Ten Things to do on John Calvin's Birthday Xavier Pacheco 10. July 2009 11:59

johncalvin 1. Memorize TULIP.

2. Study Reformed Theology (here’s a place to start)

3. Read the Westminster Confession of Faith (for the 50th time this year for you Presbyterians).

4. Plan a trip to Geneva (or take one if you can quickly arrange it).

5. Watch the movie (Luther). Ok this isn’t about Calvin but it is about the founder of the reformation and an excellent movie.

6. Have a religious statue, image/icon destroying ceremony.

7. Enjoy a meal of Swiss or French origin (like Swiss cheese and French Fries).

8. Make sure you do not swear, gamble, or dance (even at weddings: apologies to my friend Elvis who is getting married on this fine day).

9. Be sure you attend church this week or be penalized (unless you have a good excuse, but it’d better be good). tn_calvinus

10. Enjoy a Calvinus beer. Note: this beer is hard to get, you basically have to go to Switzerland to get it. If you are not fortunate to be living in  Switzerland, acquire some other beer of choice (a blonde ale), remove the label, slap a picture of Calvin on it and pretend it is a Calvinus. Then, to John Calvin - Prost!

bonus: read this fine article on Calvin by my good friend Bill Petro.

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7/10/2009 1:50:47 PM #

I got a hoot out of your article!

I'm compulsively required to respond.

1. TULIP. Of course Calvin didn't write these. They are considered the "5 Points of Calvinism" but Calvin wrote about much more that this, these discuss only soterology. Rather, these 5 points were a result of a response (Synod of Dort 1618) to a reaction (Arminians) to the slightly stricter teachings of Calvin's successor (Beza).

2. Reformed theology: Well, of course, is there any other Smile

3. WCOF. I have it on my iPhone

4. Geneva. Been there two or three times. Great food at the Brasserie de l'Hotel de Ville in the Old City.

5. Luther. Here's Luther's comment on Calvin's reply to Italian Cardinal Sadolet's condemnation of the Reformation: "Here is a writing which has hands and feet. I rejoice that God raises up such men."

6. Iconoclasm?!

7. Fries. The French call them Belgian Fries, and they eat them with mayonnaise. Yuck!

8. Later in life, Calvin is rumored to have taken up bowling... on the Sabbath! Possibly a myth, but it was brought up at the time of the Westminster Assembly Smile

9. Church attendance. De rigeur.

10. Calvinus beer. How does it compare with Luther beer? You can get a litre of the brew in the basement of the LutherHaus (old Augustinian monastery) in Wittenberg. Just like Luther's wife Katie von Bora used to make it!

Bill Petro United States

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