To say the least, John Calvin was a most intriguing person. Many books have been written on his life, his person and his theology. There are many facets to him. We may wonder who John Calvin really was. What kind of personality did he have? We are able to form a view of who Calvin was as a person when we read through his exten­sive correspondence. But also in his sermons and commentaries Calvin suggests surpris­ing applications and analogies, which also cast light on his character. They give many indications of the meekness of his character, his patience, and his humility.

Calvin’s Meekness⤒🔗

In the first place we will consider Calvin’s meekness. Even by nature he was rather timid. By his own admission he states that he was given to “natural bashfulness and timidity.” He writes that he was “naturally of a timid, soft, and faint-hearted disposi­tion.” He rather preferred to live in “a pri­vate station, free from the burden and cares of any public charge.” When Calvin was summoned to return to Geneva after his banishment from Geneva, he writes: “my timidity nevertheless suggested to me many reasons for excusing myself from again will­ingly taking upon my shoulders so heavy a burden.” (Quotes from the Preface to Cal­vin’s Commentary on Psalms).

Calvin’s meekness is clearly projected throughout his writings. He continually speaks of his lack of understanding and the stubbornness of his heart. Writing in a letter to the Ital­ian reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli about com­munion with Christ, Calvin states that with his small in­tellect he cannot understand how this commu­nion takes place.

Repeatedly, in his writings, he refers to man’s stubbornness and pride of heart and he includes himself in these characteristics. He writes about the danger of hardening our hearts against God’s teaching. He prays that God would deliver him and his hear­ers from being deaf to God’s commands, as well as His mercies, and instead, urges submission to God. In His Commentary on Malachi he writes, “our sloth is such that we hardly advance one step though stimulated by thee.” In one of his prayers, found in his exposition of Joel, we find Calvin praying: “O grant that being allured by thy good­ness, we may surrender ourselves to thee and become so teachable and submissive.”

Calvin’s meekness is also characterized in the words of the prayer that he was accus­tomed to utter at the beginning of his lec­tures:

May the Lord grant that we may en­gage in contemplating the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom with increasing devotion, to his glory and to our edification. Amen.

Calvin’s Patience←⤒🔗

Another striking character trait of Calvin was his patience while undergoing suffer­ing. Calvin suffered much in his lifetime from various kinds of diseases and weaknesses. This was partially his own doing. Already as a student he accustomed himself to hard work. He studied much at night and during the day he ate little food. In this way he sys­tematically undermined his health, while he was untiring in his labours. Wolfgang Mus­culus, reformer of Augsburg, called Calvin a bow that was always strung. This heavy burden of work, coupled with his neglect to care for his body, caused him to suffer from indigestion and severe migraine attacks. He was also bothered with severe colds, which finally resulted in tuberculosis. He suffered intensive pain caused by kidney stones, hemorrhoids, fevers, and gout, so that one of his friends commented: “There is noth­ing healthy in you except your mind.”

Also on his deathbed Calvin suffered much pain and discomfort, but in all his sufferings he showed a sanctified patience. Beza writes of him:

In his sufferings he often groaned like David, ‘I was silent, O Lord, because thou didst it;’ and sometimes in the words from Isaiah, ‘I did mourn like a dove.’ I have also heard him say, ‘Thou, O Lord, bruisest me; but it is enough for me that it is thy hand.’

Calvin also suffered deeply from the af­flictions caused by the citizens of Geneva who opposed God’s authority and detested Calvin’s insistence upon obedience to God’s laws. Calvin always had to be on guard that the God-given authority of the church would not be infringed upon by the local magistrates of Geneva. Some of the citizens of Geneva were very liberal in their think­ing and to show their disrespect for Calvin, they would even call their dogs ‘Calvin’ or set their dogs on Calvin. At night they would make a lot of noise and fire rifles in front of his home to keep him from his work. They composed satirical songs about Calvin to mock him. In the midst of all these trials Calvin displayed much patience.

Yet the greatest sufferings in his life were caused by the pain he felt due to the mar­tyrdom of many in the French Reformed churches. At his request, the churches in France supplied him with young men and through Calvin’s teaching they became devoted ministers of the Gospel. He sent them back to France knowing that some of them would be killed for their faith. Reformed believers were sent to the gal­leys, where they were whipped by Turkish guards. Many were tortured, burned, and put to death. These men were no strangers to Calvin. They were his personal friends. Yet Calvin never hesitated, even though it cost him great sorrow, to send these men, who were like sons to him, from the safety of Geneva, back to France.

There are many letters that show that he comforted them and pointed them to the sovereignty of God and to the future joy awaiting them, urging them to be submis­sive and patient, to bear their suffering and to bow under God’s providential leadings. When the martyrs suffered and died, Calvin wept for them. These circumstances shaped him to be patient in the midst of much affliction.

Calvin’s Humility←⤒🔗

A third character trait of Calvin was his humility. He never thought very highly of himself. He was aware of his limitations. Al­ready as a young man he displayed this hu­mility in his doctoral thesis, a commentary of Seneca’s De Clementia (On Meekness). Seneca wrote this work for Caesar Nero, urging him to be meek and kind, and to stop persecuting his subjects. In this com­mentary Calvin promotes clemency and mutual forbearance. He explains that the king has to take proper care of his subjects. The king should regard all his subjects to be equal before him. Only in very severe circumstances may the king demand the death penalty of his subjects. Instead, he has to be a father to them. This theme was very rel­evant at this time in Europe because many kings oppressed their subjects and persecu­tions raged against those who adhered to the new religion.

The title page of Calvin’s commentary on De Clementia shows an illustration of a tortoise and underneath it the words, Te­cum Habita. The meaning is that a tortoise, who always carries his home with him on his back and never leaves it, should be our example. Tecum habita means to say: stay in your own house; be humble and realize your limitations. Do not overreach; realize that you are a person with many limitations.

Another example of Calvin’s humility may be found in his farewell speech to the ministers of Geneva on April 28 1564, a few months before his death. Among other things that Calvin said was the following:

And study too, that there be no bick­erings or sharp words among you, for sometimes biting taunts will be ex­changed. This will take place, it is true, in fun, but there will be bitterness in the heart. All that is good for nothing, and is even contrary to a Christian dis­position. You should guard against it, and live in good accord and all friend­ship and sincerity. I had forgotten this point: I pray you make no change, no innovation. People often ask for novelties. Not that I desire for my own sake out of ambition that what I have established should remain, and that people should retain it without wish­ing for something better, but because all changes are dangerous and some­times hurtful.

On the 11^th of May, 1564, the year of his death, Calvin, already bed-ridden, learned by a letter from William Farel, that this elderly reformer, now in his eightieth year and in feeble health, was determined to make the journey to see him. Calvin hum­bly wrote to him in Latin:

Farewell, my best and most right-hearted brother; and since God is pleased that you should survive me in this world, live mindful of our friend­ship, of which, as it was useful to the Church of God, the fruit still awaits us in heaven. I would not have you fa­tigue yourself on my account. I draw my breath with difficulty, and am daily waiting till I altogether cease to breathe. It is enough that to Christ I live and die; to his people he is gain in life and in death. Farewell again, not forgetting the brethren. At Geneva, 11^th May 1564.

The old reformer, however, did come to Ge­neva, and after seeing and conversing with Calvin, returned the next day to Neuchatel. Barely two weeks later, on May 27, John Calvin, this meek, patient and humble ser­vant of God, left this life to be with his Lord and Master.