John Calvin
Jean Calvin was born in Noyon in 1509, into a Catholic family. He has the opportunity to study and in his youth he frequents Lutheran circles which will later push him to spread Protestantism. In 1536, when the wars of religion were already reigning in France, notably following the "Affairs of the cupboards", Calvin went to Geneva and met Guillaume Farel there who threatened him to stay to convert the Genevans, which he did not not able to do. Calvin therefore remained in Switzerland and imposed the severe doctrines of Calvinism, such as the wearing of black clothes, the absence of jewelry and the abstention from parties. Two years later, the Genevans expelled him, as well as Guillaume Farel, tired of all his very strict constraints. Calvin goes to Strasbourg where he marries Idelette de Bure, a widow whose children he will accept as his own. Three years later, the people of Geneva are again calling for Calvin.
The notion of predestination
According to the precepts of Protestantism, the salvation of the soul does not depend on the good and bad deeds performed during life. Salvation comes from the conviction of the existence of God. However, Calvin goes further by affirming that it is not enough to believe to access eternal life. Indeed, the notion of predestination translates the idea that some men on earth are destined to obtain the salvation of the soul, even before their birth, while paradise remains vain for the others:the non-predestined. He publishes On the Eternal Predestination of God in 1552, in response to the indulgences referred to by Luther, as well as any other form of payment for access to eternal life, Catholic practices which he fiercely condemns. For him and all Calvinists, the salvation of the soul is ensured “gratuitously” by the sincere faith of believers:sola fide (by faith alone).