I was told concerning Calvin that he lived a Christian life and did not place religion in faith alone as Melanchthon** and Luther*** did, and that he is therefore in heaven. * John Calvin (born Jean Chauvin or Caulvin), 1509-1564, French theologian and a leader in the Protestant Reformation. He first prepared for a career in the Catholic Church but then turned to the study of law and, later, the classics. Around 1533 he converted to Protestantism and began work on his Institutes of the Christian Religion (published 1536). In this work, frequently revised and expanded, he presented the basics of what came to be known as Calvinism. To avoid persecution, he traveled in France, Italy, and Switzerland. In 1536 he was persuaded to stay in Geneva, Switzerland, and advance the Reformation there. He began a thoroughgoing, austere revamping of the life of the city. Opposition to him emerged, and he was banished in 1538, but he was welcomed back in 1541 and remained there until his death. In 1541 his Ecclesiastical Ordinances provided a framework for church and civic life in what came to be called the "Protestant Rome." Regulation of conduct in Geneva was extended to all areas of life. Economic development was promoted by emphasis on such virtues as thrift, industry, sobriety, and responsibility. Supposed witches and heretics (such as Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553) were persecuted. Education was promoted. Calvin split with the Lutherans over the nature of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and vigorously trained many French refugees to act as missionary pastors in France. He also intrigued with various French nobles in the events that led to the Wars of Religion (1562-98). ** Philipp Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwarzert or Schwarzerd), 1497-1560, a German Protestant reformer, who collaborated with Martin Luther in drawing up the Augsburg Confession, a summation of the Lutheran faith, for whose formulation he was mainly responsible. Endorsed by the Lutheran princes, the statement was presented at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, and it became the chief creed of the Lutheran Church. *** Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German leader of the Protestant Reformation and founder of Lutheranism. Born a Roman Catholic, he left the study of law in 1505 to become an Augustinian monk, and later became a priest and a professor of theology. He agonized over the problem of salvation, finally deciding that it was not won by good works but was a free gift of God's grace. Luther's beliefs led him to object to the sale of indulgences (which remitted penalties for sin) by the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1517 he posted his 95 Theses in Wittenberg. So began a quarrel between Luther and church leaders, including the pope. Luther had hoped to reform the church rather than start a new one, but his doctrines led him to a complete break with the Roman Catholic Church. He believed that the Bible was the sole authority in religion and rejected the supremacy of the pope and the powers of the hierarchy of bishops. He held that grace cannot be conferred by the church but is the free gift of God's love. He objected to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation - that, in the Eucharist, the bread and wine are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Instead, Luther taught the real presence of Christ "in, with, and under" the bread and wine. Luther declared the Bible to be the true source of authority and renounced obedience to Rome. He maintained his stand in debates with Johann Eck and at the Diet of Worms (1521). For this he was excommunicated, but strong German princes supported him, and he gained followers among churchmen and the people. Thus began the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Luther wrote hymns, catechisms, and numerous theological treatises, and translated the Bible into German. He married a former nun, Katharina von Bora, in 1525 and had six children.