Reformed Christianity, also calledCalvinism,[a] is a major branch ofProtestantism that began during the 16th-centuryProtestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by theContinental Reformed,Presbyterian, andCongregational traditions, as well as parts of theAnglican (known as "Episcopal" in some regions),Baptist andWaldensian traditions, in addition to a minority of persons belonging to theMethodist faith (who are known as Calvinistic Methodists).
The term Reformed Christianity is derived from the denomination's self designation of "Reformed Church", beginning in Switzerland and Germany, shortly thereafter followed by the Dutch Republic.Calvinism is the name derived from its most famous leader,John Calvin (born Jehan Cauvin), influential Reformation-era theologian fromGeneva, Switzerland. The term was first used by opposingLutherans in the 1550s. Calvin did not approve of the use of this term,[2] and religious scholars have argued its use is misleading, inaccurate, unhelpful,[3][4][5][6][1] and "inherently distortive."[7]
The definitions and boundaries of the termsReformed Christianity andCalvinism are contested by scholars. As a historical movement, Reformed Christianity began during theReformation withHuldrych Zwingli inZürich, Switzerland. Following the failure of theMarburg Colloquy between Zwingli's followers and those ofMartin Luther in 1529 to mediate disputes regarding thereal presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, Zwingli's followers were defined by their opposition to Lutherans (while Lutherans affirmed a corporeal presence of Christ in the Eucharist through asacramental union, the Reformed came to hold a real spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist as propunded by Calvin and Bullinger).[8] They also opposedAnabaptist radicals[9] thus remaining within theMagisterial Reformation.[10][11] During the 17th-centuryArminian Controversy, followers ofJacobus Arminius were forcibly removed from theDutch Reformed Church for their views regardingpredestination andsalvation, and thenceforthArminians would be considered outside the pale of Reformed orthodoxy,[12] though some use the termReformed to include Arminians while using the termCalvinist to exclude Arminians.[13]
Reformed Christianity has historicallyincluded Anglicanism, the branch of Christianity originating in theChurch of England.[14] The Anglican confessions are considered Reformed Protestant[15] and leaders of theProtestant Reformation in England, such as the guidingReformer who shaped Anglican theologyThomas Cranmer, were influenced by and counted among Reformed (Calvinist) theologians.[14][16][17] As withLutheranism, the Church of England retained elements ofCatholicism such asbishops andvestments, thus sometimes being called "but halfly Reformed" or a middle way between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, being closer liturgically to the former and theologically aligned with the latter.[18][19][20] Beginning in the 17th century, Anglicanism broadened to the extent that Reformed theology is no longer the sole dominant theology of Anglicanism.[21]
Some scholars argue that theParticular Baptist (Reformed Baptist) strand of theBaptist tradition, who hold many of the same beliefs as Reformed Christians but notinfant baptism, as expressed in theSecond London Confession of Faith of 1689, should be considered part of Reformed Christianity, though this might not have been the view of early Reformed theologians.[22] Others disagree, asserting that any type ofBaptist should be considered separate from the Reformed branch of Christianity.[23]
The first wave of Reformed theologians included Zwingli,Martin Bucer,Wolfgang Capito,John Oecolampadius, andGuillaume Farel. While from diverse academic backgrounds, their work already contained key themes within Reformed theology, especially the priority ofscripture as a source of authority. Scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to acovenantal theology of thesacraments ofbaptism and theLord's Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another shared perspective was their denial of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Each understood salvation to be bygrace alone and affirmed a doctrine ofunconditional election, the teaching that some people are chosen by God to besaved. Luther and his successorPhilipp Melanchthon were significant influences on these theologians and, to a larger extent, those who followed. The doctrine of justification by faith alone, also known assola fide,[24] was a direct inheritance from Luther.[25]
The second generation featuredJohn Calvin,Heinrich Bullinger,Thomas Cranmer,Wolfgang Musculus,Peter Martyr Vermigli,Andreas Hyperius andJohn à Lasco. Written between 1536 and 1539, Calvin'sInstitutes of the Christian Religion was one of the most influential works of the era.[26] Toward the middle of the 16th century, these beliefs were formed into one consistentcreed which would shape the future definition of the Reformed faith. The 1549Consensus Tigurinus unified Zwingli and Bullinger'smemorialist theology of the Eucharist, which taught that it was simply a reminder of Christ's death, with Calvin's view of it as ameans of grace with Christ actually present, though spiritually rather than bodily as in Catholic doctrine. The document demonstrates the diversity as well as unity in early Reformed theology, giving it a stability that enabled it to spread rapidly throughout Europe. This stands in marked contrast to the bitter controversy experienced by Lutherans prior to the 1579Formula of Concord.[27]
In 1573,William the Silent joined the Calvinist Church. Calvinism was declared the official religion of theKingdom of Navarre by the queen regnantJeanne d'Albret after her conversion in 1560. Leading divines, either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism, settled in England, including Bucer, Martyr, andJohn Łaski, as didJohn Knox in Scotland. During theFirst English Civil War, English and ScotsPresbyterians produced theWestminster Confession, which became the confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English-speaking world. Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to areas including North America, South Africa and Korea.[28] While Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement, his death allowed his ideas to spread far beyond their city of origin and their borders and to establish their own distinct character.[29]
Early Calvinism was known for simple, unadorned churches as depicted in this 1661 portrait of the interior of theOude Kerk, Amsterdam.
Although much of Calvin's work was inGeneva, his publications spread his ideas of a correctly Reformed church to many parts of Europe. In Switzerland, some cantons are still Reformed, and some are Catholic. Calvinism became the dominant doctrine within theChurch of Scotland (Presbyterian Church), theDutch Republic and parts of Germany, especially those adjacent to the Netherlands in thePalatinate,Kassel, andLippe, spread byCaspar Olevian andZacharias Ursinus among others. Protected by the local nobility, Calvinism became a significant religion in eastern Hungary and Hungarian-speaking areas ofTransylvania. As of 2007[update], there are about 3.5 million Hungarian Reformed people worldwide.[30]
Calvinism was also initially spreading in Flanders, Wallonia, France, Lithuania, and Poland before being mostly erased during theCounter-Reformation. One of the most important Polish reformed theologists was Łaski, who was also involved into organising churches inEast Frisia andStranger's Church in London.[31] Later, a faction called thePolish Brethren broke away from Calvinism on January 22, 1556, whenPiotr of Goniądz, a Polish student, spoke out against the doctrine of theTrinity during the general synod of the Reformed churches of Poland held in the village ofSecemin.[32] Calvinism gained some popularity inScandinavia, especially Sweden, but was rejected in favor of Lutheranism after theSynod of Uppsala in 1593.[33]
Many 17th century European settlers in theThirteen Colonies inBritish America were Calvinists, who emigrated because of arguments over church structure, including thePilgrim Fathers. Others were forced into exile, including the FrenchHuguenots. Dutch and French Calvinist settlers were also among the first European colonizers of South Africa, beginning in the 17th century, who became known asBoers orAfrikaners.
Sierra Leone was largely colonized by Calvinist settlers from Nova Scotia, many of whom wereBlack Loyalists who fought for theBritish Empire during theAmerican War of Independence.John Marrant had organized a congregation there under the auspices of theHuntingdon Connection. Some of the largest Calvinist communions were started by 19th- and 20th-centurymissionaries. Especially large are those in Indonesia, Korea and Nigeria. In South Korea there are 20,000Presbyterian congregations with about 9–10 million church members, scattered in more than 100 Presbyterian denominations. In South Korea, Presbyterianism is the largest Christian denomination.[34]
A 2011 report of thePew Forum on Religious and Public Life estimates that members of Presbyterian or Reformed churches make up 7% of the estimated 801 million Protestants globally, or approximately 56 million people.[35]
Though the broadly defined Reformed faith is much larger, as it constitutes Congregationalist (0.5%), most of the United and uniting churches (unions of different denominations) (7.2%) and most likely some of the other Protestant denominations (38.2%). All three are distinct categories from Presbyterian or Reformed (7%) in this report. The Reformed family of churches is one of the largest Christian denominations, representing 75 million believers worldwide.[36]
According toGlobal Christianity: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, in 2020, Presbyterian and Reformed Christians numbered around 65,446,000 people, or 0.8% of the world's population. Congregationalists were listed at 4,986,000, with 0.1% of the world's population. Therefore, the three branches of Reformed Christianity totaled 70,432,000 people, or 0.9% of the global population.[37]
The survey also listed 77,792,000 members (1% of the world's population) inUnited Churches, the majority of which are formed by the merger of churches of the Reformed Tradition with churches of other branches of Protestantism.[37]
TheWorld Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), which includes someUnited Churches, has 80 million believers.[38] WCRC is the fourth largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion.[36] Many conservative Reformed churches which are strongly Calvinistic formed theWorld Reformed Fellowship which has about 70 member denominations. Most are not part of the WCRC because of its ecumenical attire. TheInternational Conference of Reformed Churches is another conservative association.
Reformed theologians believe that God communicates knowledge of himself to people through the Word of God. People are not able to know anything about God except through this self-revelation. (With the exception of general revelation of God; "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).) Speculation about anything which God has not revealed through his Word is not warranted. The knowledge people have of God is different from that which they have of anything else because God isinfinite, and finite people are incapable of comprehending an infinite being. While the knowledge revealed by God to people is never incorrect, it is also never comprehensive.[39]
According to Reformed theologians, God's self-revelation is always through his sonJesus Christ, because Christ is the only mediator between God and people. Revelation of God through Christ comes through two basic channels. The first iscreation andprovidence, which is God's creating and continuing to work in the world. This action of God gives everyone knowledge about God, but this knowledge is only sufficient to make people culpable for their sin; it does not include knowledge of the gospel. The second channel through which God reveals himself isredemption, which is the gospel ofsalvation from condemnation which is punishment for sin.[40]
In Reformed theology, the Word of God takes several forms. Jesus Christ is the Word Incarnate. The prophecies about him said to be found in theOld Testament and the ministry of theapostles who saw him and communicated his message are also the Word of God. Further, thepreaching of ministers about God is the very Word of God because God is considered to be speaking through them. God also speaks through human writers in theBible, which is composed of texts set apart by God for self-revelation.[41] Reformed theologians emphasize the Bible as a uniquely important means by which God communicates with people. People gain knowledge of God from the Bible which cannot be gained in any other way.[42]
Reformed theologians affirm that the Bible is true, but differences emerge among them over the meaning and extent of its truthfulness.[43] Conservative followers of thePrinceton theologians take the view that the Bible is true andinerrant, or incapable of error or falsehood, in every place.[44] This view is similar to that ofCatholic orthodoxy as well as modernEvangelicalism.[45] Another view, influenced by the teaching ofKarl Barth andneo-orthodoxy, is found in thePresbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'sConfession of 1967. Those who take this view believe the Bible to be the primary source of our knowledge of God, but also that some parts of the Bible may be false, not witnesses to Christ, and not normative for the church.[44] In this view, Christ is the revelation of God, and the scriptures witness to this revelation rather than being the revelation itself.[46]
Reformed theologians use the concept of covenant to describe the way God enters into fellowship with people in history.[47] The concept of covenant is so prominent in Reformed theology that Reformed theology as a whole is sometimes called "covenant theology".[48] However, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century theologians developed a particular theological system called "covenant theology" or "federal theology" which many conservative Reformed churches continue to affirm.[47] This framework orders God's life with people primarily in two covenants: the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.[49]
The covenant of works is made withAdam and Eve in theGarden of Eden. The terms of the covenant are that God provides a blessed life in the garden on condition that Adam and Eve obey God's law perfectly. Because Adam and Eve broke the covenant by eating theforbidden fruit, they became subject to death and were banished from the garden. This sin was passed down to all mankind because all people are said to be in Adam as a covenantal or "federal" head. Federal theologians usually imply that Adam and Eve would have gained immortality had they obeyed perfectly.[50]
A second covenant, called the covenant of grace, is said to have been made immediately following Adam and Eve's sin. In it, God graciously offers salvation from death on condition of faith in God. This covenant is administered in different ways throughout the Old and New Testaments, but retains the substance of being free of a requirement of perfect obedience.[51]
Through the influence of Karl Barth, many contemporary Reformed theologians have discarded the covenant of works, along with other concepts of federal theology. Barth saw the covenant of works as disconnected from Christ and the gospel, and rejected the idea that God works with people in this way. Instead, Barth argued that God always interacts with people under the covenant of grace, and that the covenant of grace is free of all conditions whatsoever. Barth's theology and that which follows him has been called "mono covenantal" as opposed to the "bi-covenantal" scheme of classical federal theology.[52] Conservative contemporary Reformed theologians, such asJohn Murray, have also rejected the idea of covenants based on law rather than grace.Michael Horton, however, has defended the covenant of works as combining principles of law and love.[53]
For the most part, the Reformed tradition did not modify the medieval consensus on thedoctrine of God.[54] God's character is described primarily using three adjectives: eternal, infinite, and unchangeable.[55] Reformed theologians such asShirley Guthrie have proposed that rather than conceiving of God in terms of his attributes and freedom to do as he pleases, the doctrine of God is to be based on God's work in history and his freedom to live with and empower people.[56]
Reformed theologians have also traditionally followed the medieval tradition going back to before the early church councils ofNicaea andChalcedon on the doctrine of theTrinity. God is affirmed to be one God in three persons:Father,Son, andHoly Spirit. The Son (Christ) is held to be eternally begotten by the Father and theHoly Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and Son.[57] However, contemporary theologians have been critical of aspects of Western views here as well. Drawing on theEastern tradition, these Reformed theologians have proposed a "social trinitarianism" where the persons of the Trinity only exist in their life together as persons-in-relationship.[57] Contemporary Reformed confessions such as theBarmen Confession and Brief Statement of Faith of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have avoided language about the attributes of God and have emphasized his work of reconciliation and empowerment of people.[58] Feminist theologianLetty Russell used the image of partnership for the persons of the Trinity. According to Russell, thinking this way encourages Christians to interact in terms of fellowship rather than reciprocity.[59] Conservative Reformed theologian Michael Horton, however, has argued that social trinitarianism is untenable because it abandons the essential unity of God in favor of a community of separate beings.[60]
Reformed theologians affirm the historic Christian belief thatChrist is eternallyone person with a divine and a human nature. Reformed Christians have especially emphasized that Christ trulybecame human so that people could be saved.[61] Christ's human nature has been a point of contention between Reformed and LutheranChristology. In accord with the belief that finite humans cannot comprehend infinite divinity, Reformed theologians hold that Christ's human body cannot be in multiple locations at the same time. BecauseLutherans believe that Christ is bodilypresent in the Eucharist, they hold that Christ is bodily present in many locations simultaneously. For Reformed Christians, such a belief denies that Christ actually became human.[62] Some contemporary Reformed theologians have moved away from the traditional language of one person in two natures, viewing it as unintelligible to contemporary people. Instead, theologians tend to emphasize Jesus's context and particularity as a first-century Jew.[63]
John Calvin and many Reformed theologians who followed him describe Christ's work of redemption in terms ofthree offices:prophet,priest, andking. Christ is said to be a prophet in that he teaches perfect doctrine, a priest in thathe intercedes to the Father on believers' behalf and offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, and a king in that he rules the church and fights on believers' behalf. The threefold office links the work of Christ to God's work inancient Israel.[64] Many, but not all, Reformed theologians continue to make use of the threefold office as a framework because of its emphasis on the connection of Christ's work to Israel. They have, however, often reinterpreted the meaning of each of the offices.[65] For example, Karl Barth interpreted Christ's prophetic office in terms of political engagement on behalf of the poor.[66]
Christians believeJesus' death andresurrection make it possible for believers to receive forgiveness for sin and reconciliation with God through theatonement. Reformed Protestants generally subscribe to a particular view of the atonement calledpenal substitutionary atonement, which explains Christ's death as a sacrificial payment for sin. Christ is believed to have died in place of the believer, who is accounted righteous as a result of this sacrificial payment.[67]
In Christian theology, people are created good and in theimage of God but have become corrupted bysin, which causes them to be imperfect and overly self-interested.[68] Reformed Christians, following the tradition ofAugustine of Hippo, believe that this corruption of human nature was brought on by Adam and Eve's first sin, a doctrine calledoriginal sin.
Although earlier Christian authors taught the elements of physical death, moral weakness, and a sin propensity within original sin, Augustine was the first Christian to add the concept of inherited guilt (reatus) from Adam whereby every infant is born eternally damned and humans lack any residual ability to respond to God.[69] Reformed theologians emphasize that this sinfulness affects all of a person's nature, including their will. This view, that sin so dominates people that they are unable to avoid sin, has been calledtotal depravity.[70] As a consequence, every one of their descendants inherited a stain of corruption and depravity. This condition, innate to all humans, is known in Christian theology asoriginal sin.
Calvin thought original sin was "a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul." Calvin asserted people were so warped by original sin that "everything which our mind conceives, meditates, plans, and resolves, is always evil." The depraved condition of every human being is not the result of sins people commit during their lives. Instead, before we are born, while we are in our mother's womb, "we are in God's sight defiled and polluted." Calvin thought people were justly condemned to hell because their corrupted state is "naturally hateful to God."[71]
In colloquial English, the term "total depravity" can be easily misunderstood to mean that people are absent of any goodness or unable to do any good. However the Reformed teaching is actually that while people continue to bear God's image and may do things that appear outwardly good, their sinful intentions affect all of their nature and actions so that they are not pleasing to God.[72]: 51
Reformed theologians, along with other Protestants, believe salvation from punishment for sin is to be given to all those who havefaith in Christ.[73] Faith is not purely intellectual, but involves trust in God's promise to save.[74] Protestants do not hold there to be any other requirement for salvation, but thatfaith alone is sufficient.[73] However, this faith in the Lord Jesus is understood as one that effects obedience. In a commentary on Ezekiel 18, Calvin stated: "faith cannot justify when it is without works, because it is dead, and a mere fiction ... Thus faith can be no more separated from works than the sun from his heat."[75]
Justification is the part of salvation where God pardons the sin of those who believe in Christ. It is historically held by Protestants to be the most important article of Christian faith, though more recently it is sometimes given less importance out ofecumenical concerns.[76] People are not on their own able to fullyrepent of their sin or prepare themselves to repent because of their sinfulness. Therefore, justification is held to arise solely from God's free and gracious act.[77]
Sanctification is the part of salvation in which God makes believers holy, by enabling them to exercise greater love for God and for other people.[78] Thegood works accomplished by believers as they are sanctified are considered to be the necessary outworking of the believer's salvation, though they do not cause the believer to be saved.[74] Sanctification, like justification, is by faith, because doing good works is simply living as the child of God one has become.[79]
Stemming from thetheology of John Calvin, Reformed theologians teach that sin so affects human nature that they are unable even to exercise faith in Christ by their own will. While people are said to retain free will, in that they willfully sin, they are unable not to sin because of the corruption of their nature due to original sin. Reformed Christians believe that Godpredestined some people to be saved and others were predestined to eternal damnation.[80] Thischoice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen. The Calvinist view is opposed to theArminian view that God'schoice of whom to save is conditional or based on his foreknowledge of who would respond positively to God.[81]
Karl Barth reinterpreted the doctrine of predestination to apply only to Christ. Individual people are only said to be elected through their being in Christ.[82] Reformed theologians who followed Barth, includingJürgen Moltmann, David Migliore, andShirley Guthrie, have argued that the traditional Reformed concept of predestination is speculative and have proposed alternative models. These theologians claim that a properly trinitarian doctrine emphasizes God's freedom to love all people, rather than choosing some for salvation and others for damnation. God's justice towards and condemnation of sinful people is spoken of by these theologians as out of his love for them and a desire to reconcile them to himself.[83]
Much attention surrounding Calvinism focuses on the "Five Points of Calvinism" (also called thedoctrines of grace).[84] The five points have been summarized under theacrostic TULIP.[85] The five points are popularly said to summarize theCanons of Dort; however, there is no historical relationship between them, and some scholars argue that their language distorts the meaning of the Canons, Calvin's theology, and the theology of 17th-century Calvinistic orthodoxy, particularly in the language of total depravity and limited atonement.[72] The five points were more recently popularized in the 1963 bookletThe Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, Documented by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. The origins of the five points and the acrostic are uncertain, but they appear to be outlined in theCounter Remonstrance of 1611, a lesser-known Reformed reply to the Arminians, which was written prior to the Canons of Dort.[86] The acrostic was used byCleland Boyd McAfee as early as circa 1905.[87] An early printed appearance of the acrostic can be found in Loraine Boettner's 1932 book,The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.[88]
John Calvin depicted on his deathbed with church members inThe last moments of Calvin, a late 19th century portrait byLluís Domènech i Montaner
Reformed Christians see theChristian Church as the community with which God has made the covenant of grace, a promise of eternal life and relationship with God. This covenant extends to those under the "old covenant" whom God chose, beginning withAbraham andSarah.[89] The church is conceived of as bothinvisible andvisible. The invisible church is the body of all believers, known only to God. The visible church is the institutional body which contains both members of the invisible church as well as those who appear to have faith in Christ, but are not truly part of God's elect.[90]
In order to identify the visible church, Reformed theologians have spoken of certainmarks of the Church. For some, the only mark is the pure preaching of the gospel of Christ. Others, including John Calvin, also include the right administration of thesacraments. Others, such as those following theScots Confession, include a third mark of rightly administeredchurch discipline, or exercise of censure against unrepentant sinners. These marks allowed the Reformed to identify the church based on itsconformity to the Bible rather than themagisterium or church tradition.[90]
The regulative principle of worship is a teaching shared by some Calvinists andAnabaptists on how the Bible orders public worship. The substance of the doctrine regarding worship is that God institutes in the Scriptures everything he requires for worship in the Church and that everything else is prohibited. As the regulative principle is reflected in Calvin's own thought, it is driven by his evident antipathy toward the Roman Catholic Church and its worship practices, and it associates musical instruments withicons, which he considered violations of theTen Commandments' prohibition of graven images.[91]
On this basis, many early Calvinists also eschewed musical instruments and advocateda cappellaexclusive psalmody in worship,[92] though Calvin himself allowed other scriptural songs as well as psalms,[91] and this practice typifiedPresbyterian worship and the worship of other Reformed churches for some time. The original Lord's Day service designed by John Calvin was a highly liturgical service with the Creed, Alms, Confession and Absolution, the Lord's supper, Doxologies, prayers, Psalms being sung, the Lords prayer being sung, and Benedictions.[93]
Since the 19th century, however, some of the Reformed churches have modified their understanding of the regulative principle and make use of musical instruments, believing that Calvin and his early followers went beyond the biblical requirements[91] and that such things are circumstances of worship requiring biblically rooted wisdom, rather than an explicit command. Despite the protestations of those who hold to a strict view of the regulative principle, todayhymns and musical instruments are in common use, as arecontemporary worship music styles with elements such asworship bands.[94]
TheWestminster Confession of Faith limits the sacraments to baptism and the Lord's Supper. Sacraments are denoted "signs and seals of the covenant of grace."[95] Westminster speaks of "a sacramental relation, or a sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other."[96] Baptism is for infant children of believers as well as believers, as it is for all the Reformed exceptBaptists and someCongregationalists. Baptism admits the baptized into thevisible church, and in it all the benefits of Christ are offered to the baptized.[96] On the Lord's supper, the Westminster Confession takes a position between Lutheran sacramental union and Zwinglian memorialism: "the Lord's supper really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements themselves are to their outward senses."[95]
The1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith does not use the term sacrament, but describes baptism and the Lord's supper as ordinances, as do most Baptists, Calvinist or otherwise. Baptism is only for those who "actually profess repentance towards God", and not for the children of believers.[97] Baptists also insist on immersion or dipping, in contradistinction to other Reformed Christians.[98] The Baptist Confession describes the Lord's supper as "the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance", similarly to the Westminster Confession.[99] There is significant latitude in Baptist congregations regarding the Lord's supper, and many hold the Zwinglian view.
There are two schools of thought regarding the logical order of God's decree to ordain the fall of man:supralapsarianism (from theLatin:supra, "above", here meaning "before" +lapsus, "fall") andinfralapsarianism (from the Latin:infra, "beneath", here meaning "after" +lapsus, "fall"). The former view, sometimes called "high Calvinism", argues that the Fall occurred partly to facilitate God's purpose to choose some individuals for salvation and some for damnation. Infralapsarianism, sometimes called "low Calvinism", is the position that, while the Fall was indeed planned, it was not planned with reference to who would be saved.
Supralapsarianism is based on the belief that God chose which individuals to save logically prior to the decision to allow the race to fall and that the Fall serves as the means of realization of that prior decision to send some individuals to hell and others to heaven (that is, it provides the grounds of condemnation in the reprobate and the need for salvation in the elect). In contrast, infralapsarians hold that God planned the race to fall logically prior to the decision to save or damn any individuals because, it is argued, in order to be "saved", one must first need to be saved from something and therefore the decree of the Fall must precede predestination to salvation or damnation.
These two views vied with each other at the Synod of Dort, an international body representing Calvinist Christian churches from around Europe, and the judgments that came out of that council sided with infralapsarianism (Canons of Dort, First Point of Doctrine, Article 7). The Westminster Confession of Faith also teaches (in Hodge's words "clearly impl[ies]") the infralapsarian[100] view, but is sensitive to those holding to supralapsarianism.[101] The Lapsarian controversy has a few vocal proponents on each side today, but overall it does not receive much attention among modern Calvinists.
"Continental" Reformed churches originate incontinental Europe, a term used by English speakers to distinguish them from traditions from theBritish Isles. Many uphold theHelvetic Confessions andHeidelberg Catechism, which were adopted in Zurich and Heidelberg, respectively.[104] In the United States, immigrants belonging to the continental Reformed churches joined theDutch Reformed Church there, as well as the Anglican Church.[105]
Though Anglicanism today is often described its own branch of Protestantism, historic Anglicanism is a part of the wider Reformed tradition. The foundational documents of the Anglican church "express a theology in keeping with the Reformed theology of the Swiss and South German Reformation."[107] The Most Rev. Peter Robinson,presiding bishop of theUnited Episcopal Church of North America, writes:[108]
Cranmer's personal journey of faith left its mark on the Church of England in the form of a Liturgy that remains to this day more closely allied to Lutheran practice, but that liturgy is couple to a doctrinal stance that is broadly, but decidedly Reformed. ... The 42 Articles of 1552 and the39 Articles of 1563, both commit the Church of England to the fundamentals of the Reformed Faith. Both sets of Articles affirm the centrality of Scripture, and take amonergist position on Justification. Both sets of Articles affirm that the Church of England accepts the doctrine of predestination and election as a 'comfort to the faithful' but warn against over much speculation concerning that doctrine. Indeed a casual reading of the Wurttemburg Confession of 1551,[109] the Second Helvetic Confession, the Scots Confession of 1560, and the XXXIX Articles of Religion reveal them to be cut from the same bolt of cloth.[108]
Reformed Methodists, also known as Calvinistic Methodists, form a minority of theMethodist tradition. The majority of Methodism falls outside the Reformed faith, beingWesleyan Methodism, which subscribes to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. Calvinistic Methodists adhere to Reformed theology codified in the "Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists" (1823).[110] In the United Kingdom, theCalvinistic Methodist Church is also known as the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodists are characterized by their emphasis on Methodist worship distinctives—preaching, hymn singing, lovefeasts, revival services, and camp meetings, as well as the Methodist doctrines of theNew Birth andgrowth in grace. Reformed Methodist divines includeGeorge Whitefield andHowell Harris.[111]
Amyraldism (or sometimes Amyraldianism, also known as the School of Saumur, hypothetical universalism,[117] post redemptionism,[118] moderate Calvinism,[119] or four-point Calvinism) is the belief thatGod, prior to his decree of election, decreedChrist's atonement for all alike if they believe, but seeing that none would believe on their own, he thenelected those whom he will bring tofaith in Christ, thereby preserving the Calvinist doctrine ofunconditional election. The efficacy of the atonement remains limited to those who believe.
Named after its formulatorMoses Amyraut, this doctrine is still viewed as a variety of Calvinism in that it maintains the particularity of sovereign grace in the application of the atonement. However, detractors likeB. B. Warfield have termed it "an inconsistent and therefore unstable form of Calvinism."[120]
Hyper-Calvinism is the belief that emphasizes God's sovereignty in election and salvation to such an extent that it rejects the responsibility of all people to "repent and believe" the gospel. This belief system became prominent among some of the early EnglishParticular Baptists in the 18th century. Historically, it has been associated with theologians such asJohn Gill andJoseph Hussey who contributed to the development of its distinct views.[121][122] This variant of Reformed Theology was opposed by ministers such asAndrew Fuller and missionaries such asWilliam Carey who argued against the Hyper-Calvinistic mindset that "if God wants to save the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine."[123][124]
The term is also used as a pejorative and occasionally appears in boththeological and secular controversial contexts. It usually connotes a negative opinion about some variety oftheological determinism,predestination, or a version of Evangelical Christianity or Calvinism that is deemed by the critic to be unenlightened, harsh, or extreme.
Beginning in the 1880s, Neo-Calvinism, a form ofDutch Calvinism, is the movement initiated by the theologian and later Dutch prime ministerAbraham Kuyper.James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders—split into the Reformed Church "West" and the Confessionalists; and the Neo-Calvinists—the Positives and the Antithetical Calvinists. The Seceders were largelyinfralapsarian and the Neo-Calvinists usuallysupralapsarian.[127]
Kuyper wanted to awaken the church from what he viewed as its pietistic slumber. He declared:
No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'[128]
This refrain has become something of a rallying call for Neo-Calvinists.
New Calvinism is a growing perspective within conservative Evangelicalism that embraces the fundamentals of 16th century Calvinism while also trying to be relevant in the present day world.[135] In March 2009,Time magazine described the New Calvinism as one of the "10 ideas changing the world".[136] Some of the major figures who have been associated with the New Calvinism areJohn Piper,[135]Mark Driscoll,Al Mohler,[136]Mark Dever,[137]C. J. Mahaney, andTim Keller.[138] New Calvinists have been criticized for blending Calvinist soteriology with popular Evangelical positions on thesacraments andcontinuationism and for rejecting tenets seen as crucial to the Reformed faith such asconfessionalism andcovenant theology.[139]
Calvin expressed himself onusury in a 1545 letter to a friend, Claude de Sachin, in which he criticized the use of certain passages of scripture invoked by people opposed to the charging of interest. He reinterpreted some of these passages, and suggested that others of them had been rendered irrelevant by changed conditions. He also dismissed the argument (based upon the writings ofAristotle) that it is wrong to charge interest for money because money itself is barren. He said that the walls and the roof of a house are barren, too, but it is permissible to charge someone for allowing him to use them. In the same way, money can be made fruitful.[140]
He qualified his view, however, by saying that money should be lent to people in dire need without hope of interest, while a modest interest rate of 5% should be permitted in relation to other borrowers.[141]
Expert researchers and authors have referred to the United States as a "Protestant nation" or "founded on Protestant principles,"[143][144] specifically emphasizing its Calvinist heritage.[145][146]
Calvin's concepts of God and man led to ideas which were gradually put into practice after his death, in particular in the fields of politics and society. After their fight for independence from Spain (1579), the Netherlands, under Calvinist leadership, granted asylum to religious minorities, including FrenchHuguenots, EnglishIndependents (Congregationalists), andJews from Spain and Portugal. The ancestors of the philosopherBaruch Spinoza were Portuguese Jews. Aware of the trial againstGalileo,René Descartes lived in the Netherlands, out of reach of theInquisition, from 1628 to 1649.[147]Pierre Bayle, a Reformed Frenchman, also felt safer in the Netherlands than in his home country. He was the first prominent philosopher who demanded tolerance for atheists.Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) was able to publish a rather liberal interpretation of the Bible and his ideas aboutnatural law in the Netherlands.[148][149] Moreover, the Calvinist Dutch authorities allowed the printing of books that could not be published elsewhere, such as Galileo'sDiscorsi (1638).[150]
Alongside the liberal development of the Netherlands came the rise of moderndemocracy in England and North America. In the Middle Ages, state and church had been closely connected.Martin Luther'sdoctrine of the two kingdoms separated state and church in principle.[151] His doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers raised the laity to the same level as the clergy,[152] although Lutherans were content to allow the state to control the administration of the church.
InGeneva Calvin was more careful than Luther to keep church structures and city authorities apart[153] and going one step further than Luther he included elected laymen (church elders,presbyters) in his concept ofchurch government. In general the Reformed followed Calvin's lead in insisting that the church's external administration, including the right toexcommunicate, not be handed over to the state.[154] The Huguenots addedsynods whose members were also elected by the congregations. The other Reformed churches took over this system of church self-government, which was essentially a representative democracy.[155]Baptists,Quakers, andMethodists are organized in a similar way. These denominations and theAnglican Church were influenced by Calvin's theology in varying degrees.[156][157]
In another factor in the rise of democracy in the Anglo-American world, Calvin favored a mixture of democracy and aristocracy as the best form of government (mixed government). He appreciated the advantages of democracy.[158] His political thought aimed to safeguard the rights and freedoms of ordinary men and women. In order to minimize the misuse of political power he suggested dividing it among several institutions in a system of checks and balances (separation of powers).[citation needed] Finally, Calvin taught that if worldly rulers rise up against God they should be put down. In this way, he and his followers stood in the vanguard of resistance to politicalabsolutism and furthered the cause of democracy,[159] although Calvin himself was alarmed about his arguments being used for revolutionary movements.[160] TheCongregationalists who foundedPlymouth Colony (1620) andMassachusetts Bay Colony (1628) were convinced that the democratic form of government was the will of God.[161] Enjoying self-rule, they practiced separation of powers.[162][163]Rhode Island,Connecticut, andPennsylvania, founded byRoger Williams,Thomas Hooker, andWilliam Penn, respectively, combined democratic government with a limitedfreedom of religion that did not extend to Catholics (Congregationalism being the established, tax-supported religion in Connecticut).[164] These colonies became safe havens for persecuted religious minorities, includingJews.[165][166][167]
Throughout the world, the Reformed churches operate hospitals, homes for handicapped or elderly people, and educational institutions on all levels. For example, American Congregationalists foundedHarvard University (1636),Yale University (1701), and about a dozen other colleges.[178] A particular stream of influence of Calvinism concerns art. Visual art cemented society in the first modern nation state, the Netherlands, and also Neo-Calvinism put much weight on this aspect of life.Hans Rookmaaker is the most prolific example. In literature the non-fiction ofMarilynne Robinsonargues for the modernity of Calvin's thinking, calling him a humanist scholar (p. 174, The Death of Adam).
This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2025)
Others view Calvinist influence as not always being solely positive. TheBoers andAfrikaner Calvinists combined ideas from Calvinism andKuyperian theology to justifyapartheid in South Africa.[179] As late as 1974 the majority of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa was convinced that their theological stances (including the story of the Tower of Babel) could justify apartheid.[180] In 1990 the Dutch Reformed Church documentChurch and Society maintained that although they were changing their stance on apartheid, they believed that within apartheid and under God's sovereign guidance, "...everything was not without significance, but was of service to the Kingdom of God."[181] These views were not universal and were condemned by many Calvinists outside South Africa. Pressure from both outside and inside the Dutch Reformed Calvinist church helped reverse apartheid in South Africa.[182]
Puritans: English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England
Waldensians: Italian Protestants, preceded Calvinism but today identify with Reformed theology
Finished Work Pentecostalism: Pentecostal doctrine, which retains progressive sanctification from its Reformed roots, propagated by ministers with Presbyterian and Baptist backgrounds.
^The nameCalvinism derives from the French reformerJohn Calvin. Reformed Christianity can also be referred to asReformed Protestantism, theReformed tradition, or simplyReformed.[1]
^Hägglund, Bengt (2007).Teologins Historia [History of Theology] (in German). Translated by Gene J. Lund (Fourth Revised ed.). Saint Louis, U.S.: Concordia Publishing House.
Muller, Richard (2009),"Was Calvin a Calvinist?", [Conferences and Lectures],Conferences and Lectures, Calvin University – Calvin Theological Seminary, ref. 1442
^Voorst, Robert E. Van (1 January 2014).Readings in Christianity. Cengage Learning. p. 164.ISBN978-1-305-14304-3.The Magisterial reformation denotes the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican churches; this is sometimes labeled the mainstream of the Reformation.Magisterial means that secular authorities ("magistrates") had a role in the life of the church; church and state were closely tied.
^abGonzález, Justo L. (1987).A History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation to the twentieth century. Abingdon Press.ISBN978-0-687-17184-2.It is clear that, in rejecting Roman Catholic doctrine on this point, Cranmer has also rejected Luther's views and adopted Calvin's position. The sacrament is not merely a symbol of what takes place in the heart, but neither is it the physical eating of the body of Christ. This must be so, because the body of Christ is in heaven and therefore our participation in it can only be spiritual. Only the believers are the true partakers of the body and blood of Christ, for the unbelievers eat and drink no more than bread and wine—and condemnation upon themselves, for the profanation of the Lord's Table. These views are reflected in the Thirty-nine articles, of which the twenty-eighth says that "the Body of the Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. The next article says of the wicked that "in no wise are they partakers of Christ," although "to their condemnation [they] do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." This marked Calvinistic influence would prove very significant for the history of Christianity in England during the seventeenth century
^Robinson, Peter D. (14 February 2020)."Is Anglicanism Reformed?".The North American Anglican. Retrieved13 April 2024.If one looks at the two main confessional documents of the English Reformation, the (39) Articles of Religion, and the Book of Common Prayer, a series of propositions emerge that definitely put the Church of England into that strand of the Augustinian Theological tradition which we call 'Protestantism' and furthermore, to put it into the subset known as 'Reformed.'
^Elwell, Walter A. (May 2001).Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker Academic. p. 990.ISBN978-0-8010-2075-9.For Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger (Second Helvetic Confession 21.10), John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and most of the Reformed tradition (e.g.Westminster Confession 29.7) as well as the AnglicanThirty-Nine Articles (28), Christ is "spiritually present" in the sacrament by the ministry of the Holy Spirit and is received by faith. They affirm Christ's "true" and thus real presence, even "substantial" presence (Calvin,Institutes of the Christian Religion [1559] 4.17.19), distinguishing this from physical presence.
^Samuel, Chimela Meehoma (28 April 2020).Treasures of the Anglican Witness: A Collection of Essays. Partridge Publishing.ISBN978-1-5437-5784-2.In addition to his emphasis on Bible reading and the introduction to theBook of Common Prayer, other media through which Cranmer sought to catechize the English people were the introduction of the First Book of Homilies and the 39 Articles of Religion. Together with theBook of Common Prayer and the Forty-Two Articles (which were later reduced to thirty-nine), the Book of Homilies stands as one of the essential texts of the Edwardian Reformation, and they all helped to define the shape of Anglicanism then, and in the subsequent centuries. More so, the Articles of Religion, whose primary shape and content were given by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley in 1553 (and whose final official form was ratified by Convocation, the Queen, and Parliament in 1571), provided a more precise interpretation of Christian doctrine to the English people. According to John H. Rodgers, they "constitute the formal statements of the accepted, common teaching put forth by the Church of England as a result of the Reformation."
^Anglican and Episcopal History. Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. 2003. p. 15.William Monter describing the Church of England as "a unique style of Protestantism, a via media between the Reformed and Lutheran traditions." MacCulloch has described Cranmer as seeking a middle way between Zurich and Wittenberg but elsewhere remarks that the Church of England was "nearer Zurich and Geneva than Wittenberg.
^Robinson, Peter (2 August 2012)."The Reformed Face of Anglicanism". The Old High Churchman. Retrieved3 February 2020.Cranmer's personal journey of faith left its mark on the Church of England in the form of a Liturgy that remains to this day more closely allied to Lutheran practice, but that liturgy is couple to a doctrinal stance that is broadly, but decidedly Reformed.
^Hampton, Stephen (29 May 2008).Anti-Arminians: The Anglican Reformed Tradition from Charles II to George I. Oxford University Press. p. 4.ISBN978-0-19-155985-3.
^"The Reformed Church". Hungarian Reformed Church of Australia. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved8 February 2014.
^Eaves, Richard Glen; Carter, William A. (1979). "John à Lasco: A Polish Religious Reformer in England, 1550–1553".Journal of Thought. Journal of Thought (14):311–323.JSTOR42588808.
^Hewett, Phillip (2004).Racovia: An Early Liberal Religious Community. Blackstone Editions. pp. 21–22.ISBN978-0-9725017-5-0.
^"WCRC History".World Communion of Reformed Churches. Archived fromthe original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved7 July 2011.The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) have merged to form a new body representing more than 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide.
^Lawson, Steven (18 March 2019)."TULIP and The Doctrines of Grace".Ligonier Ministries.Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved5 August 2021.In reality, these five doctrines of grace form one comprehensive body of truth concerning salvation.
^Sproul, R. C. (2016).What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics. Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.: Baker Books. p. 32.ISBN978-0-8010-1846-6.
^Document translated inDe Jong, Peter Y. (1968).Crisis In The Reformed Churches: Essays in Commemoration of the Synod of Dort (1618–1619). Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.: Reformed Fellowship, Incorporated. pp. 52–58.
^Wail, William H. (1913).The Five Points of Calvinism Historically Considered,The New Outlook. p. 104.
^Boettner, Loraine."The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination"(PDF). Bloomingtonrpchurch.org. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 27 May 2014. Retrieved5 December 2013.The Five Points may be more easily remembered if they are associated with the word T-U-L-I-P; T, Total Inability; U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistible (Efficacious) Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints.
^"Member Churches".World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). World Communion of Reformed Churches. Archived fromthe original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved5 December 2013.
^Schaff, Philip (1898).History of the Christian Church: Modern Christianity; the Swiss Reformation, 2d ed., rev. C. Scribner's & Sons. p. 222.
^Masonheimer, Phylicia (2 February 2023).Every Woman a Theologian. Thomas Nelson. p. 98.ISBN978-0-7852-9222-7.
^Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification. p. 269. Alister E. McGrath – 2005 "The importance of this threefold scheme derives from its adoption by Moses Amyraut as the basis of his distinctive theology. Amyraut's 'hypothetical universalism' and his doctrine of the triple covenant between God and humanity is ..."
^Hubert Cunliffe-Jones,A History of Christian Doctrine, p. 436. 2006 "The appointment of John Cameron, a peripatetic Scottish scholar, to be a professor in the Academy in 1618 introduced a stimulating teacher to the scene, and when in 1626 his pupil, Moses Amyraut (Amyraldus), was called to be a minister ..."
^The letter is quoted inLe Van Baumer, Franklin, ed. (1978).Main Currents of Western Thought: Readings in Western Europe Intellectual History from the Middle Ages to the Present. New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.: Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-02233-6.
^SeeHaas, Guenther H. (1997).The Concept of Equity in Calvin's Ethics. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 117ff.ISBN0-88920-285-0.
^Schultz, Kevin M.Tri-Faith America: How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise, p. 9.
^Rosenblum, Nancy L.Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith: Religious Accommodation in Pluralist Democracies, Princeton University Press, 2000 – 438, p. 156.
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, p. 325.
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, pp. 329–330, 382, 422–424.
^Avis, Paul David Loup, ed. (1989). "The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Anglicanism Erastian or Apostolic? An Anglican Consensus: Calvinist Episcopalians".Anglicanism and the Christian Church: Theological Resources in Historical Perspective (2 ed.). London: T & T Clark (published 2002). p. 67.ISBN978-0-567-08745-4. Retrieved29 January 2020.There existed also a genuine, though not slavish, theological affinity between the Anglican and continental theologies, especially the Reformed (Calvinist). A moderate Calvinist view of the 'doctrines of grace' (the interlocking sequence of predestination, election, justification, sanctification, final perseverance, glorification) was, we may say, the norm.
^Hans Fantel (1974),William Penn: Apostle of Dissent, William Morrow and Company, New York.
^Edwin S. Gaustad (1999),Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America, Judson Press, Valley Forge.
^G. Müller-Schwefe,Milton, John, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band IV, col. 954–955.
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, p. 398.
^Middlekauff, Robert (2005).The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789 (Revised and Enlarged ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 52, 136.ISBN978-0-19-531588-2.
^Douglas K. Stevenson (1987),American Life and Institutions, Stuttgart, Germany, p. 34.
Bagchi, David V. N.;Steinmetz, David Curtis, eds. (2004),The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN0-521-77662-7
Busch, Eberhard (December 2008). Visser, Douwe (ed.)."Reformed Identity"(PDF).Reformed World.58 (4):207–218. Retrieved20 September 2014.[permanent dead link]
Cottret, Bernard (2000) [1995],Calvin: Biographie [Calvin: A Biography] (in French), Translated by M. Wallace McDonald, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans,ISBN0-8028-3159-1.
Farley, Edward; Hodgson, Peter C. (1994). "Scripture and Tradition". In Hodgson, Peter C.; King, Robert H. (eds.).Christian Theology: An Introduction to Its Traditions and Tasks. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.: Fortress Press.
Furcha, E. J., ed. (1985),Huldrych Zwingli, 1484–1531: A Legacy of Radical Reform: Papers from the 1984 International Zwingli Symposium McGill University, Montreal, Canada: Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University,ISBN0-7717-0124-1.
Guthrie, Shirlie C. Jr. (2008).Always Being Reformed (Second ed.). Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.: Westminster John Knox Press.
Holder, R. Ward (2004), "Calvin's heritage", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.),The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0-521-01672-8
Gäbler, Ulrich (1986),Huldrych Zwingli: His Life and Work, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.: Fortress Press,ISBN0-8006-0761-9
Ganoczy, Alexandre (2004), "Calvin's life", in McKim, Donald K. (ed.),The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0-521-01672-8
McKim, Donald K. (2001).Introducing the Reformed Faith. Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.:Westminster John Knox Press.
Montgomery, Daniel;Jones, Timothy Paul (2014).PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace. New York: HarperCollins.ISBN978-0-310-51389-6.
Muller, Richard A. (2004). "John Calvin and later Calvinism". In Bagchi, David; Steinmetz, David C (eds.).The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-77662-2.
Stephens, W. P. (1986),The Theology of Huldrych Zwingli, Oxford: Clarendon Press,ISBN0-19-826677-4.
Stroup, George W. (1996).Reformed Reader. Vol. 2. Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.: Westminster/John Knox Press.
Stroup, George W. (2003). "Reformed Identity in an Ecumenical World". In Alston, Wallace M. Jr.;Welker, Michael (eds.).Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity. Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 257–270.
Weisse, Wolfram; Anthonissen, Carel Aaron (2004).Maintaining Apartheid Or Promoting Change?: The Role of the Dutch Reformed Church in a Phase of Increasing Conflict in South Africa. Waxmann Verlag.
Alston, Wallace M. Jr.;Welker, Michael, eds. (2003).Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity. Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.ISBN978-0-8028-4776-8.
Balserak, Jon (2017).Calvinism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-875371-1.
Benedict, Philip (2002).Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism. New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-10507-0.
Bratt, James D. (1984)Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subcultureexcerpt and text search
Eire, Carlos (2017).Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650. New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-11192-7.
Hart, D. G. (2013).Calvinism: A History. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press,excerpt and text search
%2c_by_Emanuel_de_Witte.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
