Calvin. History and Reception of a Reformation Week 1. Calvin's Life Introduction Hello. My name is Christophe Chalamet, Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Geneva. Welcome to the first week of our course on John Calvin,
"History and Reception of a Reformation." We are so glad that you're joining us -- virtually -- here in Geneva, where you will discover several key places related to John Calvin's life and to the Reformation. Calvin is a controversial figure: reviled by some, venerated by others... In keeping with our academic mission, we will be presenting John Calvin in a nuanced, critical manner. This course is a five week course. Each week, we will cover a specific thematic aspect of the course's subject matter. The first week will focus on the context of Calvin's life and his personal biography. During the second week, we will cover Calvin's theology. Week 3 will be devoted to Calvin's ethics, his ideas concerning morality. In Week 4, we will cover the spread of Calvinism all over the world. Finally, in Week 5, we will address the relevance of Calvin's thought in today's world: why read Calvin today? This course is the result of a team effort. Around me are the main contributors who took part in its preparation. Thank you. My name is Michel Grandjean. I teach History of Christianity at the School of Theology. Christian history is vast, spanning more than 20 centuries. My areas of expertise range from the Middle Ages to the present, with a
particular focus on the 19th century. In the past, I've had the pleasure of teaching several courses on the Reformation in general, and John Calvin in particular. My role in this MOOC will be to present most of the material during the first week. During the rest of the course, I will occasionally speak about certain specific aspects of John Calvin's work. My name is François Dermange. I am Professor of Ethics at the School of Theology of the University of Geneva, where I teach Theological Ethics. More generally, I also teach Ethics, principally from a philosophical point of view, at the University. The study of Ethics includes both fundamental, philosophically-oriented aspects, and issues grounded in reality, centered around concrete applications. In Calvin's ethics -- the subject of one of my books -- we will see both of these aspects: the fundamental, philosophical dimension as well as the applied dimension. Furthermore, we will take a critical approach in assessing how Calvin's ethics have influenced the lives of men and women, and of entire societies, all the way until today. My name is Sarah Nicolet. After getting a PhD in Political Science, I started studying Theology. I am currently completing my Master's degree here at the School of Theology. For this MOOC, I took part in the preparation and coordination of the course's various sections and helped make the course available online via our Internet platform. You won't be seeing me on screen very much, but I will be managing and moderating the course's online forum, where you can ask questions and post comments. So please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions -- I look forward to seeing you online. My name is Christophe Chalamet. I teach Systematic Theology, which means I focus on theological ideas and their relevance in today's world. I am the Coordinator of this MOOC, and you will mostly see me during the second week of the course, when I'll be discussing the Reformer's theology. I leave you now in the hands of Michel Grandjean, who will be your guide during the first week of our course. Thank you, Christophe. During this first week, we will be learning a series of concepts -- for example, the Reformation. We will also go over some of the elements of Calvin's life. Not all of them, to be sure, as Calvin's life, though relatively short (he died at age 55),
was exceptionally rich. We will learn how Calvin engineered the Reformation in Geneva. In particular, we will learn about the institutions that he envisioned as the pillars of this Reformation in Geneva. We will also explore one particularly famous event in Calvin's life: the conviction of Michael Servetus in 1553. On behalf of all of us, I hope you enjoy this course as much as our entire team has enjoyed putting it together.