Topic Archives: 16th Century

The Church of Scotland Glasgow Presbytery held a ‘Commemoration of the 450th Anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland’ service in Glasgow Cathedral on 29th June. The address was given by a prominent Roman Catholic, Prof. Tom Devine of the University of Edinburgh on ‘The importance of the Reformation for the Development of Scotland’ and it […]

During this year [2009] of commemoration of John Calvin and the many discussions of his remarkable work for the Lord, one element of his ministry has been neglected. Calvin was a counsellor – par excellence. I have just read through all of his letters as they were carefully collected, edited, and published by the Parker […]

Introduction In all the extant biographies of England’s worthies, we rarely hear of one who was ‘more devout and godly’ than the writer ever knew, who not only led ‘a heavenly life himself’, but also ‘very earnestly and heartily’ laboured ‘to persuade others’ to do the same. Yet such a man was John Bradford1 – […]

INTRODUCTION I have betrayed John Calvin1. We all have. We betray Calvin every time we talk about him, because Calvin did a lot to stop people talking about him. He once commented, ‘I am unwilling to speak of myself, but since you do not permit me to be altogether silent, I will say what I […]

During this the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin I would like to express three ways in which John Calvin is an inspiration to me. First he is an inspiration as a pastor/preacher. John Calvin was a pastor for 27 years. First he served at St Peter’s Church in Geneva from 1536 to […]

A calm and impartial view of this sad subject has been reserved for this place, and for a chapter1 of its own. The immense advantage of having been able to consult and to weigh the evidence of the principal writers – certainly not fewer than forty – about the case of Servetus, besides several biographies […]

On 10 July 1509, almost exactly 500 years ago, one of God’s greatest gifts to his Church was born. This was John Calvin, whose life began in Noyon in northern France. His father held several important positions in the town, some civil and some ecclesiastical; his mother – who died when John was no more […]

This year is the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. For some people, the very name ‘Calvin’ conjures up images of a tyrannical despot who ruled the city state of Geneva, and its church, with a rod of iron during the middle decades of the sixteenth century. For others, who know their history a little […]

It is 500 years since God brought John Calvin into this world. During 2009, many Reformed churches and Christians in particular are remembering with gratitude this gift of Christ to his church. Publishing houses are producing books at a rapid pace of knots, articles, papers, conferences, and website and blog postings proliferate. But who was […]

Christianity is the religion of the Gospel. The Gospel was defined by William Tyndale, the Bible translator, as ‘good merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad, and maketh him to dance and sing and leap for joy’. ‘Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing’, we might add. But as time […]

Introduction Teresa of Avila calls for our consideration on several counts: 1. Her writings are increasingly popular amongst unconverted but professing Protestants who find her ‘mystical spirituality’ attractive in their own ‘pursuit of God.’ We are thus alerted to a dangerous ‘enemy within the gates.’ 2. She is revered by Romanists as ‘a quintessential Catholic’, […]

Over 40 gathered on June 3 at the Evangelical Library in Chiltern Street to hear Dr Jonathan Moore give an excellent lecture on ‘Predestination and Evangelism in the Life and Thought of William Perkins‘. After briefly acquainting us with what little is known of Perkins’ life (he was born 450 years ago and died at […]

[This is the first of a five part series originally published in the Banner of Truth magazine under the title “Thomas Hooker and the Dctrine of God.” This portion was in Issue 195, December 1979, pp. 19-29.] Among the multitude of Puritan books which have survived the 17th Century The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan […]

Modern historians who are sympathetic to Roman Catholicism such as Eamon Duffy have sought to rewrite the history of the Reformation in England. They deny that Protestantism found a welcome response in the hearts of the people. They suggest that it was merely a few eccentrics and some hopeless recusants who had become Calvinists who […]