The year 2009 brought the five hundredth birthday of John Calvin (1509–1564) and with it a host of biographies. One biography that must not go unnoticed, due to its fine scholarship, is Bruce Gordon’s. His exhaustive treatment begins with Calvin’s sixteenth-century Reformation-context and ends at the deathbed of the colossal reformer. Gordon portrays a man who not only established a Reformed system to be carried on by his predecessors but birthed a biblical worldview to be emulated for centuries. Gordon clearly articulates that since Calvin’s day the church has yet to see a theologian and pastor of his magnitude and importance.

Several themes in Gordon’s work give the reader a taste of his treatment of Calvin. First, the biography appropriately draws attention to Calvin’s big God. As is so evident in Calvin’s commentary on Romans, he found himself appropriating what the apostle Paul so clearly taught, namely, that God is Lord over all and does whatever he pleases. As demonstrated in Rom 9 (“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” Rom 9:13), Calvin taught that “God’s choice was made before the twins were born; it was not on account of any good or bad on their part that the decision was made.” Moreover, “although both sons were initiated into the covenant by circumcision, God’s grace was not equally distributed” (p. 114). Therefore, as Calvin states, “There is no basis for this election other than the goodness of God alone” (p. 114). While Calvin’s doctrine of predestination caused much controversy, he refused to waver, for his teaching on predestination was exactly what the apostle Paul taught. Like Paul, Calvin was accused of making God the author of evil. In response, Calvin turned to Paul again and, arguing from the example of Pharaoh, he proved that even “Pharaoh was a tool in the hands of a God who not only knew in advance what the Egyptian ruler would do, but caused it to happen” (p. 116). To the contrary, Calvin’s understanding of predestination did not impute injustice to God but preserved the majesty, sovereignty, and glory of God. God is a debtor to no one and salvation must be by grace alone lest God be robbed of his glory. However, it is not the case that Calvin’s sovereign God is an impersonal, remote deity. As Gordon observes, “Calvin had moved away from the teaching of the Stoic philosophers who held that God was a distant, remote figure, in favour of the divinity he found in scripture” (p. 57). God is near, indwelling his people by his Spirit, accompanying his children in the midst of their suffering. In a parallel fashion to Calvin’s conversion, God is intimate and comforting, near to his exiles who journey home for the ultimate fulfillment of their union with Christ.

Second, Gordon shows that Calvin had a profound sense of pastoral calling. Calvin was not merely a theologian but a pastor-theologian. Calvin was on his way to become an academic when Guillaume Farel confronted Calvin with the cause of the reformation in Geneva. With a fear of God that could not be avoided, Calvin found himself, like the prophets of old, called to pastor a flock in need of help. Though Calvin was excommunicated from Geneva, he could not resist their plea for his return, led by Pierre Viret and Farel. What was Calvin’s response? “But it would be far preferable to perish for eternity than be tormented in that place” (p. 121). Nevertheless, Calvin returned to Geneva and died there, exhausted by his pastoral duties, yet found to be a faithful steward of the responsibilities handed to him by God.

Third, Gordon rightly emphasizes the impeccable intellect of Calvin in the midst of theological controversy. Whether it was the Placards or the Caroli affair, the Sadoleto debate, or the Bolsec dispute, Calvin knew how to execute a faulty argument. However, one should not get the impression that Calvin was a divisive man. While Calvin knew how to dismantle heresy, Calvin also knew how to preserve orthodoxy and keep common minded reformers at peace with one another, an equally difficult if not impossible task. As Gordon notes, in the mid-1550s Calvin strenuously sought to present a “united Protestant front” that tried to unite Lutherans and Zwinglians. And yet Calvin had to simultaneously combat opponents like the relentless Westphal. Unfortunately, while Calvin almost always successfully defeated his opponents due to his theological acumen, he could not get battling reformers to agree on issues like the Lord’s Supper (p. 249).

Fourth, Gordon’s biography fearlessly presents Calvin as a human. Gordon does not hesitate to demonstrate that this mammoth reformer made mistakes and was himself flawed. Perhaps the most famous example is the Servetus affair. While Calvin tried to reason with Servetus, nevertheless, Gordon reveals Calvin’s growing and final frustration with Servetus, a “worthless man” and “monster” who rakes up impiety from the “infernal regions” because he is a “pestiferous poison” (p. 220–21). Indeed, even Heinrich Bullinger condemned Servetus as a “demon from hell” (p. 221). To Calvin’s credit, he sought to alter the form of execution at the last minute but to no prevail. Despite all his faults, Calvin was not the court, and as a pastor Calvin did not want Servetus to die but rather to recant, as demonstrated in Calvin’s words at the verdict of Servetus: “I reminded him gently how I had risked my life more than sixteen years before to gain him for our savior” (p. 223).

Finally, perhaps one of the most important aspects of Calvin’s life was his commitment to the study, teaching, and preaching of Scripture. As Gordon notes, Calvin’s life was characterized by an extremely hard work ethic and dedication to studying Scripture and articulating theology. While not conducive to his health, Calvin rose at 4 a.m. and, as Beza states, stayed up till midnight to study if illness did not prevent him (p. 22). Such a work ethic was not characterized merely by rigorous exegesis and theological analysis, but also by prayer. Calvin was a man of Christian piety because he communed with the triune God. He was a man subdued by God and, having tasted true godliness, Calvin stated that he was forever “inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein” (p. 33). Such progress was evident not only in Calvin’s private life, through personal study and prayer for others, but also in his relentless effort to further the cause of the Reformation. Calvin feared God and knew he had been called by God to pastor a people. Therefore, such a prophetic role motivated Calvin so that he worked day and night, seeking to provide God’s people with translations of the Bible, biblical commentaries on Scripture, and a theological system from which to teach. Moreover, Calvin’s dedication to the study of Scripture proved to be a key mechanism in equipping him with the ability to instruct God’s people as “a learned interpreter of the Word” (p. 62). Calvin’s studies were not only for the sake of his own piety or for the multitude of publications he produced, but Calvin was first and foremost a preacher of God’s Word. Calvin’s rigorous exegesis is demonstrated in his commentaries, and the profit of such work is observable in his sermons, preached multiple times a week in order to train God’s people in the way they should go. At the end of Calvin’s life, he was very aware of his approaching death, and yet even on his deathbed, he read from the Bible, declaring to his colleagues “his dissatisfaction with some of the marginal notes” (p. 333).

Nevertheless, despite the major strengths of Gordon’s work, there are at least four significant weaknesses. First, while Gordon draws an appropriate amount of attention to the various controversies surrounding Calvin, Gordon hardly mentions the debate Calvin had with Albertus Pighius over the freedom and bondage of the will in salvation. Like Luther’s debate with Erasmus on the bondage of the will, Calvin’s debate with Pighius is very important, for it demonstrates not only the theology that would later become known as “Calvinism” but also Calvin’s masterful use of the church fathers and ability to reason not only biblically but philosophically, a skill overlooked by most biographers.

Second, it is surprising how little Gordon discusses Calvin’s emphasis on the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. While Gordon’s purpose is not first and foremost to provide a thorough overview of Calvin’s theology, still, the doctrine of justification was the material principle of the Reformation, and Calvin, a second-generation reformer, had much to say on such a topic that defined him as a premier Protestant reformer. While Gordon does mention Calvin’s “impressive” skills in debating justification at Worms and his rejection of Trent’s view of justification (p. 175), overall Gordon’s attention to Calvin’s focus on justification is miniscule. Consequently, Gordon spends more time on less noteworthy matters. Such an omission is unfortunate given the fact that Calvin’s understanding of justification was quintessentially the most important doctrine that separated him from Rome and would be one of the doctrines that would impact later Protestants the most.

Third, at the very beginning of his biography, Gordon paints Calvin as being ruthless, an outstanding hater, physically imposing, dominating of others, manipulating in friendships, a bully, vindictive, cruel, one who concealed the truth, obsessed with self-justification, an ego-maniac, uncompromising, and as being a difficult person who had a troubled conscience (pp. vii, x). Perhaps out of all of these accusations, the one that Gordon seems to return to the most is Calvin’s instinctive hatred for others, especially his opponents. However, such character judgments are not only over-the-top and unfair at times, but Gordon’s biography actually seems to prove the exact opposite. Yes, Calvin did not always exercise patience or proper tact, and at times he did express his utter frustration and disappointment with others. Yet Gordon’s biography again and again demonstrates Calvin’s extreme love for those loyal to himself and most importantly to Christ. When Calvin does act in a way that could be seen as angry or fierce, it is usually for the cause of the Reformation, and Calvin’s frustration is always with those who seem to impede its progress. Moreover, such character judgments by Gordon are surprising when Gordon himself admits that Calvin did not keep a running journal of his inner motivations but was consistently focused on the welfare of the Protestant cause—not on himself. In truth, we have very little material where Calvin unveils his thoughts and motivations to the reader. Therefore, Gordon’s speculations that call Calvin’s Christian character into question tend to be unfair. Such a tendency on Gordon’s part is surprising since so much of Gordon’s biography evidences a Calvin who is exhausted at the expense of others, spent for the sake of Protestant unity, sensitive to the criticisms of his peers, pastorally sacrificial for his congregation, and humble to the point of insisting on an unmarked grave at death. Calvin was not merely a reformer who taught true doctrine but a pastor who applied right doctrine, though not always perfectly, to his own life in an effort to reform his own Christian character.

Finally, while Gordon rightly demonstrates the importance of Calvin’s doctrine of predestination for the Institutes, Geneva, and Calvin’s successors (especially Beza), Gordon argues that the reason Geneva accepted Calvin’s predestination and providence was that Geneva lived in a “world over which they had little control” (p. x). No doubt Genevans did live in a world filled with sickness, death, and religious and political violence, all factors that should make every Christian cling to the God who is in sovereign control of all things. However, one gets the impression that Gordon thinks this is precisely why Calvin’s audience accepted such doctrines. To the contrary, Gordon does not give Calvin and Calvin’s congregation enough credit. Yes, their social circumstances impacted their theology, but Protestants in general were known to be those who went against the tides of their time, leaving Rome even at the cost of death in order to stand by what they believed the Bible taught to be true. Calvin’s congregation believed in predestination and providence not because they needed an immutable fix to get them through uncertain weather, but rather because they were convinced that the Bible taught God’s meticulous sovereignty. Many in Calvin’s audience were exiles and refugees who fled to Geneva precisely because they affirmed sola Scriptura, the formal principle of the Reformation. Consequently, Calvin did not get lucky that his times fit his doctrine (the impression Gordon gives). Rather, Calvin’s audience was most impressed by what the Scriptures have to say, and as it turns out the Scriptures have much to say about predestination and providence.

In conclusion, though there are several significant areas where Gordon’s life of Calvin could be improved, overall, Gordon’s biography of Calvin serves as a needed piece of scholarship in many respects and is another reminder of the reformer whose theology was “crucial to the Reformed tradition” (p. 339).

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