John Calvin
(1509-1564)
John Knox
(1513-1572)
|
Tour Calendar |
||||
Day 1 - NEW YORK
Depart JFK Int’l Airport on our transatlantic overnight flight
to Paris for our exciting adventure in the footsteps of John Calvin
and John Knox. (meals in flight)
Day 2 - PARIS
Upon arrival in Paris, met by our WWCT representative and transfer to
our hotel. Balance of day at your leisure to do some shopping or
maybe do some sightseeing on your own.
Day 3 - PARIS/NOYON
This morning, sightseeing through fascinating Paris, including the
Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Place de la
Concorde, the Tuileries, and many other sites. This afternoon an
excursion to Noyon, hometown of John Calvin. Calvin left Noyon in
1523, went to Paris to study, and returned to Noyon in 1531 due to
his father’s fatal illness. Then he went to Paris again where he
published his first book in 1532, a commentary on Seneca’s De
clementia, until October 31, 1533, when he fled Paris. He returned to
Noyon after that only to resign his benefices and then went on.
Return to hotel for dinner & overnight.
Day 4 - PARIS/ORLEANS/BOURGES/GENEVA
After breakfast, travel on to Geneva, the city of John Calvin,
through the wonderful country-side of France via Orleans and Bourges.
John studied law in Orleans, and in 1529 trans- ferred to Bourges. He
returned to Orleans in 1532 long enough to take a law degree and
again in 1533 (after fleeing Paris) to finish his first theological
work, De psychopannychia ("On the Sleep of the Soul",
1534). About this same time here he also wrote his initial Protestant
credo and began work on the first edition of the Institutes of the
Christian Religion, completed in 1535. In 1536 a detour on a journey
from Paris to Strasbourg led Calvin through Geneva, where he was
persuaded to assist in the reform of the city. Continue to hotel in
Geneva for dinner & overnight.
Day 5 - GENEVA/STRASBOURG/LUXEMBOURG
Morning sightseeing of Geneva, including the Pont du Mont-Blanc, the
Cathedral, Place du Bourg-de-Four. Calvin was banished from Geneva in
1538, but returned in 1541 being convinced that it was God’s
will. John Knox came to Geneva from Scotland about 1549 eventually
becoming minister to the English congregation in Geneva, working in
full accord with Calvin until Knox returned to Scotland in 1555. He
was forced back to Geneva in 1556, but then by invitation in 1559,
returned to Scotland to stay. Continue on to Strasbourg through the
beautiful countryside of Switzerland. In Strasbourg see the cathedral
with its famous stained glass windows and the Astronomical Clock made
in the 16th century and "La Petite France", the old town of
Strasbourg. Calvin spent his most untroubled years here, publishing a
revised edition of the Institutes (1539) and the first of his Bible
commentaries on Romans (1540), and when he married. On to Luxembourg
City for dinner & overnight.
Day 6 - LUXEMBOURG/CALAIS/DOVER/LONDON
This morning, short sightseeing of the thousand-year-old fortress
city of Luxembourg, with its towers and pointed roofs, perched atop a
rocky cliff with the newer town below. Then on to Calais via Brussels
through the beautiful Belgium countryside. Cross the English Channel
at Calais by ferry over to Dover and continue to our hotel in London
for dinner & overnight.
Day 7 - LONDON/YORK
A full day of sightseeing in charming London, the capital of Great
Britain, beginning with an excursion to Buckingham Palace (if
possible, see the colorful Changing of the Guard Ceremony).
Sightseeing includes the famous Trafalgar Square, the well-known
Tower of London, Nelson’s Monument, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus,
National Gallery, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey
(burial place of monarch, musicians, and poets, tomb of Queen
Elizabeth I, the Coronation Chair with the Stone of Scone, and many
other sights. Continue on to York for dinner & overnight.
Day 8 - YORK/EDINBURGH
After breakfast, our adventure begins with sightseeing in York with
its medieval town walls and principal glory, the Minster, the largest
medieval church in England. Continue through the lovely English
countryside to Edinburgh for dinner & overnight, capital of
Scotland and the home of John Knox. Balance of day at your leisure.
Day 9 - EDINBURGH/HADDINGTON/ PERTH/ST. ANDREWS
After breakfast, sightseeing of the highlands of Scotland in
beautiful Edinburgh, including John Knox’s home, Royal Mile,
Georgian New Town, Greyfriars Bobby, Holyrood Palace, the "High
Kirk" of St. Giles, and the great castle which dominates the
city from an extinct volcano, among other sights. Knox spent most of
his Reformation years preaching boldly and fervently from the pulpit
at St. Giles. Continue to nearby Haddington, where Knox was raised,
worked after studying at St. Andrews, and confronted with Reformation
views. On to Perth, once Scotland’s capital, where Knox and his
party were successful in public freedom for their beliefs against the
regent. Continue to St. Andrews, one of the oldest university towns
of Scotland--see St. Andrews’ Cathedral and places associated
with Knox and George Wishart. Knox attended St. Andrews’
University, did his first preaching at the Castle, and was taken from
here by the French. Return to Edinburgh for dinner & overnight.
Day 10 - EDINBURGH/USA
Morning transfer to the airport for our flight back to the
USA--ending 10 days filled with wonderful, unforgettable memories of
our journey together in the footsteps of John Calvin and John Knox.
(meals in flight)
TOUR
COST &
DEPARTURE
DATES:
$2,999.00
Nov
4 '05|
$3,299.00
Oct 6
'05
(per person, based
on 25 passengers, double occupancy;
single
supplement--add $450.00)
|
TOUR INCLUDES:
|
NOT INCLUDED:
|
|
Time allowed in itinerary to attend worship services for all faiths |
|
John Calvin & John Knox Just as Martin Luther is the key to the Lutheran experience, John Wesley to the Methodists, Moses to the Jews, John Calvin is the mover and shaker of Presbyterian belief. Apart from Calvin, the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches would not exist. For Calvin the study of scripture was the turning point and the letters of St. Paul, the divine trigger. At the age of 24, Calvin fled Paris after admitting his conversion to the cause of the Reformers, Luther in particular, and made his way to Geneva where Protestants were both powerful and free. Soon becoming a reform pastor there, he submitted articles for a new church organization. The people were not ready for Calvin’s teachings and he was banished from Geneva. He repaired to Strasbourg to pastor a refugee congregation, continued his writing, and married Idelette de Bure, the widow of a convert from Anabaptism. Continuing unrest in Geneva led to an official entreaty for Calvin to return as a means of restoring peace. After ten months of hesitation and prayer, Calvin, a strong, determined man of iron, returned to Geneva where he remained until he died of tuberculosis. Calvin spent his life preaching, teaching, and writing, standing firm and unyielding during this period of political, ecclesiastical, and theological controversy. Because of Calvin’s ministry, Geneva became the model city of Europe and Presbyterianism, the pattern of Christian life wherever the Reformed Church would plant itself. The fiery, determined, oft-persecuted John Knox from Scotland became a devoted follower of Calvin and in turn swayed Scotland from Catholic rule to Presbyterian ascendency. Reared at Haddington, Knox attended the University of St. Andrews and returned home to pursue work as schoolmaster and notary. By his association with George Wishart, he was confronted with Reformation views, became involved, and his first preaching was to the Scots taking refuge in St. Andrews’ Castle. Knox was captured from here by the French fleet called in by the regent. After 19 months of imprisonment, Calvin was released during the reign of Edward VI and became a royal chaplain in England. On the accession of Mary Tudor, he fled to the Continent, making his way to Geneva, where he eventually became minister to the English congregation there, working in full accord with Calvin and endorsing most of his religious and political views. Knox returned to Scotland in 1555 until he wrote a letter to Mary of Lorraine, the queen-mother regent, urging her conversion, which forced him back to Geneva. Knox was invited back in 1557 to return to complete the Reformation in Scotland. In 1559, Knox returned to Scotland, and that same year in Perth, Knox and his party of reformers won freedom for their beliefs when the regent and his French party could only settle differences by withdrawing from Scotland. By 1560 Knox had fired the Scottish nation to storm against Catholic control, bringing down churches and monasteries that formally symbolized the rule of Rome and the powerful Mary, Queen of Scots. In that same year the Scottish Parliament abolished Catholicism and replaced it with the Protestant forms advocated by Knox, furnishing a constitution and confession that was intensely Calvanistic. For many years Knox controlled Scotland from his pulpit in Edinburgh. He boldly denounced Mary Stuart’s private Mass at Holyrood as a revival of Romanism, and opposed her, an opposition that encouraged the Scots to force her abdication in 1567. Until his death in 1572, Knox continued as a force within the unsettled political and ecclesiastical situation. |
|
|
|
|
John Calvin |
John Knox |