FAITH AND FREEDOM

Calvin’s ideas of religious toleration, representative government, constitutionalising monarchies, establishing the rights and liberties of citizens and the Christian work ethic led to the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions, developing the most productive and prosperous societies in history.

Calvin’s Reformation teachings dominated European and American history for centuries – setting the agendas and inspiring most of the greatest social Reformers. The record of history is that in every fight for freedom Calvinists were on the forefront of political and military resistance to tyranny. This was true of the Puritans in England, the Dutch fighting for freedom from Catholic Spain in the Netherlands, the Huguenots in France, the Presbyterians in Scotland, and the founding fathers of the United States of America. Historians have noted that Calvinism thrived in those countries where opposition was the greatest.