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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring
Since its beginnings during the Protestant Reformation, Calvinism has spread throughout Europe and America and eventually to Africa and Asia. Today it is one of the largest schools of thought in Protestantism.
In this
Very Short Introduction, Jon Balserak explores how Calvinist ideas and practices arose, spread, and took root. Considering its influence on modern thought on everything from theology to money, politics, and the arts, Balserak also combats some of the common misconceptions about Calvinism, and outlines the Calvinist understanding of God, the world, humankind, and the meaning of life. He also addresses Calvinism in a twenty-first century context and considers the challenges it faces today.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The
Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
List of contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1: Beginnings
- 2: Becoming a Christian
- 3: Sources of truth
- 4: The covenants
- 5: Humanity and new humanity
- 6: Church and state
- 7: Culture, work, and conscience
- 8: God, hell, and love
- 9: Calvinism in the 21st century
- Chronology
- Further reading
About the author
Jon Balserak is Senior Research Fellow at University of Bristol and Visiting Lecturer at University of Illinois Chicago. His publications include
John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet (OUP, 2014) and
Geneva's Use of Lies, Deceit, and Subterfuge, 1536-1563: Telling the Old, Old Story in Reformation France (OUP, 2024). He also authored the entries for "Calvin, Jean" and "Calvinism" in
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th edition (OUP, 2022). He teaches on the Renaissance, Reformation, and western civilization.
