STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold, "Introduction", in: STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold (eds.), Calvin Global.

How Faith influences Societies, Geneva: Globethics.net, 2009. ISBN: 978-2-940428-03-8 (Globethics.net Series No. 3), pp. 13-15.

Introduction 13

INTRODUCTION

Christoph Stckelberger / Reinhold Bernhardt

The protestant reformer John Calvin from Geneva (1509-1564) had arguably the greatest global influence of all the reformers. His 500th anniversary in 2009 is the occasion to reflect in this book on how he influenced and still influences societies through his faith and ethical vision for the Church, economics, politics and society. A special focus is given to the influence of Calvin in various contexts outside Europe, especially in Nord America (USA), Africa (South Africa) and Asia (China, Indonesia, South Korea). The centre of Calvins faith and ethics is based on his profound and innovative method of very broad biblical exegesis (contribution 1). That is the reason why this book begins with this. Calvins overall goal was to show the sovereignty, grace and continuing care of God for human beings and the whole creation. Predestination and providence were not abstract dogmatic concepts, but formed a pastoral theology particularly for those like himself who were migrants and refugees, assuring them of Gods care (contribution 2). Calvins economic ethics is profoundly based on the value of equity and caring for the poor. He was not the inventor of capitalism, but rather of the social responsibility of economic actors (contribution 3). His openness and curiosity for science was a door-opener for the development of science and technology in the Anglo-Saxon world, but remained anchored in the medieval world view (contribution 4). The same is true

STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold, "Introduction", in: STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold (eds.), Calvin Global. How Faith influences Societies, Geneva: Globethics.net, 2009. ISBN: 978-2-940428-03-8 (Globethics.net Series No. 3), pp. 13-15.

14 Calvin Global
of Calvins concept of the role of women in family and church. The Reformation opened the door for participatory relationships between women and men, but at the same time it closed this door (contribution 5). The following articles show how Calvin was used and abused as many outstanding figures in history have been for different purposes which show the ambiguity of the influence of faith on societies: Max Webers theory of the spirit of Protestantism and his influence on capitalism was and still is very influential, more than his contemporary Ernst Troeltsch (contribution 6). In North America, the influence of Calvinism was key for building the United States and for the worldwide influence of Calvinism (contribution 7). In China, three different images of Calvin exist. Calvin could become a strong basis for the future ethics and structure of the Protestant church in China (contribution 8). In South Africa, Calvin was used for justifying Apartheid and being the basis for the struggle against Apartheid (contribution 9). In South Korea, Presbyterian churches have a great influence, but interpret Calvins heritage in different ways and are a challenge from a womens perspective (contribtuion 10). Calvinists are both individualistic pietists and socially engaged Christians (contribution 11). In Indonesia, Calvin is used for justifying the political abstention of the church and for on the other side encouraging it to take responsibility in politics and society as a partner of the state (contributions 12 and 13). Eight of the thirteen contributions were intially given as lectures in a series on Calvin organised by the two editors on behalf of the Theological Faculty of the University of Basel/Switzerland. They have also been made available in English and German on the website of the Calvin jubilee (www.calvin09.org). The additional contributions 7 and 9-13) show the debate about John Calvin especially in Asia.

STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold, "Introduction", in: STUECKELBERGER, Christoph, BERNHARDT, Reinhold (eds.), Calvin Global. How Faith influences Societies, Geneva: Globethics.net, 2009. ISBN: 978-2-940428-03-8 (Globethics.net Series No. 3), pp. 13-15.

Introduction 15
We thank the Theological Faculty of the University of Basel and the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches for their support for the lecture series. This book shows the commitment of the Globethics.net Foundation, the global network on ethics based in Calvins city Geneva, to look for the diversity of values in this case Protestant values and their contribution to common global values and to humane and sustainable societies. We encourage readers to invite other people to download the book for free and look for other full text documents on ethics in the large online library on ethics of Globethics.net (www.globethics.net). We also invite you to comment the contributions of this book on the Forum pages of the same website of globethics.net. Basel, October 2009 Christoph Stckelberger / Reinhold Bernhardt, editors