Calvin's Tormentors

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Understanding the Conflicts That Shaped the Reformer Written by Gary W. Jenkins This book offers a unique approach to John Calvin by introducing the individuals and groups who, thr ough their opposition to Calvin's theology and politics, helped shape the Reformer, his theology, and his historical and religious legacy. A respected church historian, the author details how the polemical struggles that dominated the Reformation characterized Calvin to such a degree that understanding his interlocutors helps us better understand Calvin himself in all his foibles, frailties, brilliance, and candor. Jenkins shows how Calvin had to defend or rethink his theology in light of his tormentors' challenges. The book reveals Calvin as a subtle thinker whose intellectual life wore the marks of the controversies he endured, giving readers a more nuanced view of Calvin's life and thought. The book highlights the central theological ideas of the Swiss Reformation and introduces figures and movements often excluded from standard texts, making it an outstanding textbook for courses on Calvin and the Protestant Reformation. Contents 1. Louis du Tillet and Calvin the Nicodemite: The Fitful Separationfrom the Whore of Babyon's Church2. Pierre Caroli and Calvin: Arianism, Sabellianism, and the Heretical Farellistae3. Sadoleto: The Erasmian from Rome4. Michael Servetus: The Primus Adversarius5. Sebastian Castellio: Colaboring Admirer to Belligerent Vilifier6. Calvin and the Enfants de Genève: Flatulence in a Purely Reformed Church7. François Baudouin: An Odyssey of Werewolves and Brothel Keepers8. Jerome Bolsec: No Insult or Vicious Defamation Good Enough9. Jocahim Westphal: Calvin the Reluctant Zuricher10. The Radicals: Italia as More Trouble Than IberiaMatteo Gribaldi: The Origin of Later RadicalismFrancisco Stancaro: Turning Calvin into a TritheistGiorgio Biandrata: The Tritheist Apostle to the Poles (and Valentino Gentili, His Silas)Laelius and Faustus Soccinii: Calvin's Thought Fermenting Endorsement "Gary Jenkins's Calvin's Tormentors is a refined piece of scholarship on what is a rather neglected aspect of the life and work of the Genevan Reformer, namely the nature and character of the voices raised against him and his reform program. Jenkins provides detailed and well-designed studies of Calvin's interactions with du Tillet, Caroli, Sadoleto, Servetus, Castellio, Berthelier, Baudouin, Bolsec, Westphal, and the Italian antitrinitarians. This is a fine historical analysis that provides a significant and often-neglected window on the Genevan Reformation--a work to be welcomed by scholars and students alike." -Richard A. Muller, senior fellow, Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research and P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Emeritus, Calvin Theological Seminary Paperback, 208 pages, illustrated, notes, bibliography, Author Index, Subject Index Show more