Calvin was the French Protestant theologian who wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536. When he moved to Geneva, he established a theocracy in which Presbyters defined the faith and practice of the people.

Conrad Wright says that Calvin may properly be regarded as a figure in our family tree and important in shaping our history–by reaction. He set the questions to which our 18th century ancestors gave non-Calvinist answers. The one who sets the frame of the debate is a dominating influence, so Calvin shaped our development.