In theology, election is the doctrine that God has from the beginning elected a portion of mankind to eternal life, passing by the remainder. It is founded on the literal sense of certain passages of Scripture, and has been amplified by the labours of systematic theologians into a complete and logical system. It dates in ecclesiastical history from the time of Augustine; but Calvin has stated it so strongly and clearly in his Institutes, that it is generally associated with his name. Research Election
Tale of a Tub is a satirical poem written by Jonathan Swift in 1696, and first published anonymously in 1704. The satire is directed against church divisions and deals with three brothers: Peter (the Church of Rome), Martin (Luther) and Jack (Calvin). It is generally accepted that the poem prevented Jonathan Swift's preferment to a bishopric. Research Tale of a Tub
Calvin Coolidge was the 30th president of the USA. He was born in 1872 and died in 1933. As president, Coolidge opposed tariff revision and abstention from the League of Nations. He retired in 1929. Research Calvin Coolidge
Calvin E Stowe was an American educationalist and abolitionist. He was born in 1802 and died in 1886. He was professor of Biblical literature at Lane Seminary from 1830 to 1850, and at AndoverSeminary from 1852 to 1864. He was sent by Ohio to examine the European school system in 1836. Research Calvin Stowe
The Gomarites or Gomarists were followers of Francis Gomar, a Dutch disciple of Calvin in the 17th century. The sect, otherwise called Dutch Remonstrants, very strongly opposed the doctrines of Arminius, adhering rigidly to those of Calvin. Research Gomarites
Guillaume Farel was one of the earliest and most active of the Swiss reformers. He was born in 1489 at Dauphiny and died in 1565. At an early age he was led by his intercourse with the Waldenses to adopt similar views. After preaching in various parts of Switzerland he came to Geneva, where he was so successful at the religious conferences of 1534 and 1535 that the council formally embraced the Reformation. He was instrumental, also, in persuading John Calvin to take up his residence in Geneva. An attempt on the part of the two reformers to enforce too severe ecclesiastical discipline was the cause of their having to leave the city in 1538. Research Guillaume Farel
Harriet Elizabeth Stowe (born Harriet Elizabeth Beecher) was an American author and abolitionist. She was born in 1811 at Litchfield, Connecticut and died in 1896. Educated at Litchfield Academy and at Hartford in 1836 she married the anti-slavery advocateCalvin Stowe. She is best known for her novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' which was first serialised in 'The National Era' of Washington between 1851 and 1852 and published in book form in Boston in 1852, in which she exposed slavery, and thereby greatly helped in the abolition of slavery in the USA. Research Harriet Stowe
Huguenots is a term of unknown origin, applied by the Roman Catholics to the Protestants of France during the religious struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries. During the early part of the 16th century the doctrines of Calvin, notwithstanding the opposition of Francis I, spread widely in France. Under his successor Henry II, 1547-1559, the Protestant party grew strong, and under Francis II became a political force headed by the Bourbon family, especially the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde. At the head of the Catholic party stood the Guises, and through their influence with the weak, young king, a fanatical persecution of the Huguenots commenced. The result was that a Huguenot conspiracy, headed by Prince Louis of Conde, was formed for the purpose of compelling the king to dismiss the Guises and accept the Prince of Conde as regent of the realm. But the plot was betrayed, and many of the Huguenots were executed or imprisoned.
In 1560 Francis II died, and during the minority of the next king, Charles IX, it was the policy of the queen mother, Catharine de Medici, to encourage the Protestants in the free exercise of their religion in order to curb the Guises. But in 1562 an attack on a Protestant meeting made by the followers of the Duke of Guise commenced a series of religious wars which desolated France almost to the end of the century. Catharine, however, began to fear that Protestantism might become a permanent power in the country, and suddenly making an alliance with the Guises between them they projected and carried out the massacre of St. Bartholomew's on August the 25th, 1572. The Protestants fled to their fortified towns and carried on a war with varying success.
On the death of Charles IX, Henry III., a feeblesovereign, found himself compelled to unite with the King of Navarre, head of the house of Bourbon and heir-apparent of the French crown, against the ambitious Guises, who openly aimed at the throne, and had excited the people against him to such a degree that he was on the point of losing the crown. After the assassination of Henry III the King of Navarre was obliged to maintain a severe struggle for the vacant throne; and not until he had, by the advice of Sully, embraced the Catholic religion in 1593, did he enjoy quiet possession of the kingdom as Henry IV.
Five years afterwards he secured to the Huguenots their civil rights by the Edict of Nantes, which confirmed to them the free exercise of their religion, and gave them equal claims with the Catholics to all offices and dignities. They were also left in possession of the fortresses which had been ceded to them for their security. This edict afforded them the means of forming a kind of republic within the kingdom, which Richelieu, who regarded it as a serious obstacle to the growth of the royal power, resolved to crush. The war raged from 1624 to 1629, when Rochelle, after an obstinate defence, fell before the royal troops; the Huguenots had to surrender all their strongholds, although they were still allowed freedom of conscience under the ministries of Richelieu and Mazarin. But when Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon set the fashion of devoutness, a new persecution of the Protestants commenced. They were deprived of their civil rights, and bodies of dragoons were sent into the southern provinces to compel the Protestant inhabitants to abjure their faith.
The first Huguenots to settle in America were a small band who had been induced to emigrate under the charter of the Carolinas granted to Sir Robert Heath in 1630. Upon reaching Virginia their means of transportation failed, so they remained in that colony. The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, and by this act more than 500,000 Protestant subjects were driven out to carry their industry, wealth, and skill to other countries. In Massachusetts they made a settlement at Oxford in 1686, but were massacred and driven away by the Indians. Parties went to Virginia about 1700 under Claude Philippe de Richebourg. By 1737, they had become an important element in South Carolina, where they founded at Charleston the 'South Carolina Society', a benevolent organization. They also made early settlements in the Middle States, notably in New York.
In the reign of Louis XV a new edict was issued repressive of Protestantism, but so many voices were raised in favour of toleration that it had to be revoked. The revolution first put the Protestants on an equality with their Catholic neighbours. Research Huguenots
Johann Jakob Herzog was a German Protestant theologian. He was born in 1805 at Baseland died in 1882. He was successively professor of historical theology at Lausanne, churchhistory at Halle, and latterly at Eriangen. His chief works are Calvin and Zwingli, Life of OEcolampadius and the Reformation in Basel, and his great Real-Encyklopadie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche, a vast collection of German learning and speculation, of which he was the editor, and to which he contributed over 500 articles. Research Johann Herzog
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Abbreviations
Research Election
