The Rise of Calvinism

In 1558, the city of Geneva established a high school, the Academy, and at Calvin’s suggestion, Theodore Beza was called to the Greek professorship.  The Academy was intended to be a training ground for Calvin’s orthodoxy. As soon as Beza was admitted to citizenship at Geneva, he became rector of the school and succeeded to the pastorate of one of the city churches. Both the Academy and the church congregation thrived under Beza’s care and Calvin had found an ally that, to him, was simply invaluable. As Calvin’s health began to decline, he relied more and more on him. Their friendship was steadfast, based upon respect and affection for one another. It was understood that after Calvin’s death that Beza would be his successor.  Beza played an extremely key role in bringing about the transition from Calvin’s view of Christian Soteriology to a more scholastic form.

After Calvin’s death, there was a new concern for method gaining momentum. Those students of Calvin’s religious ideas, Reformed theologians, were under pressure to defend their inherited ideas against Lutheran and Catholic opponents.  Beza wanted desperately to ensure the survival, if not the outright victory of Calvin’s idea in the face of this opposition. Reason, even though regarded suspiciously by Calvin himself, was employed to bring a strict form to his ideas. Aristotelian scholasticism was introduced by Beza to bring a more methodological approach, this approach later became known as Calvinism.

The term ‘Calvinist’ was introduced as an attempt by German Lutherans to denounce and discredit Calvin’s ideas as foreign influence in Germany.  Calvin himself was alarmed at the term but by the time the term began being used, he was close to death and his protest against it was ineffective. The term ‘Calvinism’ was introduced to refer to the religious outlook of Calvin’s followers by their opponents and unfortunately its historical association with Reformed theology is now embedded within every historian’s vocabulary, even though it is a glaring misnomer.

Jacob Arminius, for which Arminianism is named, had been a student in the Genevan Academy under Beza. As a result, he was trained in Calvinism and was at first a very strict Calvinist. However, he began to have great difficulty with the doctrine of predestination or the sovereignty of God in election as he defended the doctrines against the writings of Dirik Volckaerts zoon Koornheert.  He taught that although mankind fell in Adam and are born in a state of sin and condemnation, and are of themselves entirely unable to turn from sin to holiness, man is able to cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit given to all men, especially to those who hear the Gospel, in sufficient measure to enable them to repent and believe and persevere until the end.   The purpose of election in his view was not to save and give faith and repentance to a defined number of individuals but to save those who repent, believe and persevere in faith until the end. This view made Christ an equal reference to all men, making full the satisfaction to God for the sin for all men on the conditions laid down by the Gospel.

After the death of Arminius, his followers, called Arminians, formularized a systematic creed in Five Articles, drawn up by one of the theological leaders of the Arminian party, Janus Uytenbogaert.  They put the articles before the representatives of Holland and West Friesland in 1610 under the name of Remonstrance, signed by forty-six ministers.  The Calvinists issued the Counter-Remonstrance shortly thereafter. A Conference was held between the two parties at the Collatio Hagiensis in 1611 but it ended without a resolution.

After some time and a great deal of controversy, the National Synod of Dort was convened by the States-General on November 13, 1618 and it lasted until May 9, 1619.  The sessions were public and very crowded. John Bogerman, pastor at Leuwarden was elected President and Festus Hommius, pastor in Leyden was first Secretary. Both of these men were strict Calvinists. Only three delegates from Synod of Uterecht were Remonstrants but these men had to yield their seats due to a circumstantial technicality. It became quite evident as things progressed that the fate of the Arminian view of Christian soteriology was decided prior to the event.  The Five Articles of the Remonstrance were unanimously rejected and the five Calvinistic canons were adopted. Calvinism had triumphed.

These five Calvinistic canons are technically known as “The Five Points of Calvinism” and are the main pillars on which Calvinistic Soteriology stand. They can be more easily remembered by their acrostic, the TULIP: T, Total Inability (or Depravity); U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistible Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints.  To understand how Calvinists view their version of Christian salvation, one must understand each point of this system and how each point correlates to one another. In the next 5 posts, I will explain each point.

John Calvin vs The World: The Man Part 3

Revolution of 1555

Even though Calvin was being propelled into the forefront of the Protestant movement, he still had to deal with opposition from the council in Geneva. The power of excommunication was still with the council but Calvin insisted that it be returned to the Consistory. During the Servetus trial, Philibert Berthelier requested that the council allow him to take communion, even though he had been excommunicated by the Consistory the year before for insulting a minister. The council wasted no time in overturning the verdict of the Consistory. Calvin was furious at the obvious challenge to his authority and again insisted that it was Consistory alone which had the power to excommunicate notorious and unrepentant sinners. The matter was debated at the Council of Two Hundred on November 7, 1553 and the body ruled that the final decisions in matters of excommunication should rest with the council. Calvin was finally and firmly put back into his place.

Two years later, in 1555, a dramatic shift in power took place. Geneva was now considered a refuge for those seeking safety due to their religious beliefs. Many of the refugees were from France, some of them very, very wealthy and some of the most influential were strong supporters of Calvin. The council, realizing the benefit that could be gained from this new influx of wealth into their city, decided to allow them the opportunity, based on their sufficient wealth and social distinction, to apply for the status of bourgeois. And on April 18, 1555 the council began admitting the rich and prestigious refugees  to a bourgeois status. Along with that status came an entitlement to vote in Genevan elections and these new members of the Genevan society promptly exercised that right.

Once they had realized what they had done, the council attempted to block the voting rights of the new bourgeois. That was not very successful. The April and May sessions of the General Council (Geneva’s body of electors) were teeming with Calvin’s supporters. The balance had been tipped in his favor. The process continued with the election of 1536 and by then Calvin’s friends were in charge of the city. He could now focus on what he wanted most, to evangelize his native France. Between 1555 and 1562, more than 100 ministers were sent to France.

Calvin’s Final Years

After the revolution, Calvin’s authority was essentially uncontested during his final years and he enjoyed an international reputation as a reformer distinct from Martin Luther. He was disappointed though due to the fact that there was a lack of unity among the reformers of his day. An good example of this would be the conflict that Luther and Zwingli had over the interpretation of the Eucharist. Based on Calvin’s opinion, Luther placed Calvin in Zwingli’s camp. Calvin however, made attempts to show unification in the movement by signing documents like the Consensus Tigurinus (Consensus of Zurich), which attempted to coalesce the Calvinist and advanced Zwinglian doctrines while still opposing the transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic view, and sacramental union, the Lutheran view.

His ideas on doctrine and polity were also beginning to spread exponentially. He sheltered many Marian exiles (those who fled the brutally bloody reign of the Catholic Queen Mary Tudor in England), who in turn, took his ideas and polity back to England and Scotland under the leadership of reformers John Knox and William Whittingham. He also supported the building of churches by distributing literature and sending ministers, supported by the Genevan church, secretly into France. Secrecy was essential to the operation in France. It became an underground network similar to what was employed by the French Resistance during World War II, allowing men from Geneva to slip across the lines into France. In January of 1561, a message arrived in Geneva from the new King of France, Charles IX, indicating that they had discovered the systematic subversion of authority within France by these preachers sent from Geneva. He demanded that Geneva’s agents be recalled and he wanted assurance that there would be no more incursions. Since the support for the pastors came from the Company of Pastors, an ecclesiastical organization, it allowed the council to deny responsibility, averting a serious rupture between Geneva and France.

In the autumn of 1558, Calvin became ill with a fever and was afraid that he may die before completing his final revision of his master work, the Institutes. He forced himself to work and expounding on his existing material, he increased the number of chapters from 21 to 80. Even though it was based on his existing work, Calvin considered to be “almost a new work,” because it was based on the Apostles’ Creed. First, the knowledge of God is considered as knowledge of the Father, the creator, provider and sustainer. Second, it examines how the Son reveals the Father, since only God is able to reveal God. Third, it describes the work of the Holy Spirit. And finally, the fourth section speaks of the Christian church, and how it is to live out the truths of Scripture, particularly through the sacraments. It also describes the functions and ministries of the church, civil government relation to religious matters and the inadequacies of the papacy. This last edition was published in 1559.

After recovering from the fever, he continued to have health problems. By the early spring of 1564, it was obvious that Calvin was seriously ill. He suffered from symptoms consistent with migraine, gout, pulmonary tuberculosis, intestinal parasites and other internal issues. He preached for the last time from the pulpit of Saint-Pierre on Sunday February 6, 1564. Despite his shortness of breath, he managed to bid farewell to the ministers of Geneva on Friday April 28, 1564. In his document, Discours d’adieu aux ministries, Calvin confessed that he was, and had always been, little more than a poor and timid scholar, pressed into the service of the Christian gospel. He died at 8:00p.m. on May 27, 1564 and at his own request was buried in a common grave with no stone marker.

The Beginnings of a Movement

It was Martin Luther that started the Reformation with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 but with the death of Luther in 1546 and the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League in 1547, Lutheranism was in decline. Calvin’s star however was on the rise. The Institutes were widely read and appreciated, sometimes being cited in works by others of the day. The work rapidly became the one-stop shop for ideas in the second wave of the Reformation. The 1541 edition, published in French, is known to have played a major role in winning converts to his understanding of the Christian faith and the reformation which followed – first in France and subsequently far beyond. Calvin was well aware of the importance of church structures and discipline, devising a model that proved quite adept to international expansion. But expansion is one thing, survivability of a movement is another… Calvinism proved to be capable of surviving under hostile conditions, assuming the status of an underground movement.

Calvin vs The World: The Rise of Calvinism

In the next series of posts we will look at the rise of Calvinism. Thank you again for taking time to read this series, I hope that it has been helpful.

Thanks,
Adam

John Calvin vs The World: The Man Part 2

Symbiosis with Geneva

To speak of John Calvin is to speak of the Switzerland city of Geneva, one of the greatest symbiotic relationships in history. Even though Calvin himself was somewhat irritated and embarrassed by this relationship, he could not deny it. He complained that people were ill-informed when they attributed the actions of the Genevan city council to him personally. However, a certain number of his ideas seemed to have had Geneva in mind while being developed. So it could easily be construed that Geneva had as much of an influence on Calvin as Calvin had on Geneva.

Geneva – The First Period

On July 15, 1536, after settling remaining family affairs in France due to the allowance of the Edict of Coucy, Calvin set off for Strasbourg to leave behind the perils of the country he called home. Unfortunately, the direct road to Strasbourg was threatened by the movement of troops involved in the war between Francis I and the Emperor, forcing Calvin to take an alternative route through Geneva. He had only intended on staying one night but a fellow French reformer, William Farel, insisted that he stay and assist him in the work of reforming the churches there. Calvin was reluctant because he wanted only peace and privacy but Farel’s insistence prevailed. Calvin recalls the encounter:

Then Farel, who was working with incredible zeal to promote the gospel, bent all his efforts to keep me in the city. And when he realized that I was determined to study in privacy in some obscure place, and saw that he gained nothing by entreaty, he descended to cursing, and said that God would surely curse my peace if I held back from giving help at a time of such great need. Terrified by his words, and conscience of my own timidity and cowardice, I gave up my journey and attempted to apply whatever gift I had in defense of my faith.

Farel drafted a confession of faith while Calvin wrote articles on reorganizing the churches in Geneva. In January of 1537, they presented their work, Articles on the Organization of the Church and its Worship at Geneva, to the city council. The document described the manner and frequency of their celebrations of the Eucharist, the reasons and methods for excommunication, the requirement of an adherence to a confession of faith, use of congregational singing and the revision of marriage laws. The council accepted it that day but eventually soured on the idea due to the fact that only a few citizens had subscribed to their confession of faith. Eventually there would be a dispute over the Easter Eucharist, causing a riot, and both men were asked to leave Geneva. In September of 1538, Calvin accepted a position to lead a church of French refugees in Strasbourg and ministered there until 1541.

Geneva – The Second Period

Church attendance was down and the political climate had changed, causing the council in Geneva to reconsider its expulsion of Calvin. After a letter arrived from Cardinal Jocopo Sadoleto inviting them to rejoin the Catholic faith, the council needed someone to respond with some ecclesiastical authority.  They turned to Calvin. In the summer of 1541, Strasbourg decided to loan Calvin to Geneva for six months. He returned in September with a wagon for his family. He was torn but decided the move back to Geneva was for the best.

Almost immediately following his arrival in Geneva, Calvin saw a need for a disciplined, well-ordered and structured church. He proceeded to create detailed guidelines for governing every aspect of it. Some biographers have compared him to Lenin because of this, both were well aware of the importance of institutions for the propagation of their system and they lost no time organizing what was required. Supporting his reforms, the council passed the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques (Ecclesiastical Ordinances) on November 20, 1541. The ordinances defined four orders of ministerial function: pastors to preach and administer sacraments, teachers to instruct believers in the faith, ancients or lay elders to watch over the conduct of the people and provide discipline, and deacons to care for the poor.

The documents also called for the creation of the Consistoire (Consistory), an ecclesiastical court of lay elders and ministers. It came into being in 1542, with 12 lay elders (selected annually by magistrates), and all of the members of the Venerable Company of Pastors (9 in 1542 and 19 in 1564). The Venerable Company was a purely clerical body, consisting of all the pastors of the city and district of Geneva. It had no political power. The city government would retain the power to summon people before the court but the Consistory was only given the authority to judge in ecclesiastical matters having no civil jurisdiction.

Calvin originally conceived of the Consistory as a primary instrument for policing religious orthodoxy. He recognized it as essential to the survival of Reformed Christendom. Its principle function was to deal with those whose religious views posed a significant threat to the religious order established at Geneva. Others whose behavior was regarded as unacceptable for other reasons, pastoral or moral, were also to be treated in a similar fashion. First, they were to be shown the error of their ways. If this method failed, then secondly, they would be excommunicated. The council, being jealous of the Consistory’s authority, decided in March of 1543 that all sentencing would be carried out by the government, including excommunication.

The Death of Michael Servetus

In Honoré de Balzac’s La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), the French novelist and playwright informs us that immediately upon Calvin’s return to Geneva in 1541, ‘executions began, and Calvin organized his religious terror.’ Calvin however was never really in a position to instigate executions and during his second period in Geneva there was only one person executed for a religious offense, his name was Michael Servetus.

Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer and Renaissance humanist. He was well versed in subjects such as: mathematics, astronomy, geography, human anatomy, medicine, law theory, translation, meteorology, poetry and the study of the Bible in its original languages. Servetus, noted particularly for his theological views, also developed a nontrinitarian Christology. He was condemned by Catholics and Protestants alike.

Servetus published several books on his view of the Trinity, De Trinitatis Erroribus (On the Errors of the Trinity) in July 1531, Dialogorum de Trinitate (Dialogues on the Trinity) in 1532 and Christianismi Restitutio (The Restoration of Christianity) in 1553. The Restoration of Christianity staunchly rejected the idea of predestination. This is completely contrary to what Calvin states in the Institutes. Calvin felt that Servetus’ book was an attack on his personally held theories regarding Christianity, his “established Christian doctrine.” Calvin sent Servetus a copy of the Institutes and Servetus promptly returned it, annotated with what he felt was in error. Calvin wrote to Servetus, “I neither hate you nor despise you; nor do I wish to persecute you; but I would be as hard as iron when I behold you insulting sound doctrine with so great audacity.” As time progressed, their conversations became increasingly heated. Calvin eventually ended it. But Servetus just kept going, thoroughly offending Calvin. In a letter to his friend William Farel, Calvin vented:

“Servetus has just sent me a long volume of his ravings. If I consent he will come here, but I will not give my word; for if he comes here, if my authority is worth anything, I will never permit him to depart alive…”

In truth, there were many that wanted Servetus dead. In June of 1552 the sentence of death by burning alive was passed on him by the Inquisition but he had previously escaped prison and could not physically be executed. They resorted to burning him in effigy and five bales of his books in his stead. He eventually turned up in Geneva in July and was arrested by the council. The city of Geneva lacked a long-term prison, it had only two major penalties that it could use, banishment and execution. Banishment was not an option due to the fact that Servetus was not a citizen of Geneva. That left only execution.

It has been recorded by some biographers that Calvin just wanted a retraction from Servetus and spent hours trying to get him to do so but he refused. Nevertheless, Calvin was the expert witness against him. In this case the Consistory, over which Calvin had considerable influence, was bypassed by the Geneva council in an effort to marginalize Calvin from the affair and voted to condemn Servetus for heresy, calling for his execution. Other churches in Berne, Zurich and Schaffhausen encouraged this move. Calvin lobbied for a more humane swift execution but was denied. On October 27, 1553, Geneva burned Servetus as the stake for blasphemy and heresy.

In context, the execution of heretics during the sixteenth century was common place. Did Calvin have a distaste for Servertus? Sure. Did he want him dead? In the context of the whole situation, maybe. To the modern reader though, Calvin could be considered a murderer and has been portrayed as such in more than one biography. It is ill advised though to  throw out the entire context of the situation to try and prove a viewpoint. In McGrath’s book, he points out:

His tacit support for the capital penalty for offences such as heresy which he (and his contemporaries) regarded as serious makes him little more than a child of his age, rather than an outrageous exception to its standards. Post-Enlightenment writers have every right to protest against the cruelty of earlier generations; to single out Calvin for particular criticism, however, suggests a selectivity approaching victimization. To target him in this way when the manner of his involvement was, to say the least, oblique and overlook the much greater claims to infamy of other individuals and institutions raises difficult questions concerning the precommitments of his critics. Servetus was the only individual put to death for his religious opinions in Geneva during Calvin’s lifetime, at a time when executions of this nature were commonplace elsewhere.”

In the aftermath of the death of Michael Servetus, Calvin was propelled further into the forefront of Protestantism. He was already considered by some as a considerable religious writer and thinker but after this incident, he was regarded as the defender of the true faith in Protestant circles. In Geneva, however, his situation was still one of isolation. But with the revolution of 1555 his status in Geneva would significantly change.

Calvin vs The World: The Man Part 3

Again, thanks for making it this far in the post. This is a lot more information than I had originally thought to put into this series but all of it is relevant in understanding this man and the impact he has had. I am going to have to go into a third part of this portion of the series… Part 3 will explore the Revolution of 1555 and his final years. Again, please feel free to comment. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Adam

John Calvin vs The World: The Man Part 1

John Calvin has always been a very polarizing figure in society. You either love him or you hate him. Some biographers have called him a jealous intolerant sectarian tyrant and a killer in search of absolute power, who ruled Geneva with a rod of iron. Others have called him a brilliant mind, praising his innovative organizational and theological ideas, manifesting a life devoted utterly to displaying the glory and majesty of God. Could these two views be of the same man? In searching for resources for my study of this historic figure, it was very difficult to find an unbiased source that truly gave me a picture of who this man was and how he perceived the world. Discerning what I can from multiple sources, I have tried to cobble together my view of who this man was and how he has impacted our culture.

The Early Years

John Calvin was born Jehan Cauvin in Noyon in the Picardy region of France on July 10, 1509. He was the first of four sons that survived infancy. His father, Gérard Cauvin, was a lawyer who served as cathedral notary and registrar to the local Catholic church. Gérard encouraged John to study in order to become a Catholic priest and by the age of 12, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk. In order to show his dedication to the church he also had his hair cut into the traditional tonsure style, which is shaved bald on top with hair on the sides.

In 1523, at the age of 14, he began studying in Paris at the Collège de la Marche at the University of Paris, where he became very skilled in Latin due to the teaching of Mathurin Cordier. After finishing the course there, he then attended Collège de Montaigu as a philosophy student until 1528. At that point, some sources report that there were some hints of financial irregularities involving his father Gérard at Noyon which would have adversely affected Calvin’s ecclesiastical career. So as a result, Gérard instructed his son to pursue an education in civil law at the University of Orléans. (Note: Civil law was not taught in Paris during this period.) According to contemporary biographers, Beza and Colladon, Calvin’s father thought at this point that there would be more money to be made by becoming a lawyer rather than a priest. A year later in 1529, he entered the University of Bourges where he continued his study of law. During his 18-month tenure at Bourges Calvin had an opportunity to learn Greek, which would help him in his study of the New Testament. After graduating as a Doctor of Law in 1531, he returned to Paris.

In the same year that he received his law degree, his father passed away. In some sense, this must have relieved the pressure that he had been receiving from his father for so many years and allowed him the freedom to begin studying things that would peak his interest. Calvin’s ambition was not to be a professional lawyer but to be a man of letters. In 1532, he self-published a commentary on Roman philosopher Seneca’s Treatise on Clemency. The work exemplified considerable rhetorical skill but unfortunately for Calvin, it went virtually unnoticed.

Calvin’s Conversion

In the Autumn of 1533, Calvin experienced a religious conversion. He wrote about the incident later in two separate accounts, which seem to be quite different. The first account, written in the Preface to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms, portrays his conversion as a sudden change of mind, brought about by God.

“God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame, which was more hardened in such matters than might have been expected from one at my early period of life. Having thus received some taste and knowledge of true godliness, I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein, that although I did not altogether leave off other studies, yet I pursued them with less ardour.”

The second account, written in a letter of response to Sadoleto’s letter to the Genevans, speaks of an extended process of internal turmoil, followed by psychological and spiritual anguish.

“Being exceedingly alarmed at the misery into which I had fallen, and much more at that which threatened me in view of eternal death, I, duty bound, made it my first business to betake myself to your way, condemning my past life, not without groans and tears. And now, O Lord, what remains to a wretch like me, but instead of defence, earnestly to supplicate you not to judge that fearful abandonment of your Word according to its deserts, from which in your wondrous goodness you have at last delivered me.”

Scholars have argued over the interpretation of these two differing accounts but can only find common ground on the fact that this conversion coincided with his break from the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in his joining of the Protestant movement.

On the Run

During the time that Calvin returned to Paris, tensions began to rise at the Collège Royal between the humanist/reformers and the conservative senior faculty members. (Note: Humanists in Calvin’s day were generally religious and concerned with renewal rather than the abolition of the Christian faith and church.) Nicolas Cop, a reformer, newly elected rector of the university and close friend of Calvin, devoted his inaugural address to the need for reform and renewal of the Catholic Church. That was a serious error in judgment. The address provoked a strong reaction from the faculty. They found it offensive and intemperate, denouncing it as heretical, forcing Cop to flee to Basel. Calvin was also implicated in the incident and was forced into hiding,  sheltered by friends like Louis du Tillet.

He was then forced to flee France, with the help of du Tillet, during the Affair of the Placards in October of 1534. This event caused an incredibly violent backlash against evangelicals, now considered to be a ‘religion of rebels’. Once out of France, he adopted the pseudonym of Martinus Lucianus and continued in hiding, avoiding persecution unlike his compatriots standing their ground for reform. In January of the following year, Calvin finally joined Cop in Basel, a city under the influence of the reformer Johannes Oecolampadius.

Institutes of the Christian Religion

In Basel, Calvin observed from his exile incidents involving those in the reform movement perishing for their faith: the poisoning of reformer Pierre Viret in Geneva and the burning alive of his friend Etienne de la Forge in France. He would also learn that evangelicals were being labeled as seditious and rebellious Anabaptists, not worthy to be compared with their German Protestant counterparts. Anabaptism was considered a radical social force, an impression that was reinforced by the Anabaptist takeover of Münster under Jan van Leyden.

Calvin became enraged and deeply wounded by the implication that the evangelicals owed their inspiration to political, rather than religious motives. He decided that he must act, so he grabbed his pen and wrote a book, calling it the Institutio Christianae Religionishe or Institutes of the Christian Religion. By the end of August in 1535, the work was complete. It was published in March of 1536. The intended audience for the first edition of the Institutes is thought to have been French evangelicals attempting to consolidate the understanding of their faith. In addition though, the book was also thought to be intended to prove the stupidity of the allegations that the persecution of evangelicals could be justified by comparing them to the Anabaptists.

This book was the first expression of his theology. He would continue to update the work throughout his life, ending with the 1559 edition. Calvin himself explicitly identified the Institutes as the sole authoritative source of his religious thoughts. Alister McGrath in his biography, A Life of John Calvin, had this to say about the structure and thought of Calvin’s Institutes:

The popular conception of Calvin’s religious thought is that of a rigorously logical system, centering upon the doctrine of predestination. Influential though this popular icon may be, it bears little relation to reality… Can one speak of Calvin’s thought as being a system in the first place? The word ‘system’ implies underlying assumptions of unity. It makes claim to coherence. Yet Calvin shared the intense distaste of the humanist republic of letters for the scholastic theologians, whose watchwords might have been ‘systematization’ and ‘coherence’. To speak of Calvin as a theological systematizer is to imply a degree of affinity with medieval scholasticism which contradicts his known attitudes.

A study of the evolution of the Institutes indicates, Calvin originally conceived the work in modest terms, with no claims to methodological comprehensiveness…

It was not until later in the sixteenth century that Calvin’s successors found that in order to maintain an intellectual respectability and credibility, Calvinism had to be recast into a systematic form. This has more than likely led to the conclusion that Calvin’s original thoughts were systematically and logically constructed in accordance to later Reformed Orthodoxy.

Calvin vs The World: The Man Part 2

Thanks for making it this far in the post. This is a lot of information to digest. In an attempt to not make this too boring, I decided to break this portion of the series up into three parts. Part 2 will explore Calvin’s time in Geneva, Michael Servetus and Calvin’s ever-growing influence. Again, please feel free to comment. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Adam

John Calvin vs The World: Introduction

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 KJV

John 3:16 is one of the most, if not the most well-known verse in all of Scripture. It has been called the “Gospel in a nutshell,” because many consider it a summary of the central doctrines of Christianity. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was thrust into modern culture by Rollen Frederick Stewart aka Rainbow Man, a fixture in American sports culture. He would wear a rainbow-colored afro-style wig, a white T-shirt and carry signs referencing John 3:16 at numerous sporting events around the United States and overseas. Since that time, John 3:16 has become a mainstay at sporting events, recently garnering attention from the media through the efforts of former Florida Gators quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. In other venues, it has been referenced on the bottom of paper cups at In-N-Out burger and clothing stores such as Forever 21 and Heritage on the bottom of their shopping bags.

The world knows this verse but what does it really say? It has traditionally been viewed as the simplest form of the Gospel: God loved the world so much that He gave His One and only Son, Jesus Christ, so that whoever believes in Him and what He came to do would not perish but spend an everlasting life with Him in heaven… It seems to indicate that anyone (whosoever or whoever) is able to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved however in some circles this verse has been interpreted in quite a different manner…

Reformed Pastor John Samson, author of “Twelve What Abouts – Answering Common Objections Concerning God’s Sovereignty in Election,” views the verse in this way:

Literally, the text reads “in order that every the one believing in Him, not to perish, but have everlasting life.” It says “every” or “all the one believing…” That’s hard to express in English, but in essence, it is saying “all the believing ones.” That’s what is being communicated. It is saying that there is no such thing as a believing one who does not receive eternal life, but who perishes. Though our English translation says “whoever believes” the literal rendering is accurately translated as “every believing one” and the emphasis is NOT AT ALL on the “whosoever” but on the belief. The ones BELIEVING will not have one consequence but will have another. They will not perish but will have everlasting life.

Why? Because of the main verb – because God GAVE His Son. God gave His Son for the purpose (Greek: hina) that every believing one should not perish, but that every believing one should have everlasting life.

The text (John 3:16) actually speaks of a limitation of a particular rather than a universal redemption, for clearly, not everyone will be saved, but only those who believe in Christ. The Father gave His Son for the purpose of those who believe. The Son is given so that the believing ones will not perish, but opposite to that, have eternal life. That is the purpose of the giving.

So, what John 3:16 teaches is:

ALL who do A (believe in Him)
will not B (perish)
but will have C (everlasting life)

What does this text tell us about who WILL believe or who CAN believe?

The answer is: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The text does not address the issue of who WILL believe or who CAN believe.

Samson views this verse as saying essentially nothing about who can come to know Christ, the “whosoever”, it only involves those who already believe. This is quite contrary to the traditional interpretation and it brings up some pretty significant questions about salvation.

• Did God send His One and only Son to die for the world or just for those who believe?
• Do we have a choice to believe in Jesus as our Savior?
• Are we already predetermined by God for Heaven or Hell?
• If I witness for Christ to those around me will it make a difference? Can they be saved?

Why is Samson’s view contrary to the traditional view? In short, he is what is called a Reformed or some would call a Calvinist pastor. Some of you reading this may know exactly what I am referring to but most do not. Recently, I was actively involved in a church where this type of theology (Reformed/Calvinist theology) became quite an issue. So much so, that it devastated the church congregation, dispersing the members to different churches in the area and unfortunately driving some members to just stay home instead of dealing with this type of upheaval. Most members had never even heard of Calvinism before this occurred.

This is not the first time this type of theology has caused an issue within a church congregation. There have been many church splits due to this problem. In the next few posts, I want to explore who John Calvin is, his theology, his influence and what weight this theology has on the churches we attend today. I also would like to hear your stories as well. What you have experienced with this type of theology?

Theological Disclaimer

Just to be up front, I am not a Calvinist, nor will I ever be a Calvinist. I do believe however in some things that John Calvin believed. I also do not ascribe to an Arminian theology (if you are not sure what that is, I will address it in a later post associated to this one). As Dr. Adrian Rogers once said: “I’m not interested really in a name given to a theology or being called a “Calvinist” or a “Baptist” or whatever – I am committed to what the Bible teaches and you know if we have any “Baptist doctrine” we need to get rid of it. If we have any “Presbyterian doctrine” or “Methodist doctrine” we need to get rid of it. We need to see what the Bible teaches and just zero in on the Word of God.”

My motto is that of Acts 17:11, …receive the word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily, whether those things are so.

Feel free to comment on these posts – I want to try and get an active discussion going on this topic… This debate has been going on for over 400 years, we are not going to solve it over a few posts but we can discuss it reasonably I would hope.

Thanks,
Adam

Recommended Reads… 7 Men And the Secret of Their Greatness

Anyone reading this book must wonder why I chose these seven men. Of course this is not a definitive list… There are many, many more whom I would have liked to include and whom I hope to include in future volumes. But in this first volume I was looking for seven men who had all evinced one particular quality: that of surrendering themselves to a higher purpose, of giving something away that they might have kept. All of them did this in one way or another. Doing this is noble and admirable, and it takes courage and it usually takes faith. Each of the seven men in this book have that quality. Eric Metaxas 7 Men And the Secret of Their Greatness

7 Men And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas

After I finished reading Metaxas’ last book, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, I decided to read through his next book 7 Men as well. I must say that I enjoyed this one too. I really liked the concept of the book, 7 mini biographies that can be read in any order but still have an overlying theme that can be drawn from each story of these 7 men. It is almost equivalent to reading 7 books in one.

The 7 men listed are:

	George Washington (1732-1799) He voluntarily gave up extraordinary power for the best interest of a new nation. If he had not done this, the country may not have lasted very long. If you live in the United States, his decision has directly affected you.
	William Wilberforce (1759-1833) He gave up the opportunity to become prime minister of England for the sake of abolishing the slave trade, changing the way we think about helping others. This man’s conversion to the Christian faith changed him forever.
	Eric Liddell (1902-1945) He gave up the acclaim of becoming an Olympic Gold Medalist in his signature event because of his Christian faith but that is only half the story.
	Dietrich Bonheoffer (1906-1945) He courageously defied the Nazi regime, ultimately giving up his life for what he believed God had called him to do, inspiring countless numbers of others to stand up for what is right.
	Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) He was chosen to be the man to break the existing color barrier in professional baseball. With faith in God, he gave up his right to fight back against racial ridicule for the benefit of those who would one day follow in his footsteps.
	Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) He surrendered his entire life to the ministry. He was a picture of courage and heroic consistency to a secular world.
	Chuck Colson (1931-2012) He began his life as a ruthlessly ambitious lawyer that eventually ended up in the White House. When the scandal of Watergate broke however, his world came crashing down. His new found faith in God during that time though set him on a new path into ministry.

From Washington to Coulson you will learn things that you may have never known before, I know I did. This book will keep you engaged and may give you inspiration to do something great. It should all start though with direction from God.

I believe I got the most out of Coulson’s story. He was a man consumed by pride and politics only to have it stripped away, exposing a weak man in need of a Savior. Sometimes we have to be broken before we can be healed by the One who created us for His will and purpose.

This book is again, like his other books, well researched and well written. I hope he is able to continue this format because it definitely works well in my opinion. This is a solid piece and merits additional volumes. On a side note, this would also make a great gift someone else, especially a father. These men are great examples of leaving a lasting legacy. Even though the Pope and I see things a little differently theologically in some areas…