Calvinism A Very Short Introduction

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.

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Jon Balserak, Senior Research Fellow, University of Bristol

Jon Balserak 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.