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John Calvin. The Strasbourg years (1538-1541) . Edited by Matthieu Arnold (trans. Felicity McNab ). Pp. xvii + 245. Eugene, Or : Wipf and Stock , 2016. $52 (paper). 978 1 4982 3962 2
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We have long known that John Calvin's years in Strasbourg (1538-41), after he and William Farel were expelled from Geneva, were significant. There Calvin became a pastor, theological lecturer, wrote a second edition of his Institutes of the Christian religion (1539) along with a commentary on Romans (1540), and saw first-hand the workings of a city church striking its Protestant path into what became the 'Reformed' church tradition. Most significantly, Calvin learned from Strasbourg's leading reformer, Martin Bucer. Scholars have seen Bucer's influence in Calvin's developing theology; and have also noted Calvinian influences on the great reformer.
Now we can gain an even wider and deeper picture of Calvin's formative years in Strasbourg through this collection which emerged from the 2009 Symposium in the city, 'When Strasbourg Welcomed Calvin, 1538-1541'. The publication of sources since the great work of Émile Doumergue at the beginning of the twentieth century, on which much of the Calvin story in Strasbourg was based, has enabled new looks to fresh dimensions of Calvin and Strasbourg. This book brings the work of the symposium into an accessible form. It features fourteen pieces from mainly Strasbourg-based teacher-researchers who are experts in various disciplines.
Marc Lienhard's 'Strasbourg in Calvin's time' admirably sets the stage for the coming contributions. Lienhard explores the Strasbourg context, its leadersￂ -ￂ Bucer and...