Calvin's Geneva

Background

In the early sixteenth century Geneva was under the influence of its bishop and the Duke of Savoy. In 1526 the city council formed an alliance with Bern and Fribourg to resist Savoyard rule. From the early 1530s the French reformer William Farel, who enjoyed the protection of the Protestant city of Bern, preached the Reformed faith there. On May 21, 1536, the general assembly of citizens resolved to live according to the Word of God and to abandon the abuses of the papacy. At the same meeting it decided to establish a school that all children were required to attend, with the children of poor families taught free of charge. Korean churches commonly render Calvin's name as "Kalbin."

Course of Events

• 1536: John Calvin, who had published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion that year, stopped in Geneva intending to stay a single night on his way to Strasbourg. Farel persuaded him to remain in Geneva and take part in the reform. Calvin prepared a catechism and a confession of faith and sought to have the citizens swear to them. In January 1537, amid opposition, these documents were approved with some revisions.
• 1538: After a conflict with the city council over church discipline (the church's oversight and correction of its members' faults), Calvin and Farel were banished together. In Strasbourg, Calvin served as pastor of a congregation of French refugees.
• 1541: At the request of the city authorities, Calvin returned. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances, drawn up under his leadership, were adopted by the Small Council and the Great Council in November of that year. The ordinances established four church offices: pastors, teachers (doctors), elders, and deacons. They also created a Consistory composed of the pastors and twelve lay elders, who were chosen by the city council. The Consistory met every Thursday to oversee the faith and conduct of church members.
• 1553: Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician and theologian who denied the doctrine of the Trinity and rejected infant baptism, came to Geneva in August of that year and was arrested. By sentence of the city council he was burned at the stake at Champel on October 27. Evidence assembled by Calvin and his associates was used at the trial. During this period Calvin was also engaged in a prolonged conflict with an opposing faction known as the "Libertines."
• 1559: Calvin and Theodore Beza founded the Geneva Academy, with Beza serving as its first rector. The final edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion appeared the same year.
• 1564: Calvin died, and Beza assumed leadership of the Genevan church.

Results and Influence

Geneva came to be called the "Protestant Rome," and thousands of Protestant refugees gathered there from across Europe. The reform extended beyond matters of faith to education, publishing, and industry. The Academy became a training institution for Reformed doctrine. The structure in which pastors and lay elders govern the church together is regarded as the prototype of Reformed and Presbyterian church polity. The session and the offices of elder and deacon in Korean Presbyterianism are likewise described as deriving from this tradition. The Protestant Church of Geneva remained the state church of Geneva until 1907.

Assessment

The Calvinist and Reformed traditions regard Calvin's Geneva as a model of church order and education established according to the Word. On the other hand, the Consistory's supervision of citizens' private lives and the intertwining of ecclesiastical and civic power have drawn criticism. In particular, the execution of Servetus is still frequently cited as evidence of Calvin's intolerance. Calvin's defenders counter that the event must be viewed within the law and culture of sixteenth-century Europe, where heresy was punished as a crime. They also point out that the sentence was pronounced by the city council and that Calvin did not always succeed in getting his way. On November 1, 1903, marking the 350th anniversary of the execution, an expiatory monument funded by public subscription was erected at Champel. Its inscription, in the name of descendants who honor Calvin, condemns the error of that age and upholds freedom of conscience.