A Review of Some Important Concepts in John Calvin’s Thought

Subject Areas : Christianity

Received: 2013-06-26 Accepted : 2013-09-18 Published : 2014-01-21

Keywords: John Calvin, Protestant theology, reformationism, divine rule,

Abstract :

One of the most prominent features of John Calvin is his systematization of the Protestant theology. To elucidate his views, he used the wisdom of stoics, teachings of the Humanists and Neo-Agustinians, and specially studied the works of st. Augustine. In fact, it could be said that he based his thoughts on Augustine’s views. A number of most important features of Calvin’s teachings which are discussed in this paper are as follows: emphasis on the priority of God and his eternal prudence in the process of salvation; emphasis on the principle of “only the Bible”; negating the ecclesiastical hierarchy; emphasis on the importance of faith rather than righteoushess; and belief in establishing a divine rule.