Calvin and his influence, 1509-2009

This volume collects papers initially written as the plenary addresses for the largest international scholarly conference held in connection with the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth, organized in Geneva by the Institute of Reformation History. The organizers chose as theme for the conference ''Calvin and His Influence 1509-2009,'' hoping to stimulate reflection about what Calvin's ideas and example have meant across the five centuries since his lifetime, as well as about how much validity the classic interpretations that have linked his legacy to fundamental features of modernity such as democracy, capitalism, or science still retain.