The most radical transformations of faith and worship were carried out in Calvinism. On the basis of Calvinism

the reformed and Presbyterian churches were formed. Unlike Lutheranism, reformation and Presbyterianism do not have a binding creed. The only source of the creed is the Bible. Authoritative for preachers are written by J. Calvin “Instructions in the Christian faith” (1536-1559),” Church regulations”,” Geneva catechism “(1545), as well as” the Scottish faith “(1560) and” Westminster confession of faith ” (1547). In Calvinism, the most rigorous assessment of a person’s own ability to achieve salvation is given. The section on free will in the Westminster confession States: “the Fall completely deprived man of the ability to direct his will to any spiritual good or to anything leading to bliss. Thus, the natural man is completely detached from the good and dead in sin, and therefore can not voluntarily turn (to God – ed.) or even prepare yourself for conversion.” It follows that faith in God is the exclusive gift of God.

This assessment of human capabilities is in accordance with the doctrine of Calvinism about being chosen for salvation and predestination. In Chapter 3 (On the eternal decision of God) of the Westminster creed, Calvin writes: “God by his decision and for the manifestation of his greatness has ordained some people to eternal life, and others to eternal death… those who are predestined to life, God even before the Foundation of the world chose to be saved in Christ by his eternal and unchanging intention, by secret decision and free will, and he did it out of pure and free mercy and love, and not because he saw the cause or the premise-

ku this in faith, good deeds and in love, in zeal, in any of the above or in any other features created by him. He accomplished all this to the greater glory of his high charity. And it pleased God, according to his inscrutable decisions and will, according to Which he grants grace or denies it, as it pleased Him to magnify his unlimited power over his creatures, to deprive the rest of his mercy and predestinate them to dishonor and anger for their sins and for the glory of his high justice. And it pleases the God of those whom he has ordained to eternal life and only them, at the appointed and appropriate hour by the Word and spirit of His, He will take out of their breast a heart of stone and give them a living heart. He will convert them by his will, and ordain them for good by his omnipotence… The wicked and ungodly, whom God, the righteous judge, blinds and hardens for former sins, he not only deprives of his mercy, which would sanctify the mind and soften their hearts, but sometimes takes away from them and those virtues that they have, he puts in their way such obstacles that, because of the corruption of these people, they become an occasion for sin. He betrays them to their own vices, worldly temptations, and the power of Satan. Thus they harden themselves, even by those

the means that God uses to soften the hearts of others.”

On the basis of this doctrine in Calvinism the most clearly manifested teachings about the religious meaning of “worldly vocation” and “worldly asceticism”. From the point of view of Calvinism, a person at any time and in any place is in the service of God and is responsible for the gifts given to him by God-time, health, talents, property. Everyone should think of their entire life as fulfilling their duty to Bo-

GOM and movement to the goal set by him. The energy and results of the effort are indirect evidence that this person is chosen for salvation.

In Calvinism, cult activities and Church organization are greatly simplified. Worship leads-

Xia in the native language of the parishioners. The main elements of worship: reading a sermon, singing Psalms and hymns, reading the Bible. The main rites, baptism and communion, have lost the meaning of the sacraments and are interpreted as symbols of closeness to Jesus Christ and believers to each other. The interior decoration of the reformed and Presbyterian churches is very strict. There is no altar, icons, statues, candles and other attributes of Catholic and Orthodox churches. In the foreground is a large cross and on a small raised podium stands the pulpit from which the pastor preaches.

The clergy-pastor, deacon and elder (presbyter) were elected from among the laity. They formed the governing body of the independent General congregations, the Consistory. The superior body was the provincial Synod, or Assembly, consisting of delegates from the provincial consistories. At the national level, there was a national Synod or Assembly.

Calvinism was widely spread in France (Huguenots), in the Netherlands, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Meaning-

he had a great influence in England and Scotland. It was here that such a kind of Calvinism as Congregationalism was first formed, which considered the local community (congregation) an independent Church, having the right to profess their faith.

Later, Calvinism spread to the British colonies in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In 1875, the world Alliance of reformed churches was formed. In 1891, the international Congregationalist Council. There are about 40 million Presbyterians and 3 million Congregationalists in the world. In modern Russia, there are separate communities of reformers and Presbyterians.