You would not expect this from his dour reputation, but John Calvin transformed the Western understanding of sex, marriage, and family life. In this fascinating, even sensational, volume John Witte and Robert Kingdon treat comprehensively the new theology and law of domestic life that Calvin and his fellow reformers established in sixteenth-century Geneva. Bringing to light and life hundreds of newly discovered cases and theological texts, Witte and Kingdon trace the subtle historical forms and norms of sex, marriage, and family life that still shape us today.
For over four hundred years, the city of Geneva has been important in Western history. The character of this city--steady, serious, erudite, clannish, and proud--has remained virtually unchanged since Calvin's time, the heroic age when she first became famous. Professor Monter relates the "success story" of this fascinating city through a fresh synthesis of printed and archival sources. In the sixteenth century, Geneva succeeded in winning and maintaining her independence, a feat unique in Reformation Europe. Into this special environment came Calvin--and his triumph was the result of a brilliant mind and an undeviating will being placed in the midst of the crude and confused surroundings of a revolutionary commune. Professor Monter explores the components of Geneva's and Calvin's fame in a number of ways. First, he outlines the history of the city from the early sixteenth century to Calvin's death in 1564, showing the tumultuous environment of the city where Calvin worked and the means by which local opposition to Calvin dissolved. He next describes the principal institutions and social groups of Calvin's Geneva: the established church, the civil government, and the foreign refugee communities. Finally, he assesses Calvin's legacy to Geneva and discusses the workings of Calvinism after its founder's death. As a whole, Calvin's Geneva is a revealing portrait of a major city and an acute analysis of its effect on one of the most important men in the sixteenth century.
In Calvin's Geneva, the changes associated with the Reformation were particularly abrupt and far-reaching, in large part owing to John Calvin himself. Adultery and Divorce in Calvin's Geneva makes two major contributions to our understanding of this time. The first is to the history of divorce. The second is in illustrating the operations of the Consistory of Geneva--an institution designed to control in all its variety the behavior of the entire population--which was established at Calvin's insistence in 1541. This mandate came shortly after the city officially adopted Protestantism in 1536, a time when divorce became legally possible for the first time in centuries. Robert Kingdon illustrates the changes that accompanied the earliest Calvinist divorces by examining in depth a few of the most dramatic cases and showing how divorce affected real individuals. He considers first, and in the most detail, divorce for adultery, the best-known grounds for divorce and the best documented. He also covers the only other generally accepted grounds for these early divorces--desertion. The second contribution of the book, to show the work of the Consistory of Geneva, is a first step toward a fuller study of the institution. Kingdon has supervised the first accurate and complete transcription of the twenty-one volumes of registers of the Consistory and has made the first extended use of these materials, as well as other documents that have never before been so fully utilized.
You Can Love God and Still Get a Divorce. And get this, God will still love you. Really. Are you in a destructive marriage? One of emotional, physical, or verbal abuse? Infidelity? Neglect? If yes, you know you need to escape, but you're probably worried about going against God's will. I have good news for you. You might need to divorce to save your life and sanity. And God is right beside you. In "The Life-Saving Divorce" You'll Learn: - How to know if you should stay or if you should go.- The four key Bible verses that support divorce for infidelity, neglect, and physical and/or emotional abuse. - Twenty-seven myths about divorce that aren't true for many Christians. - Why a divorce is likely the absolute best thing for your children. - How to deal with friends and family who disapprove of divorce. - How to find safe friends and churches after a divorce. Can you find happiness after leaving your destructive marriage? Absolutely yes! You can get your life back and flourish more than you thought possible. Are you ready? Then let's go. It's time to be free. This book includes multiple first-person interviews. Explains psychological abuse, gaslighting, the abuse cycle, Christian divorce and remarriage, children and divorce, domestic violence, parental alienation, mental abuse, and biblical reasons for divorce. Includes diagrams such as the Duluth Wheel of Power and Control (the Duluth Model) and the Abuse Cycle, as well as graphs based on Paul Amato's 2003 study analyzing Judith Wallerstein's book, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. Includes quotes by Leslie Vernick, Lundy Bancroft, Shannon Thomas, David Instone-Brewer, Natalie Hoffman, LifeWay Research, Kathleen Reay, Gottman Institute, Glenda Riley, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Steven Stosny, Michal Gilad, Leonie Westenberg, Nancy Nason-Clark, Julie Owens, Marg Mowczko, Justin Holcomb, Barna Group, Justin Lehmiller, Alan Hawkins, Brian Willoughby, William Doherty, Brad Wright, Bradford Wilcox, Sheila Gregoire, E Mavis Hetherington, John Kelly, Betsey Stevenson, Justin Wolfers, Norm Wright, Virginia Rutter, Judith Herman, and Bessel van der Kolk. Recommended reading list includes: Henry Cloud, John Townsend Boundaries books, Richard Warshack books.
The three years that Calvin spent in Strasbourg are often considered a simple gap between his two periods in Geneva (1536-1538 and 1541-1564). However, this period has been shown to be extremely fertile for Calvin in literary, theological, and pastoral fields, not forgetting his marriage to Idelette de Bure. It was in Strasbourg that Calvin published the second Latin edition, greatly increased, of his "Institution," and where he wrote the first French version of this summary of the reformed religion. There he lectured on "Romans," replied to Cardinal Sadolet, and wrote his "Little Treatise on Holy Communion," intended to reconcile Protestants. There he became familiar with Martin Bucer's catechetical practice and with the songs of the Strasbourg parishes, which inspired his "Some Psalms and Canticles put into Song," and there he gained the friendship of Philippe Melanchthon and the respect of other Reformers.
Analyzes the interplay between Christian theological norms and Western legal principles concerning marriage, examining the theology and law of marriage in the Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, and Enlightenment traditions.
How would you describe the spiritual aroma of your home? The source of this aroma is the relationship between husband and wife. Many can fake an attempt at keeping God's standards in some external way. What we cannot fake is the resulting, distinctive aroma of pleasure to God. Reforming Marriage does what few books on marriage do today: it provides biblical advice. Douglas Wilson points to the need for obedient hearts on the part of both husbands and wives. Godly marriages proceed from obedient hearts, and the greatest desire of an obedient heart is the glory of God.
