Who is John Calvin and what’s he got to do with Independence Day?  Arguably, it’s the work of  God in and through John Calvin that resulted in the birth of America.  John Calvin is the true founding father of this nation.  Yet, many of us have never heard of him, certainly not growing up in public schools. Sadly,  most churches and Christians  ignore Church history, and could care less who died and fought in the past for the faith.   Did you know that God COMMANDS you to know your history, Christian,

“Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.” 1 Chronicles 16:12

So, let’s get to studying and while there are many places we could start, here’s one introduction:

“John Calvinné Jean Cauvin (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he suddenly broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1520s. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of his seminal work Institutes of the Christian Religion.”  from Wikipedia

If you’re too busy to read, here’s a sermon on John Calvin (yes, some pastors do still teach church history). Click here.

So now you’ll at least begin to know who he is.  Soon we’ll discuss why some Christians call themselves Calvinists.