Factors preceding the Reformation
Forerunning factors to the Protestant Reformations had been accumulating for many years.
Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560)
Melanchton was a humanist and a theologian who adapted Luther’s ideas. His attempts to reconcile the different reformation trends failed.
The Augsburg confession (1530)
This confession of faith was written by Philipp Melanchton for the diet in Augsburg in 1530 and was meant as a unifying text. It was based on the Scriptures and...
The Lutheran Reformation
Luther initiated a reformation movement with the aim of correcting the practices as well as the doctrine of the Church. He did not intend to found a new Church. But...
Jean Calvin’s doctrine
Calvin presented his doctrine in his major work : The Institutes of the Christian Religion.
The Works of Jean Calvin
In his writings there are six major works.
The Institutes of the Christian faith
The major work by Jean Calvin, which he never stopped modifying. During his lifetime 25 editions were successively published, in which he defined his theological ideas.
The ecclesiastical ordinances (1541)
In the ecclesiastical ordinances Jean Calvin defines the organisation of the Church and the relations between the reformed Church and the political power in Geneva.
Jean Calvin (1509-1564)
A generation after Luther, the Frenchman Jean Calvin became the organiser of the Reformation : he organised the Church, shaped the doctrine and defined the role of the Church in state government.
The Calvinist Reformation in 16th century
The Reformation later known as Calvinist movement was launched by several reformers and spread to many parts of Europe, from Zurich and Geneva.
Several models of Reformation
In itself, the Reformation appeared everywhere. Everywhere, in France, in Switzerland, it was indigenous, a fruit of the land and of various circumstances that, nevertheless, produced similar fruit.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
Zwingli, a pastor and theologian, based the Reformation on Bible study. In his opinion the Reformation comprised fighting social injustice.
Guillaume Farel (1489-1565)
Farel was the reformer of French-speaking Switzerland, precisely in the Neuchâtel area. He was a preacher but also an organiser and author of a liturgy in French.
Martin Bucer (1491-1551)
He was born in Alsace, was a humanist and tried all his life long to safeguard the unity of the Church.
Olivétan (1506-1538)
Olivétan is well-known for his French translation of the Bible, referred to as Olivétan’s Bible. It was the first Bible ever to be translated into French from the original Hebrew...
Théodore de Bèze (1519-1605)
Theodore Beza was one of the most prominent figures in the Reform movement. He supported Calvin and succeeded him as moderator, i.e. president, of the Company of pastors in Geneva....
John Knox (1513-1572)
John Knox, brought the Calvinist reform to Scotland.
The radical Reformation in 16th century
The expression “radical Reformation” was given to a complex and multifarious movement that found the lutherans and the swiss Reformers not daring enough, and considered that the Reformation had only...
The Anglican Reformation in 16th century
The secession of the Church of England in 1534 opens the gates to the Protestant influence.