Genevan Consistory

[1] The Consistory was organized by John Calvin upon his return to Geneva in 1541 in order to integrate civic life and the church.

[4] The Consistory was to meet every Thursday and exercise church discipline by summoning and formally rebuking Genevans who had refused to repent when confronted by elders and pastors in private with issues of sin.

These sins included adultery, illicit marriages, cursing, unauthorized luxury, dis-respectfulness in church, bearing traces to Roman Catholicism, blasphemy, or gambling, among others.

[4] This was a consistent application of the two kingdoms doctrine, which is often associated with Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon, but political realities prevented it from having much effect in the Lutheran territories.

[9] Calvin's opponents, the Perrinists, rioted in response and attempted to seize power, but the rebellion was quickly crushed.

[11] Suspensions declined after 1569 and the types of cases the Consistory dealt with shifted from correcting Catholic belief and ignorance of the new faith to moral control, a phenomenon common to other Reformed cities at this time as the Reformed sought to distinguish themselves from Catholic neighbors in terms of moral holiness.