Role of Government in Society

John Calvin and Jean Jacques Rousseau have strong and differing opinions about the role of government in society, which is evident in their writings. Both were Frenchmen living at different times in history. John Calvin was born in 1509, around the time of the Reformation (Hooker 1). Rousseau was born in 1712, about 200 years after Calvin, shortly before the time of the French Revolution (Chew 1). Social and political events shape people’s views, which is extremely evident in the lives of Calvin and Rousseau. Because John Calvin lived during the time of the reformation, where religion was such a driving issue, he was concerned with God’s view of government and distinguishing the role of spiritual and civil government. Jean Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, lived during the time of the French Revolution, and he was concerned with getting rid of a strong and corrupt government and replacing it with the social compact. Both John Calvin and Jean Jacques Rousseau were influenced by the events of their time. The reformation caused Calvin to focus more heavily on religion, while the French Revolution caused Rousseau to focus more on forming a government by and for the people.

John Calvin shares his view about religion and government in Chapter 20, Civil Government, of his writing, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. The document lays out Calvin’s most important views about government. It talks about the existence of two governments, civil and spiritual, which are both important and mandated by God. Calvin also outlines the role of civil government, and the three parts of civil government (McMahon 1).

The first issue that Calvin addresses in his writings is the existence of two governments, spiritual and civil. He says that the spiritual government is “placed in the soul or inward man” and “related to eternal life,” while the civil government “pertains to civil institutions and external regulation of manners” (Institutes). Although the spiritual...