Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [135]-139).

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral)--Faculté de théologie protestante de Bruxelles, 1978. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-222).

Zugl.: Diss.

This study is concerned with the process involved in Calvin's consolidation of his power in Geneva and his success in implementing his vision of a Reformed society and structure in the city. The principal aim is to re-evaluate all of the relevant data and to correct, where necessary, the present understanding of this process. This has involved detailed research in the primary, unpublished documentation held in the Genevan State Archives. This material has then been compared with the traditional interpretation of Genevan history which is derived largely from Calvin and his supporters. In an attempt to discover the true reasons which explain Calvin's triumph, particular attention has been focussed on the various groups in Geneva at the time. Thus, detailed examination has been made of the relevant documents to identify the various social, economic, and political links which bound together the opposing factions. In particular, the research in this study has examined the impact which the French religious refugees had on every aspect of Calvin's struggle in Geneva. In addition, the direct effect which the predominantly French pastors had on the city, through their ministerial and political activities, has been detailed. Special emphasis has also been laid upon the personal relationships which existed among Geneva's ruling élite. The results of this study show that the interpretation of Calvin's triumph in Geneva is, in fact, based too heavily on Calvin's own view of the events and personalities involved. Calvin's opponents are shown to be men determined to maintain their magisterial power in the city in the face of the threat posed by the French ministers and their refugee compatriots. The local Genevans who supported Calvin have been found to be men who profited, both personally and politically, from Calvin's defeat of his opponents. Therefore, the study presents a thorough re-examination of Calvin's Genevan ministry and demonstrates the motives and methods which produced Calvin's victory in the mid-1550s.

This thesis examines the provision of higher education in a Calvinist setting in 16th century Europe. The change from Catholicism to Protestantism made it imperative to remodel existing centres of higher education, or to create new ones, in order to train the first generations of Protestants for civil and ecclesiastical posts. In particular, ministers were urgently needed for the expanding number of congregations across Europe. By analysing the example of the Genevan Academy, founded in 1559 by Calvin, one can observe the operation of one of these new centres of learning in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Based on magisterial and ministerial records, together with letters discussing students and training, this study, in contrast to institutional history, examines Reformation higher education from the perspective of its participants, namely students, professors, ministers and magistrates. As Geneva acted as a centre of refuge and advice for Protestants across Europe, its role as a pre-eminent centre of Calvinist higher education simply reinforced the city's reputation. Yet the existence of the Academy between 1559 and 1620 was not without tension, particularly between the Genevan ministers and magistrates, each of whom had different expectations regarding the Academy's ultimate purpose. While the ministers saw the Academy as a humanist seminary, the magistrates wanted to expand its scope to include subjects such as law and medicine, bringing the Academy closer to a university model. Indeed, Geneva's Academy was not the only Calvinist centre of higher learning attracting students in the later Reformation period. Zurich's academy, and the universities of Heidelberg and Leiden, though each differed in structure and approach, provided alternative and sometimes competing forms of higher study. Through an examination of these other centres of learning and of their students, one can assess more effectively what role Geneva's institution played in the European Reformed educational world.

La thèse analyse la façon dont Calvin justifie un engagement sans limite dans le travail, en faveur de la recherche de prospérité, alors que paradoxalement il condamne la quête d’enrichissement personnel et la poursuite de ses propres intérêts. Le devoir de travailler repose sur un devoir dit de lieutenance (lieu-tenance), qui signifie que tout homme est responsable d’agir tel que Dieu l’aurait fait à sa place. Il en découle la nécessité d’un engagement sans limite dans le travail, un devoir de performance individuelle et une responsabilité sociale. L’humain est compris comme fragile et dépendant des autres, ne pouvant surmonter sa fragilité qu’en s’engageant dans une relation d’alliance avec Dieu et avec les hommes. En contrepartie de son engagement, il trouve le bonheur. Cette interprétation diffère de l’éthique calviniste décrite par Max Weber dans l’Ethique Protestante et l’esprit du capitalisme. Elle accorde une grande valeur aux échanges économiques, à travers lesquels se construit la société. La justice consiste en la mise en œuvre conjointe de l’équité et de la libéralité dans les échanges. / The thesis analyzes the way Calvin justifies a commitment without limit in work, in search of prosperity, while paradoxically condemning the quest for personal enrichment and the pursuit of one’s own interests. The duty to work is based on a duty named lieutenancy. It means that every man or women is responsible for acting as God would have done in his or her place. Goods are given to lead to prosperity as a sign of divine providence in order to constitute a just and contented society. This entails the necessity of a limitless commitment to work, a search for individual performance and social responsibility. The human being is understood as fragile and depending on others, only being able to surmount his or her fragility through a covenantal relationship with God and people. In return for this commitment, he or she finds happiness. This interpretation differs from the Calvinist ethics described by Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of the capitalism. It leads to assigning a high value to economic exchanges, through which a fraternal society is constructed. Justice consists in implementing equity mutually and liberality in the exchanges.

Thesis (M.A.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2003. / Available. Bibliography: leaves 55-60. Issued also in microform.

Cette thèse propose l’étude de la polémique que les réformateurs Jean Calvin et Guillaume Farel ont menée contre les Libertins spirituels. Le corpus abordé est le suivant : Le Contre la secte phantastique et furieuse des libertins qui se nomment spirituelz publié en 1545 par Jean Calvin, tout premier ouvrage anti-libertin connu, qui possède à cet égard un intérêt incontestable. Il signe le début d’une polémique à la fois longue et complexe, dont certains traités ultérieurs viennent compléter la charge : deux traités du réformateur de Genève : Une epistre de la mesme matiere, contre un certain Cordelier suppost de la secte : lequel est prisonnier à Roan, publiée en 1547 et la Response à un certain Holandois, lequel sous ombre de faire les Chrestiens tout spirituels, leur permet de polluer leur corps en toutes idolatries, éditée en 1562 ; auxquels il faut adjoindre le volumineux Le Glaive de la Parolle veritable, tire contre le Bouclier de defense : duquel un Cordelier Libertin s’est voulu servir, pour approuver les fausses & damnables opinions du réformateur de Neuchâtel, Guillaume Farel, publié en 1550 et dont le texte a été transcrit est donné en annexe de la thèse. L’approche est rhétorique et vise à faire ressortir les constantes d’un discours qui a repris les schèmes et les cadres du discours polémique anti-hérétique tel que la Bible, les Pères et les actes conciliaires l’avaient codifié depuis près de seize siècles. Il apparaît que les libertins sont doctrinalement et personnellement proches des réformateurs, mais que la spiritualisation et l’individualisation de la foi les aient rendus indifférents à toute pratique extérieure. D’autre part, la polémique nous renseigne sur la conception calvinienne du langage, qui dénonce la pratique ambiguë qu’en font les libertins. / This thesis propounds a study of the controversy that the reformers John Calvin and Guillaume Farel have carried out against spirituals Libertines. The proposed corpus is as follows: Le Contre la secte phantastique et furieuse des libertins qui se nomment spirituelz, which was published in 1545 by John Calvin, is considered as the very first book against libertines, and in this context has obviously an undeniable interest. It symbolises the beginning of a long and complex controversy, which was further supported by some later treaties: two treaties of the Geneva reformer Une epistre de la mesme matiere, contre un certain Cordelier suppost de la secte : lequel est prisonnier à Roan, published in 1547 and the Response à un certain Holandois, lequel sous ombre de faire les Chrestiens tout spirituels, leur permet de polluer leur corps en toutes idolatries, which was published in 1562 ; and finally the Le Glaive de la Parolle veritable, tire contre le Bouclier de defense : duquel un Cordelier Libertin s'est voulu servir, pour approuver les fausses & damnables opinions of the Reformer of Neuchâtel, which was published in 1550, and whose text was transcribed and inserted in the appendix of the thesis. My approach is rhetoric and aims at highlighting the constants of a speech which has used the structure and frameworks of anti-heretical polemical discourse as the Bible, the Fathers and acts conciliar had codified for nearly sixteen centuries. It appears that the libertines? are doctrinally and personally close to the reformers, but that spirituality and the individualization of faith have driven them to be indifferent to any outdoor practice. Also, the controversy gives us indications about the Calvinian conception of language, which denounces the ambiguous practice of language made by the libertines.

Brigham Young was an American product of the nineteenth century. John Calvin was a European product of the sixteenth century. Each of these men left definite impressions upon world history. Of the two, Calvin is more widely understood and better known, but we should remember that the element of time was in his favor.An examination of the lives of these two men indicates definite parallels, and their teachings show many views in common. Both were spiritual as well as temporal leaders, and each succeeded in gaining the interest of the world in his particular time. Just as the attention of the people of sixteenth century Europe was focused upon Geneva, the world of the nineteenth century had its attention centered upon Utah. Both Utah and Geneva offered novel situations, but the thing which made them colorful before the world was not their people, but their leaders, Brigham Young and John Calvin.