Development

1. Middle Ages
1.1 Overview
People in the Middle Ages lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the
church, the village, and the surrounding farm land. These manors were isolated, with
occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from
other fiefdoms.

In this "feudal" system, the king awarded land grants or "fiefs" to his most
important nobles, his barons, and his bishops, in return for their contribution of soldiers
for the king's armies. At the lowest echelon of society were the peasants, also called
"serfs" or "villains." In exchange for living and working on his land, known as the
"demesne," the lord offered his peasants protection.

Peasants worked the land and produced the goods that the lord and his manor
needed. This exchange was not without hardship for the serfs. They were heavily taxed
and were required to relinquish much of what they harvested.

Nobles divided their land among the lesser nobility, who became their servants
or "vassals." Many of these vassals became so powerful that the kings had difficulty
controlling them. By 1100, certain barons had castles and courts that rivalled the king's;
they could be serious threats if they were not pleased in their dealings with the crown.

1.2 Education
1.2.1 Objectives

During the Middle Ages, or the medieval period, which lasted roughly from the
5th to the 15th century, Western society and education were heavily shaped by
Christianity, particularly the Roman Catholic Church. The Church operated parish,
chapel, and monastery schools at the elementary level. Schools in monasteries and
cathedrals offered secondary education. Much of the teaching in these schools was
directed at learning Latin, the old Roman language used by the church in its ceremonies
and teachings. The church provided some limited opportunities for the education of
women in religious communities or convents. Convents had libraries and schools to
help prepare nuns to follow the religious rules of their communities. Merchant and craft

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guilds also maintained some schools that provided basic education and training in
specific crafts. Knights received training in military tactics and the code of chivalry.

As in the Greek and Roman eras, only a minority of people went to school
during the medieval period. Schools were attended primarily by persons planning to
enter religious life such as priests, monks, or nuns. The vast majority of people were
serfs who served as agricultural workers on the estates of feudal lords. The serfs, who
did not attend school, were generally illiterate

In the 11th century medieval scholars developed Scholasticism, a philosophical

and educational movement that used both human reason and revelations from the Bible
Scholasticism, philosophic and theological movement that attempted to use natural
human reason, in particular, the philosophy and science of Aristotle, to understand the
supernatural content of Christian revelation. It was dominant in the medieval Christian
schools and universities of Europe from about the middle of the 11th century to about
the middle of the 15th century. The ultimate ideal of the movement was to integrate into
an ordered system both the natural wisdom of Greece and Rome and the religious
wisdom of Christianity.

Formal education was unusual in the Middle Ages, although by the fifteenth
century there were schooling options to prepare a child for his future. Some cities such
as London had schools that children of both genders attended during the day. Here they
learned to read and write a skill that became a prerequisite for acceptance as an
apprentice in many Guilds.

A small percentage of peasant children managed to attend school in order to

learn how to read and write and understand basic math; this usually took place at a
monastery. For this education, their parents had to pay the lord a fine.

Noble girls, and on occasion boys were sometimes sent to live in nunneries in
order to receive basic schooling. Nuns would teach them to read (and possibly to write)
and make sure they knew their prayers. Girls were very likely taught spinning and
needlework and other domestic skills to prepare them for marriage. Occasionally such
students would become nuns themselves.

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 If a child was to become a serious scholar, his path usually lay in the monastic
life, an option that was rarely open to or sought by the average townsman or peasant.
Only those boys with the most notable acumen were chosen from these ranks; they were
then raised by the monks. Children at monasteries were most often younger sons of
noble families, who were known to "give their children to the church" in the early
Middle Ages.
1.2.2 Curriculum contents
The medieval course of study was divided into the elementary trivium and the
more advanced quadrivium. The trivium comprised grammar, which included the study
of literature; dialectic or logic; and rhetoric, which also covered the study of law.
Completion of the trivium entitled the student to a bachelor's degree. The quadrivium
comprised arithmetic; geometry, which included geography and natural history;
astronomy, to which astrology was often added; and music, chiefly that of the church.
Once the quadrivium had been completed, the student was awarded a master of arts.

2. Modern Times
2.1 Overview

The Early Modern period spans the three centuries between the Middle Ages and
the Industrial Revolution, roughly from 1500 to 1800. As such, the early modern period
represents the decline and eventual disappearance, in much of the European sphere, of
feudalism, serfdom and the power of the Catholic Church.

2.2 Reformation and Protestantism

The Reformation, traditionally described has having been begun by Martin

Luther in 1517, was the movement which gave rise to Protestant churches and the
decline of the power of Roman Catholicism. The Reformation sought to "reform"
Christianity by returning it to original beliefs based solely on reference to the Bible,
eliminating later additions which accumulated in tradition.

The causes of the Reformation cannot be located in any one event or in any one
aspect of medieval society. It wasn't just a matter of religion or politics or social

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discontent. It was, rather, a combination of all of these things - it was a problem which
extended through all aspects of society and how people lived. There was dissatisfaction,
discontent and malaise everywhere.

Protestantism, one of the three major divisions of Christianity, the others being
Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The four main Protestant traditions that emerged
from the Reformation were the Lutheran (known in continental Europe as Evangelical),
the Calvinist (Reformed), the Anabaptist, and the Anglican. Despite the considerable
differences among them in doctrine and practice, they agreed in rejecting the authority
of the pope and in emphasizing instead the authority of the Bible and the importance of
individual faith.

The Protestant movement actually preceded the 16th-century Reformation.

Several dissident movements in the late medieval church anticipated the Reformation by
protesting the pervasive corruption in the church and by criticizing fundamental
Catholic teachings.

3. Education in the 16th century

3.1 Educational movements
3.1.1 Renaissance
Renaissance is the series of literary and cultural movements in the 14th, 15th,
and 16th centuries. These movements began in Italy and eventually expanded into
Germany, France, England, and other parts of Europe. Participants studied the great
civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and came to the conclusion that their own
cultural achievements rivaled those of antiquity. Their thinking was also influenced by
the concept of humanism, which emphasizes the worth of the individual. Renaissance
humanists believed it was possible to improve human society through classical
education. This education relied on teachings from ancient texts and emphasized a range
of disciplines, including poetry, history, rhetoric (rules for writing influential prose or
speeches), and moral philosophy.

 Rediscovery of Classical Literature and Art

During the Middle Ages there was a lively interest in classical literature,
especially Latin and Latin translations of Greek. This attention was mostly confined to

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the professional activities of theologians, philosophers, and writers. In the Renaissance,
however, people from various segments of society—from kings and nobles to merchants
and soldiers—studied classical literature and art. Unlike the professional scholars of the
Middle Ages, these people were amateurs who studied for pleasure, and their interest in
art from the past was soon extended to contemporary works. Medieval art and literature
tended to serve a specialized interest and purpose; Renaissance works of art and
literature existed largely for their own sake, as objects of ideal beauty or learning.

 Curiosity and Objectivity

The Renaissance was marked by an intense interest in the visible world and in
the knowledge derived from concrete sensory experience. It turned away from the
abstract speculations and interest in life after death that characterized the Middle Ages.
Although Christianity was not abandoned, the otherworldliness and monastic ideology
of the Middle Ages were largely discarded. The focus during the Renaissance turned
from abstract discussions of religious issues to the morality of human actions.

 Individualism

In the Renaissance, the unique talents and potential of the individual became
significant. The concept of personal fame was much more highly developed than during
the Middle Ages. Renaissance artists, valuing glory and renown in this world, signed
their works. Medieval artists, with their focus on otherworldliness and on glorifying
God, were more humble and remained largely anonymous.

The attention given to the development of an individual’s potential during the

Renaissance brought with it a new emphasis on education. The goal of education was to
develop the individual's talents in all intellectual and physical areas, from scholarship
and the writing of sonnets to swordsmanship and wrestling. It was believed that the
ideal person should not be bound to one specific discipline, such as that of scholar,
priest, or warrior. This was in stark contrast to the Middle Ages, when specialization had
been encouraged.

3.1.2 Humanism

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 Initially, a humanist was simply a teacher of Latin literature. The early beliefs of
humanism were that, although God created the universe, it was humans that developed
and industrialized it.. By the mid-15th century humanism described a curriculum — the
studia humanitatis — comprising grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, poetry and
history. These subjects were all studied, whenever possible, in the original classical
texts.

The humanities curriculum conflicted directly with more traditional education

that was based on scholasticism. A scholastic education concentrated on the study of
logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, or the nature of reality. . Scholastic training
prepared students for careers in fields such as medicine, law, and, above all, theology.
The humanists believed that this scholastic course of study was focused too narrowly on
only few professions. They claimed that it was not based sufficiently on practical
experience or the needs of society, but relied too heavily on abstract thought. The
humanists proposed to educate the whole person and placed emphasis not only on
intellectual achievement, but also on physical and moral development.

The aim of education was to develop a complete and harmonious personality. As

man is made up of soul and body, this second element had to be looked after as well and
that is why physical education and games are important also “mens sana in corpore
sana”. The student has to develop his physical, intellectual and moral attitudes.
Whereas in the middle ages the most important factor when teaching was the
doctrine to be transmitted and which passively absorbed by the students, now the
educator had a great confidence in the students´ personal resources and he helped them
to achieve those values and skills for the benefit of the spirit and the body.

The humanists thought that education was a continuous process and it was
neither completed at school nor limited to the time when one is young.

The humanists also stressed the general responsibilities of citizenship and social
leadership. Humanists felt that they had an obligation to participate in the political life
of the community. From their perspective, the specialized disciplines taught by the
scholastics had failed to instill a respect for public duty.

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 The pedagogists of humanism took into account all the transformations
experimented by society and worked out nee theories that often went back to the
classical world. In the early days of Humanism, education was elitist. It was mainly
princes and rich men and women who had to be educated. The masses were despised.
During all the time that humanism flourished one constant feature it showed,
was humanists´ constant preoccupation for educational aspects. They wrote about
school management, teaching methods, curricula and students behaviour.
The aim of education was to develop a complete and harmonious personality and
many teachers, to reach that goal, tried to promote educational reforms by teaching
themselves using their own methodologies or writing their own textbooks. Three
outstanding figures of humanism were: Colet, Erasmus and More.

 ERASMUS
Erasmus of Rotterdam was one of the intellectual leaders of the XVI century. He
emphasized the European wide scope of the movement. To Erasmus, the Bible and the
Classics were two sides of the same coin, and he thus strove for a combination of
Christianity and humanism. Education was necessary, for fear that barbarism replace
civilization. To Erasmus, education nurtures our very being and sets us apart from other
creatures: people act from reason, and animals from instinct. Therefore, reason must be
developed by education. Also, learning is expected to overcome the hardship of life.
Erasmus preferred to focus on the value learning has to this earthly life, and not to
eternal life. Erasmus believed that a child’s mind must be instructed before it gets
corrupted. The child’s mind is receptive, pliable, and capable to take on any form, even
a god-like nature. To Erasmus, the seeds for life were implanted in us ‘by nature’, and
teachers only need to put in a good effort to make it sprout and grow.

 COLET
John Colet influenced the generation that made the Renaissance the instrument
of Reformation. The aim of a true interpretation of Scriptures was to discover the
personal message which the individual writer meant to give. He was the first to
introduce the historical method of interpreting Scripture. Dean of St. Paul, he tried to
translate Christian humanism into practice. The foundation of the new school in the

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London cathedral had a very important role as the old one was languishing. It was
meant for the education of 153 children with no money.
According to Colet, the curriculum was in harmony with the humanistic theories
and true Christianity: the students should be instructed in the good Latin and Greek
literature. His purpose was to increase the knowledge and veneration of God and Jesus
Christ and the good life and Christian behaviour in the children.

 MORE
Thomas More was very interested in pedagogy. More saw the connection
between educational, social and political problems and the influence that society
therefore has on education.
In Utopia, based in Plato´s The Republic, he writes about an ideal society and it
deals with the activities required by a just and balanced society and its success
depending on its learned mass of citizens.
The XVI century in general was a period very conscious of the value of
education. Many men of letters either directly connected with educationl activities or
institutiond or indirectly connected with them when reflecting a public consciousness,
wrote about schools, colleges and universities. In general, most reformers of education
intended to improve schools and their curriculums independently from any specific
doctrine.
3.1.3 Luther´s educational theory

The event usually considered the beginning of the Reformation is Martin

Luther’s publication, in 1517, of his Ninety-five Theses attacking the indiscriminate sale
of indulgences to finance the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther, an
Augustinian monk and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, had been
unable to find assurance of salvation in traditional Catholic teachings. He came to
believe that such assurance was to be found in the doctrine of justification by divine
grace through faith, which he thought Catholic theology had obscured by giving equal
weight to the efficacy of good works. The sale of indulgences, he believed, was an
abuse that originated in the mistaken emphasis on works.

Luther at first intended only to bring about reform within the church, but he was
met with firm opposition. In refusing to recant his views and demanding to be proven

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wrong by Scripture, he denied the authority of the church, and he was excommunicated.
Protected by Frederick the Wise of Saxony, he wrote a series of books and pamphlets,
and his ideas spread rapidly throughout the states of Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
In Scandinavia, national Lutheran churches were quickly established.

The Reformation was as much concerned with school as it was with church and
home. Appreciating the role of education in directing church and society back to the
source of the Christian faith, the reformers were committed to the schooling of the
young. One of Martin Luther's first acts as a reformer was to propose that monasteries
be turned into schools, while one of his last was to establish a school in Eisleben

Martin Luther was at the forefront of those who realized the need for change in
education, and with characteristic zeal he sought to effect improvements in Wittenberg
and throughout Germany. While he composed only a few works that treat education
directly, his other writings often reveal an attempt to relate education to the doctrinal
rediscoveries of the Reformation, and especially to subject learning to the "theology of
the cross". The few treatises Luther did dedicate strictly to education had such impact
that they may be deemed seminal for the development of reformed schooling in the
sixteenth century. These works not only influenced teachers and preachers throughout
Germany, but they also encouraged other theologians to consider the role of education
in society

 "To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain
Christian Schools" (1524).

The letter was written in response to the decline of the church-run schools, as well
as to the anti-educational sentiments that arose in Wittenberg and elsewhere. One of the
premises underlying the arguments in the letter is the doctrine concerning the duties of
the temporal government to ensure decency and good order in society; for this reason
the letter was addressed to civic leaders, the councilmen possessed the political and
financial resources to erect the schools. Luther therefore reminds the councillors that by
their authority from God they must promote a godly society, and he seeks to convince
them that proper education would benefit the state as well as the church.

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 Luther not only addresses the councilmen in this open letter; he also writes to the
citizens, his "beloved Germans", because he realizes that there are citizens who neglect
their parental duties. Some may not understand their God-given responsibility, others
may not be suited for the duty, and a third group of parents is one which does not have
the opportunity or the means to educate their children.

Luther's advocacy of a community-organized school was novel. Assuming that the

state would be ruled by Christian leaders, Luther imposes upon the government the task
of overseeing reformed education. Not anticipating the conflict between state and
church that was to develop later, Luther proposes a system of education that would
benefit all members of society, including boys and girls, wealthy and poor. Civic
schools would belong to a system of institutions throughout the land and would operate
in harmony with the church. In this manner, Luther thought, education could serve the
reform of religion and society.

Having alerted both parents and civic leaders to their respective duties in the
education of the youth, Luther next describes the benefits of schooling for state and
church. The councilmen are enjoined to support education, for "a city's best and greatest
welfare, safety and strength consist rather in its having many able, learned, wise,
honorable, and well-educated citizens ". For the proper government of the earthly realm,
education should be viewed as an important means in producing responsible citizens. In
short, the councilmen have a vested interest in the training of the young, who will be the
future civic leaders.

Influenced by the methods espoused by the Renaissance, Luther believed that

the best model for preparing civic leaders was the classical one. For him, the writings of
ancient Greece and Rome provided the most complete and exhaustive treatments of all
aspects of civic life, including professions such as medicine, law, and the various tasks
of temporal government. He and many peers felt that the methods of antiquity provided
the best model for educating future citizens in his own time.

Responsibility of the councilmen is to develop a community in which Christian

education may flourish, citizens and especially parents are called by the priesthood of
all believers to nurture their offspring. Luther founds the parental responsibility firmly
on the Bible, citing several texts as proof.

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 Not only would the state benefit from a reformed education, but also - and
especially - the church. Here, too, Luther advocated the study of ancient life and letters,
for he was convinced that knowledge of antiquity would provide believers with a better
understanding of the historical, social and linguistic context of the Bible. The gospel
must be preserved, the true doctrine must be taught, and the faith must be defended on
the basis of God's Word alone. God, argues Luther, desires that all know the Bible.
Therefore Luther goes on at some length about the value of a classical curriculum for
the reformed school, for he was convinced that knowledge of the liberal arts - history,
languages and the like - provided the best context for the study of Scripture. Not only
ministers, theologians, teachers and scholars educated in this manner would best serve
the Church, but all believers as members of Christ's body would better know God and
His work in this world by means of such learning.

 On Keeping Children in School (1530)

Another treatise by Luther on education is the so-called "Sermon on Keeping

Children in School", published in the form of an open letter because many parents still
preferred to direct their children to the work force and the immediate material rewards it
would afford, than to invest in spiritual development and moral reform. In this treatise
Luther focuses more on producing solid reformed preachers and teachers through whom
modest improvements may be made. The gist of this letter is not the establishment of
schools, but the proper development of them and their curriculum.

The main addressees of the Sermon are the reformed preachers throughout the land.
Luther speaks especially to them because he wishes to impress upon ministers the
advantages of education for Christian spiritual development. The relevance of education
for both religious and civic realms remains a key argument for sending children to
school.

First Luther addresses the problem of the little concern parents show for the
"spiritual well-being" of their children. Neglecting the role of Scripture in the life of
their children, parents appear to underestimate the function of learning in the service of
the Word, the sacraments, and "all which imparts the Spirit and salvation". It appears
that parents do not encourage their children to learn more about God and His works in
the created world and history. In Luther's view education is crucial to the advancement

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of the gospel, and all should see that their children live first and foremost for the
proclamation of the Word in the lives of others and their own. It is also for this reason
that he advises all to consider the importance of the preaching office and theology, and
all learning that advances them

As for the Sermon's discussion of the relevance of education for the state, Luther
herein attacks especially the increasing materialism of his fellow Germans. Seeking
physical comforts, wealth and material prosperity, parents wish for their children not
spiritual, but material well-being, knowing that many parents focus on this world rather
than the next. The true function of the secular realm is to create an orderly, fair, and
peaceful society in which the spiritual estate may be encouraged. Justice, social order,
and the preservation of life fall under the jurisdiction of the temporal government,
which must be exercised by people properly educated for such tasks. In this way the
temporal realm promotes God's kingdom on earth, as it is obedient to His word and
seeks to advance life according to His will.

For Luther, knowledge of Scripture is both the basis and goal of education;
humanistic methods may serve this objective, but they are not to be considered an end
in themselves.. Without the gospel, then, education is meaningless. And it is only from
the perspective of the gospel that education must be valued. On the basis of the Bible all
youths should pursue education as a means to becoming responsible men and women
who can govern churches, countries, people, and households.

Luther wanted to create educational institutions that would be open to the sons
of peasants and miners. Luther realized that an educational system open to the masses
would have to be public and financed by citizens’ councils. Accordingly, Luther argued
that education must be extended to all children, girls as well as boys, and not simply to a
leisured minority. Even those children who had to work for their parents in trade or in
the fields should be enabled, if only for a few hours a day, to attend local, city-
maintained schools in order to promote their reading skills and hence piety. On the
premise that a new class of cultivated men must be developed to substitute for the
dispossessed monks and priests, new schools, whose upkeep was the responsibility of
the princes and the cities, were soon organized along the lines suggested by Luther. In
1543 Maurice of Saxony founded three schools open to the public, supported by estates
from the dissolved monasteries.

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 An important aspect from Luther´s pedagogical point of view is his absolute
rejection of violent methods. He believed it was necessary that children found study, if
not more pleasurable, the equally as pleasurable as play.
The Lutheran reformers thought that education should be open to all, even
women who should have the opportunity of higher education.

4. John Calvin
4.1 Personal background
Born on July 10, 1509, John Calvin was one of the most influential men of the
Reformation movement. Calvin was raised and ordained in the Catholic Church in
Noyon (northeast of Paris). He underwent a “sudden conversion” in approximately 1533
and dedicated the rest of his life to developing a deep and thorough explanation of
Reformation beliefs. In 1536, he published The Institutes of the Christian Religion
which was then, and is still today, considered the most comprehensive single volume
written on Reform theology. He preached a strict adherence to sobriety, thrift and self-
denial which caused many to regard him as dour and severe.

Calvin is credited with advancing the cause of the Reformation to such diverse
locations as Geneva, America, Holland, Poland and Scotland.

 Calvin’s Education

Calvin was educated in his home town while simultaneously being an ordained
minister of the church . At the age of 14, he moved into his uncle’s home and began
attending the College de La Marche, majoring in Latin. He received his B.A. in
philosophy and Theology in early 1528 from College de Montainge. At his father’s
urging, he began to pursue his law degree at the University of Orleans and added Greek
to his studies at the University of Bourges. However, he abandoned his studies in late
1530 due to his father’s illness (his father died in May 1531).

 Calvin’s Conversion

Calvin underwent a “sudden conversion” in 1533, at which time he began pursuing

the things of God wholeheartedly and soon found himself leading his first group of

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Reformers in Paris. His new affiliation was not looked upon kindly and he spent the
next year breaking with Rome and even being imprisoned for a time.

 Calvin and Geneva

In 1536, William Farel, Geneva’s leading Reformer at the time, convinced Calvin to
join him in Geneva to help further the cause of the Reformation. Although the Genevans
did declare allegiance to Reform teachings shortly after Calvin’s arrival, his stay was
very controversial. The two men brought huge changes in very little time which perhaps
was a bit too much for the citizens. After facing fierce opposition, Calvin & Farel were
forced to leave in 1538.

In 1541, Calvin was called to return to Geneva. Shortly after his return, he
established a church-run government in the city, fully supported by the Council. Calvin
was not an easy leader. He expected a lot from his sheep and the rest of the town and
imposed many restrictions on the citizens. Among those “forbidden things” were:
dancing, theatre going, card playing, cursing, swearing, obscene songs, drunkenness,
luxurious living and luxurious dressing. This strict moral code did not win him broad
popularity, causing some to complain that they left the tyranny of one leader (the Pope)
only to be subjected to the oppression of another.

4.2 Educational theory

 1.Theory of Value

Knowledge for Calvin is divided into two parts: knowledge of God and
knowledge of self. The knowledge of God is gained from the New and Old Testament,
and the burden of education is placed on the church. The goal of this Christian
education is to instruct people to live a life in keeping with Christian virtue and value.
In the arena of self-knowledge, Calvin displayed a keen interest in the humanist
learning of his time.

 2. Theory of Knowledge

The foundation of knowledge for Calvin comes from God. In fact, Calvin
believed knowledge about self could only be realized by “contemplating the face of
God” Because God is foundational to knowledge, and the ability to know God is innate,

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Calvin seems to make no distinction between knowledge and belief. For Calvin, there is
no knowledge without belief, as he writes in his Institutes, “…the unbeliever brings
death to all God’s Words”. Any mistaken representation of truth is either a direct result
of sin (turning away from God) or from not knowing God at all. Truth in self-
knowledge and knowledge of God comes only through the belief in God.

 3. Theory of Human Nature

Calvin's basic reform theology sees man as a sinful, fallen creature created by
God. The forgiveness of sin comes through the martyrdom and resurrection of Christ,
God’s son, and subsequent belief in Christ’s ability to forgive sins. Contrary to popular
notion, Calvin’s doctrine of election interprets Christ’s death as a sacrifice for all
people. The assurance of election for Calvin is proven through faith in Christ.
Subsequently, faith in Christ allows for self-knowledge and an understanding and
appreciation for the world.

 4. Theory of Learning

Calvin's own educational training was very much based in humanism. He

emphasized strong training in the liberal arts, preferring these to the study of law or
medicine. Calvin placed great importance on learning, beginning at a young age, so as
not to “leave the Church a desert for our children.” He reorganized the existing primary
schools in Geneva, stressing disciplined behavior, cleanliness and promptness. The
curriculum was typical of the Renaissance thinking. It included drilling Latin grammar
and vocabulary, as well as planned times for physical exercise. The Psalms were sung in
French for one hour each day. Calvin forbade excessive force and required the principal
of the school to have a “gracious personality free from harshness and rudeness”

 5. Theory of Transmission

Calvin had an elaborate theory of government. He separated the church into four
offices: pastor; doctor or teacher; presbyter or elder; and deacon. Teachers were mainly
to be in charge of schools and ministers in charge of Sunday schools. He viewed the
main function of the church as being educational. An intimate knowledge of the subject

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was gained by frequent repetition, such as the daily singing of the psalms. Calvin also
considered expositional teaching and preaching integral to the learning process.

 6. Theory of Society

Calvin put society squarely under the sovereignty of God. For Calvin, God
should be the president and judge of all our elections. Yet Calvin did not interpret the
state as the kingdom of God, rather as an opportunity for good government and to help
people. He believed the state should order all functions of life, including the church. In
the government he set up in Geneva, magistrates interpreted the law. Calvin accepted
Roman law in the secular arena. He encouraged these magistrates to have weekly prayer
times to keep themselves humble and truthful. Calvin’s espoused a state run by lay
people who upheld the teachings of the church (theocracy), not a state run by ministers
(hierocracy).

 7. Theory of Opportunity

While in Geneva, Calvin set up a government whose citizens pledged to

maintain a school to which all would be obliged to send their children including the
children of the poor, who would attend free of charge. It is not entirely clear whether
girls were included in this pledge, though there was a school for girls in Geneva. Of
course, the right to schooling was only available to those who were citizens of Geneva.
Calvin also heavily encouraged the building, through private donations, of the Geneva
Academy. This Academy became a leading institution of higher education in Europe,
and supplied the blueprint for universities in colonial America.

 8. Theory of Consensus

Within Christianity, the only framework Calvin knew, he believed in consensus

building. He frequently exchanged ideas with other reformers, carefully supporting his
view through scripture. He negotiated and compromised. Toward the end of his life,
Calvin proposed a “free and universal council to reunite all Christianity”. He was even
willing to have the pope preside over the council, provided he would submit to the
decisions of the council. However, Calvin was unable to build consensus with thinkers
outside his faith.

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 4.3 His work

In Basel (Switzerland) early in 1536 Calvin published the first edition of his
Institutes of the Christian Religion. When he learned that Francis I's objections to
Protestants was on the basis that they rejected all civil authority, as some Anabaptist
groups in fact did, Calvin rushed the Institutes to press with a dedication and preface to
the king, acknowledging the king's authority and laying out the articles of Reformed
faith in clear fashion. The work, which underwent several revisions before its final
exhaustive edition in 1559, was without question one of the most influential handbooks
on theology ever written. Its publication marked Calvin as a leading mind of
Protestantism and kept him from pursuing the quiet scholarly life he had hoped for. As
he described it, "God thrust me into the fray."

Traveling to Strassburg (a free city between northern France and Germany) in

1536, Calvin stopped for the night in Geneva. With the help of its Swiss neighbors,
Geneva had recently declared its political independence from the Holy Roman Empire.
Only two months earlier the reformer William Farel, it had declared allegiance to
Protestantism. Farel, who had been working in Geneva for nearly three years, somehow
learned of Calvin's presence in the city and asked him to join in the task of leading the
Genevan church. Calvin accepted Farel's invitation as God's call. He was twenty-eight
at the time. The rest of his life was given mostly to the work of reform in Geneva.

Calvin immediately set to work reorganizing the church and its worship. Under
Catholicism the Genevan church had observed Communion only two or three times a
year; Calvin, who favored a weekly celebration, recommended a monthly observance as
a temporary compromise. Calvin's emphasis on church discipline grew directly out of
his high regard for the Lord's Supper. To oversee that sacrament was taken worthily
Calvin instituted a church board (the Genevan Consistory) which assured that all
communicants (those participating in Communion) truly belonged to the "body of
Christ" and also were practicing what they professed. Calvin also introduced
congregational singing into the Church.

Calvin spent the following three years (1538-1541) in Strassburg, enjoying his
long-sought period of peaceful study. Calvin also pastored a congregation of Protestant
refugees from France, organizing its church government after what he believed to be the

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New Testament pattern and compiling a liturgy and popular psalm book. He also
participated as a representative of Strassburg in the religious colloquies in Germany
between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals (Protestants).

In the meantime, the Roman Catholic Church, mindful of Calvin and Farel's
expulsion from Geneva, judged that with some diplomatic care the city might be
persuaded to return to Catholicism. Early in 1539 the city council received a letter
urging such a move from Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto, an Italian archbishop with a
reputation for favoring moderate reform. The council was at a loss to find anyone in
Geneva sufficiently competent to respond to the letter. They forwarded it to Calvin in
Strassburg, whose reply to the cardinal still stands as a brilliant explanation and
justification of the Protestant Reformation.

Through a remarkable series of coincidences, the four principal Genevan leaders

who had secured Calvin's exile were disgraced - all in unrelated incidents - and in 1541
the city implored him to return. At Farel's insistence, he reluctantly returned.

The city council, now much more attentive to Calvin's proposals, approved his
reforms with few emendations. He began a long, unbroken tenure as Geneva's principal
pastor. Though constantly embroiled in controversy and bitterly opposed by strong
political factions, Calvin pursued his tasks of pastoring and reform with determination.

In addition to traditional areas of Christian works, such as arranging for the care
of the elderly and poor, many of Calvin's reforms reached into new areas: foreign
affairs, law, economics, trade, and public policy. Calvin exemplified his own emphasis
that in a Christian commonwealth every aspect of culture must be brought under Christ's
lordship and treated as an area of Christian stewardship. Calvin worked on the
recodification of Geneva's constitution and law, appeasing the severity of many of the
city's statutes and making them more humane. In addition, he helped negotiate treaties,
was largely responsible for establishing the city's prosperous trade in cloth and velvet,
and even proposed sanitary regulations and a sewage system that made Geneva one of
the cleanest cities in Europe. Although the legal code, much of it adopted upon Calvin's
recommendations, seems strict by modern standards, nonetheless it was impartially
applied to small and great alike and was approved by the majority of Geneva's citizens.
As a result, Geneva became a "Christian republic," which the Scottish reformer John

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Knox called "the most perfect school of Christ .... Since the days of the apostles."
Church and state served as "separate but equal" partners.

He founded Calvin´s Academy in 1559 (opened in 1564). It was of great

importance in the spread of Calvinism. Calvin's main intention was that his academy
would prepare ministers to preach the gospel. Its outstanding academic reputation and
brilliant teachers attracted Protestant students from all over Europe.

Calvin's reputation and esteem always seemed greatest among the population of
Protestant refugees who flocked to the city, making Geneva the accepted center of the
Protestant movement. Missionaries fanned out from Geneva to the surrounding
countries. The "Reformed Church" thus became the only Protestant group with a
universal program.

4.4 His influence

In addition to theology, two areas in which Calvin made major contributions are
education and church government. The excellence of his own educational training is
attested by the fact that his writings have had a lasting effect on the French language.
Perhaps more important, he encouraged the development of universal education. Calvin
was convinced that for every person to be adequately equipped to "rightly divide" God's
Word, he or she had to be educated in language and the humanities. To that end he
founded an academy for Geneva's children, believing that all education must be
fundamentally religious. The city's university grew out of the academy, linked to
evangelical preaching and offering an education comparable to the finest in Europe.
Some have called the University of Geneva Calvin's "crowning achievement." The
Academy was the place of education for many theologians, who had joined the
Reformation and then became Reformers of their countries. The effect can in no way be
overestimated. John Knox from Scotland, for example, studied in Geneva along with
many others from a wide range of countries.

Wherever Calvinism has gone it has carried the school with it and has given a
powerful impulse to popular education. It is a system which demands intellectual
manhood. In fact, we may say that its very existence is tied up with the education of the
people. Mental training is required to master the system and to trace out all that it

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involves. It makes the strongest possible appeal to the human reason and insists that
man must love God not only with his whole heart but also with his whole mind. Calvin
held that "a true faith must be an intelligent faith"; and experience has shown that piety
without learning is in the long run about as dangerous as learning without piety. He saw
clearly that the acceptance and diffusion of his scheme of doctrine was dependent not
only upon the training of the men who were to expound it, but also upon the intelligence
of the great masses of humanity who were to accept it. Calvin crowned his work in
Geneva in the establishment of the Academy. Thousands of pilgrim pupils from
Continental Europe and from the British Isles sat at his feet and then carried his
doctrines into every corner of Christendom. Knox returned from Geneva fully
convinced that the education of the masses was the strongest bulwark of Protestantism
and the surest foundation of the State. "With Romanism goes the priest; with Calvinism
goes the teacher," is an old saying, the truthfulness of which will not be denied by
anyone who has examined the facts.

The Academy could be regarded as the culmination of Calvin’s work. It was here
that interpretation of Scripture, as the central interest of Calvin, began to be carried out
in a structured way.

This Calvinistic love for learning, putting mind above money, has inspired
countless numbers of Calvinistic families in Scotland, in England, in Holland, and in
America, to pinch themselves to the bone in order to educate their children. The famous
dictum of Carlyle, "That any being with capacity for knowledge should die ignorant,
this I call a tragedy," expresses an idea which is Calvinistic to the core. Wherever
Calvinism has gone, there knowledge and learning have been encouraged and there a
sturdy race of thinkers has been trained. Calvinists have not been the builders of great
cathedrals, but they have been the builders of schools, colleges, and universities. When
the Puritans from England, the Covenanters from Scotland, and the Reformed from
Holland and Germany, came to America they brought with them not only the Bible and
the Westminster Confession but also the school.

Three American universities of greatest historical importance, Harvard, Yale, and

Princeton, were originally founded by Calvinists, as strong Calvinistic schools, designed
to give students a sound basis in theology as well as in other branches of learning.
Harvard, established in 1636, was intended primarily to be a training school for

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ministers, and more than half of its first graduating classes went into the ministry. Yale
sometimes referred to as "the mother of Colleges," was for a considerable period a rigid
Puritan institution. And Princeton, founded by the Scotch Presbyterians, had a
thoroughly Calvinistic foundation.

Calvin's ideas on church government, which have had a powerful effect on

political theory in the West, are regarded by other scholars as his greatest contribution.
The representative form of government he developed was organized so that basic
decisions are made at the local level, monitored through a system of ascending
representative bodies, culminating in a national "general assembly" with final authority.
At each level, power is shared with the laity, not controlled exclusively by the clergy or
administrative officials. In emergencies the local church can function without meetings
of the upper-level bodies; in the midst of a hostile culture the church cannot be
destroyed by silencing the minister. As a result, the Calvinist church was able to survive,
even flourish, under adverse conditions. It experienced severe persecution in Holland
under Spanish occupation, in France (except during brief periods of toleration), in
England under Queen Mary, in Scotland, in Hungary, and elsewhere.

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 5. Conclusion

For Calvinists, Science and art were the gifts of God's common grace, and were
to be used and developed as such. Nature was looked upon as God's handiwork, the
embodiment of His ideas, in its pure form the reflection of His virtues. God was the
unifying thought of all science, since all was the unfolding of His plan. But along with
such theoretical reasons there are very practical reasons why the Calvinist has always
been intense1y interested in education, and why grade schools for children as well as
schools of higher learning sprang up side by side with Calvinistic churches, and why
Calvinists were in so large measure the vanguard of the modern universal education
movement. These practical reasons are closely associated with their religion. The
Roman Catholics might conveniently do without the education of the masses. For them
the clergy — in distinction from the laity — were the ones who were to decide upon
matters of church government and doctrine. Hence these interests did not require the
training of the masses. For salvation, all that the layman needed was an implied faith in
what the church believed. It was not necessary to be able to give an intelligent account
of the tenets of his faith. At the services not the sermon but the sacrament was the
important conveyor of the blessings of salvation, the sermon was less needed.

For the Calvinist matters were just reversed. The government of the church was
placed in the hands of the elders, laymen, and these had to decide upon the matters of
church policy and the weighty matters of doctrine. Furthermore, the layman himself had
the grave duty, without the intermediation of a sacerdotal order, to work out his own
salvation, and could not suffice with an implied faith in what the church believed. He
must read his Bible. He must know his creed. And it was a highly intellectual erred at
that. Even for the Lutheran, education of the masses was not as urgent as for the
Calvinist. It is true; the Lutheran also placed every man before the personal
responsibility to work out his own salvation. But the laity were in the Lutheran circles
excluded from the office of church government and hence also from the duty of
deciding upon matters of doctrine. From these considerations it is evident why the
Calvinist must be a staunch advocate of education. If on the one hand God was to be
owned as sovereign in the field of science and if the Calvinist's very religious system
required the education of the masses for its existence. Calvinist pressed learning to the
limit. Education is a question of to be or not to be for the Calvinist.

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 The traditionally high standards of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches for
ministerial training are worthy of notice. While many other churches ordain men as
ministers and missionaries and allow them to preach with very little education, the
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches insist that the candidate for the ministry shall be a
college graduate and that he shall have studied for at least two years under some
approved professor of theology. As a result a larger proportion of these ministers have
been capable of managing the affairs of the influential city churches. This may mean
fewer ministers but it also means a better prepared and a better paid ministry.

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