It is unclear as to what caused John Calvin’s split from the Catholic Church. While he originally wished to study theology, a falling out between his father and the bishop who held jurisdiction over Calvin’s hometown of Noyon caused him to pursue a path in law. After his father’s death, Calvin returned to Paris to finish his degree in theology. Calvin wrote little about the state of his soul, instead possibly drawing on the influence of his fellow humanists. These peers seem to have helped him come to the decision to withdraw from the Catholic faith and pursue Protestantism. John Calvin’s studies of the Bible lead him to  envision a society governed by Bible and its teachings, not the interpretations of Rome and the Catholic Church. This strict and dogmatic faith was incorporated into a document written by Calvin called The Geneva Ordinances.

Ordinances envisioned a society governed only by the Bible, observing that Catholic Church tradition has strayed from the Word and there is no authoritative interpretation of the Bible by a human. According to Calvin, only God has the authority to interpret scripture. It also taught that God predestined whom he wanted to predestine, without consideration of the predestined people’s merits. Calvin interpreted the Bible literally, and his followers did so as well.

Calvin sought to integrate theological ideals through punishment. According to Ordinances, they ranged from a fine of five to ten sous to an hour in the pillory for blasphemy to three days imprisonment for unworthy songs. Games played for money could earn a fine of five sous to the loss of money won, while drunkenness earned a fine of three to ten sous and imprisonment. The consistory, the council of community leaders, as well as the secular lords who governed local areas carried out these punishments. These guidelines reflect the concepts of the Reformation and the resistance of the excessive lavishness of the Catholic Church. The regulations of this strict society included imprisonment, fines paid for misbehavior and given to the poor and the authorities, and admonishment by the consistory, who were elected by the Church.

Calvin believed these regulations served as an improvement over the Catholic-led society because they offered a relationship with God that was unaffected by material possession. Calvin’s wish to create a Christian community manifested in a society that was not only ruled by the government, but by the Church as well.

In the Geneva Ordinances (1547), John Calvin laid out a structure of rules and regulations to create a Christian community based on biblical ideals, not those of the Roman Catholic Church. This society placed great importance on the spiritual discipline of its people, heavily fining citizens who breached Calvin’s code. One major difference from the Catholic church was that Calvin only recognized two sacraments: baptism and communion (216). There were also strict penalties for drunkenness, singing unworthy songs, and brawling (217). Further attacking the Catholic Church, Calvin prohibits the adoration of idols, pilgrimages, papistical feasts or fasting, and attending mass (216). That Calvin admonishes going on pilgrimage and attending mass made his opinion of the Catholic church without doubt. His society was, in some ways, the antithesis of Rome.

Calvin’s Geneva depended on a system fines to maintain order and proper practice. The smallest of indiscretions, arriving late to sermon – or leaving early – held a fine of three sous, roughly a day’s wages (215). Fornication, on the other hand, between two unmarried people held a fine of sixty sous each and imprisoned for six days (217). Adultery came with a fine for an amount at the lord’s discretion and nine days imprisonment (217). These punishments were applied by the local secular lord as well as the consistory, the council of community leaders.

In this way, both the spiritual and secular leaders of the community worked together to safeguard their Christian society. The revenues gained from fines were split between the church, the local lord and the poor and needy in the community (218). This is further evidence of Calvin’s focus on creating a community of Christians, not only a church. Wrongdoers were admonished by the community. The community voted for their ‘guardians’, the church leaders (217). The fines levied were split between the authorities and those who needed it most. The Geneva Ordinances operates not only as a religious document prescribing correct practice, but also as a legal document that governs the whole community. Such a document would be welcomed in Calvin’s day – a day when Popes used the people’s money to build magnificent cathedrals and throw extravagant parties and couldn’t care less for the well being of the common Christian across the continent. This document was insurance that Geneva’s people would not be subject to papal theft, monetarily or spiritually. Geneva would stand together. The church, the secular lord, and the people would all work towards a common goal: a better Christian society.

Originally, John Calvin hoped for an ecclesiastical career in France, and became acquainted with humanism. When his father (who helped Calvin gain two ecclesiastical posts early on) had a falling out with the bishop of Noyon, Calvin pursued law, studying under two of the most famous jurists of the time. While it is not clear what caused Calvin to abandon Catholicism, Calvin left his ecclesiastical posts, and when King Francis I of France became more intolerant towards Protestants in 1535, Calvin fled to the primarily Protestant city of Basel, Switzerland. He eventually settled in Geneva after an eventful 6 years in which he wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion, was kicked out of Geneva by the bourgeoisie-led government after being persuaded to build a church there, and pastored in Strasbourg, where he got married and wrote a second edition of Institutes. Finally, in Geneva, he composed the Ecclesiastical Ordinances, in which he proposed an organization of the ministry of the church in a way that reflected the New Testament. In the Ordinances, Calvin envisioned a society that is driven by communal piety and rules that Calvin thought reflected God’s law and the “Christian” lifestyle. Strict rules were set on church life and procedures, as well as temporal matters of churchgoers. Sermon attendance was compulsory, along with requirements including timeliness and attentiveness (215). Violators of these rules were punished through fines and, in extreme cases, imprisonment (215-217). Prohibition of quarrels between churchgoers, “outrageous” songs and dance, and drunkenness were all features of Calvin’s ordinances (217). Calvin also specified certain procedural things regarding baptism and communion.

These guidelines for Calvin’s ideal Christian community reflect Reformation concepts that circulated around Europe in the early-to-mid 16^th century. There are only two sacraments discussed: baptism and communion, which is in agreement with Luther’s theology. Also, there seems to be a consensus among early reformers on the importance of resisting excesses, and we see this same idea in the Ordinances with the regulations regarding drink, song and dance, sexual immorality, and games with large quantities of money at stake (217). Like Calvin, many reformers condemned the abandonment of moderation under the Catholic Church, whose frivolous spending habits and lavish lifestyles of its clergy contradicted the humble life Jesus advocated for in the Gospels. Also, in the section “Superstitions,” Calvin lists several actions for which the offender should be admonished (216). Among these are idolatry, pilgrimage, and observation of the “papistical feasts,” for all of which the person at fault should be at the very least admonished, and in some cases, imprisoned or fined (216). Here, Calvinist doctrine explicitly departs from Catholic doctrine. Pilgrimage to holy sites and icons was encouraged by the Church, and pious acts like these were a significant monetary boost to the papal treasury, which funded the very extravagant building projects the reformers disapproved of. Next, any person who contradicts the Word of God is to be admonished, writes Calvin, and in some cases, where a scandal erupts, the matter is turned over to the local lord (217). There are two important ideas here. The reformers consistently accused the Catholic Church of deviating from the Bible and inserting rules into doctrine that are unsupported by scripture. In addition, the local lord (along with ministers and in some cases, guardians) ultimately had power over temporal matters, which is opposite of the Catholic Church, where religious authority had power over all matters, regardless of whether they were church business or not. For them, this represents an improvement over the previous Catholic society. Lastly, a common punishment was a fine, ranging from 3 sous (roughly the daily wage of an artisan) to 60 sous (215-217). These were relatively large quantities of money, and since there were no indulgences to purchase, the offender had no choice but to pay his fine and face the consequences of not being able to feed him/herself or his/her family. This was likely a great deterrent to breaking Calvin’s rules, which. In Calvin’s eyes, improved the cohesiveness and “Christian-ness” of society that was not apparent during Catholic times.

Ordinances gives us a glimpse into Calvin’s theology and his concept of an ideal, Christian community. It took a considerable amount of time for his ideas to be accepted in Geneva, as he still faced opposition for many of the same reasons as he did previously in Geneva. Eventually, in 1549 Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli’s successor Heinrich Bullinger signed the Zurich Consensus, a doctrinal agreement that sought to unite Protestant Switzerland.