple of biographies claiming to present factual information on the events of his life. The first biography I read was written by Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor as Pastor of the Church of Geneva at St. Pierre's Cathedral. Written back in the 1500's, one can imagine the added difficulty in understanding what Beza related to his generation about Calvin. The strength of the book comes in the fact that the author, Beza, wrote from his own personal knowledge of Calvin from the time Beza was a twelve-year-old boy neighbor until the day Calvin died. No other biography on Calvin that I know of can make that claim. But, reading This Was John Calvin, I found it much easier to get to know the man and the times in which he lived. The author has provided an excellent volume that condenses the life of Calvin and relates the principal events of the Reformation of the Church in one easily read volume. Much research has been put into this little book. The quotations from Calvin's letters have been carefully and appropriately quoted. This gives the reader a close enough view of Calvin's thoughts and responses so as to conclude that he was both a man with the same frailties as any other man, but also a choice servant of the Lord, "a vessel unto honor, meet for the Master's use." (II Timothy 2:21)The book contains the story of a man arrested by God to be used not only in the reforming of an entire city during a time of intense persecution where 50,000 of his French countrymen were burned alive for their faith, but also in the summarizing and systematizing of that reformed faith for which his countrymen gave their lives to the benefit of generations to come. Some have said Calvin's magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion, is the best statement of reformed faith ever written. Having read of the turmoil and trials during which this book was written, I have an even greater appreciation for the book I am to study in an upcoming theology class. Written and revised, added t