John Calvin's Tyrannical Kingdom: Geneva's Experiment in "Christian" Dominionism Paperback – 16 Sept. 2016 by Dave Hunt

John Calvin has been acclaimed as a godly example who based his theology and actions upon Scripture alone. But in fact, much that he did was unbiblical—though entirely consistent with his belief system. Is not this sufficient reason to examine the doctrines of Calvinism carefully from Scripture? From 1541 to 1549, French theologian John Calvin attempted the perfect marriage of Church and State in Geneva, Switzerland. Determined to transform the city into a model of God’s kingdom on earth, Calvin established numerous detailed “reforms” as well as devising a system to police citizens through regular home inspections—questioning the residents on all aspects of their beliefs and practice. Historian Will Durant reports that Calvin even dictated "The allowable color and quantity of clothing, and the number of dishes permissible at a meal.... Jewelry and lace were frowned upon. A woman was jailed for arranging her hair to an immoral height.... Censorship of the press was taken over from Catholic and secular precedents and enlarged.... To speak disrespectfully of Calvin or the clergy was a crime...punished with imprisonment or banishment. Fornication was to be punished with exile or drowning; adultery, blasphemy, or idolatry, with death...a child was beheaded for striking its parents. In the years 1558–59 there were 414 prosecutions for moral offenses; between 1542 and 1564 there were seventy-six banishments and fifty-eight executions; the total population of Geneva was then about 20,000." Some of those who profess a “Reformed” faith today take Calvin’s Geneva as their model and thus hope to Christianize the United States—and then the world. Is it any wonder that much of the general public, accusing evangelicals of orchestrating a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” recoils in horror at such a thought? Many Christian activists with looser attachments to Calvin hope to force an ungodly American citizenry into godly living. But is such an agenda within the will of God? No one ever worked so hard at attempting to do this, nor for so long a time, as John Calvin—whose “righteous” judgment dominated the people of Geneva for eight deadly years. Should today’s Christian leaders continue to laud a man whose behavior was often so far removed from the commandments of Christ and the example of Paul? Should believers seek to celebrate (and emulate) Calvin’s theology—which led to his ungodly reign as “protestant pope” of Geneva?