John Calvin, Refugee Theologian: Introducing a Reformer in Exile

This book offers a robust introduction to John Calvin’s writings through the lens of his experience as a religious refugee.

Calvin knew about persecution and political exile from personal experience. He lived as an exiled fugitive engaged in pastoral ministry to a church that included large numbers of immigrants and refugees. Calvin’s teaching also addressed an international community experiencing religious violence and displacement in his day. In this engaging book, Kenneth Woo demonstrates how Calvin sought to make the comfort he found in God accessible to others through sermons, commentaries, letters, polemical treatises, and his magisterial Institutes. In his distinct-yet-inseparable roles as teacher, pastor, and polemicist, the reformer adapted his message of hope in exile to diverse audiences. Woo shows how Calvin’s theology is an example of Reformed Christianity’s refugee roots and history of pastoral care from the margins. And in a brief conclusion, he offers reflections on what a greater awareness of Calvin as refugee theologian could mean for those engaging his theology today.

John Calvin, Refugee Theologian helps students read Calvin for themselves, attuned to how his theology reflected dynamics of religious violence and migration in his day, making this book especially useful for undergraduate and seminary classes on Calvin, the Reformation, and the history of Christianity. It will also appeal to pastors and Christian educators.

From the Back Cover

”A fresh and fruitful approach to Calvin’s theology"

This book offers a robust introduction to John Calvin’s writings through the lens of his experience as a religious refugee.

“With elegant prose, keen insight, and expansive research, Woo provides the most thorough account to date of the exilic aspects and refugee implications of Calvin’s life, leadership, and theology."
--G. Sujin Pak, Boston University School of Theology

"Woo has given us not only a winsome introduction to Calvin but also a timely example of how to read Calvin contextually, not as a disembodied intellect but as one truly shaped by the turmoil and sufferings of his age."
--John L. Thompson, Fuller Theological Seminary (emeritus)

"Woo’s study of Calvin as an exilic reformer is a brilliant reconsideration of Oberman’s earlier work. It firmly sets Calvin and his audiences in their historical contexts, and it presents Calvin as a useful resource for today’s Christians in exile. A wonderful, readable, and astute work!"
--R. Ward Holder, Saint Anselm College

"Woo’s engaging book extends an invitation into the heart of Calvin’s theology and the experiences of exile and displacement that shaped his faith and career as a pastor and writer. Christians today gain crucial perspective for reflecting on their own encounters with spiritual alienation, creating supportive communities in a hostile world, and responding with love to the stranger in their midst."
--Barbara Pitkin, Stanford University

"With a historian’s rigor, a theologian’s insight, and a pastor’s contextual awareness, Woo offers the academy and the church a refreshing gift. Woo introduces us to Calvin as one whose voice was shaped by exile and attuned to God’s comfort for the displaced."
--J. Todd Billings, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan

"Woo presents a fresh and fruitful approach to Calvin’s theology by describing his message through Calvin’s experience as a refugee. A fine contribution to Calvin research, and it demonstrates the relevance of the reformers’ works."
--Herman Selderhuis, Theological University Apeldoorn; president, Reformation Research Consortium