Calvin’s success in Geneva gave him the prime opportunity to become another “Luther” for the Reformation. He saw that the same struggles Geneva was going through at this time were identical with other areas of the European Reformation. This made his influence at large more helpful. His greatest influence was his Institutes, which at this time had gone through three major revisions. In other immediate ways, he proved to be an example to the neighbouring cites, cantons and countries through his disciplinary measures, though some were undecided as to whether he was being trivial in the matters taken up or simply thorough in his attempt at reform. When Farel had arrived in Geneva, the city was a place of debauchery. However, through Farel’s first reforms the civil magistrate under his direction enacted many disciplinary actions. It would be incorrect to think, then, that Calvin “began” such actions when he arrived; he simply structured it. His goal was civil and social discipline through sanctification of the individual person.
Calvin’s success in Geneva can be partly due to that he wrote for a fully international audience using the international languages of French and Latin. He operated from a strategically placed FreeCity which lay on important crossroads and which attracted visitors from throughout Europe and sent out missionaries. Much of Calvin’s popularity resulted from his alphabet manuals and textbooks, which promoted literacy and his graceful style which commended his ideas to a reading public within and beyond the frontiers of France.
The printing press made critical texts readily available, secured the survival of single manuscripts, multiplied the number of extant texts and for the first time allowed scholars to build up their own libraries.
William Farel, who hacked away the undergrowth of Roman Catholic superstition and ploughed the soil of Switzerland so that the seeds of Calvin could be sown and bear their fruit.
Farel’s characteristics; forceful and belligerent, admirably suited him for the work of the Reformation and the unique place in the Reformation which he occupied. The work was important, for without it other Reformers could not have accomplished what they did. Farel hated the pope with a passion and despised all papal ceremonies. His mission in life, as he conceived it, was to destroy every remnant of popery in images, ceremonies, and rituals, which were the standard diet of those held in Rome's chains. His strength was in his preaching. That is, it was not so much in his careful preparation of sermons, for he mostly preached without preparation, and none of his sermons have come down to us. Farel and Calvin worked day and night to bring about a thorough reformation, until the city, weary of the stringent discipline imposed on them, rose against them and expelled them. Farel believed in discipline by excommunication, and he influenced Calvin with his beliefs.
The external forces are also a cause into the success of Calvin in Geneva.
In the years of 1538 to 1541 while Calvin was in exile in Strasbourg, the city of Geneva was in chaos and anarchy so the council realised they could not do without him. These religious events in Geneva, dominated by schism brought to power a pro-Calvin lobby and serious attempts to get Calvin back.
It seemed to the council that the city’s stability could only be secured by Calvin. Calvin was at first reluctant to return; but he believed that God was willing him to go back to Geneva. He did however want a much clearer statement and acceptance of his authority than which had existed previously and he returned in September 1541. His desire was to impose moral and doctrinal discipline.
A group who opposed Calvin’s moral authority were the Libertianes; who enjoyed pleasures of music, dancing, gambling etc. They emerged from1545 onwards and would not submit to Calvin’s moral authority. They were from powerful and rich families who didn’t like being told what to do by outsiders and people of lower class. One known Libertiane is Ami Perrin, who was the Captain General of Geneva, caused difficulty for Calvin. There began a power struggle between Perrin as a Libertiane and Calvin as a reformer. Perrin constantly went against the rules and kept throwing dances and balls, which were forbidden. The power struggle came to an amend in 1553 when Perrin becomes the first syndic, Genevan Magistrate and the Libertianes, the upper class, took control of the council. They chose to challenge Calvin over excommunication, where it was no moral sin for a Catholic to kill an excommunicate. The controversy over excommunication dragged on for eighteen months, as the Libertianes resented being under the moral judgements of the consistory. But in February 1555 Perrin and his supporters lost elections and in May 1555, Perrin committed an act of treason and fled the city. Perrin’s flight meant an end to the Libertiane opposition.
Calvin’s success in Geneva was made possible by great numbers of religious refugees who came flooding into the city, most whom were from France, Italy, and other countries. As the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541 had shown, Calvin understood the importance of establishing a high quality centre of learning that would be able to train the future generation of leaders for both Church and State. Calvin viewed the Academy, which opened in 1559; which was a school and university, as the most important and pleasing of his achievements; it attracted students from abroad who became effective missionaries of Calvinism.
There were long term social, demographic, cultural and educational changes in Geneva at work to bolster Calvin’s leadership; French refugees fled to Geneva because its citizens spoke a sub-French dialect, these French reformers confirmed the gallicization of the city. They also brought wealth.
Calvin’s character is a factor, which is due to his success in Geneva. His most important work involved the organization of church governance and the social organization of the church and the city. He was, in fact, the first major political thinker to model social organization entirely on biblical principles. Calvin, for his part, moved to Strasbourg where he began writing commentaries on the Bible and finished his massive account of Protestant doctrine, The Institutes of the Christian Church. Calvin's commentaries are almost endless, but within these commentaries he developed all the central principles of Calvinism in his strict readings of the Old and New Testaments. The purpose of commentaries in Western literary tradition was to explain both the literary technique and the difficult passages in literary and historical works. Calvin wrote commentaries to ostensibly explain scriptural writings, but in reality he, like theologians before him, used the commentaries to argue for his own theology as he believed was present in scriptural writings. They are less an explanation of the Bible than a piece-by-piece construction of his theological, social, and political philosophy.
In 1540 a new crop of city officials in Geneva invited Calvin back to the city. As soon as he arrived he set about revolutionizing Genevan society. His most important innovation was the incorporation of the church into city government; he immediately helped to restructure municipal government so that clergy would be involved in municipal decisions, particularly in disciplining the populace. He imposed a hierarchy on the Genevan church and began a series of statute reforms to impose a strict and uncompromising moral code on the city. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541 was a complete and coherent structure for the organisation and government of a Protestant Church to be laid down.
With some modifications the political authorities approved this draft. This constitution set in place a Calvinist church order. In terms consistent with Calvin's theology, it called for a strict church discipline and a collegial ordering of ministry with four offices. Pastors were assigned the duties of preaching, administering the sacraments, and assisting in the exercise of discipline. Doctors or Teachers were appointed to teach and catechize the community. Elders were appointed to assist the pastors in the maintenance of church discipline. The power of the Elders was to come from the fact that they were in a majority in the ruling body of the Church – consistory. The consistory was made up of elders and ministers. The elders were twelve worthy citizens, who supervised every persons conduct, issue warnings and report those not to standard to the Company of Pastors. They somewhat played their own role in leadership. Deacons were assigned responsibility for assisting the sick and the poor. Another prominent feature of this church order is its provision for a consistory of pastors and elders to hear cases of church discipline. The consistory possessed the right to excommunicate persistent sinners. The Grabeau’s were put into place; this was mutual criticism, this meant the Pastors were more thoughtful and took care in their work, knowing if they did not it could be mentioned in the Grabaeu. This lead to an institutional strength Luther had lacked.
Calvin influenced others through his writings like the Institutes of the Christian Religion. This was always being developed and revised to throughout his life; it was a codified doctrinal synopsis that laid out in pre-planned sections in stark contrast to Luther’s sprawling, often unplanned writings. Other work of Calvin’s was Psychopannychia, addressing the Anabaptist belief in the slumber of the human soul after death. This work brought attention to Calvin within the community of Reformers. But it also brought more attention from the Catholic authorities as well.
His link between the religious, social and political life was a factor into his success. There was a major social change in Geneva; the people were made to live by the Bible. The purpose of life was to glorify the Name of God; people who sought to enjoy themselves were looked upon as reprobates. Calvin regulated women as second-class citizens. Good Christians should accept the social structure was the way God made it. It placed God in the centre of map for giving meaning to existence and refused to allow humanity any place but the periphery. Pleasure was frowned upon; theatre, card games and gambling were all banned and dancing was seen as sinful.
Calvin was a string-willed man and determined and dynamic man, he planned his way through, like the Ecclesiastical Ordinances was a manual to set up the Church. Calvin had a lot of respect and citizens were prepared to listen to their preachers therefore the Calvinist Church was maintained.
Ernest Renan, educated for the Romish priesthood describes Calvin as “one of those absolute men, cast complete in one mold, which is taken in wholly at a single glance: one letter, one action, suffices for a judgment of him. There were no folds in that inflexible soul, which never knew doubt or hesitation. Careless of wealth, of titles, of honours, indifferent to pomp, modest in his life, transparently humble, sacrificing everything to the desire of making others like himself. Lacking that vivid, deep, sympathetic ardour which was one of the secrets of Luther’s success, lacking the charm, the languishing tenderness of Francis of Sales, Calvin succeeded, in an age and in a country which called for a reaction towards Christianity, simply because he was the most Christian man of his generation.”
One can see that it was not only personal leadership but also many other factors, which made Calvin a success in Geneva. The preconditions of Geneva, like the anti-papal feelings, the spread of printing press, and the work done by Farel and other supporters.
External forces, like the Council asking Calvin to return from Strasbourg because they feared civil unrest. The Libertines were defeated and Perrin left the city was a factor which helped Calvin become a success in Geneva because his opposition was excommunicated. The growing numbers of French refugees was an advantage to Calvin as most of them become missionaries of the Reformation.
Calvin’s character was another factor, which lead to his success in Geneva; the way he preached his creation of systems, his organisation skills, in the Ordinances. He set an example of Christian godliness. His writings were influential to the people and set standards. His ideal world was living from the Bible.
Overall Calvin’s success was due to many factors all linked together and we cannot say it was just his personal leadership that lead to his success in Geneva. .
