There are many biographies of John Calvin, the theologian--some villifying him and others extolling his virtues--but few that reveal John Calvin, the man.

Professor and renowned Reformation historian Herman Selderhuis has written this book to bring Calvin near to the reader, showing him as a man who had an impressive impact on the development of the Western world, but who was first of all a believer struggling with God and with the way God governed both the world and his own life.

Selderhuis draws on Calvin's own publications and commentary on the biblical figures with whom he strongly identified to describe his theology in the context of his personal development. Throughout we see a person who found himself alone at many of the decisive moments of his life--a fact that echoed through Calvin's subsequent sermons and commentaries. Selderhuis's unique and compelling look at John Calvin, with all of his merits and foibles, ultimately discloses a man who could not find himself at home in the world in which he lived.

Author  Herman J. Selderhuis is professor for church history and church polity at the Theological University Apeldoorn (Netherlands) and director of the university's Institute for Reformation Research. He is a leading Reformation historian and author of several books, including Calvin's Theology of the Psalms.

Endorsement  "A delightful new biography of Calvin by one of Europe's leading Reformation scholars. Selderhuis does not simply rehash the events of Calvin's life; he weaves those events into a story of a man on a geographical , theological and spiritual pilgrimage--or more precisely, a story of a man on a pilgrimage." — Lyle D. Bierma, Jean and Kenneth Baker Professor of Systematic Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary