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1509 – 1564

John Calvin

Worth knowing

  • Born at Noyon in France in 1509 and trained as a lawyer. He fled France after the persecution of 1534.
  • He published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion at twenty-six, with a preface to King Francis I defending the Protestants being burned in France.
  • In Geneva he preached through books of the Bible and wrote commentaries on most of them. He founded the Academy of Geneva in 1559.
  • He supported the execution of Michael Servetus for heresy in 1553, which Protestants since have judged a grave wrong.

In Scholar’s Dream, John Calvin has three books

Passages you can read in the game

Longer excerpts the Scriptorium holds on screen for a player to sit and read, word for word.

“To make everything yield to custom would be to do the greatest injustice. … In short, depraved custom is just a kind of general pestilence in which men perish not the less that they fall in a crowd.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)
from The Institutes (1536)

“What was destined only to confirm the truth, shall we misapply to the confirmation of lies? The proper course, therefore, is, in the first instance, to ascertain and examine the doctrine which is said by the Evangelist to precede; then after it has been proved, but not till then, it may receive confirmation from miracles.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.
from The Institutes (1536)

“That it long lay buried and unknown is the guilty consequence of man’s impiety; but now when, by the kindness of God, it is restored to us, it ought to resume its antiquity just as the returning citizen resumes his rights.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.
from The Institutes (1536)

“He was alone, indeed, and despised, but from his mouth the truth proceeded.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.
from The Institutes (1536)

“That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead…”

Calvin, Institutes I.3.1 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)
from The Institutes (1559)

“But though experience testifies that a seed of religion is divinely sown in all, scarcely one in a hundred is found who cherishes it in his heart, and not one in whom it grows to maturity so far is it from yielding fruit in its season.”

Calvin, Institutes I.4.1 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.
from The Institutes (1559)

“…our conviction of the truth of Scripture must be derived from a higher source than human conjectures, Judgments, or reasons; namely, the secret testimony of the Spirit.”

Calvin, Institutes I.7.4 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)
from The Institutes (1559)

“Wherever we see the word of God sincerely preached and heard, wherever we see the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ, there we cannot have any doubt that the Church of God has some existence, since his promise cannot fail.”

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion IV.1.9 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.
from The Institutes (1559)

Words John Calvin’s books borrow from others

Moves these books can learn whose quotation comes from somebody else. The citation on each one names who actually said it.

“That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead…”

Calvin, Institutes I.3.1 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move Some Sense of Deity
Natural TheologyArgument · power 80 · 100% accurate

In the gameNot an argument for God’s existence — an argument about the person you are talking to. Nobody starts from zero, and the ignorance in front of you is a thing being maintained rather than a thing being suffered.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 1), The Institutes (1559) (Lv 1)

Strong against
×3Émilea book · why?

Calvin and the Vicar start from the identical observation — a sense of God native to every mind — and part company on what it delivers: enough to leave nobody excused, Calvin says, not enough to save anybody unassisted.

×3The Five Common Notionsan argument · why?

Calvin agrees that every mind has a sense of God. That sense leaves people without excuse. It does not bring them home to God, which is why God has spoken.

×3The Savoyard Vicaran argument · why?

Calvin and the Vicar start from the identical observation — a sense of God native to every mind — and part company on what it delivers: enough to leave nobody excused, Calvin says, not enough to save anybody unassisted.

×2.5Nein!an argument · why?

Calvin says God has planted a sense of himself in every person. It does not save anyone. It leaves them without excuse, and that is why the gospel has a place to land. Barth’s refusal removes the ground the preaching stands on.

×2Man Is Born Freean argument · why?

He wants the natural man good and the institutions corrupt. Turn it over: the ache for God is native, and the man buries it.

×2The Demand for Miraclesan argument · why?

He wants a wonder. There is something older than a wonder already in him.

×2Totem and Tabooan argument · why?

Freud says the idea of God was copied from a human father. Calvin had already claimed it is there before any copy, including in people whose fathers were worth copying nothing from.

“We are not our own; therefore, neither is our own reason or will to rule our acts and counsels.”

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion III.7.1 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move We Are Not Our Own
SpiritualityArgument · power 80 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe whole ethic of the Christian life folded into one clause: the self is not the thing being served. Nothing in it is up for negotiation, which is exactly why it lands.

Learned byOn the Christian Life (Lv 1)

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being. As some of your own poets have said.”

Acts 17:28 (WEB) — Paul at the Areopagus, quoting the Athenians’ own poets back to them.
How it works in the game: the move Affirm
Status

In the gamePick the part of the opponent’s case that is true and affirm it. That point can no longer be used against you, and the opponent’s Defend falls sharply. It deals no damage. Affirm something false and you have only agreed with an error.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 13), The Institutes (1559) (Lv 53)

“…to bear the cross patiently is not to have your feelings altogether blunted, and to be absolutely insensible to pain…”

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion III.8.9 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move Bearing the Cross
SpiritualityArgument · power 74 · 100% accurate

In the gameChristian patience is not the Stoic hero who feels nothing. The pain is real and is felt in full; it is borne anyway. That distinction is the move.

Learned byOn the Christian Life (Lv 30)

“To make everything yield to custom would be to do the greatest injustice. … In short, depraved custom is just a kind of general pestilence in which men perish not the less that they fall in a crowd.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move Depraved Custom
EthicsArgument · power 88 · 100% accurate

In the gameAnswers "everyone has always done it this way" by asking what everyone doing it proves. Numbers do not make a thing right; they only settle how many are carried off by it.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 38)

Strong against
×4The Most Ancient Customan argument · why?

Numbers do not make a thing right. They only settle how many are carried off by it.

×0.5The Consent of the Fathersan argument · why?

That answers the custom, not the men. He is talking about the men.

“What was destined only to confirm the truth, shall we misapply to the confirmation of lies? The proper course, therefore, is, in the first instance, to ascertain and examine the doctrine which is said by the Evangelist to precede; then after it has been proved, but not till then, it may receive confirmation from miracles.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move Doctrine Before Miracles
RationalityArgument · power 88 · 100% accurate

In the gamePuts the two in the right order and the demand collapses. A wonder cannot certify a teaching, because wonders attend lies too; the teaching is examined first, and only then may a sign confirm it.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 38), The Institutes (1559) (Lv 54)

Strong against
×4The Demand for Miraclesan argument · why?

Puts the two in the right order and the demand falls apart: the teaching is examined first, and only then may a sign confirm it.

×2.5On Baptisma book · why?

Calvin answers his opponents’ miracles with the answer Augustine gave the Donatists. Augustine would agree.

×2Christianity Not Mysteriousan argument · why?

He makes reason the judge of revelation. Put it back under: reason reads what God has said, it does not vote on what He was allowed to say.

×0.5Known by Its Fruitsan argument · why?

He has not asked for a sign. He has pointed at a burnt village.

“justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.”

Calvin, Institutes III.11.2 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move Imputed Righteousness
SoteriologyArgument · power 95 · 100% accurate

In the gameCalvin defining the verdict in two halves, and the second half is the one Trent condemned by name. Sins forgiven, and a righteousness that is not the sinner’s own CREDITED to him. Not poured in, not grown into. Reckoned.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 38), The Institutes (1559) (Lv 48), On the Christian Life (Lv 44)

Strong against
×4The Canons of Trenta book · why?

Canon XI condemned this by its own name. Here it is said plainly, by the man whose book they were answering.

×3The Colloquyan argument · why?

A sentence two doctrines can shelter under is answered by saying exactly what yours is.

“That it long lay buried and unknown is the guilty consequence of man’s impiety; but now when, by the kindness of God, it is restored to us, it ought to resume its antiquity just as the returning citizen resumes his rights.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move The Returning Citizen
HistoryArgument · power 90 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe answer to "your religion is new," and it concedes nothing. A thing can be buried and dug up; the man who comes home after years away does not thereby become a foreigner.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 39)

Strong against
×4The Charge of Noveltyan argument · why?

The exact answer, and it concedes nothing: a thing can be buried and dug up. The man who comes home is not a foreigner.

“He was alone, indeed, and despised, but from his mouth the truth proceeded.”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move From His Mouth the Truth
EcclesiologyArgument · power 82 · 100% accurate

In the gameFour hundred prophets on one side and Micaiah on the other, and the church was where the truth was. An answer to "where was your church" that does not need a building to point at.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 40)

Strong against
×3The Charge of Schisman argument · why?

Four hundred prophets on one side and Micaiah on the other, and the church was where the truth was.

×2The Clockwork Cosmosan argument · why?

The machine is HOW God works, not a sign He has stopped. Boyle believed in the mechanism and never thought it left the room empty.

“In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.”

Psalm 4:8 (WEB).
How it works in the game: the move Rest
SpiritualityRest · 100% accurate

In the gameBreak off and rest. Stamina is restored in full and any trouble is slept off, but the book is then ASLEEP for a turn (two turns, one time in five) while the other side does as it likes.

Learned byOn the Christian Life (Lv 40)

“…all things are ours, to serve, not lord it over us…”

Calvin, Prefatory Address to Francis I (1536), prefixed to the Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote.) The Beveridge text is quoted only to this point because the CCEL transcription reads “we axe Christ’s only” for “are” in the next clause.public domain
How it works in the game: the move To Serve, Not to Lord It
HistoryArgument · power 84 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe rule for reading the fathers, in one clause. They are ours and we are not theirs — which is why Calvin can quote them for four pages and still not be bound when they are wrong.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 41)

Strong against
×4The Consent of the Fathersan argument · why?

The rule for reading them, in one clause. They are ours; we are not theirs — which is why you can quote them for four pages and still not be bound where they are wrong.

×0.5The Most Ancient Customan argument · why?

That ranks the fathers. He is not appealing to the fathers; he is appealing to how it has always been done.

“But though experience testifies that a seed of religion is divinely sown in all, scarcely one in a hundred is found who cherishes it in his heart, and not one in whom it grows to maturity so far is it from yielding fruit in its season.”

Calvin, Institutes I.4.1 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move A Seed of Religion
AnthropologyArgument · power 76 · 100% accurate

In the gameAnd immediately the honest half, which is why it is not a cheap argument: the seed is in everyone and it comes to nothing in almost everyone. Hardly one in a hundred cherishes it, and not one brings it to fruit.

Learned byThe Institutes (1559) (Lv 45)

Strong against
×2Totem and Tabooan argument · why?

It grants him the universality outright and gives it the other cause — then adds the half he never has to account for: almost nobody does anything with it.

“The word is not received in faith when it merely flutters in the brain, but when it has taken deep root in the heart… there is more distrust in the heart than blindness in the mind; and it is more difficult to inspire the soul with security than to imbue it with knowledge.”

Calvin, Institutes III.2.36 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move Not Brain, But Heart
FaithArgument · power 90 · 100% accurate

In the gameBelieving a doctrine and trusting it are different acts. A mind can hold the right answer for years while the heart still will not risk resting on it.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 46), The Institutes (1559) (Lv 46)

Strong against
×2.5Room for Beliefan argument · why?

Kant clears a room reason cannot enter and calls it faith’s. Grant him the room. Calvin asks what is actually standing in it — a proposition safely stored is not yet a heart that has settled on anything.

×2.5The Critique of Pure Reasona book · why?

Kant clears a room reason cannot enter and calls it faith’s. Grant him the room. Calvin asks what is actually standing in it — a proposition safely stored is not yet a heart that has settled on anything.

“…our conviction of the truth of Scripture must be derived from a higher source than human conjectures, Judgments, or reasons; namely, the secret testimony of the Spirit.”

Calvin, Institutes I.7.4 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move The Secret Testimony
PresuppositionArgument · power 88 · 100% accurate

In the gameGrants that the evidences are good and refuses to rest on them. If your certainty that God has spoken is only as strong as your best argument, then it is exactly as unstable as your worst afternoon.

Learned byThe Institutes (1559) (Lv 49)

Strong against
×2.5Before Lutheran argument · why?

He is asking you to rest your certainty on a list. There is a older place to rest it.

×2.5The Charge of Uncertaintyan argument · why?

Calvin asks the same question and answers it the same way.

×2The Canons of Trenta book · why?

Certainty was the real quarrel. Trent condemns assurance because it thinks assurance is presumption.

“It is preposterous to attempt, by discussion, to rear up a full faith in Scripture… these words will not obtain full credit in the hearts of men, until they are sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit.”

Calvin, Institutes I.7.4 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain
How it works in the game: the move Appeal to the Spirit
SpiritualityArgument · power 84 · 100% accurate

In the gameAn argument for Scripture can always be met with a sharper argument. Calvin holds that the case reaches its limit there, and only the Spirit’s own inward witness seals what argument merely prepares the ground for.

Learned byThe Institutes (1536) (Lv 50)

Strong against
×2Room for Beliefan argument · why?

Kant’s own case for the room is an argument, built the same way as every argument reason is barred from settling this by. Calvin’s answer was never going to be a better argument either — the Spirit’s testimony works the same on both sides of the wall Kant drew.

×2The Critique of Pure Reasona book · why?

Kant’s own case for the room is an argument, built the same way as every argument reason is barred from settling this by. Calvin’s answer was never going to be a better argument either — the Spirit’s testimony works the same on both sides of the wall Kant drew.

“Wherever we see the word of God sincerely preached and heard, wherever we see the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ, there we cannot have any doubt that the Church of God has some existence, since his promise cannot fail.”

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion IV.1.9 (trans. Beveridge, 1845), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move Where the Word Is Preached
EcclesiologyArgument · power 93 · 100% accurate

In the gameRefuses to produce a lineage, because a lineage was never the test. Look for preaching and sacraments; where you find them you have found the church, and where you do not, a list of bishops will not supply one.

Learned byThe Institutes (1559) (Lv 52)

Strong against
×4Before Lutheran argument · why?

It does not produce a lineage. It changes what would count as one — and the church turns out to have been in a great many buildings that were flying his flag.

×3.5The Charge of Schisman argument · why?

Refuses to produce a lineage, because a lineage was never the test.

×2The Sentence of Constancean argument · why?

Where the Word is preached and heard, there is a church. That is the test, and a decree is not it.

×0.5The Indulgence Stallan argument · why?

A definition of the church, aimed at a market stall. True, and nowhere near it.

“The Academy was solemnly dedicated on June 5, 1559, in the church of St. Peter, in the presence of the whole Council, the ministers, and six hundred students.”

Schaff, History of the Christian Church VIII §161 (1892), public domain.public domain
How it works in the game: the move Six Hundred Students
EthicsArgument · power 84 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe Academy’s argument, and it is not an argument at all. Do not be the best debater in the room. Be the reason there are nine hundred more of you next year, in countries where saying it is fatal.

Learned byThe Institutes (1559) (Lv 56)

Strong against
×2Before Lutheran argument · why?

He trained the best apologists in Europe and would be the first to tell you that this is the right answer.

Who else was alive

John Calvin against everyone else in the game.

A.D. 450A.D. 700A.D. 950A.D. 1200A.D. 1450A.D. 1700A.D. 1950
Solid bar = firm dates · faded = approximate51 authors sit outside this window
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