An introduction to the essential life and thought of one of history's most influential theologians, who considered himself first and foremost a pilgrim and a pastor. July 10, 2009, marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. As controversial as he was influential, his critics have named a judgmental and joyless attitude after him, while his admirers celebrate him as the principal theologian of Reformed Christianity. Yet his impact is unmistakable-a primary developer of western civilization whose life and work have deeply affected five centuries' worth of pastors, scholars, and individuals. What will surprise the readers of this book, however, is that Calvin did not live primarily to influence future generations. Rather, he considered himself first and foremost a spiritual pilgrim and a minister of the Word in the church of his day. It was from that "essential" Calvin that all his influence flowed. Here is an introduction to Calvin's life and thought and essence: a man who moved people not through the power of personality but through passion for the Word, a man who sought to serve the gospel in the most humble of roles.

David Hall identifies ten seminal ways that Calvin's thought transformed the culture of the West, complete with a nontechnical biography of Calvin and tributes by other leaders. The Legacy of John Calvin is brief enough for popular audiences and analytical enough to provide much information in a short space.

"...despite his stern Calvinist upbringing" - Why is it that in the modern media the word 'Calvinist' is always accompanied by 'stern', 'dour' or 'strict'? Most of the people who use the terms together have next to no knowledge of what Calvinism is - and know even less about who Calvin was. An old-style reactionary? A hard-line ayatollah, raging at the world without any thought? - or is there more to this man than uninformed contemporary critics would have us believe? Robert Reymond brings us John Calvin the man. A reality quite different from the caricature often painted today. Here is a man of deep spirituality with a real love for his fellow man and God. A man also with tremendous intellectual abilities. Whether the moniker 'stern Calvinist' is applicable or not - his life has much to teach us.

One of the best sources for understanding the impact of John Calvin, McGrath's work updates The History and Character of Calvinism by John T. McNeill with a fascinating biography that also explores Calvin's cultural importance.

Theologian par excellence of the Reformation, John Calvin is best known for his Institutes of the Christian Religion, written as a theological introduction to the Bible and a vindication of Reformation principles. After appearing in several editions beginning in 1536, Calvin's Institutes was finally published in this authoritative 1559 edition. Covering a broad range of theological topics from justification by faith alone to the absolute sovereignty of God, Institutes of the Christian Religion remains influential in the Western world and is still widely read by theological students today.

This historically significant volume collects Karl Barth's lectures on John Calvin, delivered at the University of Göttingen in 1922. The book opens with an illuminating sketch of medieval theology, an appreciation of Luther's breakthrough, and a comparative study of the roles of Zwingli and Calvin. The main body of the work consists of an increasingly sympathetic, and at times amusing, account of Calvin's life up to his recall to Geneva. In the process, Barth examines and evaluates the early theological writings of Calvin, especially the first edition of the Institutes.