Is John Calvin the Enemy?

A Pastor Friend Weighs In. Plus: Our latest journal and a Hot Wheels® Poster, of course.

Feb 18, 2026

Now in Print!

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This one showcases a poetic craft project, a column by upcoming speaker Dr. Curt Thompson, a reflection from recent speaker Ben Norquist, and something out of left field: A conversation (I hope) about John Calvin.

Why Talk About This Guy Calvin?

Here’s what I wrote in the journal:

Living in Lancaster County, I’ve encountered earnest Christians in the Anabaptist tradition who tend to have a negative view of Jean Calvin. Understandably, a history of persecution against “second-baptizers” in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe formed a multi-generational wounding, something all believers, especially those in the Protestant camp, should lament. Nonetheless, the world-embracing and pastoral heartbeat of Calvin’s commentaries and Institutes of the Christian Religion remain inspirational worldwide. His worldview has seen a sort of revival among folks with a vision for Christ’s lordship over all of life. I’m one of those who appreciates such tools for cultural transformation. This excerpt, I hope, is the beginning of a conversation….

Let’s Talk.

Maybe you too have strong feelings about “Calvinism.” And probably for good reason. As in so many “isms,” the adherents vary widely from the nominal, faithful, radical, and downright weird.

I hope you’ll take a moment to read my friend Ryan Reed’s initial thoughts on whether or not “Calvin is the enemy.” He has much more to say, and if there’s ample interest, we can create a conversation. I’ve got some ideas on the subject too as well as some resources to recommend for our times.

So, don’t by shy. Please pose a question or post a comment below for us to interact with.

Meet Ryan

Ryan is Associate Pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Providence, RI. He was born in Mountain View, California. Raised in a pastor’s home, Ryan moved with his family to Ottawa, Canada when his father accepted a call to pastor a church there. He was eleven at the time and is now a dual US-Canadian citizen. He received his B.A. from Moody Bible Institute and his M.Div from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from the University of Toronto. Ryan’s doctoral research focuses on John Calvin’s thinking on happiness and human purpose. Ryan is married to Jenny, and has three children. In his spare time, he enjoys running and weight training, hiking with family and friends, and he aspires to learn to fly fish.

Is Calvin the Enemy?

When Tom suggested this title for an article, I was sold. In many parts of the church today, Calvin is seen as an enemy of humanity, particularly in light of his teaching on predestination which tends to obscure his myriad other contributions to theology.

He’s often seen as someone who had nothing better to do than to talk about whether someone is “elect” or not, maybe as some “Calvinists” today conduct themselves! From this view, it’s difficult to imagine Calvin smiling. Or if we can picture it, we imagine he is smiling because someone else is sad. In this view, he truly would be the enemy of goodness, happiness, and even love.

I want to suggest that Calvin has much to offer that all Christians can appreciate. In fact, rather than being the enemy of goodness, happiness and love, Calvin seeks to give a vision of how these very attributes are rooted in the God of Scripture.

As a theologian who loves to use images and metaphors, Calvin famously compares the Bible, for instance, to eyeglasses which enable us to see the world accurately. In another place he says the world is the theater of God’s glory.

The one I want to highlight is Calvin’s image of God as the fountain of every good. This is one of his first metaphors in his most famous work The Institutes of the Christian Religion. I believe this metaphor gives all Christians a beautiful picture of who God is, a God who is for us, radically for us.

He says we need to be “persuaded that [God] is the fountain of every good, and we must seek nothing elsewhere than in him.”

Just prior to this, Calvin had begun the Institutes with the famous statement that nearly all knowledge consists in two parts–knowledge of God and knowledge of self (Inst. I.I.i). The knowledge of God and knowledge of self are intimately intertwined.

He argues, to know ourselves properly, one must know God. And in knowing God accurately, conversely, one’s self knowledge is fundamentally altered.

For, quite clearly, the mighty gifts with which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God (Inst. I.1.i).

Calvin’s point here is that anything and everything good within humanity is from God, including our existence itself.

He continues:

By these benefits shed like dew from heaven upon us, we are led as by rivulets to the spring itself. Indeed, our very poverty better discloses the infinitude of benefits reposing in God” (Inst. I.1.i). In this passage, God is “the spring itself.

We find in Calvin, then, this image of God as a spring from which all good comes. So whenever we are enjoying something that is good, we are enjoying the goodness of God. Calvin is not the enemy of human enjoyment. He knows how, and why, to smile.