The H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies, located in Hekman Library, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The center began with a collection of important books and a bibliography by Calvin College professor Dr. H. Henry Meeter during his tenure of teaching in the Bible (now Religion) Department from 1927 to 1957. At the initiative of DR. Meeter, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary established the Committee for Scholarly Research and Development of Basic Historic Calvinism in 1961. This committee was the genesis of the H. Henry Meeter Center and its governing board. Today the Meeter Center with its rare items, books, articles, literature, and bibliographies is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most extensive and user-friendly of all Calvin and Calvinism collections.
The center recently purchased a copy Calvin's "Congrégation sur l’élection éternelle de Dieu." The book was printed in Geneva in 1562 by Vincent Bres and only five libraries in Europe are known to own it and none in the United States.
It measures just three inches by 4¾ inches in size, slightly bigger than a deck of cards, but what is contained in its 118 pages presents Calvin’s teaching on election, particularly the issue of universal salvation against particular election (Calvin came down on the side of particular election).
A local television station recently featured this acquisition. Here's a link to their video feature.
