What role did John Calvin, Ignatius Loyola, and John Knox play in the Reformation?

John Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, and John Knox each played an important role during the Reformation era.

• John Calvin was a French Protestant theologian whose most important work was the development of what later came to be called "Calvinism." Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty of God in human salvation, as opposed to Arminianism, which emphasizes humanity's free will to choose salvation.


• John Knox led the Reformation in Scotland and served as the founder of the Scottish Presbyterian denomination. Knox was instrumental in Scotland's later conversion to Presbyterianism rather than Anglicanism (as England did when it became Protestant).


• Unlike the other two men, Ignatius of Loyola opposed the Protestant Reformation. He founded the Society of Jesus, an organization which emphasized obedience to authority (especially religious authority). In this way, Ignatius helped promote the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation.