John Calvin's Christian theology was, at least originally, an important basis for the theology of any church with "Presbyterian" or "Reformed" in its name, as well as the Episcopal Church and the Puritans and Pilgrims and their spiritual descendants in the United Church of Christ.

His theology is characterized by an emphasis on God's sovereignty over all of the physical and personal universe. Thus, God's word and God's will have relevance for us in our study of physics, in our operation of government, in our performance of music, just as much as they guide the form of a worship service on Sunday. Of course, it is this emphasis on God's sovereignty that has led to intellectual problems in understanding God's action and human free will, and it has sometimes led to practical problems in governing a pluralistic society.

Calvin's understanding of Biblical teaching and God's work in the world has been credited with being an important model for the development of representative democracy. And though Calvin has also been called the "last medieval" because he thought greed and acquisitiveness to be a vice, his views are sometimes thought to be important in the development of capitalism.

Calvin himself emphasizes the importance of obedience to governmental authority, but yet by arguing that God sets standards for the behavior of a government, his views have also been historically important as bases for civil disobedience, rebellion, and revolution.

Though I think Calvin's thought is of contemporary importance, even if one thought he was only historically significant, his life and teaching would be worth noting. Twenty-five of the 43 US Presidents have been members of one or the other of the Calvinist churches I mentioned above, as were 11 of the 25 Canadian prime ministers. [1]

Merci, Monsieur Jean Cauvin, as his name was spelled 500 years ago in France and Switzerland, for living, for thinking, for praying, and for offering your heart to God eagerly and earnestly.
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1 Adherents.com