Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Roman Catholic lives of Calvin from Bolsec to Richelieu: why the interest? / Irena Backus -- Calvin and the Nicodemites / George H. Tavard, AA -- Friend and foe: Reformed Genevans and Catholic neighbors in the time of Calvin / Karen E. Spierling -- Rules of engagement: Catholic and Protestants in the dioces of Geneva, 1580-1633 / Jill Fehleison -- In partibus infidelium: Calvinism and Catholic identity in the Dutch Republic / Charles H. Parker -- John Calvin, accidental anthropologist / Carlos M. N. Eire -- Revising the reform: what Calvin learned from dialogue with the Roman Catholics / Randall C. Zachman -- Calvin and Sacramentality: a Catholic perspective / Dennis E. Tamburello.

This volume grew out of a conference jointly sponsored by the Calvin Studies Society and the University of Notre Dame, and both the content and the spirit of the book reflect that collaboration. The contributors have much to offer their readers with regard to both Calvin studies and contemporary ecumenical dialogue.

Three themes emerge in these studies. The first is that Calvin himself intended not to form a new tradition but to restore the Catholic Church to a truer form. The second theme concerns Calvin's engagement with contemporaries who remained within the Roman Catholic Church, some of whom were evangelical in their theology. Finally, this volume illustrates that some of the best contemporary research on Calvin is being done by Roman Catholics and that the Catholic and Protestant traditions have much to learn from each other.

Church historians and those generally interested in the Calvinist tradition in both academic and pastoral settings will find here an engaging and thoughtful collection. The authors provide a unique contextual framework for understanding Calvin within the broader setting of the Reformed and Roman Catholic communities.
-Publisher.