May 2, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Summary: Calvin College has purchased a rare book by John Calvin and now is
one of only six libraries in the world to own the original work.
Full story, including JPG, see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/calvin-book.htm
A small book from long ago will make a big impact at Calvin College for years
to come.
The college's H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies recently purchased a
copy of "Congrégation sur l’élection éternelle de Dieu." The book was
printed in Geneva in 1562 by Vincent Bres and only five libraries in Europe are
known to own it and none in the United States.
It measures just three inches by 4¾ inches in size, slightly bigger than a
deck of cards, but what is contained in its 118 pages will be invaluable to
scholars interested in the mind of theologian John Calvin, for whom Calvin
College is named.
The work, written in French, presents Calvin’s teaching on election,
particularly the issue of universal salvation against particular election
(Calvin came down on the side of particular election).
Calvin College purchased the book from a retired theology professor in Indiana
who called the college out of the blue one day, wondering if it might be of
interest to the Meeter Center.
Calvin's Paul Fields says it is unique to find an original book such as this
recent purchase and notes that the historical context for this work involved
disagreements between John Calvin and Jerome Bolsec, a former monk and
physician from Paris, over the issue of predestination and election.
The Meeter Center with its rare items, books, articles, literature, and
bibliographies is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most extensive and
user-friendly of all Calvin and Calvinism collections.
This summer the Center will host a National Endowment for the Humanities
summer institute for college and university professors called “Teaching the
Reformation in a Pluralist Age.”
For more on the Meeter Center's rare books see
http://www.calvin.edu/meeter/collections/rarebooks.htm
Contact Fields at 616-526-7041
-end-
Received on Wed May 2 00:30:23 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed May 02 2007 - 00:30:23 EDT