Life and setting
Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, biblical commentaries and ministry in Geneva made him a central figure in the Reformed tradition.
Reformation • Reformed / Protestant
John Calvin
1509 – 1564 • Reformer, pastor and theologian
Why this person matters
His thought shaped Reformed churches, Presbyterian traditions, education, pastoral practice and later Protestant theology across Europe and the Atlantic world.
What should not be sanitized
The execution of Michael Servetus in Geneva remains a major moral and historical controversy connected with Calvin’s era and role.
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