Establishing the Remnant Church in France: Calvin’s Lectures on the Minor Prophets, 1556-1559

Calvin lectured on the Minor Prophets from 1555/6 to 1559, beginning at the time of the implementation of the Peace of Augsburg. He saw the era in which he lived - particularly the period following the calling of the Council of Trent (1545) and the enforcing of the Augsburg Interim (1548) - as like that of Elijah; a fundamentally troubled era for the church. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of these lectures, their context, audience, and aims. It argues that they were integral not simply to his training of ministers and missionaries for France but to Calvin’s endeavors to call the faithful remnant out of a corrupt Roman Church and to re-establish the Christian Church in France (and Europe).