Today is the 500th birthday of John Calvin, one of the great Protestant Reformers. I have to admit, even as a Protestant, I was never attracted to Calvin’s teachings – although appearing imminently “logical,” they seemed too detached from reality for my taste. Yet there is no question that Calvin is one of the greatest and most influential religious thinkers in Christian history.

One of the best little books which compares Calvinism with Catholicism is Jimmy Akin’s The Salvation Controversy. One of the things that might be surprising to many Catholics is that the Church has not defined exactly many aspects of her soteriology (i.e. how we are saved by Christ), and thus, many parts of Calvinism are within the bounds of Church teaching. Also, one might also be surprised to find how close St. Thomas Aquinas’ teachings on predestination are to Calvin’s.

For those interested, a great site to explore is Called to Communion, which is authored by a number of former Calvinists who are now Catholic.

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
You may have been a heretic,
But we’ll still pray for you!