Reticent Reformers

All the posts this week will have to do with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.

While recently reading Heiko Oberman's biography, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, I was struck by how reticent Luther was to fulfill the important role he played in the Reformation. It reminded me of the same reticence that would be seen a few years later by another reformer - John Calvin. Neither of these men sought to be the "heroes" that they became, but both of them understood the roles they were to play as part of God's wise providence. There are lessons of humility and of responsibility/duty for us to learn from these two men!

"[S]ervice to the Word - Luther had not sought it; the post of a professor - he had not desired it; the misson of an evangelist - he would have liked to avoid it. As he saw it, he entered the monastery under compulsion, blinded by fear; his doctoral studies had been imposed on him against his will by his Augustinian superiors. Instead of fighting and becoming entangled in feuds, he would have liked to devote himself to study and meditation. Time and again, Luther offered to cease his activities if only the Gospel became public property. But again and again he was overwhelmed, led where he did not wish to go, by a God who, irrespective of obedience or disobedience, steers the course of history." -- Heiko Oberman

What Baptists Can Learn from Calvin

Timothy George, the dean of the seminary from where I graduated (Beeson Divinity School), has written an excellent article for Christian History on "What Baptists Can Learn from Calvin." Here is an excerpt:

The year 2009 marks two important anniversaries in the history of the Christian church: the birth of John Calvin at Noyon in France in 1509, and the birth of the modern Baptist movement at Amsterdam in 1609. Both events are being celebrated with numerous symposia, publications, and conferences, but few people are asking what these two events, separated by the century of the Reformation, have in common. Baptists are fiercely independent and refuse to recognize any human figure as a standard of faith. Today's Baptists would agree with what the nonconformist Samuel Hieron said in the 17th century:

We do not hang on Calvin's sleeve
Nor yet on Zwingli's we believe:
And Puritans we do defy,
If right the name you do apply.

Are Baptists Calvinists? If a Calvinist is a person who follows strictly the teachings of John Calvin, then in three important respects Baptists are not, and have never been, Calvinists. Calvin was a pedobaptist (practicing infant baptism); Baptists are credobaptists (believers' baptism only). Calvin believed in a presbyterian form of church government; Baptists are congregationalists. Calvin believed that the civil magistrate should enforce both tables of the law (moral responsibilities towards God and towards one's neighbor), suppressing heresy and blasphemy by force if necessary. Baptists believe in religious liberty for all persons.

For all that, Calvin remains the most formative theological influence in the development of the Baptist tradition. Unfortunately, many Baptists today know only the ungenerous stereotype of Calvin that depicts him as "the dictator of Geneva wielding the whip of logic and driving a chariot named the sovereignty of God harnessed to mean-spirited steeds called predestination and total depravity" (Charles Partee, The Theology of John Calvin, 14). It is said that on occasion so-called liberal Christians stand before the famous statue of Calvin in Geneva and hurl eggs at the dour likeness looking down at them!

2009 is a good time to look again at Calvin's theology and its relationship to the Baptist movement. Here are five theological principles Baptists can learn from Calvin.

Read the whole thing here.

Clarifying the Caricatures of Calvin

The 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth a few weeks ago brought a host of articles and stories in newspapers and magazines across the globe. Unfortunately, many of them were grossly inaccurate and did little more than perpetuate the common (yet misguided) caricatures of Calvin's life and legacy. And as I was reading in Calvin's Institutes this morning, I could not help but be reminded of how terribly misunderstood he has been.

One of the ways you will often hear Calvin described is fatalistic (i.e., since God is sovereign over all things, it doesn't matter what we do and thus things like prayer become meaningless). Of course, those who describe him in this way rarely know anything about him and have probably never read anything by him. But this characteristic is clearly dispelled in the portion that I read this morning from Book III, Chapter 20 - "Of Prayer - A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It."

Does this sound like someone who believes in fatalism?

It is very absurd, therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending that Divine Providence, which is always watching over the government of the universe, is in vain importuned by our supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord himself declares, that he is "nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth" (Ps. 145:18).

Celebrating Calvin

Now that the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth has passed and many of the celebrations are over, the fruit of those celebrations are now being shared with internet audiences. One helpful example of this is the host of talks (in MP3 format) about different aspects of the life and ministry of John Calvin posted at The Theologian.

Happy Birthday John Calvin

As most of you are well aware, today marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. In honor of him, I have chosen to post a hymn that he would gladly celebrate. I will post another hymn in his honor tomorrow (another one whose message he would find fitting and appropriate).

Christ, Or Else I Die
William Hammond, 1719-1783

Gracious Lord, incline Thy ear;
My request vouchsafe to hear;
Hear my never-ceasing cry:
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honor I disdain,
Earthly comforts, Lord, are vain;
These can never satisfy;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Lord, deny me what Thou wilt,
Only ease me of my guilt.
Suppliant at Thy feet I lie;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

All unholy and unclean,
I am nothing but sin;
On Thy mercy I rely;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost freely save the lost;
In Thy grace alone I trust.
With my earnest suit comply;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost promise to forgive
All who in Thy Son believe;
Lord, I know Thou canst not lie;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Calvin on the Gospel's Call for Humility

Therefore, if we would make way for the call of Christ, we must put far from us all arrogance and confidence.... Never shall we have sufficient confidence in [God] unless we are utterly distrustful of ourselves; never shall we take courage in him until we first despond of ourselves; never shall we have full consolation in him until we cease to have any in ourselves. When we have entirely discarded all self-confidence, and trust solely in the certainty of his goodness, we are fit to apprehend and obtain the grace of God.

-- Taken from Calvin's Institutes (3.12.8)

Calvin Resources from Monergism Books

Monergism Books has now made available (in one place) an excellent collection of resources on and by John Calvin. Check out the list here.

Calvin on Christ as the Focal Point of the Whole Bible

Calvin believed that all of Scripture pointed to Christ - and, specifically, to Christ's death and resurrection for sinners: "Whenever we take the sacred books [of Scripture] into our hands, the blood of Christ ought to occur to our minds, as if the whole of its sacred instruction were written therewith" (Four Last Books of Moses III:320). In his Commentary on Corinthians, he wrote, "All the wisdom of believers is comprehended in the cross of Christ" (1:74). Further interpreting Paul, he adds, "There is no tribunal so magnificent, no throne so stately, no show of triumph so distinguished, no chariot so elevated, as is the gibbet on which Christ has subdued death and the devil" (Commentary on Philippians-Colossians, 191).

-- Taken from Michael Horton's article, "Is Calvin Still Relevant after 500 Years?", in the June/July 2009 issue of Modern Reformation

Marilynne Robinson, God, and Calvin

Marilynne Robinson is the author of my favorite contemporary novel, Gilead. She was recently awarded the Orange Prize for fiction. She was also recently interviewed byAndrew Brown, who posted some of the excerpts from the interview on his blog. In the interview, she discusses Calvin's influence on her thinking and writing.

If you haven't read Gilead, it is a must-read. Move it to the top of your summer reading list!

Calvin on the Catholic Church's Teaching of Purgatory

Let us grant, however, that all this might have been tolerated for a time as a thing of no great moment; yet when the expiation of sins is sought elsewhere than in the blood of Christ, and satisfaction is transferred to others, silence were most perilous. We are bound, therefore, to raise our voice to its highest pitch, and cry aloud that purgatory is a deadly device of Satan; that it makes void the cross of Christ; that it offers intolerable insult to the divine mercy; that it undermines and overthrows our faith. For what is this purgatory but the satisfaction for sin paid after death by the souls of the dead? Hence when this idea of satisfaction is refuted, purgatory itself is forthwith completely overturned. But if it is perfectly clear, from what was lately said, that the blood of Christ is the only satisfaction, expiation, and cleansing for the sins of believers, what remains but to hold that purgatory is mere blasphemy, horrid blasphemy against Christ?

-- John Calvin, Institutes (3.5.6)

Why Calvin Still Matters...500 Years Later

It is the year of Calvin, and Robert Godfrey, president and professor of church history at Westminster Seminary California, has recently written a new (and very readable) biography of the great sixteenth century reformer, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor. He also has a great article on why Calvin still matters on the seminary's website. Check out the article here.

And check out Christianity Today's interview with Godfrey about Calvin and the book, which can be found here.

Calvin on the Need for the Spirit to Accompany the Word

A simple external manifestation of the Word ought to be amply sufficient to produce faith, did not our own blindness and perverseness prevent it. But such is the proneness of our mind to vanity, that it can never adhere to the truth of God, and such its dullness, that it is always blind even in his light. Hence without the illumination of the Spirit the Word has no effect; and hence also it is obvious that faith is something higher than human understanding.

The Word is, in regard to those to whom it is preached, like the sun which shines upon all, but is of no use to the blind. In this matter we are all naturally blind; and hence the Word cannot penetrate our mind unless the Spirit, that internal teacher, by his enlightening power make an entrance for it.

--John Calvin, Institutes (3.2.33-34)

Calvin on the Necessity and Authority of the Word

...[W]e must remember, that there is an inseparable connection between faith and the Word, and that these can no more be disconnnected from each other than the rays of light from the sun.

Take away the Word, therefore, and no faith will remain.

...[W]hether God uses the agency of man, or works immediately by his own power, it is always by his Word that he manifests himself to those he designs to draw to himself.

So long as your mind entertains any misgivings as to the certainity of the Word, its authority will be weak and dubious, or rather it will have no authority at all. Nor is it sufficient to believe that God is true, and cannot lie or deceive, unless you feel firmly persuaded that every word which proceeds from him is sacred, inviolable truth.

--John Calvin, Institutes (3.2.6)