Oh, believe me. He's tried.
And as God has willed, he seems to be finding a lot of truth among the Reformer's works.
"I do not doubt that there has been some ignorance in their having reproved this mode of speech, -- that the Virgin Mary is the 'Mother of God' -- I cannot dissemble that it is found to be a bad practice ordinarily to adopt this title in speaking of this Virgin: and, for my part, I cannot consider such language as good , proper, or suitable…for to say, the Mother of God for the Virgin Mary, can only serve to harden the ignorant in their superstitions." -- John Calvin to the Foreigners’ Church in London, 10/27/1552
Theotokos (Greek) = God-bearer or Mother of God
The Church at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. declared Mary to be “Theotokos,” the “God-bearer” or “Mother of God.” This was to clarify that Jesus was the Second Person of the Trinity and not two distinct persons (the Nestorian heresy). The doctrine had its origins in defining the nature of Jesus (one person with two distinct natures - human and divine), in order to combat this heresy. By saying that Mary is the "Mother of God," one acknowledges that Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, was born from Mary's womb.
If Calvin didn't want to "harden the ignorant in their superstitions," then he should have explained what the term meant. The fact that he allowed the "ignorant" to remain "ignorant" shows that he was either ignorant himself or he purposefully didn't explain the correct meaning of the term. I wonder why?
Now don't take advantage of my good will. :>)