Churches celebrate 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth

|PIC1|“Calvin certainly was not perfect, and it is against the grain of Reformed Christians to foster personality cults,” noted the president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Clifton Kirkpatrick, and general secretary Setri Nyomi.

“John Calvin himself would insist Soli Deo Gloria, only to God be the glory,” they added.

The WARC leaders said Friday should be commemorated in a spirit of gratitude to God for how Calvin's works have inspired a movement of people committed to living faithfully for God in different contexts, and how his legacy continues to inspire believers to be true to God in responding faithfully to current challenges.

“In our world today, many are hurting because of injustice in the economy long before the current meltdown in the financial markets. This has indeed been further aggravated by the financial crisis and job losses in many countries while those who benefited from the system before continue to be bailed out,” the WARC leaders noted.

“To this Calvin stated: ‘A fair distribution can become reality if the rich do not greedily swallow up whatsoever they can get together; if they do not rack up on every side what belongs to others to satisfy their greed…,’” they added.

The Reformed church leaders also made note of other current-day issues such as the environment and Christian unity and linked them to commentaries by the 16th century theologian.

“John Calvin wrote these commentaries in the 16th century. They continue to be relevant today. That is the legacy for which we thank God,” they stated.

Born on July 10, 1509, John Calvin is credited for his profound influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements. The 16th century theologian's ideas have also been cited as contributing to the rise of capitalism, individualism, and representative democracy in the West.

“It is our hope that inspired by this (Calvin's legacy), we who live in the 21st century will also be faithful to God in our commitment to Christian unity, to confronting the forces of evil and injustice in society, and to doing everything we can to be God’s agents of transformation, making a difference in our communities,” said the leaders.

“As we commemorate 500 years after the birth of Calvin, may all our actions and responses to global and community challenges today give glory to God."