Calvin College Buys Rare John Calvin Book

A small book from long ago will make a big impact at Calvin College for years to come.

The college's H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies recently purchased a copy of "Congrégation sur l’élection éternelle de Dieu."  The book was printed in Geneva in 1562 by Vincent Bres and only five libraries in Europe are known to own it and none in the United States.

It measures just three inches by 4¾ inches in size, slightly bigger than a deck of cards, but what is contained in its 118 pages will be invaluable to scholars interested in the mind of theologian John Calvin, for whom Calvin College is named.

The work, written in French, presents Calvin’s teaching on election, particularly the issue of universal salvation against particular election (Calvin came down on the side of particular election).

Calvin College purchased the book from a retired theology professor in Indiana who called the college out of the blue one day, wondering if it might be of interest to the Meeter Center.

Calvin's Paul Fields says it is unique to find an original book such as this recent purchase and notes that the historical context for this work involved disagreements between John Calvin and Jerome Bolsec, a former monk and physician from Paris, over the issue of predestination and election.

The Meeter Center with its rare items, books, articles, literature, and bibliographies is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most extensive and user-friendly of all Calvin and Calvinism collections.

This summer the Center will host a National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute for college and university professors called “Teaching the Reformation in a Pluralist Age.”

More on the Meeter Center's rare books.