From the Catholic Tyranny to the Protestant Theogracy: John Calvin and the Genevan Pattern

Abstract

Reformation consists of three main streams with their specific characteristics. They are Lutheran, Reformed, and Radical. That is the cause of why the Reformation doesn’t be evaluate as a unique homogeneous movement In this paper, I would like to evaluate John ' Calvin as the most important reformer of Protestantism in the contex of individual rights and liberty, presenting patterns in his Geneva. I try to show how Calvin transformed the city from the city of semi-Protestantism to the city of God. He put civil authority under religious hegemony. He made no tolerance. He gave no liberty. Many people damned as guilty and prisoned, exiled or burned. He nicknamed as “tyrant of Geneva”. Refoimation is a fundamentalist movement by going to the early Christian community and offering fundamental Christian aspects. Whatever reformed ring is taken as a model for religious reformation, it exposes very important problems, especially in relationship between religion and state