Calvin was born Jean Cauvin on 10 July 1509 in the town of Noyon in the Picardy region of France. He was the second of three sons who survived infancy. His father, Gérard Cauvin, had a prosperous career as the cathedral notary and registrar to the ecclesiastical court.No wonder Calvin looked for any means to lash out.
Gérard intended his three sons—Charles, Jean, and Antoine—for the priesthood. Jean was particularly precocious; by age 12, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the tonsure, cutting his hair to symbolise his dedication to the Church.
He became involved in financial embarrassment, and was excommunicated, perhaps on suspicion of heresy. He died May 26 (or 25), 1531, after a long sickness, and would have been buried in unconsecrated soil but for the intercession of his oldest son, Charles, who gave security for the discharge of his father's obligations.
In 1525 or 1526, Gérard withdrew his son from Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law. According to contemporary biographers Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, Gérard believed his son would earn more money as a lawyer than as a priest
It certainly explains the “blame it all on God” theology of the Calvinists. John Calvin had to come up with some way to justify his family being crooks and his family getting excommunicated, and to explain why his father took away his study of theology forcing him to become a French lawyer. You know, don’t take responsibility for your own actions - call it predestination.