Which countries adopted calvinism

Calvinism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, DOI: This text provides an introductory survey of the ideas and spread of Calvinism across Europe. Balserak also discusses the long-term influence of Calvinism in a variety of contexts.

Benedict, Philip. The second half of the book addresses political and theological developments in the 17th century and considers the impact of Calvinism on the lives of individuals and communities. Graham, W. Fred, ed. Later Calvinism. Hart, Darryl G.

Calvinism: A History. A broad history of the development of Calvinist ideas and of the spread of Calvinism as a global religion, with a focus on relations between states and churches in the 19th and 20th centuries. Pettegree, Andrew, ed. The Reformation World. London and New York: Routledge, This significant collection of articles includes surveys of the ways in which countries and societies were affected by reform, and a wide range of different themes of political, cultural, and social life in Reformation Europe.

Calvinism in Europe , — Prestwich, Menna, ed. International Calvinism , — Oxford: Clarendon, Rublack, Ulinka, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformation.

An important and comprehensive collection of thirty-eight essays about reform movements in Europe and beyond, up to the midth century. Essays develop thematic analysis of the ideas, character, and cultures of the Reformation. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page.

Please subscribe or login. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. Not a member? Sign up for My OBO. They were able to build a society based on integrity, respectfulness, acceptance, perseverance, reliability, self-discipline, and efficiency. This is one of the reasons why, despite always being at war with the sea , the Dutch never lose or lag behind in showing how efficient they are with their dykes.

For me personally, the Netherlands remains a wonderful country full of wonderful people. Of course, it has its problems mostly with racism but it is also a country where hard work is valued , justice is frequently served, and talents are nurtured and appreciated.

Being open-minded and straightforward is a way of life. When a Dutch person lends you money, they expect you to pay back at the exact time you promised. Not because they would go broke without the money they lent you but because of the principle attached to it. The Netherlands is a perfect example of how you can be an atheist liberal or progressive and still live by the moral teachings of a religious preacher. It is a testament to the fact that even if one is an atheist, one can still choose to take good things from any religion.

Even years after the death of John Calvin and the Dutch statesmen who laid the foundation of the society we know today, it is evident that while religious beliefs may not hold sway in the Netherlands, their virtues still linger. Calvinism in the Netherlands is no longer tied to religious beliefs as it once was. However, it has developed into a way of life for the Dutch.

Millions of Dutch citizens are atheists but the funny thing is that they all lead lives that can be described as Calvinist in nature. Any other opinions out there on Calvinism in the Netherlands?

Feel welcome to share them in the comments! Hi Pat. The reason is mostly that religion is in a gradual decline in the Netherlands. Thank you Chuka for your insightful article. Being the product of Calvinist upbringing in the Netherlands myself I recognize many of your observations.

My brother and I grew up in the bible belt of the Netherlands in the s and s. We were not allowed to watch television on Sundays or to ride a bicycle. At age 16 I realized the hypocrisy of the church and left it behind. My brother became an active atheist; I would call myself more of an agnostic. However, the values that the church and my parents tried to instill, are still with us.

My brother and I have always been very socially and politically engaged. I worked in non-profit all my life. One of my peeves is that religions often claim the moral high ground. The Dutch seem to underline that living without religion can be quite OK. Thanks for the comment. I do love the Dutch spirit and Calvinist nature. I love how morally upright the Dutch can be without being religious at all.

There is a big problem however. When money gets added to government power, the Calvinist cocktail becomes poisonous, all moral uprightness gets thrown out the window and Dutch civil servants and judges will seek to crush anyone who stands in front of a bag of gold. See toeslagenaffaire, De Winter report about child protective services, or talk to anyway caught up in false debt collection law cases.

The result of all that is that innocent people live miserable lives in The Netherlands and develop mental disorders, commit suicide or else flee from injustice like I did. Please be warned and stay alert if you are living in The Netherlands. I think, Before Calvin got influential in the Netherlands, the nature of the Dutch, Catholic or Protestant or non-believer, was already: hardworking, no-nonsense and conscientious.

That made up for the teachings of Calvin being so successful: it rang true and was easily recognizable for the Dutch. That is why those characteristics are still seen in the Dutch today, even when they are non-religious. I have a Catholic background but I am atheist now like most of us. The anymosity between the Catholic and Protestant churches has dissapeared because few people go there anymore. That is a good thing, I think. I have some spiritual outlets, I still pray to Maria and I sometimes chant with my wife who is a Budist.

Here in Brazil I like Iemanja. She is the Godess of the sea. Greetings and many thanks to you for this interesting article. I have some remarks, though. I am a Spanish citizen. Firstly, I totally believe you when you say Wilhelm of Orange started the 80 years war. However, was the rising in meant against the Spanish or rather against the Catholics, or both? Who were the citizens who attended Catholic Services in churches under attack in , where they Dutch, Flemish, Wallonians?

Or were the Low Countries populated by Spanish colonists in ? Neither was Spanish. Thirdly, was there in force, in the 16th century, under Spanish kings of Flemish, German and Burgundian ancestry as well any prohibition to sell Flemish or Dutch goods in Spain? For one thing, did Calvin have nothing to do with the Government and Courts of Geneva for decades? Were the Dutch kings after himself and until today godless?

Many other questions should be asked. It is very easy to find the answer by a little research in reliable sources; and I mind not only Spanish sources. Nothing from what I propose to verify is incompatible with the virtues and bravery of the Belgian or Dutch people in any way. You would be surprised. Hi Chuka Nwanazia, delighted to come across this piece of yours.

So of course we are of Catholic extraction, and culturally and historically really belonged to what is now Belgium. The Catholic cult was forbidden, churches confiscated and all the way till the time of Belgian independence in the region was often under military rule. For a long time Protestant missionaries came to convert the Southern locals — one example was the father of Vincent van Gogh — but they never succeeded. That is the first intimation that culture and not just religion was at stake.

Moreover, there was no support from the ruling classes in the North for economic development, unless they could make money out of it such as in the case of the coal mines in Limburg. If Eindhoven became a big, prosperous city, it was thanks to the resolve of the locals such as the family Philips or van Doorn of DAF and others, as well as a motivated work force , not because of solidarity from up North.

Of course according to good old Dutch customs, all this couched in a religious framework. However, even as children, we already understood it was really a matter of culture with its roots in religion, but not only. It was more a matter of culture and mentality; in our eyes rigid, domineering Calvinist culture vs more easy-going and compromise-inclined Catholic culture.

But it was also regional. To our astonishment. But Catholics generally did like their rituals which is not amazing as their culture bathed in some years history.

Of course such things are anathema to a Calvinist mentality…. More in general, I always found it hard to understand that Calvinist culture. In my youth, there was in fact little or no contact. But many Afrikaners have had to question many aspects of their Calvinist culture and traditions which I guess the Dutch hardly ever had to do. And as I have a few grandchildren living in the North, I see that our Southern history is still largely ignored in their school programmes….

This is very interesting for me to read. I am an American who lived for a full year with a Dutch family in Brabant in They were a Catholic family, of course, and the father in that family was from Belgium. I was also raised as a Catholic. So much of what you describe here rings true to my experience in NL. I now teach a course very other summer since in Leiden, and it is clearly not just time but also culture that is different for me there.

In my experience, there is a significant cultural difference between north and south, even today. I feel it when I visit Brabant. I love it there. Although broadly focused on Chicago, it covers how the Dutch came to America and then the Midwest.

Dutch school, church, neighbors, bank, etc. The values and characteristics listed in this article are still true of the Dutch here in America. But there are even more Athiests. I think, the endless conflict between Catholics and Protestants in the Netherlands may made so many people choosing to step out religion completely. In Germany for example, there was much more tolerance and cooperation between Catholics and Protestants after , even with sharing churches and facilities.

The Dutch Calvinists were much less tolerant than the German Lutherans, even in Amsterdam Catholics had to hold there celebrations in hidden places, in the more tolerant City of Hamburg or Dresden for example, they openly lived next to each other. According to latest ststistics from only Protestant revolution was not the origin of Protestantism.

The first protestant church was the apostolic church. Later in 4th century AD Constantine the then Roman emperor- Constantine gave Christianity a special status in his empire because of a vision he had. But majority in his empire was still pagan and they found it hard to forgo of their old idolatrous practices. Also promotion of homosexuality, immodest dressing of women and female pastors by mainline protestant churches in western countries are unbiblical lies and are sexual immoralities that leads to eternal hell fire — Revelation So we must all repent of our sins , leave them and turn to God almighty for our salvation, by trusting in the sinless blood of Lord Jesus Christ shed on the cross at Calvary , Jerusalem some years ago for the remission sins of all mankind , so that all who will trust in Lord Jesus Christ will have eternal life.

Other pagan to christian transmutations include changing of Solar mass of December 25th to Christ mass,changing of fertility goddess Ishtar festival to Easter. First Iconoclastic movement of 7th-8th century century AD by Paulicians and Bogomils was against this practice, later Protestant revolution-2nd iconoclastic movement th century was waged mainly against this practice.

This soon spread to most of the church,because such was the influence of roman empire at that time. Later remnants of these Christians spread to Turkey and Balkans where they were called Paulicians and Bogomils respectively in 6th century AD. They were behind the Iconoclastic movement of th century Protestant-Christian revolution of 16th century is considered by scholars to be the 2nd Iconoclastic movement. Both these groups came under heavy persecution from Catholics because they dared to expose the truth of Christ to them.

In Italy they were called Waldensians and in France they were called Cathars. But Italian Waldensians continued to survive despite of severe catholic persecution and they remain to this day. By 15th century printing was invented and bible became available to masses.