Celebrating John Calvin’s Legacy

Many have been honoring the legacy of John Calvin here recently, paying tribute to the man who contributed so much, by the grace of God, to the Church. John Eidsmoe, of the Firm Foundation ( the official blog for Judge Roy Moore’s Foundation for Moral Law)  gives us a brief look at how Calvin influenced law and government in America.

Celebrating John Calvin’s Legacy – Not So Much Charles Darwin’s

“2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s ORIGIN OF SPECIES, a book that dramatically changed ways of thinking and believing, though not necessarily for the better.

But July 10, 2009 was also the 500th anniversary of John Calvin, the great Reformer whose teachings became the foundation of the Huguenot churches of France, the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, and the Presbyterian churches of Scotland.  Like Martin Luther, Calvin emphasized the all-sufficiency of Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) as the source of Christian doctrine, the all-sufficiency of grace alone (Sola Gratia) as the provision for our salvation, and the all-sufficiency of faith alone (Sola Fide) as the means of receiving God’s grace.

But Calvin also influenced law and government.  His emphasis on Sola Scriptura led to his doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, stressing that all believers are priests and Jesus Christ is our great high priest, so we need no priest or bishop to intercede on our behalf.  But if, as Calvin taught, every plowboy should be able to read and interpret the Scriptures for himself, then every plowboy must be taught to read.  This led to widespread literacy, which made republican self-government possible.

Calvin’s emphasis on Sola Gratia led to a recognition of the total depravity of human nature.  Because of man’s sinful nature, we cannot live in a state of anarchy; we need government to maintain law and order.  But because those in authority have the same sinful nature as the rest of us, we cannot trust government with too much power.  This led to the system of limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and reserved individual rights that characterize republican self-government.”

Read more here.

But before you go….