The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (491 page)

Calligraphy
.

The skill and art of writing is admired in all religions and advanced to a great height in some. In Judaism, the work of a
scribe
was related to the proper transmission of judgements in courts of law. In Christianity, the same work of carefully transmitting sacred texts led to the illumination of manuscripts. In Islam, the importance of calligraphy reflected the prominence of the absolute and uncorrupted nature of the Word of God expressed through the
Qur’
n
. Not only in text, but also on buildings, the elaboration of the visible word became a major form of art. No less important was calligraphy in China, being an expression of underlying philosophies in which word and painting are necessarily at one. This was taken to a consummate level in
Zen
calligraphy (see
BOKUSEKI
) where the very act of putting brush to paper is to participate in the single buddha-nature of all things.

 
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Call to prayer
(Muslim)
:

see
DH
N
.

 
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(Lat.,
calvaria
, ‘skull’, translating Heb.,
Golgotha
). The place of Jesus' crucifixion, outside the walls of
Jerusalem
(John 19. 20) and near the tomb. The traditional site is within the church of the Holy Sepulchre. A less likely site is ‘Gordon's Calvary’, by a cliff outside the N. wall of the city.

 
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(1509–64).
Christian
reformer
and theologian. Under
Protestant
influence in Paris, he experienced a decisive change in religious outlook. Under the threat of persecution, he was forced to leave Paris and spent about three unsettled years travelling between Europe's main cities. During this period he wrote his
Psychopannychia
(1534) and the 1st edn. (1536) of his finest work, the
Institutes of the Christian Religion
. Passing through
Geneva
, a city which had already committed itself to reform, Calvin was persuaded to settle there by the reforming preacher, Guillaume Farel. Calvin was soon appointed a preacher and pastor, but the measures he and others proposed for church reform were such that Calvin and Farel were forced to flee. In exile in Strasbourg, Calvin ministered to a French refugee congregation and developed a close friendship with Martin
Bucer
, whose influence is evident in the next edn. of the
Institutes
, translated into French in 1541. In Feb. 1541 Calvin was invited to return to Geneva where he remained until he died. The reform of the Genevan church was accomplished in large part through the
Ecclesiastical Ordinances
(1541). He died at the age of 55, one of the most influential figures of the Western world.
At the heart of the Christian life lies ‘union with Christ’, an utterly unmerited relationship effected through the Holy Spirit. Calvin maintained a lifelong commitment to the Bible's importance for reforming every aspect of Christian faith and life, and the primary purpose of the Bible was to focus attention on Jesus Christ. See
CALVINISM
.

 
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