MASONIC INDEX

Calvinism

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Detail: Calvinism,    

1. The body of religious teachings advanced by J. Calvin and his followers. Calvinism arose during the 16th-cent. Reformation and differed from Lutheranism in placing the church above the state, in emphasizing predestination and the notion of grace, and in developing a theology of the covenant (pact with God). Calvinistic doctrines were important in the development of English Puritanism, Scottish Presbyterianism, and the theocratic communities of early New England Puritans. Other noted Calvinists include J. Knox and J. Edwards. 

2. Name for the body of doctrines that form the basis of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches. 

Great Architect of the Universe coined by John Calvin 

From McLeod, W. 1991, The Grand Design, Anchor Communications, Virginia 
AQC V101 p 146

. . . this phrase entered Freemasonry by way of the first Book of Constitutions, printed in 1723. The compiler was Rev. Dr. James Anderson, a graduate of Aberdeen University, and minister of the Scottish Presbyterian church in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, London, from 1710 to 1734. He did not invent the phrase, but took it over from John Calvin, who uses it, for example, in his Commentary on Psalm 19; the heavens `were wonderfully founded by the Great Architect`again, according to the same paragraph, `when once we recognize God as the Architect of the Universe`, we are bound to marvel at his Wisdom, Strength, and Goodness. In fact, Calvin repeatedly calls God `the Architect of the Universe,` and refers to His works in nature as `Architecture of the Universe` ten times in the Institutes of the Christian Religion alone

Source: Various

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Date Entered: 23/02/2008


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