The Theology Of Calvin

BY
WILHELM NIESE

TRANSLATED BY HAROLD KNIGHT

* js-

The Theology .of
CALVIN

by WILHELM NIESEL
Translated by Harold Knight

How to see Calvin whole Is both the im-
perative aim and high achievement of this
distinguished book.

Many scholars have essayed the difficult
task of explaining Calvin. Dr. Niesel, a lead-
ing European theologian, has accomplished
here a systematic exposition of the complete
doctrine. When he introduced his work to
its German audience, he stood in the van-
guard of a new, revolutionary approach to
the Reformer. Subsequent studies by other
specialists strengthened and in no way
modified Dr. Niesel's original views. Now
Knglish-speaking theologians, ministers, and
students of every denomination have the
benefit of reading in their own language an
interpretation uneclipsed in power to illumi-
nate one of Protestantism's greatest thinkers.

Dr. Niesel shows that previous efforts to
understand Calvinistic thought on the basis
of structure or in terms of some " central
doctrine " served only to compound the con-
tradictions with which scholars are so famil-
iar in this area. Continuing failure, however,
educed the keener insight that the real prob-
lem of Calvin's theology springs from the
fact that it attempts seriously to be theology.

** This means," the author declares, " in
Calvin's doctrine it is a question of the con-
tent of all contents the living God. The
effort to bear witness to him makes itself
felt both in structure and substance." But
docs this thesis really correspond to Calvin's
own intentions? That, says Dr. Niesel, is
precisely what we must discover. Accord-
ingly, the whole body of Calvin's teaching

(Continued on back flap)
20-0168 $4.OO

281*. 2 Cl6zn 67-0155^

Niesel

rhe theology of Calvin

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

THE THEOLOGY
OF CALVIN

by
WILHELM NIESEL

Translated by
HAROLD KNIGHT

THE WESTMINSTER PRESS

PHILADELPHIA

First Published in Great Britain in 1956"
by Lutterworth Press

This book originally appeared as DIE THEOLOGIE
CALVINS, Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Munich, 1938. Some
revision of the original text has been made by the author for
this English edition.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number : 56-8047

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1 THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL

STUDIES 9

2 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD 22

1. Theology and Holy Scripture 22

2. Scripture and Spirit 30

3. The Question of Natural Theology 39

3 THE TRINITY 54

1. Calvin's Attitude to the Doctrine of the

Early Church 54

2. The Aim of the Doctrine 56

3. The Trinity 58

4 CREATION AND PROVIDENCE 6l

1. Creation 61

2. Providence 70

5 SIN 80

1. Original Sin 80

2. Adam's Sin our Sin 83

3. Sins of Action 88

6 THE LAW OF GOD 92

1. The Law as the Law of the Covenant 92

2. The Law and the Cultus 94

3. Christ and the Law 95

4. Freedom from the Law 98

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

7 THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 104

1. Statement of the Problem 104

2. The Old Testament 105

3. The New Testament as distinct from the

Old Testament 107

4. The Juxtaposition of the two Testaments 109

8 THE MEDIATOR HO

1. True God in

2. True Man 113

3. Unity but not Fusion of the two Natures 115

4. God revealed in the Flesh 1 18

9 THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

1. Communion with Christ 120

2. Regeneration and Sanctification 126

(a) Regeneration 126

(b) Justification 130

(c) The Relation of Regeneration and

Justification 137

>

ID THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN 140

1. Christian Freedom 140

2. The Imitation of Christ 142

11 PRAYER 152

1. The Necessity and the Essential Character

of Prayer 152

2. Christ and Prayer 153

3. The Holy Spirit and Prayer 154

4. The Church as the Sphere of Prayer 156

5. The End of Prayer 157

12 GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION 159

1. Election in Christ 159

2. The Question of Assurance of Salvation 169

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

13 THE CHURCH 182

1. The Church as the Mother of Believers 182

2. The Church as the Body of Christ 187

3. The Church as the Elect People 189

4. The Visible and the Invisible Church 191

5. The True and False Church 192

6. The Danger of Schism 195

7. Church Discipline 197

8. The Order of the Church 199

9. Church Ceremonies 206

10. The Perils to which Church Order is

exposed 208

11. The Church Militant 209

14 THE SACRAMENTS 211

1. The Meaning of the Rite ' 212

2. The Operation of the Sacraments 217

3. The Effect of the Sacraments 221

4. The Action of the Holy Spirit 223

15 SECULAR GOVERNMENT 22g

1. The Divine Institution of the State 230

2. The Tasks of the Civil Government 232

3. The Responsibility of the Secular Govern-

ment 236

4. Obedience to the Secular Government 238

5. The Limits of Secular Government 240

16 THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN AND ITS

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION 246

INDEX 251

Abbreviations Used in the Notes

CR= Corpus Reformatorum (Calvin's Works,
ed. Baum, Cunitz, and Reuss, vols. 1-59;
Brunswick, 1863-1900).

OS I. Calvini Opera Selecta (ed. Earth and
Niesel, vols. 1-5; Munich, 1926-1952).

In. =/. Calvini Institutio ChristianaeReligionis,
Geneva, 1559 (CRvol. 2; 06* vols. 3-5).

Chapter i

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

IN a report about the progress of Calvin studies since the
memorial year 1909 we find these words in reference to
the theological aspect of the Reformer's work: "We do
not yet seem to have found the basis for any systematic
exposition, and in view of Calvin's method and type of
thought all such attempts would encounter special diffi-
culties." 1 This has remained very true in recent years.
Monographs have been increased by a series of very useful
contributions; but we have not yet attained any conspectus
of Calvin's theology as a whole.

Further, existing works, dealing with individual aspects of
his doctrine, cannot simply be combined to form a composite
picture. It would not help us to publish a collected edition of
these Calvin studies; for the thread is lacking on which we
could string together the various contributions and make of
them a single whole. Calvin research suffers from the defect
that the golden thread which runs through it has not yet been
discovered. Certainly we are well informed about this or that
individual feature or doctrine ; but what is really in question
when he writes his Institutes of the Christian Religion, what his
governing intention is in constructing his theology, remains as
yet unknown to us. So long as we have not clearly grasped the
kernel of the whole nor understood the essential inspiration, no
attempt at an exposition of the whole can succeed. Thus it is
not superficial but quite fundamental difficulties which so far
have hindered the writing of a work on the theology of Calvin.

1 Gustav Kriiger in Die evangelische Theologie. Ihr jetziger Stand und ikre
Aufgaben ; Part 3 : Die Kirchengeschichte, II, I, Halle, 1929, p. 27.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

In recent years attempts have been made to master these
difficulties. There are studies the purpose of which has been
to discover the problem of the theology of Calvin and thus
to complete the most important preparation for a systematic
exposition of his work. Again, there are others which in
passing have adopted an attitude towards this question.

In 1922 Hermann Bauke made certain classifications in the
Calvin literature which had so far appeared. 1 According to
him it falls into three groups, which again are capable of sub-
division. The factors which determine such groups are the
sources of conflict between the various authors. The first
group of investigators bears a confessional character. Here
Reformed and Lutheran confront each other in their inter-
pretation of Calvin's doctrines. The second group is dis-
tinguished by the nationalistic tendencies of the writers. The
French and all the Western nations understand the theology
of Calvin differently from the Germans. Lastly, the third
group is decided by the characteristics of a particular theo-
logical school. Here Albrecht Ritschl and his followers stand
in one camp and Dilthey and Troeltsch with their pupils in
the other. Bauke thinks that the very possibility of such varied
divergences among Calvin's interpreters must in the last
resort have its origin in the special character of his theology
itself. Hence arises the question: "What is the peculiar
characteristic of Calvinistic theology which makes possible
such contradictory views?" 2

Bauke considers that the key to the understanding of
Calvin " cannot consist in any one intrinsic feature, any single
point of dogma, any central or root doctrine from which
everything else could be derived". 3 Such an opinion would
at most only serve to bring about a new division among
Calvin's exponents. If the study of Calvin has shown any-
thing, it is this: that he is no systematic theologian who

1 Hermann Bauke: Die Problems der Theologie Calvins, 1922.

2 Op. cit.,p. 7. 3p p . n ff.

IO

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

speculatively deduces his theology from one or two root
principles. "The theology of Calvin has in fact no basic
principle." 1

On the contrary, Bauke thinks he has found the clue to a
true understanding of the teaching of Calvin in the form
which his theology assumes: "Form not of course in the
sense of its outward vesture, style, classification, and arrange-
ment, etc., but in the deeper more comprehensive sense of
the inner development and structure of the whole theological
contents." 2 He distinguishes three essential traits in the
structural formation of Calvin's doctrine. The first is its
rationalism. By this he does not mean intrinsic but formal
rationalism: Calvin gets to grips with the doctrines of
theology by means of formal dialectics. The second mark of
its structural development is the "complexio oppositorum" , i.e.
the capacity to integrate doctrines even though they are
opposed from the point of view of logic or metaphysics. The
third characteristic Bauke finds in Biblicism: not the literal
kind which derives all materials from the Bible but "the
formal kind springing from the principle that dogmatics
must be essentially an exposition of Biblical themes' 5 . 3 On
the basis of this peculiar mould of Calvinistic dogmatics Bauke
endeavours to explain the divergences between Calvin's
exponents. He sees the problem of Calvin's theology, not in
the fact that it is the learned expression of a new type of
religion, but in the fact that Calvin has given to the Lutheran
content a new framework stemming from a different
structural evolution. In this respect Calvin shows himself to
be an eminent representative of the French mind, for which
form is decisive. 4 In other words, the special feature of
Calvin's doctrine is this : it is a reformed theology stamped by
the mind of a Frenchman. Bauke understands Calvin from
the standpoint of his French nationality, precisely in accord-
ance with the dictum of the French critic Jacques Pannier:
"Calvin's spirit is essentially the spirit of the French race
itself."*

1 Op. '*., P. 31. 2 P. I2 . 3 P. 20. 4 P. 14.

5 Jacques Pannier : Recherches sur la formation intellectuelle de Calvin, Paris,

II

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Some time ago another writing appeared which is
immediately concerned with the problem of Calvin's theo-
logy. 1 This work of Hermann Weber is not very different in
its conclusions from the one we have just discussed. Calvin in
his theology gives expression to much the same ideas as
Luther, but he experiences them and thinks them afresh in
terms of his Latin mind. 2 Some differences result above all
from the different method which Weber employs and
recommends. In the arguments of Bauke he desiderates
especially any psychological motivation and feels that the
basic Calvinistic principles of thought disclosed are often used
in a merely formal way, without recognition of the deep
personal life of Calvin in which they are rooted. 3 When
Weber seeks to understand the thought of Calvin from a
psychological standpoint he has in mind a purely medical
psychology which reveals the physiological bases of mental
phenomena. 4 According to this anthropological psychology
the thought and the total outlook of individuals are to be
explained as reactions produced by varied personal struc-
tures. 5 Since these psycho-physical structures vary according
to the individual, so that it is possible to distinguish several
types of personalities, given data are variously interpreted by
men according to their innate personal tendencies. 6

From the standpoint of his concern with psychological
structures Weber reaches the following conclusions:

i. In opposition to Bauke, he is of the opinion that the

Alcan, 1931, p. 55. Cf. also W. Niesel: "Calvin und Luther", Reform.
Kirchenzeitung, 81, 1931, pp. 195 ff. Ernst Pfisterer in a study entitled
"Die rassische Zugehorigkeit Calvins" (Dtsch. Pfarrerblatt, 39, 1935,
pp. 375 if.) has similarly tried to show while realizing that he was
thereby saying nothing of theological significance that Calvin belongs
to the Nordic races. We may await with interest the reaction of French
Calvin scholars to this most recent, well-founded thesis. It is unimportant
for our own study.

1 Hermann Weber : Die Theologie Calvins. Ihre innere Systematik im Lichte
structurpsychologischer Forschungsmethode, Berlin, Eisner, 1930 (Mono-
graphien zur Grundkgung der philosophischen Anthropologie und Wirklichkeits-
philosophie, published by E. Jaensch, Vol. 4).

2 Op. cit., p. 62. 3 P. 16. 4 P. 6. 5 p. 5 . 6 p. 7.

12

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

whole edifice of Calvinistic theology rests upon a certain
fundamental principle. This principle is certainly not " any-
thing formal but is something lived out in the depths of the
soul' 3 : the honour of God. 1 The existence of such a basic
principle belongs necessarily to the formalistic mode of
Calvin's thought 2 and to his schizophrenic disposition.
Individuals with a fissure in their soul-life like that of Calvin
would not be content to accept things as they are but would
seek to reinterpret them according to the measure of their
own psyche. 3 In the case of Calvin this is the idea of the
honour of God.

2. But Calvin feels this final principle of understanding not
as something subjective but as an objective reality standing
outside himself to which all other beings are related. This
type of thought, according to which all things lie outside the
subject and are means to an ultimate end, rests upon a
positivist world view such as is proper to the French mind.
From it flow two principles basic to Calvin's system of think-
ing: (a) The teleo-causal law of thought which supposes that
all continuities are subordinate in a causal series to a supreme
end or value. Thus Calvin causally infers everything from the
ethical idea of God, derives all things from the thought of
the honour of God, and likewise traces them back to Him.
Because causal thinking may often merge into judgments of
value and vice versa, we get the development in Calvin of
peculiar and apparently contradictory thoughts. 4 (b) The
law of antithetic forms of thought: this means that the
opposite of what a complex of thought suggests can become a
reality. For example, in regard to the doctrine of justification:
according to the Calvinistic system of thought (gloria Dei)
justification is a work of God alone, but in reality there
always exist the fact of sanctification and the exercises of
piety. This apparent contradiction is not a genuine one for
Calvin, because the primitive character of the soul-life,
peculiar to the Latin people, brings it about that the con-
nexion between idea and reality is on the one hand very close
and on the other may cease altogether. Thus idea and
1 P. 21. 2 P. 24. 3 Pp. X 8 and 25. < p. 38.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

reality had only a formal dialectic connexion. But this
formal solution of the problem is for the Latin Calvin a real
one. 1

This contribution of Weber to the understanding of
Calvin's theology is itself a testimony to a largely primitive
mentality. 2 Weber criticized Bauke for not having sufficiently
shown in regard to the particular doctrines of Calvin how far
the laws of thought which he discloses are really related to
the thinking of Calvin. Yet it must be conceded to Bauke that
he has at least attempted to do this. Nor has Weber done
better. The second part of the latter' s work, in which he sets
out to show the application of his previous methodically
prepared categories to the substance of Calvin's theology, is
the weakest; for the exposition of certain of the main
doctrines of Calvin is unfortunately troubled by very slender
factual knowledge, so that it is not astonishing if he finds in
Calvin everything as he must find it on the basis of his
psychological presuppositions about schizophrenia in a
Frenchman. Thus in the last analysis the study of Weber
does not take us beyond that of Bauke. The main difference
is that Weber, unlike Bauke, adheres to the idea of a supreme
category for the understanding of Calvin's theology and seeks
to deduce it from psychological considerations. This means:
Weber approves the efforts of those scholars who have tried
to understand the doctrine of Calvin on the basis of its
content; but he has also points of contact with Bauke who
rejected such attempts and endeavoured to understand the
theology of Calvin from the standpoint of structure. For
Weber everything hangs on typological psychology. The
natural disposition of Calvin serves him as a basis of inter-
pretation, and from it both the substantial and formal
elements in the doctrine of Calvin are inferred.

But what is really gained for our understanding by such an
analysis of types of thought? 3 One thing is certain that the

1 p. 53.

2 Cf. the critique of A. Lang: "Calvin * schizoid *?" Reform. Kirchen-
Zeitung, 81, 1931, pp. 147 ff.

3 Cf. Weber, op. cit.> p. 9.

14

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

Reformers themselves did not wish the differences between
them to be thus reduced to insignificance. Luther did not
reproach Zwingli with his Upper German mentality, but said
that his way of thought was different. Calvin in judging
Luther no doubt took into account the latter 5 s natural dis-
position; but in the last resort his chief concern was that
Luther held wrong views on the question of the Eucharist.
If the Reformers concentrated their attention so wholly on
the one thing, can we clever modern men come along and say
that had they only had the insights afforded by anthropo-
logical psychology they would have realized that their whole
strife was personally conditioned ? To pose the question is to
answer it. By such modern methods of enquiry we can at
best modestly contribute to the biography of the Reformers;
but these attempts are not appropriate as far as their
theology is concerned, and hence not of scholarly value. This
applies to the work of Weber, although he considers his
methods to be alone strictly scientific. 1 What we mean by
scientific quality in this connexion must be discussed later.

Thus it is not surprising that further efforts have been made
to understand the theology of Calvin from the point of view
of its content. Miilhaupt in his study has maintained, in
opposition to Bauke, that it is not a question of making a
virtue of necessity as regards the position of Calvin research
and of viewing the apparent lack of system in Calvin as a
natural outcome of his structural procedure and his humanist
French type of mind. 2 Of course Miilhaupt's own attempt to
trace everything in Calvin's theology back to the idea of God
does not overcome the difficulties experienced in the previous
course of research. He has to conclude with the observation
that Calvin fails to attain the compactness of Luther's
theological system and did not aim at the unity of

1 Pp. 8 ff.

2 Erwin Miilhaupt : Die Predigt Calvins, ihre Geschickte, ihre Form und ihre
religiosen Grundgedanken, Berlin, de Gruyter, 1931, p. xiv.

15

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Melanchthon's rationalistic nomism. 1 Hence the conclusion
he reaches is the usual one: in Calvin we find obscurities and
contradictions.

While Mulhaupt tries to find evidence for his thesis that
the foundation of Calvin's doctrine of God is the idea of a
gracious will, 2 Otto Ritschl in expounding Calvin's theo-
logical system holds that God for the Genevan Reformer is
essentially the righteous God. 3 Love is only instrumental to
His justice. The divine "gloria" consists in the fact that God
manifests His justice in the salvation of the elect and the
punishment of the reprobate, as in fact already in election and
damnation as such. The thought of the "gloria Dei" inter-
penetrates the whole theology of Calvin and provides the real
key to its understanding. 4 The doctrine of predestination so
closely connected with this thought of God stands at the head
of this theological system and all else is derivative from it. 5
Ritschl' s approach to the problems of Calvin's theology con-
tains nothing new, and has often been represented in the
history of Calvin research. We shall not here be concerned
with the fact that Ritschl's demonstration is often inaccurate 6
and that the doctrine of predestination itself is misrepresented
by him, but we shall only be occupied with a comparison
between his attempt at a solution and that of Mulhaupt.

The two monographs of Ritschl and Mulhaupt on the
doctrine of Calvin are the only ones which have appeared
since the work of Bauke. 7 In contrast to the latter, both seek

i Op. dt., p. 169. 2 Op. cit.> pp. 169 f.

3 Otto Ritschl : Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus, Vol. Ill, Gottingen,
1926, pp. 175 ff.

4 Op. cit, pp. 169 and 178. 5 P. 167.

6 Cf. simply p. 166, the wrong use of a quotation in a decisive passage.

7 We set aside two unsuccessful theses : Hans Engelland, who in his
work Gott und Mensch lei Cabin, Munich, 1934, aims at giving an intro-
duction to the Institutes, summarizes the contents of this book from the
wrong points of view and makes of Calvin a mediating theologian who
tries to build a bridge between reason and revelation. Giinter Gloede
has written the most comprehensive work which has for long appeared
about the theology of Calvin: Theologia naturalis bei Calvin, Stuttgart,
1935. He tries to show by abundant quotation that Calvin's doctrine of
creation contains the key to his position. This fulness, however, cannot

16

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

the problem of Calvin's theology in its content and they come
to conflicting conclusions.

Mulhaupt thinks that the God of Calvin is in the last
analysis a God of grace, Ritschl that He is righteous will
directed towards "gloria". Thus we are again faced by the
antitheses of Calvin research, which Bauke hoped to explain
and dissolve by the argument that the real problems of
Calvin's theology arise from the peculiarities of its formal
structure. His argument did not succeed, any more than did
the recent attempt of Ritschl and Bauke to show that these
problems have to do with the substance of that theology.
Must we not then agree with Weber, who, taking as his point
of departure structural psychology, could regard as valid the
effort to seek a solution both in the substance and in the form
and in his own opinion could take us all the nearer to the goal ?
If all other proposals fail, must we not accept the solution
recommended by anthropological psychology ?

We must not and we cannot do so, because the idea of
theology being determined by its object, which we owe to
Karl Barth, has produced a revolution in Calvin studies as
elsewhere.

Peter Brunner 1 has the merit of having approached the
study of Calvin with this idea in view. We certainly cannot
agree with him in some respects. Among other things he has
read into Calvin notions proper to modern theology. But that
is not the essential thing about his contribution; his origin-
ality lies in his realization that the fundamental problem has
to do neither with form nor with substance and sequence of
thought, but with something more ultimate. Structure, sub-
stance, and sequence of thought can do no more than point

conceal a disastrous lack of scholarly depth, so evident as to make his
arguments invalid. Details with regard to both books in the TheoL
Liter aturbeilage der Ref. Kirchenztg., 1934, p. 16, and 1936, pp. 15 ff.

1 Peter Brunner: Vom Glauben bei Calvin) Tubingen, Mohr, 1925.

17

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

to this ultimate object of relationship, which cannot be
directly apprehended or described. 1

Alfred de Quervain in his excellent introduction to the
theology of Calvin, which appeared at almost the same time,
says much the same thing in regard to efforts to understand
Calvin's doctrine from the point of view of the "gloria Dei" :
the honour of God "is not an approach, a principle, in a
theological system. It is the transcendent goal and equally
the presupposition of Calvin's whole life." 2

Or, as Udo Smidt puts it: "Seen from the beyond it is a
question (with regard to the honour of God) of the revelation
implied in that unconditioned declaration: The Lord is my
name and I will not give my honour to another (Isaiah 42 : 8) .
Seen from man's point of view it means that, in all the
relations of life, with the zeal of upright obedience and the
trustful confidence of faith, we apply all our powers to secure
that God's honour shall remain intact upon earth and God's
truth retain its value." 3

Peter Earth has summarized the essence of these statements
by saying: "The Biblical presupposition that man has to do
with the living God is through and through the vital nerve of
Calvin's instruction in the Christian religion." 4

Whereas the last-named theologians do not consider the
question how Calvin in his teaching can speak of an object
which is not an object, Matthias Simon continues the
thoughts of Brunner along these lines. He says: "God is
necessarily for us a coincidentia oppositorum about which it is
just impossible to speak directly. But this means: we cannot
speak of God except dialectically in terms of thesis and anti-
thesis." 5 "If we were to concentrate all our attention on the

1 Op. dt. 9 p. 4. [1926, p. 6,

2 Alfred de Quervain : Calvin, Sein Lehren und ICdmpfen, Berlin, Furche,

3 Udo Smidt: "Calvins Bezeugung der Ehre Gottes", in: Vom Dienst
an Theologie und Kirche y Festgabeftir Adolf Schlatter, Berlin, Furche, 1927,
p. 119.

^ Peter Barth: "Calvin", geitwende, 7, I, 1931, p. 310.

5 Matthias Simon: "Die Beziehungen zwischen Altem und Neuem
Testament in der Schriftauslegung Calvins" 3 Ref. JKirchenztg., 82, 1932,
P-34-

18

THE PRESENT STATE OP CRITICAL STUDIES

statement that God is holy, then this holy God could become
for us an idol, did we not remember at the same time that the
same God is love. If on the other hand we thought of God
only as love, then this gracious God could become for us a
mere thing, if the message of His holiness did not remind us
of the fact that He is the living God whom we can never
apprehend or describe by means of one thought or one
affirmation alone." *

If Simon thus endeavours to explain the contradictoriness
of Calvin's theology by reference to its object, Alfred Gohler,
adopting the same approach, says rightly with regard to the
relation between its individual portions and the whole:
"There is no central doctrine in the theology of Calvin;
rather all his doctrines are central in the sense that their aim
is to understand independently from their several viewpoints
what is central and essential." 2

The decisive contribution which all these theologians who
are led to study Calvin in the light of contemporary emphases
make to the understanding of the Reformer is this: The
problems of his theology do not arise from questions of
structure nor from those of content, but from the fact that it
makes a serious attempt to be theology. This means: in
Calvin's doctrine it is a question of the content of all contents
the living God. The effort to bear witness to Him makes
itself felt both in structure and substance. It is impossible for
either of these two factors to remain unaffected when the aim
is to allow the voice of the living God to be heard through
doctrine.

Certainly the question may be posed whether this solution
of the problem really corresponds to Calvin's own intentions.
Is it not rather that once again modern theology is being read
into Calvin's doctrine? Well, the contributions of these
theologians are already to some extent a proof of the

1 Op. dt. 9 p. 35.

2 Alfred Gohler: Calvin* Lehre von der Heiligung, Munich, 1934, p. 81.
Of course the author then falls into the trap of seeing in the special
object of his study the decisive factor and of speaking of " the centrality
of sanctification in the vision and interest of Calvin" (p. 105).

19

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

correctness of their thesis, and in the meantime we have
received other studies which point in the same direction. 1

But all these are dissertations which treat of individual
doctrines, and which only partially., and then only in passing,
attempt an answer to the question in what the essence of
Calvinistic theology consists. A twofold task remains to be
accomplished: the theology of Calvin must be examined at as
many points as possible in order to discover his underlying
intention. In this connexion the essence of his theology
must be more clearly elucidated than has been the case
hitherto.

I wrote thus in 1938 when I published this book about the
theology of Calvin in the midst of the struggles of the church.
In the meantime great strides have been made in this field of
research. The conclusions of my own work have as a result
been strengthened and completed. Let me mention above all
the book (which appeared soon after my own) by the Calvin
scholar who died recently Wilhelm Kolfhaus: Christus-
gemeinschaft bei Johannes Calvin; Neukirchen, 1939, and his
further work: Die Seelsorge Johannes Cabins; Neukirchen,
1941. Finally I should like to refer to the fine study by T. F.
Torrance: Calvin's Doctrine of Man, London, 1949, and to the
good survey by Frangois Wendel: Calvin, Sources et Evolution de
sapensee religieuse, Paris, 1950. The revolution in the approach
to the theology of Calvin is unmistakable. 2 We are sure that
the publication which has been begun in Geneva of extant
but hitherto unprinted manuscripts of the sermons of Calvin 3
will furnish further conclusive evidence for the correctness of
the new view.

What is offered in the following pages is no comprehensive

1 Here we may mention the contributions of Peter Earth to Calvin
research. They are listed along with other recent Calvin literature in the
report of Peter Earth: " Funfundzwanzig Jahre Calvinforschung
1909-1934", Theol Rundschau, Neue Folge VI, 1934, p. 162.

2 Cf. also W. A. Hauck : Christusglaube und Gottesqffenbarung nach Calvin,
Giitersloh, 1939: Vorsehung und Freiheit nach Calvin, Giitersloh, 1947.

3 J. Calvin: Predigten iiber das 2 Buck Samuelis, in der Ursprache nach der
Genfer Handschrift, Hanns Riickert, Neukirchen, 1936 if.

2O

THE PRESENT STATE OF CRITICAL STUDIES

survey of the theology of Calvin in the sense that the chief
points of his doctrine are enumerated and presented in every
detail. Our aim is to illuminate the whole body of his teaching
by a few fundamental examples. The problems of his theology
must disclose to us the essential problem and bring it to the
attention of our own theology and church.

Chapter 2

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

I. THEOLOGY AND HOLY SCRIPTURE 1

(a) If we wish to grasp the problem presented by the
theology of Calvin, our best course will be in the main to keep
well in view what he himself tells us about it. This will give
to our study the most unexceptionable and solid point of
departure. In his chief work, the Institutes, Calvin has provided
the reader with an introduction. Here he imparts to us his
basic purpose in giving an exposition of Christian doctrine.

"My intention in this work", he says, "has been then to
guide and instruct theological candidates in the reading of
the Word of God, so that they may without hindrance pro-
ceed upon the right lines. I have therefore thought fit to
summarize the whole body of religious doctrine and to reduce
it to such order that whoever rightly studies it will not find
it difficult to decide what he must especially seek in Scripture,
and to what end he must judge of its contents (quern in
scopum). Accordingly if, after fixing these outlines, I give
some exposition of Scripture it will not be necessary for me to
engage in lengthy arguments about disputed points and to
discuss general principles, and I can always try to be brief.
Hence the pious reader will be spared trouble and annoyance
if only he proceeds to read Scripture with a knowledge of

l J. A. Cramer: De Heilige Schrift bij Calvijn, Utrecht, 1926: Calvijn en
de Heilige Schrift, Wageningen, 1932. D. J. de Groot : Calvijns opvatting over
de inspiratie der Heilige Schrift, Zutphen, 1931. R. Bach : "Unsere Bibelnot
und Calvins Schliissel zur Schrift: Das innere Geisteszeugnis *', Reform.
Kztg., 72, 1922, pp. 225 fF. M. Simon: "Die Beziehung zwischen Altem
und Neuem Testament in der Schriftauslegung Galvins", Reform.
., 82, 1932, pp. 17 if.

22

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

this book as a necessary part of his equipment." 1 In similar
terms Calvin describes his intention in the introduction to the
French translation of the Institutes. The work is to serve the
purpose of finding the sum of what God wished to teach us in
His Word. " To this end he proposes to treat the principal and
most important things which are contained in Christian
philosophy." 2 According to these fundamental considera-
tions it seems to be the aim of Calvin in the Institutes to attain
and expound a synthesis of the contents of Scripture.

Of course the Institutes itself begins with the words: "All
our wisdom, in so far as it is to be held true and perfect,
consists in two things : namely, a right knowledge of God and
of ourselves." 3 But this first sentence about the knowledge of
God and of ourselves is not meant to be the foundation for
subsequent speculations of human reason about God and
man, but rather, in enunciating this principle, Calvin is
already carrying out the programme announced to the
reader in the introduction. The latter is not found in the first
Latin edition of the Institutes; but the French translation
already contains in a preface the words just quoted. But it
should above all be noted that the first Institutes does not
contain in its opening the words "all our wisdom"; in-
stead we find unmistakably: "All sacred doctrine consists
in two things: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." 4
Thus Calvin in fact begins in the first sentence of the
Institutes to expound the sum of what God teaches us in Holy
Scripture.

But even if all this were not made so plain, the first words
of the Institutes could not mean that Calvin in what follows
was about to develop his own thoughts about God and man.
Theologians and philosophers attempt that again and again j
but Calvin knows very well that " all that we think and speak
about God or ourselves is but vain folly and empty words". 5
The human mind is too weak to be able to fathom and
comprehend the being of God. 6 If we wish to say anything
apt about God and His relation to mankind then we must

'OS 3, 6, i8ff. 2 OS 3, 7, 28 ff. 3/n. i, i, i.

4 OS i, 37. s / n . I, I3j 3. 6 in. I, 6, 4.

23

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

be taught by God Himself. This is what happens in Holy
Scripture, which alone discloses to us the nature of God and
ourselves. "We must go to the Word, in which God is clearly
and vividly mirrored for us in His works, and where the works
of God are appraised not by our perverse judgments but by
the criterion of eternal truth." 1 The fact is "that no one can
understand the smallest part of true and saving doctrine unless
he be a student of Holy Scripture". 2 Hence the aim of
Calvin's theology seems to be not an unfolding of "philo-
sophia humana" but an exposition of the "philosophia
Christiana" which God gives us in the Bible.

But we cannot understand without more ado the "philo-
sophia Christiana" which God offers us in Scripture. Even in
reading Scripture we remain men "who are born in dark-
ness" and "ever more and more are hardened in their
blindness." 3 Hence Scripture remains for us in our present
condition "like a dead and ineffectual thing". 4 Of course we
hear its words and discover its teachings: but we make of
them according to our fancy some philosophy or speculative
system. 5

Since our natural disposition is utterly contrary to every-
thing spiritual, the inclinations of our heart must be changed
if our study of the Bible is not to be so much lost time. 6 We
must be given eyes and ears to register the truth of the Bible
if we are really to recognize and grasp it. 7 When we turn to
God, God effects this change in us through His Spirit. 8 The
Holy Spirit alone is the true expositor of Scripture. 9 By His
agency the word of Scripture is "powerfully imprinted upon
our hearts" 10 so that we truly receive and understand it.

When Calvin proposes in his Institutes to interpret those
fundamental principles of Christian philosophy which God
has granted us in the Bible, then, in accordance with what
has just been said, it must be remembered as we consider the
fulfilment of his purpose that "no one can understand the

i In. I, 6, 3. 2 In. I, 6, 2. 3 Q$ 3, 63, 2.

4 CR 54, 285. 5 CR 8, 395- 6 CR 9, 825.

7 CR 52, 383. 8 CR 9, 825. 9 CR 6, 270.
107,1.1,9,3.

24

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

secrets of God except those to whom it is given". 1 May we
not then describe in the following terms the purpose which
Calvin has in view in writing theology: for him it is a
question of expounding the contents of Scripture, the
"philosophia Christiana" which he has apprehended and
experienced in his own heart as the truth of God vouchsafed
to him thus through the illumination of the Holy Ghost?
Whereas the philosophers are able to teach only human
wisdom and, further, the theologians, in so far as they rely
upon reason, merely misuse the Bible in order to extract from
it the materials for a doctrinal edifice of their own devising,
may we suppose that Calvin reproduces in his theology words
and teachings which by the action of the Holy Ghost in
response to his faith he has understood as divine words and
teachings ?

(V) It is thus that Calvin in fact has frequently been
understood. Whether, as dictated by our theological position,
we say that Calvin wishes to expound the divine word of
Scripture as he has apprehended it in faith, or that his
purpose is to present the content of Scripture which he has
inwardly assimilated, makes no great difference. Calvin in
fact is concerned with something quite distinct. Certainly as
"one who has received from God more light than others" 2
he wishes to discuss in his Institutes the principles of that
Christian philosophy which the Bible offers us. He says this
quite plainly in his preface, where he indicates also that he
does not merely intend to draw up a list of such principles
but that he has imposed a certain order upon this sum of
religious truth. 3 But all this is not the essential. Of course he
does all this and must do it; but the purpose which he has
set himself is not to compose a synthesis of the divine teachings
which in faith he has derived from Scripture in order thereby
to instruct his brethren. No doubt to teach is part of his
purpose. This is suggested by the very title of his book. But
he does not mean that by an exposition of the principles of
Scriptural doctrine which in fact he gives he can simply
impart to his readers the matter which he has at heart.

i In. I, 7, 5. 2 OS 3, 7, 26. 3 OS 3, 6, 23.

25

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Calvin, firstly, intends much less. What he says in the
Institutes is not conceived as an end in itself, but as a sort of
key by means of which readers can then find for themselves
the right approach to Scripture. 1 The coherent presentation
of Scriptural teaching has only the subordinate purpose
of enabling each one to know "what he must primarily
seek in Scripture and to what end he should relate its
contents". 2

But what kind of a "scopus" or "end" is it to which the
reader of the Bible must relate the whole contents of the
Scriptures? And this question may now be asked if all
that Calvin adduces in the Institutes is only meant to draw the
attention of the reader to the "scopus" of the Bible, what is
then the problem of problems raised by Calvin's theology
itself? To this Calvin gives a very plain answer in another
preface. We mean the preface to the editions of the Genevan
translation of the Bible. 3 This preface and that to the
Institutes are complementary to each other. In the preface to
the Institutes the reader is referred to the Bible and in the
preface to the Genevan Bible he is referred to the Institutes.

In his preface to the Genevan translation of the Bible Calvin
speaks chiefly about the supreme value and importance of
Holy Scripture. Thus he there explains how the reader must
prepare himself if he is to study the Bible with profit. This
preparation has two aspects: "That we on our part shall be
alert and ready, as is seemly, and that we realize the end to
which we must strive." 4 After saying something on these
lines, Calvin continues: "I now refrain from speaking in
more detail about these two aspects (the value of Scripture
and right preparation for the reading of it) because if this
matter is to be rightly treated it requires not a simple intro-
duction but a whole book." 5 On reading this, who does not
think of the book which according to his own confession
Calvin has written in order that each should know "what he

* OS 3, 8, 5; 6, 19.

2 "quid potissimum quaerere in Scriptura et quern in scopum quic-
quid in ea continetur referre debeat", OS 3, 6, 24.

3 CR 9, 823 ff. 4 CR 9, 824. * CR 9, 825.

26

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

must primarily seek in Scripture, and to what end he should
relate its contents"? 1

But what is the end of Bible study? Not that we should
seek, in Scripture, food for idle speculations or material for
frivolous questions. It is given to us not for the satisfaction of
our foolish curiosity but for our edification. "If you ask in
what this whole edification consists, which we are to receive
thereby, in a word, it is a question of learning to place our
trust in God and to walk in the fear of Him, and since Jesus
Christ is the end of the law and the prophets and the essence
of the gospel of aspiring to no other aim but to know Him,
since we realize that we cannot deviate from that path in the
slightest degree without going astray." 2 In other words:
since the end, the fulfilling of the law, calling us to the fear
of God is Jesus Christ and the theme of the gospel inviting
us to trust is also Jesus Christ, the aim of all our attention
to the Bible should be the recognition of Jesus Christ.

This statement of Calvin is not an isolated one. In a
sermon he speaks in similar terms: "When we read Scripture
our aim must be to be truly edified in faith and in the fear
of the Lord, to become drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ and
to recognize that God has imparted Himself to us in Him
that we may possess Him as our inheritance . . ." 3 Elsewhere
we find: "We must read Scripture with the intention of
finding Christ therein. If we turn aside from this end, how-
ever much trouble we take, however much time we devote
to our study, we shall never attain the knowledge of the
truth. Again, can we be wise without the wisdom of God? " 4

From these two quotations it also becomes quite plain why
the goal of our Biblical study must be Jesus Christ: He is the
Mediator in whom alone God communicates Himself to us.
This again is what was implied in our previous statement that
Jesus Christ is the end of the law and the essence of the gospel.
This means further that law and gospel are not simply words
but that they proclaim a word of God through which He
reveals Himself to us men: Jesus Christ.

i OS 3, 6, 24. 2 CR 9, 825. 3 CR 53, 560.

4 CR 47, 125; cf. CR 45, 817; 50, 45.

27

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVJI7

Finally we would refer to a passage of the Institutes itself in
which Calvin expresses himself in a similar way in regard to
the word of Scripture: "When by the power of the Spirit it
effectually penetrates our hearts, when it conveys Christ to
us, then it becomes a word of life converting the soul." 1 This
too makes quite plain that Scripture ultimately is concerned
with the living Christ. But something else is also implied.
When it was stated previously that the aim of reading the
Bible is to know Christ, we can now see that this knowledge
is a knowledge which the Holy Ghost imparts to us. We have
already been told that God the Holy Ghost is alone the true
interpreter of the Bible for us. It is by His action that the
Word of Scripture is powerfully conveyed to our hearts and
that the words of the Bible become the one word radiating
the presence of Christ and bestowing it upon us.

It now becomes clear that Calvin, in writing his theology,
is concerned about something far deeper than an exposition
of Scriptural truths apprehended by faith. The "end" of the
Bible at which his work is aimed is, of course, as we have just
heard, truth itself: Jesus Christ. But Calvin is not the con-
troller of that truth. He cannot mediate it to his readers; he
can only point to it. For the latter purpose he develops his
"philosophia Christiana" of the Bible and expounds in due
order the main points of Biblical doctrine. By this theology
he can serve the reader of Holy Scripture only as it were by
marking out the path which leads to the one end on which the
whole Bible is focused. Thus the various doctrines which he
explains are so many signposts guiding the traveller again and
again in the right direction and preventing him from going
astray. 2 Calvin's design is thus purely and simply to expound
doctrine, the affirmations of faith, "philosophia Christiana". But
this exposition of Christian doctrine is not the same thing as
the "end" of his theological task. This ultimate purpose lies
beyond the immediate one; it is the same as that of the Bible
itself; our Lord Jesus Christ. Calvin in his theology is con-
cerned fundamentally about this living Lord; not about
certain doctrines which he has extracted from Scripture,
i In. I, 9, 3, 2 OS 3, 7, 24.

28

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

To show that what we are here urging is not something read
into Calvin, but the governing purpose which he himself
entertains, we will make in conclusion the following observa-
tion. The first Latin edition of the Institutes is not headed by
the preface from which we have quoted, but contains as an
introduction the letter to Francis I. The opening of it runs
thus: "My purpose has been simply this to provide a
preparation by means of which such as feel some zeal for
religion should be brought to true piety. And I undertook
this work principally for our own French people, maay of
whom, as I realized, hunger and thirst after Christ but of
whom very few are instructed even moderately in the true
knowledge of the Lord." *

In these introductory words to his Institutes Calvin has
declared his intention unmistakably. He wishes to guide the
reader to the attainment of true piety and this true piety
consists in the knowledge of Christ. By the exposition of the
contents of Scripture he wishes to proclaim to his countrymen
this living Lord; nothing more.

(c) Thus our contention has been that Calvin's purpose
was not to convey to his readers Scriptural truths recognized
by faith; he knows that he can perform only a modest
auxiliary service and cannot mediate to others the heart of
the matter itself. In recognizing that as a true theologian he
could only be a servant, and in being content that his
theology should bear the character of an allusion and
proclamation, he was doing more than offering his readers a
compendium of divine teachings culled from the Bible. He
performs his service as a teacher in the certitude that the
centre of the Bible towards which his own theology is
orientated Jesus Christ Himselfconstantly draws near to
our soul in His living reality and power as we meditate on
the words of Holy Scripture.

In the Bible we are confronted by God Himself. 2 He speaks

to us to-day through the words of His witnesses and ever and

anon reveals Himself to us. 3 Through all the words of the

Bible the living Word of God itself resounds. There we

i OS i, 21. 2 CR 8, 395. 3 CR 6, 269 ; 9, 824.

29

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

encounter Jesus Christ, the Word of words. Hence Holy
Scripture is the sole criterion of the teachings of the church. 1
In view of this interpretation of the heart and centre of
Scripture there is little sense in describing this principle as
the formal principle of Calvin's theology. Christ Himself, the
Son of God made man, cannot become a formal principle.
Nor is the expression "material principle" any more apt.
Calvin does not consider his theology subordinate to any sort
of body of materials. Christ the living Word of God spoken
to us is not an element in a synthesis from which all the other
elements are derived. Christ Jesus is the content which
transcends all contents. He is the Lord whom Calvin awaits
with burning desire: "How long O Lord?" 2 The Bible pro-
claims Him. Hence the theology of Calvin is linked to the
word of Scripture and is bidden to do nothing more than
point to the "end" of the Bible, Jesus Christ Himself.

2. SCRIPTURE AND SPIRIT

We have seen that the focal point of the Bible to which
Calvin wishes to bear witness in his theology is not compre-
hensible by the unaided reason. It is by the grace of God that
Scripture mediates to us the living Christ. The Holy Spirit
must unfold to us the treasures of the words of Scripture if
our study of it is to lead to this goal.

If the Holy Spirit must thus act upon us in order that we
should recognize and gain Christ, why then is there any
need of Holy Scripture at all ? And if our attention must be
turned to the latter, what role then does the Holy Spirit
properly play ? We must now more precisely determine the
relation of Spirit and Scripture and also enquire into the
exact reference of both to the "end" of the Bible, Jesus
Christ.

On this point Peter Brunner puts forward some excellent
arguments in his book. 3 There would be no need to add much
to them if recently the opinion had not again been expressed

i Gf. In. IV, 8, 8. 2 CR 21, 161 ; In. Ill, 9, 5,

3 See above p. 17, note i.

30

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

that Calvin taught the literal inspiration of Holy Scripture. 1
No doubt the thesis has been modified to the extent that he
did not understand inspiration in any mechanical fashion.
He did not think that the inspiration of the Bible could be
demonstrated to all and sundry. He differed from later
orthodoxy by the mode of his belief in the divine inspiration
of the Scriptures; but he did truly believe in it all the same.

(a) First, we might point out that in the Scriptural
exegesis of Calvin there is nothing to suggest a belief in literal
inerrancy. 2 He expressly guards himself against exegesis
which consists in the patching together of texts. 3 But we are
not much advanced by making such observations. However
important they may be in preventing us from reading
orthodox views into Calvin's doctrine, they do not shed much
light upon the problem itself. Does not Calvin then speak of
a divinely inspired Scripture, and what does he mean by that ?
Of course Calvin speaks of it, but only very rarely a fact
which may be regretted by the champions of theories of
inspiration, but which cannot be altered. In the chapters of
the Institutes in which he puts forward his doctrine of
Scripture he fatally omits to mention it at all. Elsewhere he
expresses himself in detail on the point, so far as we are
aware, only in three places. Once he discusses it with refer-
ence to the well-known text 2 Timothy 3:16, and in two
other places, while not positively developing a theory of
inspiration, he comes to speak of it in his debate with
Romanists who wish to found the authority of the Bible on
that of the church. 4 The circumstances which induced Calvin
in these three passages to expatiate on the inspiration of
Scripture will make a critical estimate of them very cautious.

(b] After making these observations of fact we will consider
the matter in itself. Peter Brunner has already drawn attention
to the fact that Calvin is fond of comparing the word of
Scripture with a mirror. He makes two remarks on the point:
"The mirror clearly reflects an image but this reflection is

1 De Groot in his above-mentioned book against Cramer.

2 Gf. E. Doumergue, Jean Calvin, IV, 76 ff. 3 In. I, 13, 3.
4 In. IV, 8, 5-9; Contra Pighium, CR 6, 270 ff.

31

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

not identical with the image itself." 1 In proof he quotes
especially Calvin's exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5 : 7 where we
read: "We see indeed, but as in a glass darkly i.e. instead
of having the thing itself we have to be content with the
message about it." 2 Calvin expresses the same point when he
describes the word of the Bible as an instrument of the
Spirit. 3 This means that the Holy Spirit uses the word but it
does not mean that it has so penetrated the word as to be
identical with it. In this connexion we may remember that
Calvin describes the elements of the Eucharist as instruments
which the Holy Spirit uses in order to work in the souls of the
elect. 4 God wills to make use of these elements as His instru-
ments. That must strictly be borne in mind; but these means
are not the thing itself. They must be carefully distinguished
from God Himself. If this is true of the visible signs of the
Eucharist, the same consideration applies to the word as the
instrument of the Spirit. Instrument and thing are not to be
divorced, but they are plainly to be distinguished.

Finally, we are led to the same interpretation of Calvin's
attitude towards Scripture by a third series of passages. We
have seen that he considers the word of the Bible as a dead
and ineffectual thing for us if it is not divinely vivified. But
this does not mean that the Holy Spirit has only to move
within us for us to be able rightly to understand Scripture.
No ; the written word itself must be made alive. When Calvin
speaks of the law he reminds us that Christ is the end of the
law and indeed the soul which animates it. So soon as it is
separated from Him it becomes a dead body of letters without
soul. Christ the soul of the law alone can make it live. 5
"But what " 3 he adds, "is true of the law is true of the
Scriptures as a whole. If they are not focused upon Christ as
their sole c end 3 , then they are completely warped and
distorted." 6 Here again we recognize the two factors: the
theme of the Bible cannot be divorced from its letters and

1 Peter Brunner : Vom Glauben bei Calvin, p. 93.

2 Op. tit., p. 94; CR 50, 63; cf. CR 9, 823.
3/. I, 9.3; IV, ii, i. 4 Gf. 05-1,508.
5 CR 40, 395 ; CR 49, 196. 6 CR 50, 45.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

words, from the extant book. And yet this theme is not
identifiable with these words. In themselves they are dead
words. The theme alone to which they bear witness makes
them live; and this theme is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the soul of the law, the focal point of the
whole of Holy Scripture. When we hear Calvin assert so
much we realize how misleading it is to regard him as the
exponent of a literal theory of inspiration. As though the
living Lord could be identified with the written words of the
Bible ! In that case He would be simply an idea or some other
thing, but not the Christ Himself. The Word of God the
incarnate Logos must be distinguished from the words of
Scripture.

(c) Why in any event does Calvin bring these two things
into such close connexion? How comes it about that he
describes Jesus Christ as the soul of the law and of the Bible
as a whole ?

He tells us this just at that point in the Institutes where he
discusses the inspiration of the Bible to counter the author-
itarian claims of the Roman church: " As truly as Christ tells
us that no one has seen the Father save the Son and he to
whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him, so certainly all
those who have wished to come to the knowledge of God
have always had to be guided by the same eternal wisdom.
For how could they have understood or spoken of the secrets
of God by their unaided reason unless they had been taught
by Him to whom alone the mysteries of the Father are dis-
closed ? Hence the holy men of long ago did not know God
otherwise than by viewing Him in His Son as in a mirror.
When I say that, I mean that God has never revealed
Himself to men otherwise than through the Son; that is
through the unique wisdom, light, and truth of the Son.
From that wellspring Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob and others have drawn all that they knew of divine
things. And from it too all the prophets have derived what-
ever divine prophecies they have left behind them in their
writings." * Calvin says just the same of the apostles, viz. that

i In. IV, 8, 5-

33

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

no more was granted to them than aforetime to the prophets,
that they expounded the ancient Scriptures to show the
fulfilment of them in Christ and that they could do this only
through the power of the Lord, "the spirit of Christ speaking
within them and in some sense dictating to them the words." 1
Thus Jesus Christ is the animating spirit of the Bible and both
belong together because the hidden God has revealed Himself
to us in Him alone, and it is just this revelation of God in
Jesus Christ which the Bible attests.

No way leads from man to God. The only connexion
between man and God exists in the one bridge which He
Himself has built and which is the one Incarnate Lord. It is
this position of affairs which Calvin desires to indicate in the
passage just referred to, by the fact that, like Luther, he
describes Jesus Christ as the mirror in which God's witnesses
have beheld God Himself. In the countenance of Jesus Christ
God allows us to see His own very image. 2 To be sure,
continues the Reformer, "the Turks to-day affirm that they
worship God the Creator of heaven and earth; but they wor-
ship only an idol. How so? They call Him the Creator of
heaven and earth but they have no images of Him. So much
is true, and the reason is that they have an idol instead of the
living God because they refuse to accept our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the living image of God his Father." 3 Calvin
research up to the most recent past is full of attempts to
impute to Calvin's theology this kind of deity worshipped by
the Turks. In this matter we have Calvin's own sharp dis-
owning of Turks, Jews, and all their kin. The characteristic
of Islam is seen in the fact that it understands Jesus Christ as
one manifestation of the divine among others, and hence
relativizes Him; the essence of Judaism consists in the fact
that it denies Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. Both like to
speak of God, but, since they dissociate the name of God from
Jesus Christ, God can be no more to them than a phantom. 4
Calvin realizes that we are utterly dependent for our know-
ledge of God upon His self-revelation : upon the fact that He

i/fl. IV, 8, 8. 2CK 9 , 816.

3 CR 26, 427 ; cf. In. II, 6, 4. 4 CR 47, 1 15.

34

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Himself has come down into our world. We meet God
personally only in Jesus Christ, who in His living personal
reality is the image of God the Father.

The incarnate Christ is indeed no longer among us; but
He has left us the word of His witnesses. As He Himself is the
mirror of God, so the word of Scripture reflects for us the
grace and truth of Christ. In this respect there is a certain
parallelism: as God was in the man Jesus, so the incarnate
Son is the animating soul of the Bible. We must not await
God's living word from any source but solely from Holy
Scripture. God has willed that there should be this funda-
mental witness to His revelation, that we might hold fast to
it with assurance. He does not come down from heaven to
speak to us every day. "But Scripture exists, by which God
has seen fit to proclaim and uphold His truth throughout all
ages." l In this purpose God's grace and favour towards us
men declares itself. As once He condescended to dwell with
us in our flesh, in order that we should encounter His living
presence, so again in Holy Scripture He adapts Himself to
our nature and speaks with us mortal men in our fashion
that we may understand and endure His words. That the God
of majesty speaks to us to-day in the word of Scripture and
babbles with us, as it were, in this book, is a token of His
condescension. 2 Because that is so, Calvin so frequently
utters the word of command: "Ad verbum est veniendum". 3

We have seen why Calvin does not confuse but distinguishes
the one Word and the words of Scripture, Jesus Christ the
soul of the Bible and the extant written message which bears
witness to Him. Now we see too why he does not divorce
them. For precisely thus he shows that he takes with real
seriousness the unique, perfect, and exclusive revelation of
God in Jesus Christ.

(d) All this should have made it plain that Calvin neither
championed the idea of the demonstrable mechanical inspira-

105-3,65,11.

2 CR 26, 387. Calvin here compares God with a nurse who talks to
the child in the child's own language. Cf. also CR 35, 312.

3 "You must come to the Word"; In. I, 7, i.

35

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

tion of the Bible nor did he believe in its inspired literal
inerrancy. Although he may incidentally speak of the divine
inspiration of Holy Scripture, such remarks must in no case
be interpreted to mean that Scripture as such is identical
with the truth of God. No; the truth of God is Jesus Christ,
the Mediator, our Lord, and not a spirit incarnated as it were
in the Bible. Calvin's doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible
is more vital than some suppose. When the second epistle to
Timothy speaks of the divine origin of the Scriptures, Calvin
thinks that it is a summons to us that we should look for God
to speak to us through the Bible: "Thus Holy Scripture is
for us a dead and ineffectual thing until we have come to
realize that God speaks to us and manifests His will to us
therein. That is what we should understand when Paul
assures us that Holy Scripture is divinely inspired." 1 Unlike
later critics, Calvin did not develop any theory as to how God
inspired prophets and apostles. Rather he was aware of being
claimed by the Bible and read the book "as if the living voice
of God were to be heard therein 3 '. 2 This did not encourage
speculation but challenged to obedience in the present hour.
The teaching about literal inspiration leads to Bibliolatry and
overlooks the fact that there is only one incarnation of the
divine word, of which Holy Scripture is the witness.

Because the testimony of prophets and apostles is no speech
conceived on their own initiative, but is rather what they
were commanded to declare, they themselves and their
words being merely the instruments of God who wills thus to
use them for His purposes, it is inevitable that Calvin should
speak of the Holy Ghost in formulating his doctrine of the
Scriptures.

Christ by His Spirit won for Himself the hearts of prophets
and apostles and used them and their words in His service.
Hence by the activity of His eternal Spirit He must still to-day
control their testimony and through their words speak His
own living word to us if the Bible is to have any meaning
for us at all. Precisely because the ultimate theme of Scripture
is God's own all-quickening word which became flesh in
10/254,285. * In. 1,7, i.

36

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Jesus Christ, that miracle must come to pass by which God
makes the word of His witnesses as we find it in the Bible His
own piercing word. Here is the miraculous operation of the
Holy Ghost.

(e) But that is only one aspect of the matter. It is not
enough that God has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ
and wishes to speak to us to-day in the testimony to this
revelation. Again, it is not enough that He wills to confront
us in this sacrament of Holy Scripture. However much we
assert that Scripture alone is for us the ground of our
recognition of God, it avails nothing. Still more are all
attempts to prove the uniqueness of Holy Scripture in the last
resort unavailing. Calvin realized very clearly the hopeless-
ness of all such apologetic. 1 Just because the concern of Holy
Scripture is not with doctrine but with the all-quickening
Word of God, we must confess that we are unable to grasp
its meaning by our unaided reason and ability. We can
understand Scripture, says Calvin, only when God Himself
makes His divine presence manifest to us therein. 2 And this
is ever afresh a divine action and event. The Holy Spirit
who used prophets and apostles as His instruments and still
to-day uses and quickens their word to ever new purposes,
to make the voice of the Lord audible to us, must also
perform His work in our hearts and must Himself speak in
us the response to the word by which we are addressed. In
this connexion Calvin refers us to Isaiah 54: 13 (In. I, 7, 5).
In this way the wondrous action of the Holy Ghost is

1 In. VIII, i, 13. In this connexion Calvin has written a whole
chapter in the Institutes concerning the credibility of Scripture from the
point of view of reason. He discusses its impressive power, its age, the
authenticity of its writings, the evidence of miracles and fulfilled
prophecies, its marvellous preservation, its successful resistance to all
criticism, and the confirmation of its authority by the blood of the
martyrs. Calvin regards these arguments as helpful in our weakness and
not without justification once the true ground of the authority of the
Scriptures is recognized. Thus he does not intend them as conclusive
proofs. Hence they are not of great value and later, when their secondary
importance was no longer recognized, let in the tide of orthodoxy.

2 In. I, 8, 13.

37

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

completed. This is not an illegitimate interpretation of
Calvin in the light of modern theology, for he himself says:
"For as the all-sufficient testimony of God is contained in
His word, the latter does not find the response of human
faith untilitis sealed by theinner witness of the Holy Spirit 33 . 1
"Word and Spirit both must be present if the sovereignty
of God is to be established." 2

(/) It has been said that Calvin's statements concerning
the relation of Word and Spirit are contradictory. On the
one hand the Spirit must be added to the Word in order to
lend authority to the latter. On the other hand the witness of
the Spirit is identical with the meaning of the Word, and
only gains its legitimation through its agreement with the
latter. Bauke saw in this position a splendid proof of the
existence of the complexio oppositorum in Calvin. The fact was
that the Reformer, without appreciating the full scope of the
problem, combined these opposites in his dialectical manner. 3
Peter Brunner on the contrary has shown that Calvin was
committed inevitably to such positions by the intrinsic
nature of the subject and by his own theology of revelation. 4
We shall now elucidate this point in connexion with our
own discussion concerning the "end" of Scripture. We can
well understand why Calvin says in debate with Sadolet : " It
is no less unreasonable to claim to give utterance to the Spirit
without the authority of the Word than it would be to shelter
behind the Word without possessing the Spirit." 5 Were we
to attempt to convince another by Scriptural proof, forgetting
that only God Himself by His Spirit can persuade man of the
truth of the Word, then all our arguments would be so many
words ; we should not be using the Word, and all would be in
vain. If on the other hand as the ecstatics of that time did
we were to appeal to an immediate spiritually inspired know-
ledge of God, then the question would arise whether in fact
the Holy Ghost were operative and not rather our own spirit.
God does not constantly reveal Himself from the heavens ;

i In. I, 7, 4; In. I, 8, 13 ; CR 39, 42. 2 CR 45, 197.

3 Bauke, op. cit., p. 55. 4 Peter Brunner, op. cit., p. 97, note 3.

5 OS i, 466.

38

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

He has spoken once in His Son and the presence of the Son
confronts us to-day in the word of those who witness to Him.
Calvin is aware of all this and therefore he does not forget
that the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, stands
wholly in the service of God's self-revelation. The task of the
Spirit is to make us sensitive to the one Word which lies
concealed in the words of Scripture ; it must therefore use the
written words and quicken them for our understanding. In
order to bring the incarnate Word near to us the Spirit needs
the written word, and proves itself as the Holy Spirit, the
third Person of the Trinity, by respecting the testimony which
prophets and apostles bear to the historical revelation of God
in Jesus Christ. He does not speak otherwise to-day than as
He once spoke through those men of old, He testifies to Jesus
Christ, and thus we must await the action of the Holy Spirit
from no other source but that of the Biblical witness. 1 These
considerations should make it clear that Calvin's opinions
about the relation of Word and Spirit are governed by the
insight that the one theme of Holy Scripture is the incarnate
Word itself.

3. THE QUESTION OF NATURAL THEOLOGY 2

(a) This formulation of the problem which we must now
consider does not mean that, after all the foregoing

1 A whole chapter of the Institutes works this out in opposition to the
libertines (I, 9).

2 Emil Brunner, Natur und Gnade, 1934. Karl Barth: "Nein! Antwort
an Emil Brunner", Theol. Exist, heute, V, 14, 1934. (Eng. trans, of both
these, Natural Theology, E. Brunner and K. Barth, London, 1946.) Peter
Barth: "Die funf Einleitungskapitel von Calvins Institutio", KirchenbL
f. d. reform. Schweiz, 1925, pp. 41 ff. "Das Problem der natxirlichen
Theologie bei Calvin", Theol. Exist, heule, V, 18, 1935. Peter Brunner :
"Allgemeine und Besondere in Calvins Institutio", Ev. Theologie, I,
1934, 189 ff, Jean Daniel Fischer: Le Problem de la theologie naturelle
tiudie 1 d'apres Calvin, Dissertation, Strasburg, 1936. Gunter Gloede:
Theologia naturalis bei Calvin, 1935. Max Lackmann: "Conditio vitae est
cognitio Dei. Wesen und Sinn der menschlichen Erkenntnis nach Calvins
Institutio von 1559 lib. I, i", Ev. Theologie, 2, 1935, 198 ff. Wilhelm
Liitgert : "Calvins Lehre vom Schopfer", ^eitschr.f. syst. Theol, 9, 1931,
421 f. Pierre Maury: "La th6ologie naturelle d'apres Calvin", Bull de
la Sotitti de VHist. du protest, frang., 84, 1935, 267 ff.

39

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

arguments , it is still an undecided question whether for
Calvin a knowledge of God is obtainable from nature
and history. Must we once again remind our readers of the
fact that in emphasizing the necessity of Holy Scripture for
the knowledge of God we have been taking seriously the plan
which Calvin has outlined in all the prefaces to his work of
dogmatics ? Must we once again recall that the first sentence
of the Institutes itself speaks about the "sum of all our
wisdom" which is to be developed in the pages which follow.,
and which is nothing else but the sum of sacred doctrines
and of Holy Scripture itself? Whoever overlooks or evades
these programmatic statements of Calvin and discovers in
his writings a theologia naturalis can hardly be regarded
seriously as a scholar.

The critic who desires to find in Calvin a natural theology
encounters yet other difficulties, although they are not so
obvious at the outset as those which Calvin has erected in the
preface to his Institutes. The whole subject-matter of the final
edition of the Institutes is divided into the three main articles
of the Christian faith (Calvin counts his statements about the
church as a special fourth division). Calvin introduces his
teaching in connexion with the baptismal symbol of the
church, which is recited at the moment when the candidate is
shown by the ritual of the baptismal water how he must die
and rise again if he is to attain communion with God. This
recognition of the baptismal symbol in the very setting of the
doctrine which is to be expounded excludes at once all
natural theology. Anyone who doubts whether Calvin under-
stood so strictly as an elaboration of the baptismal creed those
articles of faith on which the edifice of his doctrine is based,
and hence whether the implications which we have deduced
are legitimate, may be reminded that Calvin certainly
regarded the sacraments as occupying a paramount position
in Church life.

No interpretation of the theology of Calvin can with
impunity disregard the fact that the first Genevan Church
Order begins with the sentence : " It is certain that no church
can be considered to be well ordered and governed in which

40

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

the Holy Eucharist is not often celebrated and attended." 1
Calvin assigns to the sacrament this central significance
because we are promised that by its means we shall truly
share in the Body and Blood of Jesus. 2 The church which
holds the true confession of faith is the sphere in which
Christ the Son of God is present ; and are we then to suppose
that the theology by which Calvin aims to help such a
church in the better understanding of its life, can be
systematically characterized as " inspired by the God of
creation" ? 3 To pose such a question is to answer it. Other-
wise one would have to go so far as to say that Calvin taught
something completely different from what he willed and
carried through in the ordering of church life. Whoever
defends the view that Calvin offers us a natural theology is
disregarding what the Reformer said and did and is intro-
ducing into his theology typically modern sequences of
thought. It would be better for such people to content them-
selves with their own ideas and leave Calvin alone.

Nevertheless Calvin must give occasion for such attempts
to make of him a supreme witness to the justification of
natural theology. This pretext arises from the fact that
Calvin especially as a result of his humanistic tendencies
was well aware of the question of natural theology and that
he answered it throughout his writings but with particular
detail in his Institutes. We must now give consideration to this
answer.

(4) There can be no doubt that Calvin recognized a self-
declaration of God to mankind in the natural order. In the
Institutes this fact is made plain and supported by detailed
argument. God reveals Himself in nature (and above all in
the nature of man) in the course of natural processes and
in the history of humanity. "Thus he has revealed Himself in,
the design of the universe, allowing Himself to be recognized
every day, so that men cannot open their eyes without seeing
the traces of His presence." 4 There is nothing so tiny but it

i OS i, 369. 2 OS 1,370.

3 Giinter Gloede: Theologia naturalis bei Calvin, pp. 207, 140.
1,5, i.

4 1

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

gleams with some sparks of the divine glory. 1 But man in
particular is a masterpiece produced by the omnipotence,
goodness, and wisdom of God. 2 He is endowed with capa-
cities from which we may infer divinity. 3 What must be said
of the nature of man applies equally to his destiny and to the
destiny of mankind in general: "the wisdom of God shines
forth in that He disposes all things for the best, confounds the
crafty devices of the world, entraps the wise by their wisdom
and in short rules all things for ultimate good." 4 Similarly
God permits Himself to be recognized surely and clearly in
the course of natural processes. 5

To be precise, however, we must note that God Himself is
not to be encountered in the world of nature and history. He
exists above the order of nature 6 and is thus not immanent
within it. The world shows traces of His reality from which
we may infer His existence. He has impressed upon His works
sure signs of His glory, 7 "so that in the created world as in a
picture His power is reflected 5 '. 8

When we are told that Calvin is familiar with the argu-
ment from the book of nature, 9 the question suggests itself
whether the relation between this book and God is not similar
to that between the Bible and its theme. Should we apply here
also the principle that God and the witness to Him should
not be confused but neither should they be divorced? Are
nature and history then a sort of second Bible, a second
source of revelation?

It seems as if such an interpretation of Calvin's thought
were inevitable, since he not only speaks of God manifesting
Himself in nature and history but even sets it down as a rule
"that the most correct way and most convenient method
of seeking God ... is to discover Him in His works
through which He draws near to us in friendliness and at
times communicates Himself to us". 10 Indeed we can say that

i//zl,5, i. 2/n. 1,5,3. 3 /n. 1,5, 6. 4/a. 1,5,8.

5 CR 48, 328. CR 34, 432. ? In. I, 5, i.

s In. I, 5, 10. Calvin also uses at times the image of the mirror,
cf. CR6, 15523, g

9 Gloede, op. cit., pp. 51 ff. : cf. CR 33, 428. 10 J n . I, 5j 9.

42

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

according to Calvin we are compelled by God's self-declara-
tion in nature to look upwards to the Creator. 1 These state-
ments are the more significant since they are not meant to
imply that through the natural revelation of God we are to
receive nothing further than material for the construction of
our own world view. Such means are not meant to satisfy our
natural curiosity as to what God is as such; but we are to
learn what kind of a God He is and what is fitting to His
nature. 2 Calvin ascribes to this natural knowledge of God
such importance that he can say: "Such knowledge should
not only encourage us and establish us in the true worship of
God but also lead us to the hope of eternal life." 3 This self-
disclosure of God in nature and history is not imperfect or of
slight significance. Its goal is none other than pure and true
religion, i.e. faith, and it is thus bound up with the earnest
fear of God. 4 The point is that a true knowledge of the living
God is mediated by the intimations of divinity in nature.

Thus the conclusion would seem to be : Calvin teaches that
alongside the Scriptures and the self-revelation of God in His
Son to which they bear witness there is a second source of
revelation and a second possibility of entering into com-
munion with God. Calvin does in fact speak of a twofold
knowledge of God. 5 In nature God is manifested to us
essentially as the Creator, but in the countenance of Christ
He is the Redeemer. 6 Thus are not the exponents of natural
theology who claim Calvin as a chief support and witness
fully justified?

(c) To this we may make the following reply: The self-
disclosure of God in the worlds of nature and history is
objectively real. As creator He has left in the world traces of
His glory and still manifests His sovereignty in the processes of
nature and in the events of history. But the knowledge of God
which we may acquire from His works and deeds is subjective
and unreal. It would only be fully real for us if Adam had
not fallen but had "remained in his primal perfection." 7

1 In. I, 5, i : "ut aperire oculos nequeant quin aspicere eum cogantur."

2 In. I, 2, 2. 3 In. I, 5, 10. * Xn. I, 2, 2.
s/. I, 2, i. * Ibid.

43

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Thus "it is undoubted that we with our senses and powers of
understanding will never reach true knowledge of God." *
"For this we lack not only the will but also the capacity." 2

Faith is not inevitable for us, because our condition is one
of revolt against God, and in consequence we have lost the
capacity to recognize the traces of God's sovereignty in His
works. This state of affairs has often enough been emphasized.
All that Calvin says about the natural knowledge of God is
subject to the one condition : if Adam had not fallen. In that
very passage of the Institutes where he speaks about the two-
fold source of our knowledge of God he goes on immediately
to add that the simple knowledge of God from nature would
only be possible to us if Adam had not fallen. 3 If in spite of
all this we hear natural theology constantly spoken of, the
fact can only be accounted for on the supposition that
unconsciously people infer from the objective self-disclosure
of God in nature our actual recognition of God through
nature. 4 By jugglery of this kind we can prove anything and
we make of Calvin a Castellio. Up to the present, in spite of
all attempts, it has not been possible to prove that Calvin
deduces from the actuality of God's self-manifestation in
nature the actuality of our natural knowledge of Him.

(d) So far we have of course neglected one point in Calvin's
argument. The correctness of what we have urged must in
the last resort be tested by this further consideration.
Although man does not see the tokens of the divine glory in
nature and history and reaches no sure knowledge of the
Creator on this basis, Calvin all the same asserts that there
is implanted in man a natural religious disposition. God "has
sown in man's heart the seeds of religious awareness". 5 For
Calvin this is beyond all doubt. He has written a whole
chapter of his Institutes on the fact that the knowledge of God
is innate in the human mind. 6 Because in this respect it is a
question of something with which the Creator has endowed
His creation, this seed of religion cannot be uprooted from

i CR 29, 425; CR 33, 429. 2 CR 49, 326.

3 In. I, 2, i. 4 So typically Gloede, op. cit., pp. 50 ff.

sin. 1,5, i;CJ?47, 6. /.!, 3.

44

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

man, his feeling for the divine cannot be choked 1 in spite of
all the world's efforts to root out his natural recognition of
God. 2 Thus it avails man nothing to deny that God has
disclosed Himself in nature. The knowledge of God which he
refuses to infer from the intimations of Him in the world is
alive in the depths of his heart and springs in fact from a
natural impulse. 3 "Hence the godless themselves illustrate
the fact that the knowledge of God is always living in the
human heart." 4 This religious disposition is not just vaguely
present in man, but shows itself to be effectual. 5 "Even the
godless are compelled to confess that there is a natural
feeling for God. When things go well with them they mock
at the idea of God . . . but when despair torments them they
are forced to seek God and to ejaculate prayers to Him"
(In. I, 4, 4), We cannot escape from God. He surrounds us
on every side and does not leave us alone even in the solitude
of our inner life. He still draws near to us and awaits from
us an answer.

Calvin does not say all this somewhat vaguely on the edge
of his theological arguments ; he teaches it quite consciously
and decisively. In fact he preaches with downright earnest-
ness to the freethinkers and atheists of his time. In the
passages from the Institutes to which we have referred he
engages in a full-length debate with them. He shows them
the power and the glory of God. It is as if he wanted to bring
them face to face with all the tokens of the divine glory in
nature and history, and finally at the place here quoted to
exclaim : very necessity forces from you the confession that
you do know something of God. 6 Were we to overlook these
considerations in an interpretation of Calvin's theology we

1 In. I, 4, 4; In. I, 3, 3. 2 In. I, 3, 3. 3 In. I, 3, i.

4 In. I, 3, 2. 5 In. I, 3, 3 ; cf. previous note.

$ A real knowledge of God ? It may be asked whether Calvin in his
anxiety to corner his adversaries has not gone too far at this point.
Understandable as is his argument on this occasion, it is less so in the
wider context of this thought. In a later period, which lost sight of the
real aims of Calvin, natural theology insinuated itself just here, according
to the well-known scheme: God is known (i) from nature and history;
(2) from the revelation attested in Scripture.

45

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

should be omitting something essential. But we should
equally be distorting the doctrine of the Reformer if we were
to go no further than the arguments we have just been
quoting. For Calvin assigns to this religious disposition of man
no importance whatsoever as a link with the proclamation of
the Christian verities. He does not regard it as a foundation
on which the edifice of Christian theology might be erected,
What we have just been citing concerning the natural
religious endowment of men is for Calvin, as it were, only
the first clause of a theological sentence a clause which
taken by itself has no meaning and which in any event does
not express Calvin's essential doctrine. This is plain from a
purely external linguistic feature. There are hardly any
sentences in Calvin the point of which is to emphasize the
natural religious consciousness in the sense just mentioned.
In nearly every case a certain qualification is added which
may not be overlooked.

If we suppose that, while not clearly recognizing the
Creator in creation after the fall, an obscure impulse in our
inner life (needing only elucidation) still points to Him, we
are again mistaken. Here the interpretation of Calvin in
reference to our problem falls constantly into the second
error; to wit, that we are apt to forget that, for Calvin, man
can never adopt a neutral attitude towards God. The words
cc if Adam had not fallen" are not only the all-inclusive con-
dition governing Calvin's arguments : it would be better to
say they are the minus sign preceding the whole sum of what
Calvin teaches about man and his relation to God. The fall
means that man's whole relationship to God is reversed. Thus
it introduces not a quantitative change but a qualitative one.
We are not only blind and deaf with regard to the intimations
of God in nature ; we are crazy. 1 Our deadness and perversity
darkens everything, so that any insight which we gain
becomes nothing more than a monstrous deception. 2 Calvin
illustrates this in detail. Instead of allowing our minds to be
turned to the Creator by the signs of the divine glory in
nature^ our gaze remains fixed on the creature ; we invest it
i CR 49, 326; cf. 9, 796 ff. 2 CR 47, 6 ff.

46

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

with godlike worth and turn it into an idol. 1 Or by con-
templating the universe we are merely impelled to follow the
trend of our own speculations, to build our personal world
view, thus evading the living God. 2 Even the working of God
in history does not suffice to check us in this attitude. "Since
the overruling of human activities shows so clearly the divine
providence that it cannot be denied, men's only resource is
to suppose that all revolves by the blind whims of fate : so
dreadful is our natural inclination to vanity and error. 3 ' 3

Instead of praising the foreknowledge of God, we speak of
blind destiny which determines the lot of man thus or thus. 4
We are called to the service of God and as a matter of fact
we are constantly falling into idolatry either crudely or
subtly. The religious tendency innate in us, despite the keen-
ness with which it makes itself felt, alters not at all this
fundamental fact. For it has not been unimpaired by the
Fall. Just where Calvin stresses that the seed of religious
awareness can never be eradicated from our hearts, but
remains rooted therein, he adds : "yet it is so corrupted that
it produces only the most evil fruits ", 5 Hence Calvin's
judgment on philosophies of religion is severe but pertinent :
"I do not deny that here and there the philosophers give us
various opinions about God very shrewdly and cleverly
expressed; but they always smack of a sick fancy." 6 Even
what looks like a genuine knowledge of God proceeds from a
perverse attitude and has a false bearing. We cannot take
"one single step" to attain a right knowledge of God. 7

(e) The fact that men, instead of putting their trust in God,
centre their confidence in themselves or in the creatures and
neglect the Creator 8 has of course its consequences. "Thus
in vain do so many lights shine in the universe; they
cannot illuminate for us the honour of the Creator." 9 That
is the humble opinion of Calvin. But the matter cannot end
there. Since the failure of God's self-disclosure in nature
must be imputed to our guilt, the notation of the fact that it

i CR 34, 297. 2 In. I, 5, 15 ; I, 5, 12. 3 In. I, 5, 1 1.

4 In. I, 5, 1 1 ; CR 55, 145. 5 In. I, 4, 4. 6 In. II, 2, 18.

7 CR 28, 489. 8 fa 1 9 4> 4. 9 In. I, 5, 14.

47

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

misses the mark is in no way sufficient. Just as we can never
for one single moment adopt an attitude of neutrality
towards God, so also He cannot be irresolute in His attitude
towards us. "It was the order of creation that the structure
of the world should minister to us as a school in which we
might learn the fear of God, and in consequence be trans-
planted to eternal life and consummate felicity ; but after the
Fall, wherever we turn our eyes there meets us above and
below the curse of God, which, because on account of our
sin it affects and envelops the innocent creatures, must
inevitably plunge our hearts into despair." * The tokens of
divinity in nature and history which should show us the
glory and the goodness of the Creator are now wrapped in
obscurity because of God's curse, so that we are no longer led
towards Him by these traces of His presence, but the more
effectively separated from Him. The self-declaration of God
which should serve for our salvation serves in fact in our
actual condition to precipitate us to ruin.

This argument of Calvin only makes it plainer that he is
fully serious in teaching that God wishes to disclose Himself
in nature and history. If our rebellious attitude towards the
signs of the Creator's glory were not to bring about our
damnation as a consequence, then it would not be a question
of a word of the living God uttered in the works of nature
and the events of history. God is not mocked. His goodness
cannot be despised with impunity. Thus we come to the
following curious conclusion: All those who wish to make
Calvin a champion of natural theology and to this end assert
that he teaches the reality of a natural knowledge of God,
even though it may not be properly developed in man, 2 in
fact deny any true self-disclosure of God in nature at all ; for
in regard to the living God there is no more or less preparatory
disposition which might lead up to a sensitive religious out-
look. 3 On the contrary, Calvin affirms in the strictest sense
that God does reveal Himself in nature and history, and he
must in consequence dispute the reality of a natural know-
ledge of God.

i In. II, 6, i. 2 Gloede, op. cit., p. 67. 3 Op. cit., p. 69.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

(/) Why then does he consider it so important to develop
fully the doctrine of a natural knowledge of God? In so doing
his intention is to make clear, like the apostle Paul, that in
face of God we cannot shelter behind the excuse that we have
no knowledge of Him, 1 In saying that Calvin denies the
possibility of natural theology we must be rightly under-
stood. We did not mean that the religious disposition of man
does not bear fruit. On the contrary., we have shown how
strongly it makes itself felt. But the use man makes of it is to
turn not towards God but towards His creatures and the
phantoms of his own religious speculations. If these religious
acts of man are truly appraised, it will be found that all
natural knowledge of God has no other effect but to make
man inexcusable before God. 2 On occasion Calvin dis-
tinguishes between a saving knowledge of God which we
derive from Christ and a natural knowledge such as is proper
to all men. But this does not mean that the universal know-
ledge of God forms an integral part of the saving special
knowledge imparted by Grace. Here there is no question of
degrees. Calvin says expressly that "natural theology which
exists solely for the purpose of making us inexcusable is to be
sharply distinguished from saving knowledge of God". 3 By
his very wish to know God man fails to know Him. The
religious quest, of which the object is that man should gain
a knowledge of God, ends in separating him from his
Creator and in making his guilt clear. The end actually
reached by the self-disclosure of God in the world and by the
immediate religious awareness innate in man, is this: that
man stands forth burdened with guilt as an apostate who
refuses to know God and despises all the friendly help which
has been given him.

The fact that Calvin answers the question of natural
theology in this way sheds light upon and shapes his doctrine
of the knowledge of God which we gain from Holy Scripture.

i In. I, 31; In. 1.5, 15.

*In. I, 10, 3; 5> 15- CR 23, 9 ff.; 28, 495; 40, 246; 47, 418 ff.; 48, 328;
55, 145, etc.

3 CR 49, 24; 49, 326; 48, 327.

49

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

If through Scripture and its content, Jesus Christ, we gain
access to God the Father, this does not mean that apart from
the fact of our being addressed by the Biblical message we are
left to our own devices. The God who reveals Himself to us
in Jesus Christ is not to be confined to a special religious
department of our minds or to a precisely delimited sphere
within the world's life. He is rather the Lord of our whole
life from its beginning to its end. At every moment we stand
before Him in responsibility and not only when the Word of
Scripture strikes us.

(g) Since the discussion of the question of natural theology
in Calvin leads to this conclusion, viz. that we are not
attuned to our responsibility before God and therefore, laden
with guilt, fall into condemnation, its final outcome is the
praise of God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ. That is the
ultimate purpose at which he aims in this section of his
theological treatise.

Seeing that it is impossible for us men ever to come to the
true knowledge of God : God has revealed Himself to us in
His word. 1 The incarnate Word attested in Scripture, the
Son of God Himself, has entered into the breach between God
and ourselves 2 and has taken upon Himself and diverted to
Himself the curse of God which was meant to strike us. In
Him and in His cross is to be seen the judgment of God
falling upon the world ; but that cross also signifies the end
and the cancellation of the divine judgment against us,
because Christ has really borne the curse for our sakes. Thus
He opens up for us the path which leads us to God. "By the
help of His cross we are raised from the deepest hell high
above all heavens." 3 "Hence, although the preaching of the
cross is not compatible with human reason, yet we must
accept the same in all humility if we desire once more to
enter into relationship with God our Creator (from whom we
are estranged) in such a way that He again becomes our
Father." ^

We need Holy Scripture as our leader and teacher if we

i CR 29, 425. 2 CR 47, 7. 3 CR 23, 9 f.

* In. II, 6, i ; cf. II, 6, 4.

50

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

would attain the knowledge of God and precisely and above
all God as Creator. 1 " We confess", we read in the Confession
of 1537, "that we will follow Holy Scripture alone as the
rule of our faith and religion without mixing therewith any-
thing derived from human understanding apart from the
Word of God" (OS I, 418). In the same moment when we
depart from the guidance of Scripture, all knowledge of God
fades from our minds. 2 In Jesus Christ, the theme of Holy
Scripture, we recognize also the glory of God as Creator
shining in the world. "For Christ is the image in which God
makes visible to us not only His heart but also His hands and
His feet." "By the heart", says Calvin, "I understand that
love with which He has enfolded us in Christ, by the hands and
feet I understand the works which are manifest to our eyes.
As soon as we deviate from Christ there is nothing big or little
about which we do not inevitably fall into misconceptions." 3
What we describe as God apart from the Biblical revelation
in Jesus Christ is nothing but an idol. 4 We find God nowhere
else but in the Mediator. "For since Christ is the sun of
righteousness we see nothing if we look outside His reality; it
is He too who opens the eyes of our spirits." 5 All this is
fully elucidated by the treatment of the problem of natural
theology.

(h) Calvin goes yet a step further. He is conscious of the
captious question : "Has God then never revealed Himself to
one of the heathen ? " He does not refuse to answer it. He was
not indeed in the position of Zwingli, who opened wide the
gates of heaven to the heathen ; but he nevertheless realized
that he was not justified in concluding that they are com-
pletely excluded. Calvin was sufficiently a theologian to
understand that, whilst we are bound to the channels
through which God wills to act towards us, God Himself is
not so confined. He can act in other modes towards men if
He so wills. Perhaps God reveals Himself uniquely and

i In. I, 6; cf. CR 23, 9 if., etc. 2 In. I, 14, i.

3 CR 23, 1 1 f., quoted after Peter Earth, Das Problem der natwrlichen
Theologie bet Calvin, p. 25.

4 CR 51, 169; 52, 85. 5 CR 48, 209.

51

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

extra-ordinarily to the heathen if it pleases Him without using
the medium of Biblical testimony. But precisely in facing this
difficult issue Calvin proves himself to be a theologian of
revelation in the strictest sense. He does not admit in simple
and generous terms that the boundary can be crossed and
that God may by way of exception be apprehended through
nature and history, or immediately through the religious
consciousness, but gives the appropriate answer "that
among the heathen there has been no revelation of God apart
from Christ as also among the Jews". 1 If therefore the
recognition of God is ever to be realized by the heathen, who
have not access to the witness of the Bible, then it must be
through the Word which became flesh in order to overcome
our alienation from God and remove from us the divine
curse. Although such heathen do not hear the message of
Holy Scripture, yet they attain to the knowledge of God only
through the essence of it if it pleased God thus to treat them.

This statement, which stands in indissoluble opposition to
modern historical thought, throws much light upon our
previous argument about the end and aim of Holy Scripture.
The heart and soul of the Bible, not contained therein but
only attested by it, namely, Jesus Christ, is not simply one
admittedly pre-eminent figure among other historical figures.
His Person, whose historical existence was lived at one
particular point in the course of world history, is of decisive
significance for all ages and all men. Jesus Christ is decisive
too for those men who lived on the earth before Him and
never heard His name. "For His word C I am the way 5
applies not to one particular time or to one particular people ;
rather it declares that He is the only one through whom all
may come to God." 2

(z) Finally, one last observation may make it clear how
completely the theology of Calvin revolves around the Person
of Jesus Christ. We have heard that a seed of religion is
implanted in the heart of man and that consequently he
possesses a feeling for the divine. If the religious conscious-
ness is not directed towards God but finds satisfaction in

iCtfsi, 169 ff. 2C#5i, 170.

52

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

idolatry, then man stands before God without excuse. What
is the ultimate ground of this fact? To this Calvin gives an
answer which is very characteristic : "The world was created
by the eternal Word of God and by His power the life of all
creation is preserved. In particular, man was endowed with
a certain special gift of knowledge ; and though in conse-
quence of the Fall he has lost the full light of wisdom, yet
in spite of everything he is still able to perceive and know; so
that what was his natural faculty, by the grace of the Son of
God, is not completely extinct." 1 If man is still man, if after
the Fall he has not been annihilated by the curse of God but
stands guilt-laden in responsibility before his Lord, the reason
for this is not that his alienation from God was not radical
and complete and that he still retained a residual relation-
ship with Him. Nor does the reason for it lie in the goodness
of a so-called Creator God ; but rather simply and solely in
the grace of the Son in whom God turns His countenance
towards us and through whom He bestows upon us all that
we have and are. Even as we note the universal responsibility
of men we cannot evade the Deus incarnandus and incarnatus.

53

Chapter 3

THE TRINITY

A'ER discussing how we can come to know God, we
must now enquire about the content of such know-
ledge. For this purpose our previous discussion must
be kept well in view. " God alone is an adequate witness to
Himself and cannot be recognized except through His own
testimony." 1 Hence we must understand Him in the guise in
which He has revealed Himself to us." 2 This means that we
may not seek God "elsewhere than in His holy word, nor
think of Him except in the terms which His word illuminates
for us, nor speak of Him except in so far as our words are
taken from His word." 3
i. CALVIN'S ATTITUDE TO THE DOCTRINE OF TH EARLY

CHURCH

Calvin does not use his knowledge of Scripture to produce
any original description of the being of God. As a hearer of
the Word he knows that he belongs to the multitude of those
who have interpreted Scripture before him, and in connexion
with the witness of the early church establishes the principle :
" Thus God proclaims Himself as the One and yet presents
Himself to our view as distinguishable into three persons." 4

But what has this theological affirmation to do with Holy
Scripture, which alone Calvin recognizes as authoritative?
Do we not plainly see here the philosophical apparatus of
ideas distinctive of a particular age ? In thus accepting the
early church doctrine of the Trinity, is not Calvin in fact
binding himself to human modes of thought in spite of all

i In. I, 13, 21 ; In. I, n, i. 2 /#. i } i$ 9 2 i. 3 Ibid.

* In. I, 13, 2.

54

THE TRINITY

counterbalancing assertions? All such questions, including
the modern one whether the use of such theological concepts
does not injure the teaching of love, were before the mind
of Calvin. 1 They were by no means alien to him. He put them
to himself from the start of his theological work. The question
is how far such theological conceptualism is justified.

In debate with one Caroli, Calvin represented the stand-
point even at the risk of being Arian that even the most
venerable concepts associated with the doctrine of the
Trinity have no final authority. 2 He went yet a step further
and expressed the same attitude in regard to ancient church
creeds. 3

Theological ideas, even when they are the fruit of religious
attitudes, even church confessions, are not interchangeable
with the thing itself. Their function is only to serve the truth
and to bear witness to Christ. 4 Hence they must be used in
the church in the spirit of freedom and not be allowed to
exercise any tyranny. 5

The reason for insisting on freedom in the use of theological
ideas and the profession of church creeds is that all theo-
logical thinking must be rooted in Holy Scripture. But
greatly as Calvin stresses that in the last resort we are bound
to Scripture alone, yet precisely in connexion with this
particular discussion he bears well in mind his arguments
concerning the relation of Holy Scripture to the truth which
it attests. He expressly refuses to fetter the theologian by
requiring that his thought should formally correspond with
the literal truth of the Bible. 6 Of course he admits: "We
should find in Scripture a criterion for our thinking and
speaking so that both the thoughts of our heart and the
words of our mouth are in harmony with it." 7 The Bible is
the standard by which dogmatics must be tested, but it is

* In- I, i3>3;cf- OS i, 72-74*

2 CR 7, 318 f.; job, 120; cf. In. I, 13, 5.

3C#7, 315 ff.; iob, 121.

4 "Nulla esse vera religionis symbola nisi quae ad Christum
conformantur", CR 55, 99.

5 CR iob, 120. In. I, 13, 3. i Ibid.

55

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

not a collection of material for the theologian. An orientation
of theological thinking towards Scripture is not at all the
same thing as a slavish confinement to Biblical expressions.
If we forget this, we are making an idol of the Bible. Our aim
should be to express the truth to which the Bible bears
witness. If this truth requires it, special theological concepts
must be formed in its service in order to express clearly the
matter in hand. 1 This necessity always exists when the truth
of Scripture is obscured by erroneous doctrine. 2 Precise theo-
logical ideas and definitions serve to expose false doctrine
and to bring the truth to its full and proper expression.

For this reason Calvin took over from the early church
fathers the doctrine of the Trinity with all the theological
equipment which accompanied it, e.g. "as when we confess
that we believe in one God, and that by the word c God 5 is
to be understood an undivided and simple being in whom we
apprehend three persons or modes of being 55 . 3 Thus we see
that Calvin in full awareness makes use of the ideas contained
in this theological principle ; and his right to do so is indis-
putable. The question is only whether what Calvin expresses
by the help of these Trinitarian ideas is compatible with the
content of Holy Scripture. Is the God implied by Trinitarian
doctrine the same as the Incarnate Lord attested by Scripture
according to Calvin's own confession? Is not the self-
revelation of God overlooked by Trinitarian doctrine and is
not an abstract idea of God developed in place of it?

2. THE AIM OF THE DOCTRINE

We must briefly draw attention to the fact that in his
writing directed against Servetus, Defensio orthodoxae fidei de
sacra trinitate, Calvin contrary to the expectation aroused by
the title does not so much propose to defend the orthodox
doctrine of the Trinity as to refute the Christology of Servetus
with its soteriological presuppositions and inferences. 4 This

1 In. I, 13, 3. 2 In, I, 13, 4. 3 In. I, 13, 20.

4 Ernst Wolf: Dens omniformis, Bemerkungen zur Christologie des Michael
Servet, in Theologische Aufsatze, Karl Earth zum 50 Geburstag, 1936, p. 450.

56

THE TRINITY

view finds surprising confirmation in the fact that the position
is the same in Calvin's commentaries and sermons. 1 If
Servetus is there attacked and the understanding of the being
of God is in question, the debate as a rule turns upon the
question of the true Godhead of Jesus Christ. 2 Calvin sees
the supreme heresy of Servetus in the fact that "he confounds
the Son and the Holy Ghost with the creatures". 3 Calvin
opposes the other anti-Trinitarians because they dissolve the
divinity of the Son ; for Gentilis and his compatriots are really
concerned to assert that the Godhead of Christ is derivative. 4
Thus they make of Christ "a figurative God" "who is only
apparently and nominally God and not God at all in
reality".s

The purpose of Calvin's Trinitarianism is to secure the
Biblical message "God is revealed in the flesh" against false
interpretations. In revelation we are not faced by a second
divine being somehow derivative from God, or a part of the
one Godhead, so that God the Father would thus have an
additional element. "Rather the truth is that the being of
God is one. Hence the whole Godhead is revealed in the
flesh." 6 Calvin repeatedly refers to the fact that for this
reason the name Jahwe is rightly applied to Christ. 7 This
Biblical proof of the strict Godhead of the Son occupies
much space in the positive exposition of the doctrine of the
Trinity in the Institutes.* He concludes with observing that
this practical recognition is more secure and reliable than all
idle speculation. "For here a Godfearing heart sees that God
is wonderfully near and as it were grasps Him by the hands
in the assurance that it is quickened, illuminated, sustained,
justified, and sanctified by Him." 9 The message of Holy
Scripture is radically different from other religious testi-
monies, and a truly joyful message, because it proclaims that

1 This remark is also supported by the arrangement of Calvin's
treatise on the Trinity; cf. below p. 249.

2 Cf. for example CR 23, 16; 24, 145, etc. 3 In. 13, 22.
4 CR 9, 368. * l n , 1 9 i 3j 23. CR 40, 56.

7 CR, 9, 325, 400, 708; 24, 263; 44, 163, etc.
8/n. I, 13,7. ^ In. I, 13, 13.

57

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

God Himself has entered wholly into the sphere of our
death-doomed life in order to approach us more nearly and
to bestow Himself upon us. Whoever does not pay regard to
this, no matter how often the words of Scripture are in his
mouth nor how fervently he speaks of Christ, as did the
anti-Trinitarians of the Reformation, he is not preaching the
incarnate God but emptying the gospel of its specific content.
"No one can accept Christ as God in his heart who does not
see that the distinct divine persons are gathered into the
unity of the divine being." i

3. THE TRINITY

But in this unity there is a distinction of persons. The Son
who took upon Himself our flesh is to be distinguished from
the One who sent Him. There is a "whence" of the Son
not of His divine essence but of His person. And equally the
Son of God is to be differentiated from the Comforter, the
Holy Ghost, promised to us as He who would open our
hearts to the Saviour. 2 The incarnate Son of God has not
only an origin of His person but also aims to reach the God
in us. Thus it will not do to content ourselves with the
observation that God Himself has wholly revealed Himself to
us in Jesus Christ. Just when we take this insight most
seriously we go on to confess : "I cannot think of One Person
without being enfolded with the radiance of three : nor can I
distinguish the three without immediately recollecting the
One Being." 3 In order to give expression to the distinctions
which find a place within the one divine Being, Calvin uses
the concept of person which he has taken from the Trinitarian
doctrine of the early church. He defines it in the following
way: "I call a person a mode of being (subsistentia) in the
being (essentia) of God, which when contrasted with the other
modes is distinguished from them by such characteristics
(proprietas) as cannot be communicated to any other mode." 4

a C#9, 33*- 2 Cf. In. I, 13, 17.

3 Phrase of Gregory of Nazianzus. In. I, 13, 17.

4 In. I, 13, 6.

58

THE TRINITY

This explanation of the traditional concept is extremely
important. When it is said that there are three persons in one
God, such a statement is precisely not meant in the sense
which is normal "when we describe three human beings as
three persons". "But in this case the word person serves to
express the special qualities which exist in the being of God." 1
It must be remembered that the word person is intended to
translate the Greek term hypostasis. But the exact Latin trans-
lation of the latter is subsistentia. 2 "Although the mode of
being is inseparably bound up with the being, yet it has
its peculiar characteristics by which it is distinguished from
the being." 3 The quality of any one mode of being in the one
divine essence is thus something other than a mere quality.
To speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost, means something other than observing that " God is
strong, righteous, and wise." 4 "These words, Father Son and
Holy Ghost, assuredly indicate real distinctions, so that no
one should suppose them to be mere additional designations
by which God is described now in one way, now in another,
according to His works." 5 If these existing distinctions in God
are not taken seriously, and the persons are dissolved into
ordinary qualities, then God Himself would not become
accessible to us in the word of revelation but only one of His
qualities or modes of action. He Himself would exist behind
what is disclosed to us ; that is to say, He would remain veiled.

How are the three modes to be described in their
peculiarities ? Each is distinguished in relation to the others
by some particularity. 6 Thus what is in question here is the
complex of relations within the Godhead. "We confess", says
Calvin, "that the Son originates from the Father in that He
is the Son ; not of course an origination in the sense of time or
being which would be an absurd supposition but in the
sense of subordination." 7 "In this sense it can be said that
the Son alone proceedeth from the Father and the Spirit
from the Father and the Son." 8 Hence there is in God a

i CR 47, 473. * In. I, 13, 2. 3 In. I, 13, 6.

4 In. I, 13, 4. sin. I, 13, 17. In. I, 13, 6.

7(7*9,369. */.!, 13, 18.

59

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

certain ordered manifoldness of being (dispositio ml oeconomia)
which in no wise affects its unity. 1 When in Scripture God is
referred to simply and without further qualification "the
word applies as much to the Son and the Holy Ghost as to the
Father. But as soon as the Father is compared with the Son,
the Son's characteristic mode of being is distinguished from
the Father's." 2 "Such distinctions imply that to the Father we
ascribe the origin of all effects, the origination of all things ; to
the Son wisdom and counsel in the administration of crea-
tion; and to the Holy Ghost power and effectiveness in
operation." 3

But "in each several mode of being the whole nature of the
Godhead must be understood to be included together with
what is proper to each." 4 "These distinctions do not relate
to the essence of divinity." It would be wanton to imagine a
multifarious divine being. 5 "We have to do here with
distinction, not separation." 6 For Calvin the unity of God
is shown above all by the one manner of baptism summoning
us to the one faith. "What else does Christ wish when He
bids us baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, but that we should believe with unified faith in
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? What is it but a
public testimony to the belief that Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost are one God?" 7 Here once more it becomes quite
clear that Calvin does not indulge in speculation in formu-
lating his doctrine of God. His intention is simply and solely
to exalt the one God who declares Himself to us in word and
sacrament. This one God manifests Himself as the true God as
distinct from all vain phantoms which we are accustomed to
call God, precisely by the fact that He is one God in three
modes of Being. 8 The doctrine of the Trinity secures the
unity of God by distinguishing Him from idols 9 and pro-
claiming Him as the Lord whom we encounter in the process
of revelation.

i In. I, 13, 6. 2 In. I, 13, 6; CR 40, 56; 9, 370.

3 In. I, 13, 18; CR 6, 13. * In. 13, 19.

5 In. I, 13, 2; cf. I, 13, 19. 6 l n , i 9 I3> I7 .

7 In. I, 13, 16. a In. I, 13, 2. *Hrid.

60

Chapter 4

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE*

I. CREATION

(a) If, as we have seen, Holy Scripture proclaims the
incarnate God, and the aim of the theology of Calvin is none
other than to glorify this God made man, we should not
therefore conclude that theology has only to concern itself
with the theme of our redemption. The argument of Calvin
is Christo-centric, but this does not mean that redemption is
given the central place in his scheme of thought. He is far
from diminishing the scope of his questions in this way. The
fundamental point is the knowledge of God and of our own
being. We attain the knowledge of God solely through the
testimony of Holy Scripture; in other words, only through
the content of this testimony, Jesus Christ, do we gain access
to God. But God in revealing Himself to us thus approaches
us primarily as our Creator. "It is one thing to feel that God
our Creator sustains us by His power, guides us by His
providence, nourishes us by His goodness and lavishes upon
us eternal blessings, and quite another thing to grasp the
grace of the atonement set forth to us in Christ." 2 Calvin
distinguishes between a general Scriptural teaching and the
knowledge of our salvation. 3 This general religious doctrine
brings before us God the Creator, and thus fulfils the task
which the signs of God in nature should have fulfilled but
could not because they were concealed from us by the curse of
God.

. Liitgert: "Calvins Lehre vom ScHopfer" (Zeitschr. f. syst.
Theologie, 9, 1931, pp. 421-40). J. Bohatec: Calvins Vorsehungslehre
(Calvinstudien, Reform. Gemeinde, Elberfeld, 1909, pp. 339-441).
2 In. I, 2, i. 3 In. I, 2, i ; I, 10, 3.

6l

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

After our study of Calvin's Trinitarian doctrine we shall
not misunderstand this as suggesting that Calvin wished first
to discourse about the God of creation and then about the
God of redemption, as though implying that our knowledge
of the Creator should gradually be deepened until it emerged
in an understanding of the Redeemer. The general religious
teaching of Scripture is just as much determined by the
central message of the Bible as is the preaching of grace in
the narrower sense. The truth is that we can recognize the
creative work as well as the saving action of God in Christ
alone. 1 This does not mean simply that through Christ we
catch a glimpse also of the Creator God. It is rather that
Calvin wishes to show how through Christ, the Word of God,
all things are created. 2 The Logos is the means by which the
Father has accomplished the work of creation. 3 Thus, in the
general teaching of Scripture which is concerned with the
theme of creation, God is not spoken of in general philo-
sophical terms. Of course it does not treat of the redemptive
action of God ; but it does treat of the triune God in so far as
He is the Creator of the world and of mankind. The creation
story of the Bible does not speak only of "the essence of
divinity but also displays before us the eternal wisdom of God
and His Holy Spirit 35 . 4 Because in Christ God Himself, God
in His fullness, inheres, it must even be said that Christ
Himself is the Creator. Thus, if it is stated in general terms
that God is the Creator, God the Son is implied as well as
God the Holy Ghost. But in regard to the person of the Son
the statement that He is the Creator can only be understood
in a general rather than specific sense. To speak more precisely,
it must be said that He is the instrument of the creative process
and that God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. 5
As Person, God the Father is the Origin of all things 6 and also
the Creator of the world. But precisely when we affirm that
God the Father is Creator we must remember that He has
created all things through the eternal Word. Hence we do

1 See above p. 51, note 3 . 2 CR 47, 477.

3 Loc. cit. ; cf. CR 31, 328. * fa. I, 14, 2 .

5 CR 9, 369; 47, 477. See above p. 60, note 3.

62

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

not by any means evade this Word which, the Bible attests,
became incarnate, when we wish to speak specifically, i.e.
Biblically, about the work of creation.

(b) From Scripture we learn "that God by the power of
His Word and Spirit created heaven and earth out of
nothing." 1 The statement that He brought the world into
being out of nothing proves Him to be the One who alone is
eternal and self-existent. 2 In relation to Him everything else
stands on another plane. In this respect we must note that
God created not only the visible but also the invisible. In the
Institutes Calvin devotes much space to showing that the good
and bad angels are also creatures of God and subject to His
dominion. The divine creation has a wider scope than our
senses can be aware of. 3 It is more animated than we suspect.
We are surrounded by powers, all of which in the last resort
must serve God. Here Calvin is attacking in particular the
suggestion that there are two principles in the world : God
and the devil. Such a creed undermines the creative glory
and sovereignty of God in fact the very divinity of God
and must therefore be rejected. 4

A second point is clearly implied in the affirmation that
God created all things visible and invisible through His word.
His operation is thus seen as effectual without the agency of
any creature. He needs no means alien to Himself in order to
realize His purpose. He summoned the world into being
purely by His word of command "in order to exhibit the
unfathomable might of His word". 5

Creation is not controlled by the power of a blind fate,
but by the might of the word of God. Hence it discloses at
the same time the grace of God. 6 That is the third point
which we must notice. It is made quite clear in the creation
story of the Bible that the creation of man is the ultimate
purpose of the whole creative process. God has called all
things into being for the sake of man, and has ordered all
things for our good and well-being. 7 This of course does not
imply the greatness of man; we are intended rather to

i In. I, 14, 20. 2 In. I, 14, 3; I, 14, i. 3 & I> *4 3-i9*

4 In. I, 14, 3- 5 CK 31, 328. 6 In. I, 14, 22. 7 Ibid.

63

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

recognize in consequence the power and the goodness of the
eternal self-existent God. "As often as we describe God as
the Creator of heaven and earth we must remember that the
government of all things which He has created is in His
power and control, but that we are His children whom He
has undertaken to preserve and bring up in His faith and
protection, so that we may await all good from Him alone,
and may entertain the sure hope that He will never suffer
the things which are so needful to our salvation to fail us ;
so that we may aspire to receive as His gift whatever we
desire, and may recognize all the benefits which we receive
as coming from Him, and may confess them as such with
hearty thanks; that thus, drawn by the great sweetness of
His outpoured mercies, we may bestir ourselves to love Him
and to worship Him with all our hearts." l To such an extent
does Calvin see the end of the whole creation in the recogni-
tion and adoration of the omnipotent and gracious God that
he can say: "if on earth such praise of God does not come to
pass, if God does not preserve His church to this end, then
the whole order of nature will be thrown into confusion and
creation will be annihilated when there is no people to call
upon God". 2 That then is the position : not because the world
exists do we attain a certain knowledge of God, and then after a
deepening of this knowledge an understanding of the church ;
but just the opposite because there is a church there is also
a world. The will of the Creator is from the start directed
towards the people who shall serve Him. The church is that
body of people who hearken to the message of Holy Scripture
and therefore recognize God as the Creator. In its midst the
power and the grace of His Word is exalted ; for the Word,
the theme of Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ, is Himself present
in the church.

(c) The full depth of this insight is only realized when we
consider what Calvin teaches about the creation of man.
Man is the crown of the creative process, a microcosm,
whose being unfolds such mysteries and marvels that it can
only strike us with astonishment. 3 He embodies the com-

i In. I, 14, 22. 2 CR 32, 192. 3 CR 33, 481.

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CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

plexities of the whole of the rest of the creation because he is
that creature who participates both in the visible and the
invisible orders. Man is composed of body and soul. 1 The
soul is the nobler part of man. It comprises reason and will, 2
and thus distinguishes man from all unreasoning creatures.
Latent within it is the germ of the religious awareness and
it forms in consequence the state of responsibility in which
man faces his Lord. 3 " If the soul were not something essential
to man (essentials quiddam) distinct from the body. Holy
Scripture would not teach that we dwell in houses of clay
and through the gate of death travel elsewhere, that we put
off what is perishable, so that each one of us may receive on
the last Day his recompense and reward according as he has
acted in the flesh. For assuredly these and similar passages
which recur here and there not only make a clear distinction
between the soul and the body, but also show, by designating
man as a soul, that it is the noblest part of a human being." 4
From these words it becomes clear that the special feature
which discriminates the soul from the body is above all its
immortality, 5 the effect of which is that man after the death
of his body is not freed from responsibility before God. In
regard to the immortality of the soul and the mortality of
the body it must be said that the body is the prison house of
the soul, in which it lies enchained. 6 In spite of this antithesis
of the body and the soul, a basic affinity between them arises
from the fact that the soul, like the body, is created. 7
Although it possesses so many advantages over the body and
belongs to the sphere of the invisible world, yet it has been

. I, 15, 2.

2 In. I, 15, 7. With regard to the linguistic usage of Scripture Calvin
observes as follows: "quum voces animae et spiritus varie sumantur in
scriptura, simul tamen coniunctae duas animae praecipue facilitates
denotant. Spiritus enim pro intelligentia capitur, anima autem pro sede
affectuum". CR 45, 37; cf. 52, 179.

3 In. I, 15, 2.

* Ibid. Calvin refers to 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8; 2 Corinthians 7:1;
Matthew 10:28.

5 In. I, 15, 2. 6 CR 5, 196.

I, 15, 2; CR 25, 222; 26, 150.

65

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

created by God exactly as have the angels. 1 The Biblical
account of man's creation is not to be understood in the
sense that God has implanted in man as his soul a part of
His own eternal being. 2 "Creation is not such a trans-
mission (transfusio) but a beginning of being out of nothing. " 3
Even the best thing in us men, our soul, has been created
out of nothing. 4 The immortality of the soul is not the same
thing as eternity. There is no such thing as an eternal soul
substance. Each time a man is born, God creates his soul
also out of nothing. 5 The immortality of the soul is and
remains God's gift of grace, for God wills to hold men after
the death of the body in the expectation of His Day of
Judgment. "If God withdraws His grace, then the soul
becomes a passing breath just as the body is dust. 5 ' 6 "It
has no quality of permanence in itself." 7 At times Calvin
expresses this state of affairs very vigorously : " If God did
not wish to preserve the distinctive life He has given man,
then the death of a man would be exactly the same as that of
a horse or dog ; for we are in no sense nobler or worthier, but
we owe all to the fact that it has pleased God to give us this
special pre-eminence that we are immortal." 8 "Because it
entirely depends on the grace of God to preserve the life of
the soul beyond the death of the body, and thus to cause
man to stand before Him in full responsibility until the Day
of Judgment, the man who is estranged from God knows
nothing of this immortality. Only believers can rejoice in it,
to whom it is attested by the Word and the Spirit of God." 9
What had to be said in regard to the creation of the world,
applies here with still greater force : God is recognized and
honoured as Creator within His church alone. Hence the
church alone understands the true being of man. Right
knowledge of God and of oneself are connected in the most
intimate way. 10 Man is not eternal, like God, nor is he
perishable in the same way as the beasts of the field. His

i In. I, 15, 5. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 CR 44, 401.

5 CR 33, 162. * CR 32, 81 ; cf. 33, 491, 674; 34, 455 ; 53, 92

TOp.cit. 8 CR 53, 621. 9 CR 50,61.

10 In. I, I, i; In. I, 15, i.

66

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

essential being consists in the fact that during his pilgrimage
on this earth, and also after the death of his body until the
Day of Judgment, he is permitted to live in the presence of
God.

So far in this exposition of the creaturehood of man we
have not said explicitly that man was made in the image of
God l ; and yet this must not for one moment be forgotten.
God has given man not only body and soul, but has also
lavished both upon him and the creation splendid gifts. 2 He
did not leave man to shift for himself but established him in
such a relationship to His own being that man "became a
mirror, as it were, of that great splendour whose full bright-
ness shines in the Godhead". 3 "Man found himself placed
in such a right spiritual attitude (rectitudo) that the glory of
God shone forth in the various parts of his soul and even
in his body." 4 Because the heart of created man was turned
to his Lord, a reflection of the divine glory was visible in him,
and he stood forth as the image of God on earth. 5 The right
orientation of man, his likeness to God, was seen in the fact
that "he was gifted with enlightened understanding and his
will was fixed in obedience to God". 6 "He was characterized
by faith, love of God and neighbour, desire and application
to live in righteousness and holiness." 7 Thus man's similitude
to God implies something more than his psycho-physical
constitution 8 , it signifies his right attitude towards his
Creator and thus his right attitude towards all other
creatures. Calvin admits without more ado that this fact
impresses itself on the very body of man. He has no objection
"if anyone wishes to count as part of the image of God the
fact that, whereas all other creatures are bent earthwards, to
man alone it is given to walk uprightly; man alone is called
to look upwards to the sky and stars." 9 The body of man is
endowed with such pre-eminence "that in it alone one can
detect the image of God". 10 But we must not say that the

i In. I, 15, 3. 2 In. I, 15, 8. 3 OR 33, 660; cf. In. I, 15, 3.

* CR xoa, 166. ^ &. I, 15, 3 ; 15, 8. CR 10 a, 166.

7 In. II, 2, 12. Ibid. 9 I n . I, 15, 3.

10 CR 32, 620; In. I, 15, 3.

67

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

body in itself is this image. Similarly with regard to the soul
of man ; although Calvin here admits that it is not absurd
if man "is described as the image of God on account of his
soul". 1 But the invisible aspect of man's being as such is
not the divine image. We should rather say that the latter
"has its true seat in the soul". 2

The divine similitude consists not in the fact that man is
endowed with reason and will, but in the fact that these
faculties in original man were directed wholly towards
knowledge of and obedience to God. Thus Calvin can echo
the expressions of the church fathers and say that body and
soul are natural gifts which man has received, whereas the
similitude to God on the contrary is a supernatural gift. 3 It
is superadded to the psycho-physical constitution of man and
is imparted from outside. This is illuminated by the fact that
it is restored to us through Christ. 4 But it should not be
asserted that the similitude to God is an addition to the
creaturely status of man, that the former might even be
absent. There is no neutral psycho-physical constitution of
man. The fact that man was originally created in the image
of God means rather that his whole psycho-physical exist-
ence was thereby moulded; what consequences the loss of the
image entails we shall have to consider later. In using
traditional theological concepts in this connexion Calvin
wishes to express clearly that man owed the right orientation
of his being wholly to the goodness of his Creator. Body and
soul in themselves live uniquely and solely by the preserving
grace of God. Man does not possess them firmly in his own
right. This applies the more forcibly to the divine similitude
which the first man bore. This special distinction which
exalts him above all creatures 5 is thus not to be understood
in the sense that man in creation was given something divine
as his permanent possession. It is not that to his body and
soul was added a spark of the divine essence. 6 The divine

i In. I, 15, 3. 2 Ibid. 3 In. II, 2, 12.

4 Ibid. "Haec omnia quum nobis restituat Ghristus adventitia
censentur et praeter naturam".

sin. I, 15, 3. * CR roa, 166.

68

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

similitude depends rather on man's relation to his Lord. Man
was created by God to serve Him in freedom. He was
endowed with freedom to choose the good. 1 When he threw
away his opportunity his relation to the Creator and
consequently the divine image in him was destroyed.

But on what does Calvin base these assertions ? How does
he know that the divine similitude of man consisted in the
original right orientation of his being towards his Creator ?
The answer which he gives to this question is decisive for his
whole teaching concerning the creatureliness of man. Once
again at this point the essence of Calvin's theology is
revealed. Calvin says that the restoration of the image of God
in man shows plainly in what it originally consisted. 2 Thus
he does not content himself with discussing the ideas of the
creation story which are relevant in this regard. Rather he
refers to Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4.* He directs our
thoughts to the second Adam, to Christ who is the perfect
image of God. 4 In Christ, the incarnate Word of God, we
see in what this divine image in man consists. The true being
of man is disclosed to us in Him alone. We cannot recognize
it by exploring our own nature. Nor can we find grounds for
it by considering the creaturely status of man apart from the
God revealed in Christ, and with this end in view appealing
perhaps to the Biblical story of creation. The first chapter of
Holy Scripture proclaims no other God than that preached
by Saint Paul in the two epistles just mentioned. The Bible is
concerned not with teaching ideas about God but with
proclaiming the Teacher and Saviour sent to us. In Him we
perceive whence we have fallen; through Him who is
Himself the image of God we are restored 5 and brought
again into a true relation with our Creator. We are redeemed
by being made like unto Christ, so that we may bear the
image of God in "true godliness, righteousness, purity, and
knowledge" 6 that image which we had lost. Whatever is
taught about humanity in disregard of this sovereign claim

i In I, 15, 8. 2 CR 23, 26 ; In I, 15, 4; II, 2, 12.

3 CR 23, 26; In. I, 15, 4. 4 In. I, 15, 4; L. 255, 4.

5 In. I 15, 4; CR 51, 209. ^ In. I, 15, 4.

69

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

of Christ is nothing but a conspicuous error; for we are
inevitably led astray in so far as we do not experience Christ
as Lord. 1 There is no theological anthropology which can
exist apart from Christology. We cannot truly confess the
first article of faith if at the same time and by implication
we do not confess the second.

2. PROVIDENCE

(a) "Herein lies the unfathomable greatness of God: not
only did He once create heaven and earth but He also guides
the whole process according to His will. Thus he who con-
fesses God as Creator while supposing that He remains
tranquilly in heaven without caring for the world, out-
rageously deprives God of all effective power." 2 Calvin
thinks that we can only truly confess God as the Creator of
all being if at the same time we appreciate His power as
effectually at work in the present. 3 After its creation the
world does not run on its own steam nor is it surrendered to
the sway of some alien power. Thus there is neither chance
nor fate in life. 4 God as Creator is and remains the omni-
potent Lord. He is truly the Disposer supreme. 5 His present
creative activity manifests itself in three ways. God alone
sustains the created order in being 6 ; apart from His action it
would dissolve into nothingness. Daily He bestows on all
things their effective reality as it pleases Him 7 ; apart from
Him they could neither live nor move nor have their being.
And finally in His incomprehensible wisdom He guides all
things to their appointed end. 8 This manifold and ever
present relationship of the Creator to His creation is divine
providence. Calvin derives this idea from Genesis 22 : 8 (Deus
providebit] and explains that the word providentia denotes not so
much the foreknowledge of God as His care for His creatures. 9
Providence lies not in the mere knowledge but in the
effectual action of God. 10 Hence the archaic translation of

1 CR 51, 209. 2 CR 32, 359. * /a. I, 16, i.

4 In I, 1 6, 2, 3. 5 i n , i, 16, 3 . 6 OS 3, 188, 3.

7 In. I, 16, 2, 8 In. I, 16, 4. Ibid. 10 Ibid.

70

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

the Institutes is right in rendering the word as "provident
care".

(b) When we consider how Calvin explicates in detail this
providential care we recognize that he focuses it upon the
redemptive work of God in Jesus Christ. 1 The argument
that Calvin's theology is primarily concerned with the thought
of creation is here seen to be completely untenable. Just in
this connexion it becomes clear that Calvin's theology does
not proceed by successive thoughts, as though the recognition
of a Saviour God were inferred from the recognition of a
Creator God. It is rather that throughout his work Calvin
praises the power and the goodness of the triune God who
has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ. But let us listen to
Calvin himself.

The fact that God is so fully the sovereign Lord of the
created world that He preserves and rules it according to the
counsels of His will is something which we could never dis-
cover for ourselves. This inability is not remediable by our
piety. We have no possibility of obtaining for ourselves the
comforting news that God cares for us like a true father. He
himself must open up a way to us and declare to us what
kind of a God He is. "Until God became my teacher"
thus Calvin interprets a text of the Psalms "and I learnt
from His Word what otherwise my understanding could not
fathom, I failed to discover by my own reflections how the
world is governed." 2 God speaks this word to us in Holy
Scripture. There alone do we gain an insight into the
providence of God. 3 By Christ Himself are we taught that
God sustains and governs all things. 4

As far as we are concerned this means: "We do not
apprehend in a human manner nor in the light of natural
feelings," "but by faith alone, the invisible providence of
God." 5 The operations of God are understandable to us
only by the message of God Himself. We are utterly depend-
ent upon Him and can do nothing else "but obediently

i Gf. just the chapter headings of 1, 17. 2 CR 31, 682.

3 In. I, 16, 2, 4; 17, i ; CR 8, 349. * In. I, 16, 2.

5 CR 31, 132 ; CR 8, 349 ; In. 1, 16, 9.

71

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

accept what God teaches us through His Word and Spirit". 1
But faith directed to the Word and comforted by the
providence of God does not consist simply in an inquisitive
searching of the Scriptures. We attain understanding only
when we perceive that God by His Word is calling us to
Himself and adopts us as children out of the depths of His
mercy. 2 Faith which recognizes the ceaseless controlling and
sustaining might of the Creator arises from our thus being
enfolded by the grace of God. This faith rests upon the
gracious election of God. 3 This must be borne in mind if we
would understand Calvin's assertion that only believers have
eyes to trace the workings of divine providence. 4 By this
statement Calvin does not intend to reject the idea of natural
theology only to set up in its place and to glorify the religious
certitudes of the pious Christian. He is concerned solely to
exalt the mercy and the majesty of the God who addresses
us through His Word and makes us His own.

When the Word of God addresses us and we receive it in
faith, we are not merely informed about the providence of
God but we experience the very power by which God main-
tains and governs the world. God created the world out of
nothing by His Word, and by the same means He prevents
it from dissolving into nothingness again. 5 Indeed we must
go so far as to confess that the Word shares in the government
of the world. The eternal Word together with the Father
guides all created things. 6 Naturally such a statement can
only be made about the Word inasmuch as it is divine and
not inasmuch as it is a distinctive Person in the one Godhead.

(c) If we ask what object the sustaining and guiding action
of the Word pursues, we find that Calvin first opposes the
opinion that there is only a general providence (providentia
universalis) in the sense that God is the power which animates
the whole universe. 7 It is rather that God by His particular
providence sustains, fosters, and cares for each individual
thing and being which He has created, down to the tiniest

i CR 31, 682. 2 CR 31, 464. 3 CR 31, 330.

4 CR 31, 89. 5 CR 47, 479; 27, 699.

In, I, 13, 12; CR 51, 160. T In. I, 16, 4; I, 16, i.

72

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

sparrow. 1 We do not realize the whole splendour of God until
we see that He tends every creature and guides it to its goal. 2
He truly orders the life of every creature and type of exist-
ence. There is nothing in the world which is not directly
under the control of God and subject to His will.

Calvin distinguishes various degrees in this special divine
providence. As man is the most eminent of God's creatures
and as it is for his sake that all is created both in heaven and
earth, the providential care of God is exercised above all
towards him. "Marvellous are the judgments of God who
punishes the godless, schools believers to patience and
mortifies their fleshly desires, purges through suffering the
vices of the world, startles many people out of their indolence,
destroys the pride of the impious, laughs to scorn the
cunning of the prudent and brings to nought evil counsels.
And on the other hand His incomparable mercy is evident
when He helps the wretched, protects and assures the life of
the innocent, and brings help when all appears to be lost." 3
"The life and death of men, the common lot of empires and
peoples as much as the personal lot of each individual and
whatever else is usually ascribed to fate, utterly depends upon
the sole guiding providence of heaven. 33 4

If Calvin thus discriminates between the special providence
which God grants to each creature, even the tiniest living
thing, and that in virtue of which He guides every man and
nation, he introduces with regard to human beings a further
distinction of the greatest importance: "Although God
manifests Himself to the whole human race as Father and
Judge, yet, because the church is the sanctuary in which He
dwells, He reveals His presence there still more plainly;
there He exercises His fatherhood, and deems the church
worthy, as it were, to draw more closely to His side." "The
church is the real sphere in which God carries out His
providential purposes and the special theatre in which His
providence operates." 5 God sustains and guides the whole
world, each individual thing and being, but His providential

i In. I, 16, i, 4. 2 In. I, 16, 4. 3 CR 8, 348.

4 CR 8, 349. 5 Lo Ct tit. ; cf. CR 29, 241 ; 31, 19 ; ^ I> 17, i, 6.

73

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

goodness is directed above all to the human race and within
it to the church.

In regard to this gradation in the exercise of divine pro-
vidence it is not a question of a simple scale reflecting the
degree of dignity of the various creatures. The position is
rather this : God sustains the whole world and proves Him-
self the Lord of each individual creature, of men, and
peoples, because He wills to be the Lord of His church. He
guides the movements of nature and history because He wills
to guide and maintain His church in this world. "God has
unlimited power to secure the existence of His church, and,
since He controls all creation, cannot be prevented by any
resistance from fulfilling His purposes." l If we fail to realize
this ultimate end of the divine providence, we have under-
stood little about it. "For the providence of God is rightly
honoured when believers do not despair in the hour of their
greatest need, but rather out of the depths lift up their
hearts to God in hope, because He allows His own to
hunger in order to fill them when He wills and plunges them
into the shadow of death in order to restore to them the light
of life." 2 "We are superstitiously fearful if we become
afraid whenever men threaten us or alarm us, as if they in
themselves possessed any power to do harm, or could
fortuitously injure us, or as if we did not believe that in God
there is enough help against their attacks." 3 God cares for
the world and for mankind in general only for the sake of
that fatherly protection which He bestows upon His church. 4

The church is indeed the real object of the divine pro-
vidence. In this thesis we clearly recognize the focusing of
Calvinistic teaching about creation and providence on the
revelation of God in Jesus Christ ; for the church is the body
of Christ. But the full scope of the thesis will not be apprecia-
ated if we fail to see that Calvin goes one step further in his
argument; the church is the object but not the final goal of
God's providence. The church is not a society whose basis
lies in itself, but the sanctuary of the Lord where Christ is the

i CR 32, 184. 2 CR 31, 333. 3 /. i 9 Z 6, 3 .

CR 8, 349.

74

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

chief corner stone. Hence the providence of God is not
concentrated upon it in order that we should devote ourselves
to it as such. Rather in focusing His providence especially
upon the church He wishes to encourage us to call upon
Himself, the living God, and to set our hope upon Him. 1 We
are neither to be occupied with ourselves nor with the
dangers which surround us, but to aspire to God in prayer
and trust. 2 This is no impossible demand ; for God confronts
us in Christ. We must cling with all our hearts to Him, for
He cares for us. 3 Such is the ultimate end of divine providence.
In the last resort it is only a question of one thing that we
should recognize and exalt the grace and the power of our
God.4

(d) The fact that God cares for us does not relieve us of
our own responsibility. Providence does not imply that in
this world we can simply let ourselves go. Here again there
is no immediate relation between man and his Creator.
Calvin decisively rejected the teaching of the Quintinists
who because they felt the effectual operation of the divine
spirit taught that man must surrender himself to the stream
of life without reflection. 5 No; God has endowed man with
reason and will-power so that he may use them and make
decisions. 6 God has given us resources for the mastery of
life. 7 If we do not use them, if we allow our own capacities
to slumber within us, we have no right to take comfort in
the thought of the divine providence. In the exercise of the
latter, God takes into account the fact that we men are
gifted with reason and will-power. All that we are able to
devise and set in motion is integrated into His plan.

By stressing the responsibility of man, Calvin does not
mean to lessen the power of the Creator. It remains true that
God makes possible the decisions and actions of men and
subdues them to His purposes. The providence of God must

i In. I, 17, 9. 2 CR 8, 350. 3 CR lob, 201.

4C#3i, 271 f.

5 Cf. W. Niesel, "Calvin und die Libertiner", %eitschr.f. Kirchmgesch.,
Vol. 48, new series, n, pp. 58 f.

<> In. I, 17, 4, 6; CR 36, 222. 7 In. I, 17, 4*

75

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

not be watered down to a merely permissive attitude 1 : "as
though God sat enthroned on a high watch-tower and simply
beheld how events by chance worked out." 2 Men really
depend on the will and plan of God ; such, Calvin thinks, is
the clear teaching of Holy Scripture. 3 The point is that "in
affirming that the will of God is the cause of all things we
make the divine providence the controlling force behind all
the purposes and activities of men, and further imply that its
effect is apparent not only in the elect, who are guided by
the Holy Spirit, but also that it constrains the reprobate to
obedience." 4

Here two serious questions arise for our human under-
standing.

Firstly : if all happens according to the will of God, are
there not two wills in God, one which He has revealed to us
in His Word and another hidden will opposed to the will
which is revealed ? 5 Calvin points out that according to the
teaching of Holy Scripture God accomplishes His righteous
will even through the evil designs and actions of men. We
must realize that in discussing this question of divine
providence we are in the last resort confronted by the cross
of Christ : " If Christ had not been crucified by the will of
God, how could we have been redeemed?" 6 The will of
God is not dualistic, nor is it subject to change. It only
appears to us in this light "because on account of the weak-
ness of our understanding we cannot comprehend how God
in a dialectical way can both will and not will that a thing
should happen." 7 Here our understanding reaches its
limit. But because of this inability we should in no case
postulate absurdity in God. Rather we should confess our
weakness and bow before the mystery of the divine dis-
positions 8 whereby the one righteous will of God is always
triumphant.

Secondly: is not God then the author of evil, if everything
that happens owes its origin ultimately to Him? 9 Calvin

i In. I 9 18, i. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 I n , 1 9 18, 2 .
5 In. I 9 18, 3. ^ Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid.
$ In. I, 18,4; 17,5.

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

headed a whole chapter of the Institutes with the words :
"That God uses the service of the godless and directs their
hearts in such wise as to exercise His righteous judgments
but that He Himself remains pure and unsullied by any
sin." l In this sentence everything is already said. There is
no independent reign of evil in opposition to God. All is
subject to the Creator. He has the reins of all things in His
hands and directs all to the fulfilment of His purposes. He
uses even evildoers as the instruments of His providence in
order to accomplish the judgments which in secret He has
determined. 2 Even Satan must stand ready in His service. 3
But this does not mean that God has the ultimate responsi-
bility for evil and that evil deeds are thus excused. "In this
respect we should not think of any violent coercion, as
though God led men into evil against their will" ; but "in a
marvellous and incomprehensible way He overrules all the
impulses of men so that their free-will remains intact." 4 If
men act wrongly, they break the commandment of God by
their own free-will and yet through their conduct God fulfils
what in His hidden counsels He has determined. 5 Again in
this aspect of the doctrine of providence we are confronted by
the mystery of the cross of Christ. It is precisely there that we
see "how in the same event the guilt of men is declared and
the righteousness of God shines forth." 6 When God yielded
up His Son, and Judas betrayed his Lord, in that one
happening God showed Himself to be the Just and man the
unjust. Calvin is aware that human curiosity cannot be
satisfied with this kind of illustration or with the discussion
which he devotes to the subject. The question of God and
evil cannot be solved. It exceeds the capacity of our under-
standing. In regard to it we can only listen to the message of
Holy Scripture and the appeal of the cross of Christ. 7 But to

i In. I, 18; OS 3, 219, 4. 2 i n . i, ij } 5. 3 i n , I, 18, i.

4 CR 36, 222. 5 fa I 3 18, 4. 6 In. I, 18, 4, i.

7 In. I, 1 8, 4. A comparison which Calvin was fond of is intended less
to explain the matter than to cut short curious questions: "Et unde,
quaeso, foetor in cadavere, quod calore solis turn putrefactum, turn
reseratum fuerit? Radiis solis excitari omnes vident; nemo tamen iUos

77

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

that extent we must not evade the question. "For our wisdom
must be nothing but an acceptance with humble and docile
hearts of all (without exception) that is put before us in Holy
Scripture" 1 ; and here it must be admitted as a fact "that no
concord can exist between man and God if the former does
through God's just instigation what is against the law". 2

The question : What are we to do ? has not to be answered
from the standpoint of our own reflections. It is answered for
us by the divine command which is given in Holy Scripture. 3
Our already accomplished actions must be tested solely by
the criterion of this law, and with regard to decisions which
we are about to make we must refer wholly to the word of
Scripture which is both admonishing and comforting. Here
we are not secure against the danger of separation from God.
Inward and outward enemies press upon us and seek to gain
the mastery over us. In the midst of this oppression in which
we must daily make our decisions it behoves us to recollect
that God has not given us only His Word as a light on our
path. He has also placed in our hearts the desire to pray and
has commanded us, His own for whom He cares, to call upon
Him in our distress. He does not as it were leave us to do the
best we can with His Word, but Himself wishes to place us in
the way in which His Word directs us. 4 We must pray that
strengthened by His Word we may overcome all our diffi-
culties. The Biblical teaching about the providence of God
leads neither into brooding care nor into carelessness, but
drives us rather to the Word and to prayer. Here once again
it becomes clear how the doctrine of providence belongs
essentially to the sphere of church life. The Word and prayer
live only in the midst of the church.

When we use these means and thus await all things from
God, we make real progress and our pilgrimage in this world
is comforted and strengthened. Then when we enjoy
fortunate success we render hearty thanks ; in misfortune, we

foetere ideo dicit. Ita quum in homine malo subsideat mali materia fci
culpa, quid est quod inquinamentum aliquod contrahere putetur DeuS>
si ad suum arbitrium utatur eius ministerio?" (In. I, 17, 5).

* In. I, 18, 4. 2 Ibid. 3 fa I, 17, 5, 3. 4 QR 12, 454.

78

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE

are patient, and with regard to the future we look forward
with wondrous fearlessness. 1 As members of the Church we
are relieved from our weight of cares. 2 Hence it is under-
standable that Calvin comes to the conclusion that "the
greatest thing in our extremities is that we know nothing of
God's providential designs and again that the highest
blessedness is based on the recognition of divine providence". 3
i In. I, 17, 7. 2/n. I, 17, ii. * Ibid.

79

Chapter

I. ORIGINAL SIN

MAN who is thus sustained and guided by God in the
way which we have described shows no longer any
trace of the original goodness in which he was
created. When philosophers and even church teachers think
very highly of man and ascribe to him the utmost moral
dignity 2 they are deceiving themselves about the ground of
his being. What man is becomes clear only when he is con-
fronted by the truth itself. We attain a true knowledge of
ourselves only when we view ourselves in the truthful mirror
of Holy Scripture. 3 The reference to this authority which
stands over against every man shows plainly what Calvin is
here concerned about. He does not wish to oppose a
pessimistic to an optimistic view of man. "If it were only a
question of the pre-eminent natural endowment of man, then
we might" he admits without more ado "pay regard to
the extraordinary gifts which he has received from God ; but
in so far as he is confronted by God he must crumple up into
utter nothingness." 4 The real question is what man is in the
presence of God, whether he can stand before God; and such
a question can only be answered by God Himself. "The
Holy Spirit assures us in Holy Scripture that our under-
standing is so smitten with blindness, our heart in its motions
so evil and corrupt, in fact our whole nature so depraved, that

1 W. A. Hauck, Siinde und Erbsunde nach Calvin, Heidelberg, 1938;
T. F. Torrance, Calvin 9 s Doctrine of Man, London, 1949.

2 Cf. In. II, 2, 2 ff ; OS 3, 242, 26 3 fa. II, 2, 1 1.
4 CR 36, 535.

80

SIN

we can do nothing else but sin until He Himself creates in us
a new will." 1

The divine image in man is destroyed and effaced. 2 Calvin
makes this ruthless assertion, although in a more exact
description of the state of affairs he is bound to admit "that
it has not been completely eliminated 59 . 3 Man has not
become a beast. He has no reason to boast of the fact; for
properly speaking he belongs to a still lower grade. 4 But he
has remained man, a being gifted in contradistinction to the
beasts with reason and will-power. Yet the divine similitude
in man in the strict sense and his original uprightness no
longer exist. 5 Alienation from God has taken the place of
his original orientation towards his Creator. 6 Calvin teaches
with the whole church that this change in the state of man is
rooted in the fact of the fall of Adam. The first man created
by God fell away from his Creator and thus decided the fate
of the whole human race. 7

This revolt from God is the primal sin (peccatum originale)
of man. It is noteworthy that in a mild debate with
Augustine Calvin does not consider the pride of man to be
the real ground of all evil. 8 According to his insight the
root of the trouble lies much deeper. The defection of man is
grounded in something purely negative, in the fact that he
no longer cleaves to the word of God, in his radical unbelief
and disobedience. 9 And this unbelief engenders and is
indeed itself separation from God, it spells the loss of the
divine likeness and is the root sin of man. These negative
expressions must be noted and from them we must infer that
sin is not an element native to the being of man, of which he
might even boast. Nor does it consist simply in a moral
defect. It can only be described as a surrender of man's right
relation to his Creator. The effects of this change in the

i CR 14, 35. 2 CR 23, 26; 51, 208; 28, 205; 51, 253.

3/jz. I, 15,4.

4 CR 51, 253. "Brief, nous ne sommes pas dignes d'estre mis au reng
des bestes brutes, si nous demeurons en la condition telle que nous avons
de nature."

5 In. I, 15, 4. In. II, i, 4. 7 fa H, i, OS 3, 228 f.
8 In. II, i, 4. ^ Ibid.

81

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

attitude of man extend to his entire being. Just as his nature
was originally moulded by his turning Godwards, so now it is
affected to its inmost depths by his estrangement from the
source of life. "We know that the injury wrought by the
primal sin is not confined to one part of man's being but
completely embraces body and soul." l Also in regard to the
soul it is not simply a matter of the baser sensual impulses. 2
"As long as we do not understand that sin has injured every
part of the soul we have not yet realized the full extent of its
power. Hence if we refuse to admit that the understanding
of man is completely depraved and his heart evil, we have
little insight into the significance of original sin/' 3 "The
whole man from head to foot is thus, as it were, drenched in
a flood of wickedness so that no part has remained without
sin and so everything which springs from him is counted as
sin. 3 ' 4 In "the whole of his nature no element of integrity
remains". 5 Calvin takes up the Biblical expression and
affirms that the entire man in this fallen condition is "flesh". 6
"To put it bluntly", "men have nothing in themselves but
sin". "This does not mean that the substance of our bodies
and souls is evil, for we are God's creatures." But " every part
of us is saturated in evil". 7 Man is an abyss of every sort of
corruption and depravity, 8 and indeed it is precisely our
souls which are a sink of iniquity. 9 If we noted just now that
the primal sin must be described as essentially negative, as a
revolt from God, it becomes apparent from the above that
this nothingness can be transformed into something positive
from which evil springs continually. "Although those who
have described the primal sin as a lack of the original
righteousness which we were intended to have understand
the general position well enough, yet they do not bring out
clearly enough the power and effects of sin. For our nature is
not merely poor and devoid of all good, but it is, further, so

i CR 32, 230. 2 I n . II, i, 9 : II, 3, i.

*CR 31, 514, 513; cf. CRs6, 121. *In. u, i, 9.

5 CR 47, 57 : "in tota natura nulla rectitudinis gutta superest".

6 In. U, 3, i ; CR 49, 128; 40, 246; 50, 252 ff.

7 CR 33, 728. 8 CR 46, 598. 5 CR 13, 70.

82

SIN

fertile and pregnant with all wickedness that it cannot be
idle. 53 1 Thus unbelieving and disobedient man, devoid of
original integrity, is as a whole, and in himself, "nothing
but a well of vain and wicked desires" (concupiscentia). 2

This original sin in its terrible negativity and power still
exists in man, even though it may not be immediately
apparent, as is the case with little children. 3 Although it
may not be manifest in particular sinful actions, that is no
proof that sin itself does not live in a man. 4 Already from
our mother's womb we have sin within us; "for we belong to
a damned and corrupt race". 5 "Let men therefore cease to
boast; even kings and princes who say: C I have sprung from
such or such a family/ It is certain that in our body and soul
there is in the eyes of God nothing but repulsive filth. In that
lies their whole nobility and worth ! " 6

2. ADAM'S SIN OUR SIN

We must now consider the question how it is possible that
the sin of the first man should be our sin the sin of the
whole human race. How can it be that this sin should live
on in every child that is born, before the first movements of
the conscious mind have been awakened in it? The usual
answer given is that we have inherited sin from our first
ancestor. Calvin realizes that this answer is not quite correct, 7
although he himself, following tradition, describes original
sin as "the hereditary perversity and corruption of our
nature". 8 In fact, there is no real solution to the problem. 9
Calvin endeavours to clarify the matter in the following
way: "The guilt of one man could not concern us at all if
our heavenly Judge had not delivered us over to eternal
ruin." 10 "Because of the guilt of one man God has placed
us in a condition of universal indictment." n Thus what is
presupposed is an act of divine judgment. God views all men

i In. II, i, 8. 2 Ibid. 3 QR 46, 843 ; In. II, i, 8.

4 CK 25, 207. 5 CR 33, 654. CR 46, 358.

7 In. II, i, 7. In. II, i, 8. * CR 33, 661 ; 28, 192.

10 CR 9, 289. n CR 9, 290.

83

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

as sinners and treats them as such. Thus Calvin rejects all
naturalistic attempts at explanation. Original sin does not
devolve upon us through any physical process such as bio-
logical heredity. It is no inherited malady. "For posterity
did not entail corruption in any physical manner through its
descent from Adam; but the fact is rather dependent on the
ordinance of God, who, just as He endowed the entire human
race with the most splendid gifts in the person of one man,
also deprived it of the same through him." 1 "And why is
that? Because we were all represented in his person accord-
ing to the Will of God. There is no occasion in this matter to
work with rational considerations, in order to find out
whether this is so or not; we should rather recognize that it
was the Will of God to bestow upon our ancestor what it
was the divine intention that we should receive, and when
those gifts were taken from him we were all involved in the
same ruin and confusion. Let us therefore pay heed to this
divine judgment and hold fast to it and not trust our own
understanding and fantasy." 2 Adam was not just an
individual 3 but the embodiment of the whole human race.
It was the will of God that we should be represented in him.
His behaviour was our behaviour, his deed was our deed.
"Hence it is not so much that each one of us has inherited
vice and corruption from his parents but rather that we have
all been at the same time corrupted in the one Adam." 4

Ultimately this state of affairs is only understandable to us
through Jesus Christ. All naturalistic attempts to explain
original sin, the biological one which regards it as a matter
of inherited depravity and the moralistic one which supposes
that it has arisen through the evil imitation of the revolt of
the first man, tend to neglect the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ and the light which falls upon the mystery of human
nature from that source. Calvin in this connexion points to
Paul as the truest witness to the strange universality and
actuality of original sin. The fact that Adam is so to speak
the fountain of human nature is "made clear by the apostle

1 CR 23, 62 ; 47, 57 ; 33, 660 f., In. I, 7.

2 CR 33, 661. 3 CR 31, 514. 4 CR 47, 57,

84

SIN

in the comparison between Adam and Christ". 1 "If it is
undisputed that the righteousness of Christ is appropriated
by us through our fellowship with Him, as is also eternal life,
then it follows that both were lost in Adam and restored to
us in Christ; hence sin and death entered in through the
fall of Adam and have been destroyed by the work of
Christ." 2 By the very nature of the gift which we receive in
Christ we come to realize what is lacking to us. "Because all
these things (faith, love of God and neighbour and the
striving for holiness and righteousness) have been restored to
us in Christ, they must be considered as something added to
our nature rather as something belonging to it. Hence we
conclude that they were utterly effaced in us." 3 Because
Christ is the sole cause of our righteousness, our radical
unrighteousness and incapacity for good is established. 4 In
the light of Christ we realize that we are incorporated in
Adam and find ourselves in a situation of wrong relationship
with God, and thus are moulded and impelled by the fact
of original sin. A right awareness of sin implies a glorifica-
tion of the merits of Christ. "All of us without exception", so
comments Calvin on Ephesians 2 : 3, "are indictable until we
are justified by Christ ... so that no righteousness, no
salvation and in fact no good in general are to be found
outside Christ." 5

This fundamental insight illuminates the whole serious-
ness of our situation. Even the customary teaching on
inherited sin deceives us about it by suggesting that we have
to bear the burden of a dark and fateful inheritance. Only
in the light of Christ do we see that we all stand before the
light of God's countenance in utter corruption and per-
versity. "We are lost, there is no means of help ; and whether
we are great or small, fathers or children, we are all without
exception in a state of damnation if God does not remove from
us the curse which weighs upon us, and that by His generosity
and grace, without His being obliged to do so." 6 Apart from
Christ the judgment and the curse of God strike us. But

i In. II, i, 6. 2 ibid. s / n . ii, 2 , 12.

4 CR 49, 95. s CR 51, 162. <* CR 26, 262.

35

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

what calls forth the vengeance of God is real sin. 1 Therefore
no man is without sin ; not even little children. For if they
"are not free from the anger and curse of God it is surely
not without reason if He visits them with punishment". 2 He
knows well "why He punishes even the children who are
still in the womb of their mother, and we must adore His
judgments in all humility". "We are too weak and stupid to
understand the judgments of God which are so high." 3 But one
thing we must learn from the fact of Christ : the judgments
of God which strike us are just; "for we are all guilty". 4
We are all involved with Adam in the solidarity of sin. We all
stand with the first man in a state of estrangement from God.

All this brings out the fact that it is not innocently and
without having deserved it that we have to bear the guilt of
Adam's transgression. 5 Such a suggestion which flows from
the usual doctrine of sin as inherited shows clearly the
questionableness of the latter interpretation. The punishment
which comes upon us proves that we have all in truth
committed in Adam his transgression. 6 Even young children
are involved not in the sin of others but in their own. The
actual condition in which they are is reckoned in the eyes of
God as sin in the true sense. 7 Although they have as yet
committed no particular sins, they stand in the presence of
the Lord as no more just than their parents. For there could
not be a possibility of indictment without guilt. 8

Every fatalistic feature must be removed from the doctrine
of sin. "If we sin, it does not happen from compulsion, as
though we were constrained to do so by an alien power ; but
all sin results from our own will and inclination." 9 This does
not mean to say that we have indeterminate freedom of
choice as between good and evil. 10 If we were able to effect
anything against God we would not be able to attain full
salvation through the grace of Christ. Redemption would
then become in part self-salvation. 11 But it does mean that

i CR 49, 95. 2 CR 26, 262. 3 QR 28, 192.

4 CR 28, 191. 5 i n , n, i, 8. ; CR 23, 62. * In. II, i, 8.

7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 CR 28, 560. 10 CR 6, 303.

" CR 6, 483.

86

SIN

our perverse decisions take place with our full consent. 1
"We sin freely because sin would not be sin if it did not
happen in freedom of will; but we are so given over to sin
that we can voluntarily do nothing else but sin because the
evil that reigns in us constantly impels us to do so." 2
Defection from God spells slavery for us, but it is of our
choosing and is what we ever and again seek. In this con-
nexion Calvin distinguishes between necessity and coercion
(necessitas and coactio). 3 Our condition is one of estrangement
from God ; we decide for evil and follow it willingly. But we
can no longer in our own strength free ourselves from the
necessity of so deciding. We cannot depart from the path
which we have chosen. That is the meaning of the necessity
to sin to which we have freely subjected ourselves. Thus it is
not a compulsion which comes to us and grips us from out-
side. The latter would be incompatible with our responsi-
bility and would make guilt impossible. Here Calvin re-
collects that "from the character of the help which the Lord
grants to us we can alone fully realize our defect and our
need". 4 We are well aware of our own servitude and will
glorify Christ alone as the One who frees us from it. 5 Christ
does not release us from some external compulsion but
renovates our will and our heart and re-orientates them
towards righteousness. 6 The seat of the ill lies at the point
where He begins His work of renewal. He lives within us.
This must not be obscured. By faith in Christ we receive
adoption as children of God and so true freedom. 7

From this point of view Calvin tries to find an explanation
of how man's fall from his Creator could come about at all.
Of course Adam was created in a right relationship to God.
"But he had no divine power, he stood on the ladder of
creation and had the measure of a man, so that he was liable
to change; and he evinced this only too truly." 8 "Thus
there was something of weakness already in him." "He was
subject to temptation." 9 That is to say that the man created

i CR 6, 303. 2 CR 49, 128 ff. 3 In. II, 3 5.

4 In. II, 3, 6 ; CR 47, 1202 ; 6, 279. 5 OR 47, 203.

<s In. II, 3, 6. 7 CR 50, 22 1. 8 CR 46, 598. ibid.

8?

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

good by God was still a man. Adam was not Jesus Christ.
This observation does not cast doubt upon the rectitude of
the original man : " We must distinguish between the natural
weakness which has always been proper to man and the
vicious weaknesses which have come upon us because of
original sin. 95 1 The fall of Adam came about not because
man was defectively created but because as man he had
within himself no divine capacity for perseverance.

3. SINS OF ACTION

In order to complete the picture of Calvin's doctrine of sin
we have something still to say with regard to the question of
particular sinful actions. The fundamental attitude in which
humanity is engaged determines the entire thinking, willing,
and acting of man. "The spirit of perversity is never at rest
within us but brings forth ever new fruits, viz. the works of
the flesh . . . just as a roaring furnace gives off flames and
sparks or as a spring without ceasing spouts forth water." 2
We are blinded, we fall into error and can make no right
decisions. 3 Our will is so crooked that it can only engen-
der what is vicious and impure. 4 Of course the various
particular sins which we commit are of different kinds and
degrees. There is a direct sinning against God and failure in
our duty to our fellow men. In the last resort, however, all
our evil deeds strike at the being of God Himself. 5

But all this does not mean that Calvin depicts the moral
state of mankind only in the blackest colours. He does not
place Camillus and Catiline on the same level but admits
that in the life of man there are virtues and vices. 6 In fact,
we meet in history ethical accomplishments which tower far
above the normal standards. Calvin does not try to deny that
real heroism is to be found amongst men 7 ; and what is true
of the moral sphere applies equally to the activities of
human intellectual enquiry and insight. 8 Calvin would have
been the last to fail to esteem the results attained by the

i CR 46, 598. 2 fa n, i, 8. 3 CR 55, 108. 4 CR 6, 362.
5 CR 29, 338. In. II, 3, 4. 7 Ibid. 8 l nt n ? 2> Z 8.

88

SIN

discipline of philosophy. But in saying this much we have not
said the final thing about the worth of human achievements.
For it must first of all be observed that God, in virtue of His
providential designs, equips some people with special gifts
because He has special purposes for them to fulfil. 1 Hence
what we are inclined to accredit to men should in fact
redound to the praise of God alone. And secondly it is to be
noted that even in such cases men remain involved in the
general condition of human depravity. 2 "What is the point ",
says Calvin, ec of extolling man's capacity for good when in,
fact even those who give every appearance of virtue are being
constantly tempted to do evil?" 3 In this respect it is not a
question of the external accomplishments of man but of
what he is in the realities of his inner life. 4 The human wili
is and remains perverted. 5 "The more outstanding a man
is, the more he is unceasingly goaded by his ambition an
evil which sullies all his virtues, so that they lose all merit in
the eyes of God. Thus we must esteem as valueless whatever
appears praiseworthy in the impious. 3 ' 6 In particular they
lack "the zeal to glorify the honour of God". 7 This defect
vitiates all that they attempt to do. This is their essential
fault. Ambition and self-seeking^ which both inspire and ruin
every good work of man, are only the obverse side of the
fundamental defect which clings to him. And so, in spite of
all differences, men in the last resort all stand on the same
level. The fact is that sin is something other than moral
failure.

In spite of all the excellence which they are able to show,
men are cramped within themselves instead of being
expanded outwards to God in the desire to do His will.
Calvin demonstrates the truth of this by reference to Christ.
That is typical of his whole theological method. There has
lived on this earth only one man on whom the spirit of the
fear of God rested. 8 In the light of His life it becomes clear
to us that we do not stand in a right relation with God, but
that each one of us seeks his own ; and hence all our thoughts,

i In. II, 3, 4. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Ibid.
5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. i Ibid. * Ibid.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

words, and works, however well they may appear, cannot
stand the test of divine judgment. Only in Christ are we
freed from the tyranny of sin and placed in the service of God. 1
It is Christ who first discloses to us the truth about our
human situation. "If His grace is the sole means by which
we can be freed from our blindness and from all the evil
which it engenders", 2 then all our capacities come under
condemnation. "For, if we need a new heart and a new
spirit., it follows that our soul in every part is not only
injured but to such an extent depraved that its perversity
can only be called death and destruction, at least in com-
parison with its original integrity." 3 Without Christ we
stand under the judgment of God and thus are subject to
the death of body and soul the punishment for our sin.
"I do admit", says Calvin, "that there remains to us a
residue of life even when we are as yet far from Christ. For
our unbelief does not efface our understanding, our will, and
the various capacities of our soul. But of what value is all
that in comparison with the kingdom of God ? Or in com-
parison with the life of blessedness, seeing that everything
which we think and will is dissolute and decadent? Hence it
must be held that the only and true life of our soul consists
in communion with God, and that apart from Christ we are
completely dead, because sin reigns in us with its inevitable
consequence of death." 4 It is precisely that part of our soul
which "most of all seems to have been spared injury", our
understanding, which most needs renewal. How easily that
determines the ruin of our whole nature. 5 And note well : our
plight is so evil that no mere healing will help our under-
standing even. However much its acuteness may be praised,
it needs radical renovation. 6 The renewal which must
embrace our whole existence must not be understood as
simply an improvement of the faculties which we already
possess; what is in question is rather a new creation. We
recognize this fact in Jesus Christ. Through Him we receive
a share in the second creation "where everything is effaced

i In. II, 3, 4. 2 In. II, 3, i. 3 CR 40, 245.

4 CR 51, 161. 5 CR 51, 208. In. II, i, 9.

SIN

which is part and parcel of our ordinary nature". 1 Jesus
Christ means for us the turning from death unto life, and
hence all those illusions which we entertain about our being
and its capacities pass away from the moment when His
name is named and His work is praised.

Chapter 6

THE LAW OF GOD

MAN who has become separated from God cannot
now find his way back to his Lord. When in spite of
this we fondly imagine that we can once more enter
into a relationship with God, we encounter an idol instead of
the living God. God is withdrawn from all approaches on the
part of man. Yet He has not left man to himself, but has
shown His sovereign Lordship by taking the initiative to
restore the broken relation. God has given man His law and
has declared His will therein.

What Calvin teaches about this initiative of God is so
characteristic for his theology that it can by no means be
neglected. If with the usual prejudices about the legalism of
Calvin we come to his writings and really read them, it is
just here that we shall find what a lot we have to unlearn.

I. THE LAW AS THE LAW OF THE COVENANT

Calvin's understanding of divine law is based on the
recognition that the law of God is covenantal law. If in the
New Testament Paul at times speaks of the law in itself, that
is only because he wishes to expose the error of those who
imagine that man can acquire righteousness by fulfilling the
works of the law. But in point of fact the law does not stand
thus as an isolated phenomenon. It is not simply a collection
of commands about how to live well, but is included in the
covenant of grace which God founded. 1 Abraham and his
heirs, who belonged to God no more than other men, were

i In. II, 7, 2.

92

THE LAW OF GOD

viewed and accepted by this triune God as His children. This
act of adoption was not grounded in the worthiness of that
family but solely in the mercy of God. 1 Hence the covenant
of God is immutable, however men behave towards Him. The
institution which God founded on behalf of men in spite of
their unworthiness and infidelity cannot be destroyed by
their conduct. 2 But from the angle of God, too, the covenant
which He concluded is inviolable. The triune God is not at
war with Himself but remains ever and unchangeably the
same. "Hence He wills that from the covenant which He has
made with His church His unchangeable loyalty should
shine forth." 3 The law of God is embedded in this grace and
loyalty which He shows towards His people, the church ; God
in entering into a covenant with His people makes an
absolute claim upon them. This divine demand is the
meaning of the law.

This point of view is of fundamental importance. "Of
course God desires that each one of us should be consecrated
to Him, that we should renounce self-will, that we should be
subject to Him and surrendered to His guidance; but before
He requires that of us He bestows Himself upon us." 4 Such
is the background against which the divine law is set in
relief. Here lies the origin of the radical difference between
this law and all others. Whereas in other cases there is a
sharp opposition between a law and those to whom it is
applicable, and this implies compulsion and servitude for
those whom the law affects, in this case the triune God imparts
Himself to those whom He summons to walk in His way.
"This must soften our hearts, even though they were harder
than stone. Who are we then that our Lord should condescend
so low in order to make a covenant with us, and to promise
us that He will be our Father and Saviour, so that He comes
before us as one who has concluded with us a contract that
is a gift?" "This should so delight us as to cause us to yield
ourselves to God without hesitation, since He persuades and
invites us to do so by His example." 5 The grace of God is so

i CR 28, 549. 2 Ibid. ; CR 40, 396. 3 CR 38, 645, 688.

4 CR 28, 513. * Cff 28,513.

93

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

great that He not only offers His help to His own but imparts
to them His very self. Thus His word can be heard by them
and find obedience.

All this is true also of the Mosaic law itself. The latter
belongs integrally to the covenant which God concluded with
His servant Abraham. 1 "For Moses was not made a lawgiver
in order to set aside the promise given to the seed of
Abraham; rather we see that he constantly reminds the
Jews of the covenant of grace concluded with their fathers
whose heirs they were, just as if his special mission were to
renew that covenant/' 2 Through Moses" giving of the law
God recalled His people to their task, and by the hand of
Moses 3 He sealed His covenant. Moses is not the founder of
a so-called religion of law but the prophet of the covenant
God, witnessing to God's mercy and loyalty.

The same is to be said of that theologian among the
reformers who is usually regarded as the exponent of law. Of
course Calvin affirms with the Psalmist the blessedness of the
man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who
meditates on His law day and night (Psalm 1:2); but the
legalistic Calvin has taught us to see most clearly the Biblical
conception of the law. He has praised the glory of the law
because he recognized it to be the covenantal law of the
gracious and faithful God, and imparted by Him to His
church.

2. THE LAW AND THE CULTUS

This insight leads Calvin to regard the law from a cultic
point of view. He sees moral and cultic laws as essentially
bound up together. "By the term law", he says in definition,
"I understand not only the ten commandments, which
prescribe how one should live in piety and justice, but the
whole cultus of religion which God communicated through
Moses." 4 Ceremonies prevent a moral misunderstanding of
the law. "God added them all in order to support the
commandments and to sustain and promote the faith." 5

i CR 38, 688. 2 In. II, 7, i. * CR 38, 688.

4 In. II, 7, i. 50/248,305.

94

THE LAW OF GOD

Whilst the laws, as such, expose our unrighteousness, the
sacrifices and signs which God instituted in conjunction with
them mark out in the swamps of our life a path on which we
can walk before God uprightly and in holiness according to
His will. 1 These sacrifices and ceremonies remind us of the
fact that the law is given by the gracious and faithful
covenant of God in order to redound to His praise. They are
meant to make still clearer what the commandments also
proclaim : God guarantees by the gift of the law the fulfil-
ment of the commandments ; there is a life in accordance
with the will of God because He has bestowed Himself upon
His people.

3. CHRIST AND THE LAW

God has given Himself to us in Jesus Christ. The covenant
of God with His people is grounded in the Incarnation. God
has adopted us as children and declared His will to us
because His only begotten Son has fulfilled that will in this
world. "The main content of the law and the foundation of
the divine covenant consists in the fact that the Jews have
Jesus Christ as their Leader and Protector the heart of their
sacred history; without Him there can be no religion and
they themselves would be the most wretched of men." 2
" Whatever the law teaches, prescribes, and promises is
always orientated towards Jesus Christ its centre." "Thus no
one can have a correct understanding of the law unless he
constantly relates it to Him." 3 Before developing his inter-
pretation of the law in the Institutes Calvin therefore writes a
chapter on the theme : "That man after becoming corrupted
in himself must seek his redemption in Christ", 4 and then
continues: "Thus the law is not given in order to lay its
fetters on the people but in order to maintain the hope of
salvation in Christ until His advent." 5 Whoever does not
pay heed to the soul of the law, whoever disregards the
fulfiller of the law, must in any event perish by the law.
He does not see it as an invitation from the Father of grace,

1 CR 49, 59. 2 CR 48, 289. 3 CR 49, *9&

4/n. II, 6. 5/^n,7.

95

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

and strives in vain to fulfil its requirements in will and deed.
"Without Christ the law is valueless and offers no sure
ground of hope." 1

This is true of the law in every part. The ritual and
sacrifices are of no avail apart from Christ. 2 The whole
cultus prescribed by the law would be a completely ridicu-
lous affair if its value were intrinsic to itself and if it did not
contain shadows and types symbolizing the truth. 3 "Jesus
Christ is the grace and truth which the cultus and its cere-
monies foreshadowed." "The power and efficacy of the
ritual depended on Him." 4 Just because God has imparted
Himself to us in Jesus Christ, the various rites of the Old
Testament cult which body forth the covenant of God with
His people did not cheat the Israelites.

Much the same is to be said of the moral law. It is
primarily given to us 5 " in order that by disclosing the divine
righteousness which alone is valid in the sight of God it
should remind, convict, and picture to each one of us his
own unrighteousness and finally condemn us because of it." 6
"This does not happen to the end that we should sink in
despair and without consolation be plunged into ruin." 7
The pedagogic intention of the law is rather that we should
lift up our hearts to the sphere where the righteousness of
God is fulfilled. The point is "that we should be led to resign
foolish delusions about our own strength and to realize that
we can stand upright only in the strength of God, so that,
naked and exposed, we flee to His mercy to lean wholly
upon it, to hide ourselves utterly within it, appreciate that
it alone is our true virtue and merit and is ever open to us in
Christ as long as we desire it with all our hearts". 8 This
must not be taken to imply that by the office of the law men
are only admonished to depart from their false ways and to

i CR 47, 124 2 CR 50, 603.

3/n. II, 7, i. 4 In. Ill, 2, 32.

5 As regards Calvin's idea of a threefold use of the law as contrasted
with a twofold office of the law cf. A. Gohler, Calvins Lehre von der
Heiligung, pp. ii7f.

6 In. II, 7, 6. 7 In. II, 7, 8. 8 Ibid.

96

THE LAW OF GOD

enter the right path. No, they obstinately cling to belief in
their own powers ; but in spite of that the law fulfils its
function and reaches its goal. It arouses in men such terror
of the judgment of God "that even against their own will
they are attracted to the Mediator". *

But this is not the sole function of the moral law. It has a
normative as well as a pedagogic significance. "Moses has
well taught that the law which for sinners can only spell
death is meant to have a better and more admirable purpose
for the saints. 532 The law reminds us of the covenant which
God has ratified with us and thus belongs to the essential life
of the church. "It has its place among believers in whose
hearts the spirit of God is already working to guide and
inspire." 3 In this respect the law has its special function to
fulfil. It is a "lamp to our feet so that we do not depart from
the right way", 4 and shows us the goal towards which our
life must be directed. 5 As long as we live in this world we
must ever be reminded that God is our Saviour and Lord,
and we need the summons and the claim mediated to us by
the Word of God. The law performs this office of instruction
and admonition. 6 When we accept this service and recognize
in the law the gracious invitation of God to take upon us
the yoke of the covenant which He has established with us,
then we can walk in comfort under the law. For we then see
it in closest connexion with Jesus Christ. 7 In Him the law
has completed its function of judging and punishing, and this
has effected the final fulfilment of the law and of the will of
God which it represents. For our sakes, and in the sight of
God, Jesus Christ walked in the way prescribed by the law;
and now we must allow the law to invite us simply to follow
in His footsteps. If we are thus taught and exhorted by the
law, then the promises which are subjoined to the law gain
significance for us: "For as God gives us all things of His
free grace, so also among other things He confers on us this
benefit : that He does not reject our imperfect obedience, but
overlooking its defects he accepts it as perfect and on the

i In. II, 8, i. 2 In. II, 7, 13. 3 l n . II, 7, 12.

4 OS I, 394- 5 A- II, 7, i3- 6 & H, 7, is-

97

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

score of it allows us to enjoy all the good which He has
promised in His law." *

4. FREEDOM FROM THE LAW

Because God in Christ has made us His children, the
service which is required of us under the law is no servitude.
Rather through the law we are called to walk in the freedom
of the sons of God. This freedom becomes effective in three
directions.

As long as we are under the dominion of sin we are slaves.
The law holds before our eyes the righteousness of God and
exposes our sin, showing that it means for us corruption and
death. But we must not remain imprisoned by the law. We
must think of Him who for our sakes has taken upon Himself
the punishment of the law. 2 We must accept the faith that
the law has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Hence when we
wonder how we can stand before God we must rise beyond
the bounds of the law and forget all its righteousness. 3 "But
when consciences are disquieted as to how they can find God
gracious, what they are to answer and what can be the
ground of their confidence, when they are summoned before
the judgment seat of God, then they should not begin to
calculate the requirements of the law but must plead as their
righteousness the one Christ who surpasses all the perfection
of the law." 4 In this sense Calvin admits the saying that the
law is cancelled for believers; "not indeed in the sense that
it no longer commands them to do what is right but that
from henceforth it no longer possesses the authority which it
did formerly, that it can no longer cause their conscience to
torment them with terrors, and has no more power to
condemn them finally". 5 Because Christ has fulfilled the
demands of the law we are free from their coercive power
and from the curse which every trespass entails. 6

This aspect of Christian freedom implies the second, viz.
"that consciences do not render obedience because compelled

i In, II, 7, 4. 2 In. II, 7, 15. 3 l n . m, 19, 2.

4 Ibid. 5 In. II, 7, I4 . 6 i n , ft, 7> I5 .

98

THE LAW OF GOD

by the constraint of the law but are freely obedient to the
will of God after being released from the yoke of the law". 1
Because Christ has taken our place we are able not only to
live but also to act under the law. We know that God does
not judge us according to our performance but is pleased to
accept our service for the sake of Christ. The much discussed
activism of Calvin is rooted in the fact that we belong to
Christ and thus can go our way free from care and confess
our membership in Christ; but it does not arise from any
zealous desire to prove one's Christian life by good works.
"Those who remain fettered by the yoke of the law are like
slaves to whom certain daily tasks are assigned by their
master. For they are worried about how little they have done
and do not dare to come before their master unless their
allotted daily tasks are completed. But children who are
treated more gently and considerately by fathers are not
afraid to show work which is only begun or half completed,
or which has certain defects, because they trust that their
obedience and willingness of heart will give pleasure even
though they have not performed as much as they wished,
We must be such children and have confidence that our
obedience will be well pleasing to the Father in His mercy,
however slight, frail, and imperfect it is. ... Such trust is
very necessary to us ; for without it all our efforts will be in
vain. 5 ' 2

"The third aspect of Christian liberty is that, in the sight
of God, we are not under any obligation about outward
observances which in themselves are matters of indifference,
so that we are in a position to use them or not as we please." 3
In Christ God has made all things ours. Thus "we are to use
the gifts of God without scruples of conscience or inward
disquiet for the purpose for which they have been given us.
By such confidence we have peace with Him and recognize
His goodness towards us". There are no exact prescriptions
about the ceremonies of the right form of divine worship and
the outward order of the church, and hence the various rites
which are of course requisite for the edification of the church
i In. Ill, 19, 4. 2 In. Ill, 19, 5- 3 / HI, 19, 7-

99

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

are not necessary to salvation. 1 In the observance of such
externals, however important, there must be no superstition. 2
In any case they may not be substituted for the Word of God,
for Jesus Christ in whose service they are intended to function.
There are no intrinsically holy things, customs, seasons, or
days ; but naturally we may use whatever serves the edifica-
tion of the church. 3 In this connexion it is to be noted that
we are free from the ceremonial cult of the old covenant. 4
The sacrifices and ceremonies which the law prescribes were
valid only until the advent of Christ and have been annulled
by that event. 5 Were we to use them, we should be obscuring
the clarity with which Christ has enlightened us by the use
of types and shadows. 6

What is true of the ceremonies of the Old Testament cult
applies even more to the ordinances of the Mosaic law,
which were meant to regulate the political life of the Jewish
people. Even though such ordinances are connected with the
divine law of love, they are to be distinguished from it. 7 In
that form they were given only to the people of Israel. 8
Other nations are not involved in the political ordinance of
the Old Testament law. 9 But their emancipation means also
subjection to the command of love, to the essential content
of the divine law. 10

From all this it should have become clear that Calvin
does not teach in the strict sense an abolition of the law. In
this regard he is at one with the New Testament witness.
Because he interprets the law exclusively in the light of
Christ there can be no question of its annulment. Jesus
Christ is the heart of the law. For this reason, while we are
free from the curse and compulsion of the law, from its
ceremonies and political ordinances, we remain bound to its
inner content. Christ came precisely in order to fulfil the
law and in view of our transgressions to provide relief.
"Hence the doctrines of the law remain untouched by Christ,

i In. IV, 10, 30. 2 In. IV, 10, 32. 3 Ibid.

4 In. II, 7, 16. s Ibid. CR 26, 209; 245; 48, 190; 55, 89, 364.

$ln. II, 7, 16; CR 48, 219. ? i n . IV, 20, 15.

8 In. IV, 20, 1 6. 9 l nt IV, 20, 15 ; CR 28, 63. 10 In. IV, 20, 15.

IOO

THE LAW OF GOD

for these doctrines by their warnings and admonitions and
instruction are meant to prepare and dispose us to every
good work." l When the New Testament speaks of the law
as storing up wrath and slaying man, " the law is not thereby
despised or anything detracted from its glory 5 '. 2 If the law
fulfils the function of the stern judge against us, the fault is
our own. " It is clear that through our own wickedness we
are prevented from knowing that blessedness which is openly
offered in the law." 3 Hence in any event "the law remains
valid if regarded in itself; but by the guilt of man it has
come about that the covenant of the law has been super-
seded". 4 Again this does not imply that Calvin praises the
glory and significance of the moral law while thinking lightly
of the institutions of the Old Testament covenant, which has
been replaced by the new. Certainly the ceremonies of the
old covenant have been cancelled, but not "with regard to
their meaning, only with regard to their use". 5 As the moral
law remained unimpaired in its validity despite the dis-
obedience of man, so the sacrifices and other arrangements of
the covenant are not disparaged as a result of the infidelity
of men. " But the fact that they were cancelled by the coming
of Christ detracts nothing at all from their sanctity, in fact
they have been exalted and enhanced thereby." 6 "In
bringing an end to the use of the ritual Christ sealed its
efficacy in His blood." 7 This Old Testament cultus pro-
claimed to the people of Israel the reality of the Christ. 8 That
is its meaning and this meaning is still reflected in the Old
Testament account of it. The same applies to the political
aspect of the Mosaic law. Its abolition does not mean its
rejection. The foundation of those rules which were given to
the people of Israel for the purpose of regulating its political
life is abiding. 9

i In. II, 7, 14. 2 In. II, 7, 7.

4 CR 39, 42. 5 fa II, 7j Z 6; CR 50, 354. In. II, 7,

7 Ibid. * Ibid. 9 In. IV, 20, 15.

101

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

5, THE QUESTION OF THE LAW OF NATURE

This concludes our exposition of the main features of
Calvin's teaching on the law ; but to it we must add a word
about the question of the law of nature. In this connexion
we are faced once more by the problem which we considered
in our discussion of the question of natural theology. Calvin
gives the same answer in both cases.

"Those things which we have to learn from the two
tables of the law reflect to some extent and enable us to
understand that inner law which is written and as it were
impressed upon the hearts of all. 55 1 Such is Calvin's teaching
in commenting on the apostle Paul. Man has not merely a
dark surmise of the will of God but by the law of nature is
sufficiently instructed how to live rightly. 2 "This instruction
is carried out by the voice of conscience. As a seed of religious
awareness is implanted in the heart of man so that he may
recognize and honour his Lord, so conscience is given him
that he may sufficiently distinguish between right and
wrong. 3 The activity and insights of conscience are the
language in which the law of nature is couched. 5 ' 4

The law of nature has only one purpose: namely, to make
man inexcusable before God. 5 Since it becomes manifest in
the dictates of conscience, the latter too has no other object
but that of depriving man of the pretext of ignorance and
making clear his responsibility before the judgment of God. 6
All this, however, does not imply that in this way man can
attain a real knowledge of the divine will. "As man is
enclosed by the darkness of error, the natural law gives him
scarce an inkling of the kind of service which is pleasing to
God.' 5 7 The ability to distinguish between good and evil has
ceased to be healthy and intact in the mind of fallen man. 8
While not completely effaced it has become so paralysed and
corrupted "that only miserable broken fragments of it still
appear". 9 It is for this reason that we have not the capacity

i In. II, 8, i. 2 In. II, 2, 22. 3 ibid.

5 Ibid. 6 In. II, 2, 22 ; 8, i ; III, 19, 15.

7 In. II, 8, i. 8 fa II, 2, 24; CR 35, 74. In. II, 2, 12.

102

THE LAW OF GOD

within ourselves to know the chief features of the first table
of the law. 1 But even with regard to the second table we
cannot rightly reach the truth. In any event the natural man
is unable to realize that his covetous desires point to the
rottenness of his condition. "The light of nature is long
extinguished before we gain any idea of this unfathomable
gulf/' 2 "It is more than enough that man's insight should
reach so far as to deprive him of every excuse, and so, con-
victed by the testimony of his own conscience, to make him
begin to tremble before the judgment seat of God." 3 Natural
man is thus not relieved of his responsibility before God. He
is rightly summoned before the bar of the divine judgment
and condemned. This is the meaning of Calvin's arguments
about the natural law imprinted on the soul of man.
Conscience, in which the law of nature makes itself heard,
does not on the other hand give sufficient indications to
enable us to walk uprightly before God. It does not provide
the starting point for a universal ethic which could develop
into a Christian one.

In order to reveal His will to us and really to set us on the
right way, God has given to us the written law. 4 This does not
speak otherwise than the natural law; but it addresses us so
decisively that we must hear it when it pleases God to open
our hearts to its authority by the power of His Holy Spirit. 5
As sinners we constantly need to hear the divine demand and
to be illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis
on the natural law does not injure the law of God which is
drawn up in Holy Scripture : on the contrary, it suggests to
us the necessity of the divine law of the covenant which has
its basis in Jesus Christ.

i In. II, 2, 24. 2 ibid. 3 ibid. 4 in. II, 8, i.

5 In. II, 2, 25.

103

Chapter J

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS*

I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

OBJECTIONS have again and again been raised to the
doctrine of the law which we have just sketched
out. Lutherans especially,, but also Reformed
Christians., have urged that Calvin's legalistic tendencies led
him to blur the boundaries between the Old and the New
Testaments. 2 "It is significant", says Wernle in his com-
mentary on the Institutes., "that it was the Reformed Christians
precisely who had a specially keen interest in this Christian-
ization of the Old Testament. The Reformed Christians were
the practical party in the Reformation movement ; the New
Testament was not sufficient for their ecclesiastical-political
institutions; they were compelled to go back to its Old
Testament background and hence needed a unified authori-
tative Bible. The evangelical national state church and the
Christian state as ideally pictured by the Reformed Christians
both rest upon the basis of Old Testament theocracy." 3 The
modern theologian has so little understanding of Calvin's
conception of the old covenant that at this point he is much
more inclined to agree with the fanatics : " In his moral zeal,
Calvin utterly denies the difference between the Old and the
New Testaments, closes his eyes to all the new values which

i M. Simon : " Die Beziehung zwischen Altem und Neuem Testament
in der Schriftauslegimg Calvins", Ref. Kirchenztg., 82, 1932, pp. 17 ff.
H. H. Wolf, Die Einheit des Bundes. Das Verhdltnis von Altem und Neuen
Testament bei Calvin, Bethel, 1942.

2R. Seeberg: Dogmengeschichte, 4, 565 ff. A. Lang: Johannes Calvin,

I909> P- 75-
3 P. Wernle : Der evangelische Glaube, III, Calvin, p. 268.

104

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

Jesus brought into the world, and degrades Him to the
position of an interpreter of the ancient lawgiver Moses.
How much more clearly the Baptists saw the truth in this
respect." "The New Testament must be fitted in with the
authority of the Old Testament; Christ is interpreted
according to Moses." 1 Our reason for giving such extended
quotations is that they have become widely regarded as of
decisive importance. This is how people commonly think
about Calvin's teaching on the law and his view of the Old
and New Testaments.

A theologian such as Calvin does not understand the
relationship of the two Testaments in such wise that he
reads the Old into the New and vice versa. Certainly he uses
the one to elucidate the other. But that is not the important
thing. The decisive point is the recognition that the Old
Testament promises what the New Testament offers to us
in Christ. 2 The salvation of the saints of the Old Testament
is founded, just as much as our own, in Jesus Christ. 3
Therefore in both cases what is in question is the one "body
of Christ the church" ; the new covenant is no other than
the old covenant instituted by God and broken by the people
of Israel. 4 Christ is the foundation of the divine covenant to
which both the Old Testament and the New bear witness. 5

2. THE OLD TESTAMENT

If we consider the Old Testament by itself and enquire
about its meaning we have to note the following : in Calvin's
opinion the Old Testament does not reflect a primitive form
of religion lower in degree than that of the New. It is not the
expression of the religious laws and customs of the Jews, but
from the first line to the last it preaches to us about Christ.
"The law" and in so saying Calvin does not mean merely
the commandments but the whole corpus of so-called Mosaic
religion "was not laid down four hundred years after the

1 P. Wernle, op. ciL, p. 13 and p. 30. 2 CR 40, 395.

3 CR 28, 288. 4 CR 40 ff., 395 f.

5 CR 48, 289; cf. CR 48, 569.

105

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

death of Abraham in order to lead the chosen people away
from Christ, but rather in order to hold them upright until
His coming, to stir up in them a religious zeal, and to
strengthen them in hope lest they should languish and lapse
through the long delay of His advent." l It is meant to main-
tain in the pious the expectation of the Christ that was to
come. 2 The sacrifices and ceremonies served this end. "God
did not ordain them in order to give His servants enough to
do in earthly things, but rather to raise their minds to things
above." 3 The same purpose was served by the strictness of
the commands which caused them to look forward to Him
who should perfectly fulfil them. 4 The kings and priests also
of the Old Testament are, so to speak, mirrors in which the
people can see reflected the one King and High Priest. 5 And
the prophets were sent to prevent the people from becoming
fettered to the cultus and commands as such; they were to
guide the thoughts of the people to the one goal of all the
doctrines and arrangements of the law: Jesus Christ. 6

But the Old Testament does not merely in some vague
sense adumbrate Christ; it proclaims Him in the strictest
sense as the Mediator between God and man. He is the
mirror in which the hidden God becomes visible to His
people 7 ; He is above all the Redeemer through whom alone
the people could gain access to God. "When Jesus Christ
was still not revealed in the flesh, He was already the
Mediator, and all the patriarchs of old could approach God
only when they were guided to Him by the Saviour and when
the Saviour enabled them to find grace in the presence of
God ; and they could base their prayers only on the ground
that they were pleasing to God because a Saviour was
promised to them." 8 The efficacy of the one Sacrifice which
He perfected is eternal, extending itself to all times. 9 The
work of Christ is so decisively operative that even the destiny
of those who were under the old covenant depends on it,

l In. II, 7, i. 2 In. II, 9, i. 3 In. II, 7, i.

4 In. II, 7, 2. s Ibid. 6 In. II, 7, i. 7 In. IV, 8, 4.

8 CR 41, 555; cf. CR 41, 558; 44, 162; 50, 217, 224.

Cfl, 118.

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

Without Christ and His sacrifice all the promises of the Old
Testament would be of no avail, 1 and the commands would
bring death to their hearers. "Christ is the sustaining
ground of the promises because in Him alone God the
Father is gracious to us." 2 Christ belongs as much to the
commands as to the promises. 3 The whole covenant of God
with His sinful people is not only recognized as valid in
Jesus Christ but is also centred in Him. In this sense the Old
Testament as a whole proclaims the Christ.

3. THE NEW TESTAMENT AS DISTINCT FROM THE
OLD TESTAMENT

The New Testament bears witness to this same Mediator
Jesus Christ. But in contrast to the Old Testament its life-
breath springs from the incarnation of the Son of God.
"Those mysteries which the men of the Old Testament
beheld in the form of shadows have been plainly revealed to
us." 4 For this reason the Gospel may not be regarded as
interchangeable with the promises of the old covenant. "The
gospel in the proper sense is the solemn announcement of the
revealed Christ in whom also the promises are fulfilled*" 5
Because the New Testament declares to us the Christ who has
come in the flesh, and the Old Testament Him who was to
come in the flesh, Calvin is fond of elucidating the difference
by saying that the New Testament is like a colourful picture
whereas the Old presents the appearance of a shadowy out-
line. 6 In the Institutes Calvin has enumerated the differences,
which on close examination he feels compelled to note
between the two Testaments, 7 and we can therefore spare
ourselves the trouble of mentioning them, especially as they
are reducible to one that between the clarity of the gospel
and the obscurity of the word which was preached before
the gospel. 8 But both Testaments testify to the same Word,
both proclaim Jesus Christ, the one in one manner, the other

i CR 38, 407. 2 CR 50, 22. 3 In. II, 7, 2.

4 In. 11,9,1. SCR 49, 9. 855, 121.

7 In. II, 1 1 ; OS 3, 423 ff. * In. II, 9, 10.

I0 7

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

in another manner. 1 Hence the differences which Calvin
notes between the Old and New Testaments must not be
misunderstood. If the New Testament proclaims Christ
more clearly, it is not to imply that we now have Christ
simply in our possession whereas the pious men of the Old
Testament could only look forward to His coming. No ; we
too stand yet in hope. 2 We, like the people of Israel, are
referred to the Word and to the Holy Ghost who makes this
Word a living reality to us. cc In so far as we accept Christ we
do not possess Him otherwise than cloaked in His promises.
Hence it is that while He dwells in our hearts we may walk
far from Him because we walk by faith and not by sight." 3
On the other hand it must be said with regard to the Old
Testament that its function was not confined to that of
foreshadowing Christ as the Mediator. Christ was truly
presented and imparted to hearers through its words. 4 For
the saints of the old covenant, as for us, these words were
confirmed by sacramental signs which sealed the promises. 5
In this way the patriarchs ate the same spiritual food and
drank the same spiritual drink as we Christians ; and this was
Christ. 6 Further, the Old Testament did not have this
significance for the people of Israel only; it is given to us also
for the same purpose. We say this not merely with reference
to single parts but also with reference to the Old Testament
as a whole. In discussing the problem of the law we saw that
the Old Testament accounts of sacrifices and cultus have not
lost their significance. "Although the ceremonies are no
longer in use, their essential truth is still valid for us through
the person of Him on whom their fulfilment depends." 7 The
Old Testament is neither a superseded book as far as we are
concerned, nor is it merely of auxiliary use enabling us to
understand the New Testament better. We possess the Old
Testament solely because it awakens in us faith in Jesus
Christ. In that purpose the Old Testament is at one with the
New. 8

i CR 40, 39<>. 2 CR 55, 121. 3 /. n 3 9> 3 .

4 In. I, 9, 3 ; CR 39, 64. 5 j n , n, 10, 6. 6 In. II, 10, 5.

7 CR 9, 747- 8 CR 48, 569.

108

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

4. THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THE TWO TESTAMENTS

The juxtaposition and succession of the two Testaments
emphasizes the fact that they do not aim at giving us religious
and moral instruction, or holding ideals before our minds,
but at testifying to the Word which at a given moment in the
history of the world became flesh. For this reason there is a
before and after. Since at that moment not just any event,
nor even a merely momentous event, took place in the history
of humanity, but rather God's only begotten Son entered the
world, the time before just as much as the time after was
shaped by the operation of the event itself. But this must be
rightly understood. Had Jesus Christ been only a man, a
religious personality of the greatest dimensions, then His
coming might well have been surmised in advance. But this
is not what is meant when we say that the action of Jesus
Christ shaped the time which preceded Him. What is meant
is rather this: because the Incarnate Word is God, His
efficacy is not restricted to our own Christian era. Hence He
could already by the word of His witnesses and the sacra-
mental cultus draw near to the saints of the old covenant and
bestow Himself upon them. For this reason the Old Testa-
ment does not merely reflect a people's religious conscious-
ness nor its words simply point as signposts to the one Word ;
rather they communicate the reality of that Word to the
hearers when the Holy Ghost renders the latter responsive.
If any one interprets the Old Testament otherwise, he is
forgetting in his blindness that Christ "was true God who
from the beginning and without intermission has spread the
wings of His grace". 1

i CR 9, 305.

109

Chapter 8

THE MEDIATOR^

THE insight which we have just expressed brings before
us the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ.
Calvin considers that the Old Testament and the
New Testament form in the strictest sense one single testi-
mony to Christ. As we have tried to show, all the truths
which Calvin expounds in his theology have thus but one
end to make intelligible to us the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ. In the course of the history of theology many different
ideas have been entertained about the person of Jesus Christ,
and so it is not surprising that people have variously under-
stood and appraised, also, what Calvin teaches about Jesus
Christ. Thus, for example, in one of the most recent works
on Calvin, Christ is understood as one of the peculiar tones
of the gospel, a manifestation of the gracious attitude of God
who says "Yes" to the sinner. 2 If after all that Calvin has so
far taught us about Jesus Christ we feel a certain mistrust of
such an interpretation as this, it is incumbent upon us at this
point to go specially into the question as to who that One is
around whom the entire thought of Calvin revolves.

The 1 2th chapter of the second book of the Institutes, where
Calvin begins to develop his Christology, begins with the
sentence; "That dogma has always been considered of the

1 Max Dominic^; L'humani U de Jtsus d'apres Calvin, Paris, 1933. Idem,
"Die Christusverkundigung bei Calvin" ("Jesus Christus im Zeugnis
der HI. Schrift und der Kirche", Supplement 2 to Ev. Theologie, Munich,
I 93^s PP- ^23-53). E. Emmen: De Ckristologie van Cdvijn, Amsterdam,
I935-

*E. Miilhaupt: Die Predigt Calvins, p. 120.

IIO

THE MEDIATOR

highest importance which states that he who was to be our
Mediator is true God and true man.' 5 1 Thus Calvin agrees
with the confession of the ancient church : Jesus Christ is
"true God and true man 95 . What does this mean?

r. TRUE GOD

"To be sure, all would have been hopelessly lost if the
divine Majesty had not condescended to come down to us,
seeing that we are not in a position to reach upwards to it." 2
We have already in passing touched on this point : if Jesus
Christ is to mean anything decisive to us, we must encounter
in Him the majesty of God and find in Him the One "who
is truly our God 5 '. 3 If we ask the reason for this, the sentence
from the Institutes just quoted does not give any adequate
answer. Why cannot we in our own powers reach the heights
of the majesty of God? Why must the Infinite condescend to
our own sphere if there is to be any encounter between it and
ourselves ? Calvin gives the following reasons :

"Firstly", he says in his Commentary on r Peter i, 20 ff.,
"we have to bear in mind the greatness of the divine glory
and the wretchedness of our own minds.'* 4 Peter Brunner
thinks that Calvin in saying this is referring to the distance
and the cleavage between God and man. If that be so, we
should have to understand the first reason which Calvin
urges in proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ in the following
way : by reason of man's creaturely status there is a gulf
between God and man which cannot be bridged from man's
side. Hence God must Himself come down to us if we are
ever to attain fellowship with Him.

We do not wish to dispute that the thought of the distance
between Creator and creature plays its part when Calvin
speaks of the majesty of God as contrasted with our own
wretchedness. But it is questionable whether this thought
alone is intended. For we must observe that in the Institutes
Calvin expresses himself in quite similar terms as follows :

1 OS 3, 437, 3. 2 In. II, 12, i. 3 CR 53, 327.

4 CR 55, 226; quoted after P. Brunner, Vom Glauben bet Calvin, p. 74.

Ill

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

"The majesty of God is far too high for mortal men, who
crawl as it were like little worms upon the earth, ever to be
able to attain unto it." 1 Here Calvin is speaking not of the
distance between Creator and creature but of the fissure in
creation caused by the Fall, and of the creature in conse-
quence being burdened by the punishment of death. When
Calvin says that God Himself must meet us in Christ because
we ourselves cannot bridge the gulf which exists between
Creator and creation, he is no doubt thinking of the radical
distinction between God and His creatures. At the beginning
of the Christological section of the Institutes it is said
specifically: "Even though man had remained without any
taint of sin, yet he is too limited ever to be able to come to
God without a Mediator. 5 ' 2 But Calvin cannot separate
from this insight the other namely, that this gulf is for us
to-day a gulf between the Creator and a fallen creation.
"How could man help himself when by the shameful fall he
was degraded to death and hell, sullied with so many stains,
fetid with his corruption, and wholly in the power of the
curse?" 3 Hence God must Himself take the initiative and
come to us; because the distance between Creator and
creature, which in itself is unbridgeable by man, has become
as a result of the Fall an impassable gulf.

In a third line of argument Calvin shows further how
everything depends on the true divinity of Christ. In the
Commentary just quoted on i Peter after speaking of the
greatness of the divine majesty and our own wretchedness,
he adds: "Sin which reigns in us makes us hateful to God
and Him to us. As soon as God is in question, fear inevitably
grips us. When we now approach Him, His justice is like a
fire which utterly consumes us." 4 Now this implies: sin not
only creates a cleavage between God and ourselves but
actually widens it ever more and more. 5 Instead of engaging
at all in the prospectless attempt to find God, we rather flee
before Him. Any encounter between Him and ourselves can
only come about if He confronts us in our path. How

i In. II, 6, 4. 2 In. II, 12, i.

4 See p. in, note 4. 5 Cf. P. Brunner, op. cti. 3 p. 77.

THE MEDIATOR

necessary is such a condescension of God becomes especially
clear to us when we consider what it means to close the gap
which is continually being widened by ourselves. Christ
must be true God, "for his office was to overcome death.
Who could have done so but life itself? His function was to
conquer sin. What could do so except righteousness itself?
It was incumbent upon Him to destroy the world rulers and
the powers of darkness. What could do so except the power
which ruled over them ? In whom now is eternal life, right-
eousness, and the ultimate dominion over heaven and hell
except in God alone? The infinitely merciful God became
our Saviour in the person of His only begotten Son for the
reason that He willed to rescue us from our plight." 1

2. TRUE MAN

But Calvin lays no less stress on the other aspect of the
matter: Jesus Christ is "true man".

Not without reason does Paul assert so emphatically, when
he wishes to present Christ as the Mediator, that He is true
man. " Because the Holy Spirit who speaks through Paul is so
well aware of our weakness, He has used a suitable means of
healing in order to meet its needs and has placed the Son
in our midst as one of ourselves." 2 In the man Jesus Christ,
Calvin means to say, " God, to bring Himself within the
reach of human understanding, humbles Himself and makes
Himself small." 3 Only because of the fact that God con-
descends to dwell upon this earth and to take humanity unto
Himself have we easy access to Him. 4 This self-mortification
of the divine means a concealment of His revelation. "We
cannot behold God in the splendour of His majesty." 5 "The
effulgence of the being of God is so excessive that it dazzles
our eyes until it shines upon us in the face of Jesus Christ." 6
"Christ veils the majesty of God which otherwise would be

l/fl. II, 12, 2. 2/72. II, 12, I.

3 CR 55, 227 ; quoted after Brunner, op. cit., p. 75.

4 Cf. In. IV, 17, 8. 5 CR 53, 34; see Brunner, op. cit. 9 p. 69.
6 CR 55, 12; see Brunner, op. cit. } p. 68.

"3

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

terrible to us, so that it is manifest to us only as grace and
fatherly kindness." 1 Calvin suggests that Christ must become
true man since God can only draw near to us in that disguise
without annihilating us. Hence the veiling of the revelation
is to be understood as a sign of the goodness of God. Only in
the second place does it happen in order to humble the pride
of men and compel them to absolute surrender: "Men in
their pride are ashamed of the lowliness of Christ ; they aspire
upwards to the unfathomable Godhead. And yet no faith
attains to the heights of heaven except that which subjects
itself to the Christ who discloses His divinity under the
lowliest forms; and never will faith be firm until it seeks
support in the weakness of Christ." 2 Of course the arrogance
of man must be humbled to the dust by the Child in the
manger ; but it must be noted that this humiliation of man
before the Incarnate must take place only in order to make
clear to him the sole foundation of faith. Thus we may
conclude that it is the divine love which triumphs in the
condescension of God taking upon Him our flesh,

The second reason which Calvin urges for the necessity of
the true humanity of Christ is the following : the fact that
we encounter God in human flesh is an important pledge of
our destiny to be related to Him. " We trust that we are the
children of God because the eternal Son of God accepted a
body like our body, became flesh of our flesh and bone of our
bone", "so as to affirm His solidarity with us". 3 The true
manhood of Jesus Christ is the presupposition for our com-
munion with Him and so for our salvation. Because the Son
of God has become one with us, in communion with Him
there can be an exchange between what properly belongs to
us and what properly belongs to Him. 4 By the brotherhood
which the Son of God establishes between Himself and us in
becoming man, the eternal inheritance which is His own is
guaranteed to us also as our possession. 5

The encounter between God and ourselves and our fellow-

1 GR 55, 56; see Brunner, op. cit., p. 69.

2 CR 47, 322 ; see Brunner, op. cti.> p. 71.

3 In. II, 12, 2. 4 fa IV, 17, 2. 5 fa

114

THE MEDIATOR

ship with Him implies that our hostility towards Him shall
cease. At this point only we see the meaning of the true
humanity of Jesus Christ in all its depth. Our Lord "has
assumed the person of Adam and taken his name in order
that in his place He might render obedience to the Father
and offer our flesh as a ransom to the just judgment of God,
and in the same flesh bear for us the punishment which we
deserved". 1 By taking upon Him our flesh the Son of God
substitutes Himself for us. He bears the punishment for our
violation of the majesty of God and shows Himself obedient
to the will of God as though it were we ourselves who
performed all that. The true humanity of the Son is
indispensable to His work of salvation. But in this connexion
we see how difficult and dangerous it is to consider the true
humanity of Jesus Christ in isolation from His divinity. For
the work of Christ consists essentially in the fact that He
bears the punishment of death which was to fall upon us.
That implies according to Calvin: "Because God alone
cannot suffer death and man alone cannot overcome it,
therefore Christ unites the human with the divine nature, so
that for the atonement of our sins He may subject the weak-
ness of the one to the power of death and in the strength of
the other may endure the struggle with death and obtain
victory for us/ 3 2

3. UNITY BUT NOT FUSION OF THE TWO NATURES

It will not do at all to introduce a dualism into the person
of Christ true God and true man 3 ; rather His two natures
are closely bound up together. Calvin sharply opposed the
heresy of Nestorius. The idea of a dualist Christ is not
permissible. 4 Jesus Christ is not on the one hand God and on
the other, and in isolation from the first fact, man also;
rather, whatever distinctions are to be made, "the truth is
that both natures are so closely bound up together that Jesus
Christ is one Person only". 5 "If Jesus Christ had not

i In. II, 12, 3. 2 ibid. 3 / n . n, 14, 4.

4 Ibid. ; CR 46, 109. 5 CR 46, 1 10.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

assumed a human body, or had kept His Godhead in separa-
tion from it, where would be to-day our chances of salvation ?
But since He was both God and man in one, and the two
natures are united, look we can come boldly to Him and
reckon Him as our brother, without doubting that He will
own us as members of His body.' 3 1

We have already seen how intransigently Calvin, in view
of this fact, holds fast to the one Christ and describes the
divine being in Himself, honoured by Turks and Jews, as an
idol. But he notices too a neglect of the fact of the Incarnation
within the church itself. He finds in the scholastic theology
of the Roman Church a speculation about God which is
dissociated from revelation, and criticizes it as follows: "All
thought about God which does not proceed from the fact of
Christ is a fathomless abyss which utterly engulfs our
faculties. A clear example of this is furnished not only by
Turks and Jews who under the name of God worship their
fantasies but also by the Papists. The principle of their
theological schools, that God in Himself is the object of faith,
is generally known. Hence they philosophize at length and
with much subtlety about the hidden majesty of God while
overlooking the fact of Christ. But with what result? They
get entangled in curious and delusive ideas, so that their
error has no limits. " 2 These unequivocal statements make it
clear that Calvin pursues a theology of revelation, that he
thinks God is only to be found by us in Jesus of Nazareth,
true God and man, and that there can be no question of
separating the Godhead of Jesus Christ from His manhood.

But that is only one side of the question. The other must at
least equally firmly be kept in view : there must be no fusion
of the Godhead and manhood. "The confession that the
Word became flesh is thus not to be understood as if it were
transformed into flesh or fused with the flesh, but in the sense
that it chose for itself from the body of the Virgin a temple in
which to dwell; and thus He who was the Son of God

iC.fl46, 1 10.

2 CR 55, 226; see Brunner, op. cit. } p. 74. Gf. In. II, 6, 4; III, 2, i ;
CR 26,437; 47, 321 ft

116

THE MEDIATOR

became a Son of Man not by a confusion of modes of existence
but by the unity of His person. That is to say that according
to our belief His divinity became conjoined and united with
His humanity in such wise that each of the two natures
constantly kept its distinct qualities, and yet one Christ
arose from the union of both." 1 Right and necessary as it is
that theology should be a strictly revelational theology and
should unambiguously declare that God is to be found only
in Jesus Christ, yet it must never come to the point of so
emphasizing the unity of the Person as to destroy the
distinctness of the two natures. 2 "The error of Eutyches
must be rejected just as much as that of Nestorius. If it is
not noted that the one Person of Christ consists of two
natures, so that the characteristics of each remain intact, 3
then we are taught the existence of a hybrid thing which is
neither God nor man." 4 Such a fusion of divinity and
humanity in Jesus Christ would have serious consequences,
as follows :

Firstly : the humanity of Christ would no longer be a true
humanity if it participated in the characteristics of His
divinity. The human nature conceived as the bridge built by
God to reach us would be destroyed, the gracious con-
descension of God to our sphere of life would be called in
question. But, above all, that community between Christ and
men would be imperilled in virtue of which there can
be an interchange between Him and ourselves and we can
receive all that He has done for us. 5 From this it becomes
obvious that Calvin does not object to the transference of
the divine in Christ to the human on the ground that it
would be incompatible with the laws of our thought. Calvin
is no rationalist. His objections to the Christology of a
Eutyches, as also to that of the Lutherans, have another basis.
He sees that our salvation is jeopardized if Jesus Christ had
not truly been such a man as we are. So far as we are
concerned, everything depends on the true manhood of Jesus
Christ.

i In. II, 14, i. 2 In. II, 14, 4. 3 In. IV, 17, 30.

4 Ibid. ^ fa IV, 17, 29.

117

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Secondly : by a fusion of the divinity and humanity in
Christ His true Godhead would similarly be threatened. 1 It
would then be a question whether God Himself were to be
found in Christ or only divine powers. In that way again our
salvation would be imperilled.

4. GOD REVEALED IN THE FLESH

Calvin has attempted to make quite clear that in Jesus
Christ and in Him alone we encounter the revelation and
the incarnation of God, but it must be stressed the
revelation of God. He says that when we are thinking of God's
revelation in Jesus Christ we must not be understood to mean
"that the Godhead left the heavens in order to confine itself
to the chamber of Christ's body, but that although it filled
all things yet it dwelt corporeally precisely in the humanity
of Christ, i.e. dwelt therein both naturally and ineffably". 2
The Godhead of Christ fills all things and while not being
restricted to the manhood of Christ yet dwells within it.

The paradoxical principle : God wholly within Jesus of
Nazareth and yet wholly outside Him, was termed later the
Extra Calvinisticum. The above-quoted passage is to be found
as early as the first edition of the Institutes of 1536, in the
course of a discussion concerning the Lutheran doctrine of
the Last Supper. Thus Calvin embraced this thesis from the
very beginning. A second and more considered expression of
it comes at the end of the debate with the Anabaptist Menno
Simons which was added only in the edition of 1559:
"Wondrous is the Son of God who descended from the
heavens and yet did not leave them. In a wonderful manner
He was willing to be born in the body of the Virgin, to dwell
upon earth, to die on the cross, so that He might fill all
things as He has done from the beginning." 3 With such
statements Calvin radically rejects the idea of any mingling
of humanity and divinity in Christ. The Godhead is not
merged in the manhood of Christ. For our salvation it

* In. II, 14, 7. 2/n. iv, 17, 30.
3 In. II, 13, 4; cf. CR 47, 62.

118

THE MEDIATOR

remains what it is eternally. Hence as divinity it is also wholly
without the manhood of the Son of God. It retains always
its fundamental transcendence over human nature.

It might be objected that it is false to regard the Extra
Calvinisticum as the most essential feature of Calvinistic
Christology, as is customary. For the Extra of the Godhead is
not expounded by Calvin in any positive doctrine but simply
referred to in a very few passages arising in the course of
debate with opponents. This objection is important. It is not
the case that the Extra constitutes the centre of Calvinistic
Christology. Calvin does not teach that God is to be found
in Jesus Christ but is also to be encountered fully apart from
Him. No; according to Calvin, God has disclosed Himself
only in Jesus Christ and we must therefore hold fast solely
to this One and not attempt to seek God outside the
Mediator. But as a critical distinction the Extra has its value.
In Jesus Christ we are faced not merely by enhanced nature,
but the fact is that there God Himself stands revealed to us.
Calvin expresses this unmistakably in the two passages
quoted above, and he has repeatedly said the same thing
elsewhere in speaking of tie Person of Jesus Christ.
"The Word chose the body of the Virgin as a temple in
which to dwell." 1 Christ is and the distinctive expression
should be noted "God revealed in the flesh/' 2 It is this
which must not be overlooked when we are speaking of Jesus
Christ. There must be no fusion of the divinity and humanity,,
no destruction of the two distinct natures, because all depends
on the truth that God disclosed Himself uniquely in Jesus
of Nazareth, that eternity really entered time, and life this
world of death. If we do not note this, if we make out of the
"God revealed" the accessibility of God to man, if out of
the unity of the two natures depending on the Person of the
Logos we make their fusion, then our teaching endangers our
salvation,

i In. II, 14, i. 2 CR 46, 1 10 ; 53, 327* etc.

119

Chapter g

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US*

Y I IHE goal of the theology of Calvin is Jesus Christ,
I because in regard to Him we must confess "God
JL revealed in the flesh." It has become clear to us al-
ready in considering the doctrine of the Person of Jesus
Christ that the revelation of God in the Mediator took
place for our sakes and our salvation. It happened not in
order to mediate to us the knowledge of a higher world but
in order to save us from our lost condition. "In order that
we might know to what end Christ was sent by the Father
and what He has brought to us" 3 2 Calvin in the Institutes
added to his teaching about the Person of Christ a special
section on the Work of Christ in chapters 15-17 at the close
of the second book. As we do not propose to give an account
of all the doctrines of Calvin but rather to investigate the
tendency of his teaching as a whole, it will be preferable to
omit any consideration of this section. For what he has to say
about the Work of Christ has inevitably been implied in his
chapter on the Person of Christ.

I. COMMUNION WITH CHRIST

(a) At this point the question arises : " How can we become
fharers in the grace of Christ?" 3 How can that which Jesus
once was and effected be of decisive significance for us men of
to-day? How can the interval of time between Him and
ourselves be bridged? How can the work of another shape

1 W. Kolfhaus, Christusgemeinschaft bei Joh. Calvin, Neukirchen, 1939.

2 In. II, 15. 3 In. book III.

120

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

our own destiny? "It must now be seen" Calvin therefore
begins his third book of the Institutes "how the treasures
which the Father has given to His only begotten Son are
passed on to us, since He did not receive the same for His own
benefit but that he might therewith enrich us who are poor
and needy. And first we must understand this: as long as
Christ is far from us and we dwell apart from Him, all that
He has suffered and accomplished for the human race is
useless and unavailing to us." 1 This gives us the first and
fundamental answer to the question as to how we are to
appropriate salvation.

Calvin asks how we can receive the merits which Christ
has gained for us. But it is significant that in answering this
question he does not in the first place speak of these merits
but focuses our attention upon Christ. He has just been
treating of His person and His office in several chapters, and
now when the point arises about our appropriation of salva-
tion and so the sequence of thought should be directed to
ourselves at last, he just does not speak about us and our
enrichment by these merits. Rather the theme is still Jesus
Christ Himself. This has its good reason. The situation is not
that Jesus Christ has obtained for us various benefits which
are now simply there for us to seize. To be sure, what Christ
has done has been done for our salvation. The merits He
acquired were acquired not for His own use but for us. But
in this respect it is to be noted that the Father has given
these treasures to Him as the only begotten Son. He, the Son,
possesses them. 2 Hence it is that just at this point of his
theological reflection Calvin at once refers us to Christ.

On one occasion he described the position as follows:
"When it is a question of the gifts of God which He offers to
us of His free grace, it is my custom always to begin with
Christ and rightly so ; for we are necessarily devoid of all
the gifts of grace, the abundance of which is hidden in the
being of God until He becomes ours." 3 If we are thinking of
the grace which God wills to bestow upon us it must be noted

i /. Ill, i, i. 2 Ibid. 3 CR 9, 88.

121

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

that we do not receive gifts of grace but the one gift, Jesus
Christ. "For those gifts could never reach us if Jesus Christ
had not already made us His own." l In other words, God's
gift to us is not a something, not a power, not an improve-
ment of our own nature. Nor does God give us part of His
own being. Rather He imparts to us Himself, which means :
He gives us Jesus Christ as our own. If we have Him then
we have all things. 2 We are hostile and odious to God, "but
if we are united to our Lord Jesus Christ as members of His
body, then we cannot doubt that God numbers us among His
children". 3 Communion with the Mediator produces a
revolutionary change in our lives. "In the Person of Jesus
Christ perfect salvation is found." 4

(b) But the question of our appropriation of salvation is
only in part answered by such considerations. The further
question immediately arises : How then does Christ become
our own ? How does the Christ who is outside us become the
Christ who is within us ? The usual answer is : that comes
about by faith. Calvin agreed with this answer. 5 He wrote a
long chapter about faith in the Institutes and described Christ
as the object of this faith. 6 But by faith in Jesus Christ very
different things have been understood. The statement that
we gain communion with Christ through faith needs
elucidation: "It is true that we receive such communion
through faith ; since, however, it is clear that not all without
distinction attain to that communion with Christ which is
offered us in the gospel, we are inevitably led to go further
and to enquire into the mysterious working of the Spirit
through which it happens that we come to enjoy the presence
of Christ and all His benefits." 7 If it is asked how the revela-
tion of God in Jesus Christ becomes a living reality for us
to-day, how we enter into relationship with the Mediator, it
is not enough to point to faith as our "yes" to Christ. We
cannot by our own insight recognize and accept the God

i In. IV, 17, ii ; III, 2, 24; CR 6, 189. 2 OS I, 41, 88.

3 CR 46, 436; 46, 358. * In. Ill, i, 4. 5 / n . HI, i, i.

6 In. Ill, 2, i ; 2, 32. 7 In. Ill, I, i.

122

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

revealed in flesh. We are not able in our own strength to
establish a relationship with Him.

Hence at this point it is not sufficient simply to talk about
faith, but it is necessary to go more deeply into the matter.
If we are to attain contact with the reality of the God-man
then this reality itself must seize upon us. We know what is
meant by that. Calvin's doctrine of Holy Scripture in itself
suggests what he must talk of at this point in his theology :
"The Holy Spirit is the bond whereby Christ powerfully
binds us to Himself." 1 When Jesus Christ stretches out His
hand towards us and grips us, when He baptizes us with the
Holy Spirit, we become participators in His life. 2 Our
fellowship with Christ rests wholly upon an act of the exalted
Lord Himself. Through His Holy Spirit He inspires in us the
"yes" which we address to Him. He brings us to Himself and
maintains us in communion with Him. This process is simply
and without qualification a divine miracle.

(c) Provided all this is borne in mind it is legitimate to
speak of faith in regard to the reaction of man. Faith is that
surrender of ourselves to Christ which is the work of the Holy
Ghost. It is "the fruit of a supernatural gift that those who
otherwise would have remained petrified in unbelief should
accept Christ in faith." 3 Thus it can be said without reserva-
tion that faith binds us to Christ, incorporates us in the body
of Christ, 4 if only it is remembered that faith effects this
spiritually, 5 that is, in the power of the Holy Ghost who
inspires the attitude of faith.

If we spoke of faith otherwise and failed to understand it
as man's response to Christ engendered by the Holy Spirit,
then God Himself would not be bridging the gulf between
Christ and ourselves and there would be no communion at
all between the Mediator and us. If faith were only a human
attitude, only the fruit of human insight and feeling., even
though directed to the person and life of Jesus Christ, then
what Christ has done for us would not help us at all. " Christ
remains as it were without effect until our hearts are touched

i In. Ill, i, i. 2 i n . in, i, 4 . a ibid.

4 In. Ill, 2, 30. 5 In. II, 13, 2.

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by the Holy Spirit ; for we behold Christ as sluggish spectators
outside ourselves and indeed far from ourselves. But we know
that He saves only those whose Head He is and for whom He
is the firstborn of many brethren; in short, those who have
put on the Lord Jesus. Only this intimate union brings it
about that He has not in vain accomplished the work of our
salvation. This is suggested by the symbol of that holy
marriage by which we become flesh of His flesh and bone of
His bone and are utterly at one with Him. But it is only
through the work of the Spirit that He unites Himself with
us. By the work and power of the same Spirit we become the
members of His body so that He feeds us with His life and
again we possess Him as our own." * Hence we must conclude
that "there can be no worse fate for us than to dwell outside
of Christ and outside of faith in Him". 2

Faith in itself has no value, no meaning for salvation. 3 It
is nothing more than an empty vessel. 4 It acquires a saving
significance only in relation to its content : Jesus Christ. In
the life of faith we have all that is necessary to us, we have
in faith communion with the Saviour Jesus Christ. But in no
case must we entertain the error that faith is the matter of
salvation itself. 5 Calvin sharply rejected the doctrine of
Osiander that our union with Christ effects a merging of our
being with His own. 6 It must be firmly maintained that the
Holy Ghost is the bond which unites us with Christ. 7 The
Holy Ghost proceeds from Christ and kindles faith in our
hearts, thus bridging over the gulf between Him and our-
selves. If we neglect this truth we fall into the error of
supposing that there can be an immediate connexion between
Christ and us. On the contrary, our fellowship with Christ
depends utterly on the sovereign dispositions and authority
of God. It is God who brings us into contact with the
Mediator. But we remain what we are : men. And Jesus
Christ remains what He is : the divinely Human Mediator.
Were we in our Christian fellowship not to realize that this

l In. Ill, i, 3. 2 CR 48, 543. 3 In. Ill, 1 1, 7 ; 2, 30.

4 In. Ill, 11,7. 5 Ibid. 6 /. in, x i } 5> I0 .

7 In. Ill, 11,5.

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THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

distance between Christ and ourselves exists, then our whole
salvation would be endangered. It would not be assured that
our fellowship is really with the Mediator.

(d] It is in this sense that Calvin teaches the communion
of the Head with the members, the indwelling of Christ in
our hearts, the hidden union and the sacred marriage between
Him and ourselves, 1 as the basis of our appropriation of the
salvation which He has won for us. Again and again we find
in the writings of Calvin the image of incorporation in the
body of Christ. 2 He lays all possible stress upon that as the
essence of salvation. By affirming that the process takes place
through the activity of the Holy Spirit, he intends not to
diminish but to secure our communion with Christ. The
importance which Calvin attaches to this emphasis is to be
seen from the following statement: "Christ is not simply
united to us by an indissoluble bond of union but from day
to day is increasingly knitted with us into one Body until
He becomes utterly at one with us. 35 3

This word "until" brings us face to face with an eschato-
logical limit. Calvin does not think that we can gradually
develop in this aeon towards a state of perfection. "If in this
world you are united with our Lord Jesus Christ " he
writes in a letter "and are a member of His body (since
He took upon Him our flesh in order to establish full brother-
hood with ourselves), and if you are living in obedience to
His gospel which teaches us to seek all our bliss in Him,
then you will reach the life promised to the faithful in so far
as you wait for Him to resurrect us all to His glory at the
last." 4 Communion with Jesus Christ is made a reality by
the work of the Holy Spirit in this earthly life already and
nevertheless it is subject to the "not yet" implied by the
Day of Judgment. This eschatological reservation makes it
clear that for Calvin the essential point is our relationship

i/n. Ill, ii, 10 : "coniunctio igitur ilia capitis et membrorum,
habitatio Christi in cordibus nostris, mystica denique unio; 4, 5, 8:
sacrum illud coniugium"; cf. CR 28, 94; 51, 186, etc.

2 In. Ill, u, 10; III, 2, 24. 3 fa HI, 2, 24.

, 715.

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THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

with the living Lord Jesus Christ. That union of the faithful
with Christ which Calvin teaches has nothing whatever to
do with the absorption of the pious mystic into the sphere of
the divine being. Precisely in this connexion Calvin proclaims
the crucified and bodily risen Lord and Mediator who will
come again at the last day to redeem His own. But this Lord
is our Lord in present experience and we are His own
children.

2. REGENERATION AND SANCTIFIGATION l

We have seen that Christ is the one good which we receive ;
but we must now consider the gifts which in fellowship with
Him are poured out upon us. Right from the start Calvin's
answer to this was : we obtain through Christ the forgiveness
of our sins and our sanctification, 2 or: justification and
regeneration. 3

(a) Regeneration

Christ becomes our living Lord and Saviour; we are
incorporated into His body. The consequence of this is "that
we live through His spirit and are also controlled by it". 4
When God seeks to have fellowship with us in Jesus Christ
it is an event which must needs have repercussions upon our
sinful way of life. Christ unites Himself to us that we might
be faithful to Him; hence we must without question obey
Him when He commands us. 5 The life which pleased us

1A. Lang: wei Calvin-Vortrage : Rechtfertigwg und Heiligung nach
Calvin, 1911 (Beitr. z. Forder. christL Theologie, ed. Schlatter, Vol. 15,
no. 6). Alfred Gohler: Calvins Lehre von der Heiligung, 1934. Hermann
Strathmann : Die Entstehung der Lehre Calvins von der Busse (Calvinstudien,
ed. Reform. Gemeinde, Elberfeld, 1909; pp. 187-245): Cabins Lehre
von der Busse in ihrer spdteren Gestalt (TheoL Stud. u. Kritik, 82, 1909;
40247). Willy Liittge: Die Rechtfertigungslehre Calvins und ihre Bedeutung
Jur seine Frommigkeit, 1909. Ch. Lelievre: "La doctrine de la justification
par la foi dans la doctrine de Calvin" (Rev. de ThloL et de Phil., 1909,
699-701, 767-76). Wilhelm Niesel: "Calvin wider Osianders
Rechtfertigungslehre" (^eitschr.f. Kirchengesch., 46, 1927, 410-30).

2 OS I, 69. 3 fa HI, j I5 i . 4 CR 55, 403.

5 CR 28, 415.

126

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

when we were estranged from God must be renounced. We are
claimed in an absolute sense by the Lord to whom by nature
we are hostile. This sovereignty which Christ claims over the
whole of our lives is one of the two gifts which flow from
communion with Him. Calvin calls it rebirth or penitence or
else renewal, sanctification, conversion.

In order to understand exactly what this gift implies for
us we must realize that in fact it consists of two benefits :
"Two things come to us through our communion with
Christ. For as truly as we participate in His death, our old
man is crucified by His power and the body of sin dies, so
that the corruption of our first nature ceases to operate. In
proportion as we participate in His resurrection we are
awakened by it to newness of life corresponding to the
righteousness of God. Hence I sum up the act of penitence
by the one word rebirth, the object of which is that the image
of God, which was defaced and almost blotted out by the
transgression of Adam, should be renewed in us. 5 ' 1 This
change brought about in our life whereby the old man is slain
and we are made a new creation is rooted in the fact of Jesus
Christ. 2 He is the Crucified and Risen One and as such He
brings us into communion with Himself. We must live as
those who belong to the Crucified and Risen Lord. Because
He accepted death as the wages of sin and offered up His
life, the old nature common to all of us can no longer subsist
but must perish. So we must be slain by the piercing sword
of the Spirit and brought to nought. 3 But because Christ did
not remain in the power of death, because He rose again, we
also are awakened into a new creation. If He is "the most
complete image of God", then "we shall be restored into
His likeness so that we may bear the divine image in true
godliness, righteousness, purity, and knowledge". 4

In these considerations one point must be carefully noted.
The role of Christ is not simply to set in motion a process of
salvation within us when we encounter Him. No, He alone

i In. Ill, 3, 9. 2 /. in, 3, 5 . 3 i^ HI, 3, 9-

in. II, 15,4.

127

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

has died the one decisive death and He alone has overcome
death with the effect that in Him the divine image in man is
restored. Our part is to share in His death and resurrection.
In speaking of what Christ bestows upon us we may never
speak merely of the gifts in themselves or of our own lives in
so far as they are remoulded by those gifts, but we must ever
keep well in view the ex Christi participatione. The death of the
old man and the resurrection of the new is realizable only
in the reality of the living Christ. It is not we who die and
it is not we who are renewed, it is only in Christ that that
can happen to us. Just in this teaching about rebirth, where
we are most readily inclined to speak only of man, of his
gifts and newness of life, Calvin's theology is strictly revela-
tional. Here again he steadily holds in view the one Mediator
who has all these gifts of life in perfection, and embodies what
is imparted to us only derivatively.

This of course must not exclude the ideas which were
expounded at the beginning. Christ is the Crucified and
Risen One not in and for Himself. He does not remain aloof
from us but He who once-for-all has experienced death and
resurrection meets us to-day and really communicates to
us those benefits which for our sakes He has obtained. 1 Our
old man is seized upon and crucified by the power of the
death of Jesus Christ. We are awakened into a new life by the
power of His resurrection. This happens through the Spirit
of Christ which binds us to Him and evokes in us faith and
obedience.

At this point we must recall the eschatological character
of Calvin's whole teaching about communion with Christ.
Just as certainly as Jesus Christ alone will bring about the
consummation, so certainly the change which He effects in
our lives does not take place in a moment, 2 nor does it
represent the beginning of a process of development by which
man gradually attains the goal of perfection. It is rather
that throughout our whole lives we must practise penitence. 3
We must ever anew make the decision to turn away from

In. Ill, 3, i. 2 1^ HI, 3, 9. 3 fa m, 3, 8.

128

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

ourselves to God. In this world where sin dwells within us,
even though its dominion has been broken by Christ, we
remain engaged in a constant struggle. Penitence, conversion,
rebirth, brought about within us by the action of Jesus
Christ, mean that He restores us men who are dead in our
sins and summons us to militancy against sin. This state of
affairs lasts our whole life long and only comes to an end
with death. 1 No doubt in the struggle laid upon us there is
the fact of progress. The process of sanctification is one of
gradual growth. Christ really gains power over us. But all
our advance is attended by tottering and limping and indeed
crawling on the floor. 2 With time we are forced to recognize
ever more and more our essential incapacity. 3 God exercises
us daily in humility to prevent us from becoming proud and
forgetting our dependence on grace. 4 We are to realize that
the source and strength of the new life does not lie in ourselves,
nor have we any security about the attainment of perfection.
Such security is given us solely in Jesus Christ. 5

It is for this reason that Calvin speaks in such a strange
way about progress in sanctification. In this regard progress
is properly the recognition of our lack of progress. Calvin
says: "The more a man is marked by the spirit of holiness
the more must he realize how far he is yet from the attain-
ment of perfect righteousness, and is thus led to trust only in
God's pure mercy." 6 Even in death we do not reach
perfection, 7 which is not of course the fruit of any develop-
ment inherent in ourselves but the gift of God. Death
certainly frees us from sinful flesh. It signifies an important
episode. After death we are released from struggle. Yet
perfection is only granted to the faithful at the Last Judgment.
After their bodily death they wait and watch for the return
of their Lord 8 who will consummate their communion with

1 In. Ill, 3, 8, 2 In. HI, 6, 5. 3 J rt . m, 3, IO .

4 CR 46, 360. 5 CR 23, 36.

6 CR 31, 317; see Alfred Gohler, op. cit. p. 52.

7 Occasionally Calvin does say that God completes the work of
salvation in us at death. Cf. CR 46, 360.

* Cf. Calvin's work : Psychopamychw, CR 5, 165 ff.

129

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Himself and thus will bestow upon them the perfect life of
heaven. * Both the beginning and the ending of the new life
are at His disposal.

(b) Justification

We have already seen "that Christ who is given to us by
the pure goodness of God is apprehended and appropriated
by us in faith and that from our fellowship with Him two
graces come to us : namely, that by His sinlessness we are
reconciled with God and have in heaven a gracious Father
instead of a Judge, and also that sanctified by His Spirit we
aspire towards an innocent and pure life". 2 We have just
been dealing with the second of these graces, that is, sancti-
fication or regeneration. In his Institutes Calvin discusses this
first, and only then writes his chapter on the other grace of
justification. "For" and this is his explanation of the
curious sequence "if we rightly acknowledge this truth
(regeneration), it will be all the clearer how man is justified
by faith alone and by nothing further than forgiveness, and
how the holiness which is essential to the Christian life may
not be divorced from that imputation of righteousness which
is a gift of grace" 3 ; that is to say (thus he adds in the French
translation) "the two aspects are complementary: we are
not devoid of good works and yet apart from good works are
declared righteous". 4

In other words : Calvin placed his doctrine of regeneration
before his doctrine of justification in order from the start to
forestall the objections of Roman theologians. To be righteous
in the sight of God solely by faith that was the message of
the Reformation. But is not this doctrine of salvation by
faith simply a soporific ? Does it not make people careless and
wanton? Calvin has already taught us that mere faith has
no significance for salvation but that it acquires saving value
only by reference to its object: Jesus Christ. But this Christ
whom we receive in faith through the action of the Holy
Spirit does not leave us undisturbed in our old manner of

i CR 33, 402 ; cf. Alfred Gohler, op. ciL, pp. 59 ff.

2 In. Ill, ii, i. 3 In. Ill, 3, i. 4 fad., cf. In. Ill, 11, i.

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THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

life which was hostile to God, but attracts us into His own
dying and rising again. Calvin emphasizes all this before
speaking in detail about the fact that we are justified in the
sight of God by faith alone. Thus he undermines the force of
Roman Catholic polemic.

But at the same time the priority given to the doctrine of
regeneration expresses something peculiar to Calvinistic
theology. As we have shown, Calvin answers the question as
to how we appropriate salvation by pointing to our com-
munion with Christ. When such communion is actualized by
the Holy Spirit, then we sinners are tensely confronted by
the Crucified and Risen Lord. When Jesus Christ apprehends
us we escape the bondage of death and are called to newness
of life. Otherwise Jesus Christ would not be the Mediator of
salvation. The fact that in all the gifts which we receive we
are in the last resort always confronted by Christ the Giver
is made especially plain by the order in which Calvin
arranges these two doctrines of regeneration and justification.
From this point of view there is no possibility of misunder-
standing the doctrine of justification as a mere pious opinion
about the relationship of man and God, leaving us unaffected
ultimately in our inmost lives. It is not a question of a
religious theory but of the living Lord Himself.

Provided this insight is safeguarded by the prior considera-
tion of the doctrine of rebirth or penitence, it must certainly
be said that the most important gift which flows to us from
our communion with Christ is our justification in the presence
of God. Calvin describes it as "the primary article without
which religion cannot subsist". 1 Justification means that to
us is imputed the righteousness which Jesus Christ has
gained through His obedience unto death, and that thus
"before the countenance of God we appear not as sinners
but as though we were just 55 . 2 That is possible because Christ
bestows upon us communion with His life and we are
members of His body. Thus God sees us in Christ and for His
sake treats us as if we were righteous although we are not so

i /*. Ill, n, i. 2 /n. HI, ix, a.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

in ourselves. l Hence justification is not a question of making
us righteous. It is rather an act of judgment on the part of
God through which He recognizes the fact that we sinners
have communion with the one righteous Man. 2 This judicial
action of God can be viewed in two ways : as the forgiveness
of our sins and as the imputation to us of the righteousness
of Christ. 3 Of course it is not a question of two successive and
diverse actions of God but justification as a whole is included
both in forgiveness and in the imputation of righteousness.
" God justifies by forgiving." 4 God removes from the accused
the grounds of accusation. 5 Since in man himself there is no
basis for such a judgment, God can only acquit him without
condonation by attributing to him the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. 6 He does not see us as we are, but causes us to become
invested with the righteousness and purity of Christ. 7

God declares righteous people who in fact are not so. 8
The ground of our justification "lies outside ourselves"
"because we are just in Christ alone", 9 "This is a wondrous
way of making just, so to clothe the lost with the righteous-
ness of Christ that they are not afraid when faced by the
judgment which they deserve, and while they themselves
rightly condemn themselves, they find that they are declared
righteous in virtue of some authority outside themselves." 10
The recollection of the fact that in Christ we are truly born
again and in this life make progress in holiness does not help
us at all in regard to the question how we can stand before
God. We never achieve perfect obedience such as would
enable us to appear just before God. On the contrary, we see
that our sanctification discloses itself precisely in the fact that
we realize how far we lag behind the ideal of true righteous-
ness. Hence nothing remains for us to do "but to flee to
Christ so that we may be declared righteous in Him what
we are not in ourselves". 11 Jesus Christ alone is the truly

i In. Ill, ii, 3. 2 In. Ill, ii, 23; cf. W. Niesel, op. cit., p. 426.

3 In. Ill, 11, 2. 4 In. III 3 ii, ii. $In. Ill, 11, 3, 4.

In. Ill, 11,3. 7 In. IH, 1 1, 1 1. 8 Ibid. ; HI, 1 1, 3.

9 CR 7, 448; In. Ill, n, 4; 14, 17.

10 In. Ill, 1 1, 1 1. 11 CK 7, 449.

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THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

righteous One. We are so only derivatively because God
considers us righteous by virtue of our communion with
Christ. Calvin's insistence that righteousness is to be found
only outside ourselves, only in Christ, makes it clear that in
his doctrine of justification, as in his doctrine of rebirth, his
theology is through and through revelational.

This again becomes evident from the way in which
Calvin describes the righteousness which is imputed to us.
Here it is not a question of the eternal righteousness which
Christ possesses in virtue of His divine nature. Calvin met
that view in Andreas Osiander. l The righteousness which is
attributed to us is rather that divine righteousness which
Christ acquired for us by His obedience and especially by His
death and resurrection. 2 Christ accomplished this work for
us as the Mediator, that is, the incarnate Son of God.
"For 95 and this Calvin observes in his polemic with
Osiander " although Christ could neither have cleansed our
souls with His blood nor reconciled us to the Father by His
sacrifice, nor freed us from guilt nor have exercised the office
of a high priest at all unless He had been true God for the
flesh would have been too weak to bear such a burden yet
it is certain that He did all that as man". 3 In any case the
righteousness which Christ imparts to us cannot be divorced
from His office as Mediator. 4 In order to illustrate this point
Calvin refers to the sacraments, "which, although they focus
our faith on the whole Christ and not merely on one aspect
of the Christ, yet also teach us that the ground of our healing
and salvation lies in His flesh ; not that a mere man of himself
makes us spiritually alive, but that it has so pleased God to
disclose in the Mediator what in His own being was hidden
and incomprehensible. Hence I am accustomed to say that
Christ is like an open spring from which we may draw what
otherwise in the hidden depths of that same spring which
gushes out to us in the person of the Mediator would remain
unavailable. 5 ' 5 If on the other hand you adopt the view of

1 Gf. W. Niesel, op. cit., pp. 415, 411, 417.

2 /. Ill, 1 1, 9, 7, 12. * in. Ill, ii, 9. * In. Ill, n, 8.
sjh.Hl, 11,9.

133

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Osiander that we are endowed with the eternal righteousness
which Christ possesses in virtue of His divine nature, then we
are missing the point of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
In that case the God revealed in flesh and His saving work
become insignificant. What Osiander says has the sole result
of drawing simple souls away from Christ. 1 But the love of
God towards us is not a fact that we could reckon with apart
from Christ. 2 Hence a doctrine of justification which over-
looks the God-man and His work imperils the foundations of
Christian faith.

For this reason Calvin engaged in a fierce struggle with
Osiander 3 and refused to have his attention diverted from
the God revealed in flesh. The message of our justification is
so comforting because the righteousness which is imputed to
us by the verdict of God is not our own. Since God considers
only the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we are completely, not
partially, justified. 4 " We are without limit just before Him." 5
But the case would be quite different if God's verdict were
to be based on the degree of new life existing in us. This
would not help us at all. e; For consciences are not quietened
by any partial righteousness." 6 We would then remain
before God in the desperate plight in which we find our-
selves naturally. 7

When Calvin, with the logical rigour of a revelational
theology, teaches that the ground of our justification lies out-
side ourselves, we must not forget what we urged in our first
section. The righteousness which lies outside us because Jesus
Christ once gained it by His suffering and dying for our sakes
would be of no use if it were not truly communicated to
us in the present. We obtain righteousness in so far as the
Righteous One is our Saviour. Thus, while the ground of our
righteousness lies outside us in Christ, the Lord Himself " we
do not regard as outside of and distant from us, in such a way
that His righteousness is imputed to us in mechanical fashion,
but we put Him on and are made members of His body, and

i In. Ill, 11,5. 2 CR 47, 342. 3 i n . m, i Tj 6.

4 In. Ill, 1 1, 1 1. s Jbid. Ibid. ? Ibid.

134

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

He has deemed us worthy to be united with Him so that we
may glory in being vitally linked with His righteousness". 1
We may not qualify the " outside of us" but He who once
earned righteousness for our sakes is present in us by His
word and spirit. By such union with Him we become clothed
with His righteousness. Because we are sheltered by its
authority we can stand as just without limit before God.

From the standpoint of this view of justification Calvin was
able in his polemic with Roman Catholics to develop a special
doctrine which we may not leave unnoticed. He was con-
fronted with passages of Scripture which declare that " God
is gracious and merciful to them that practise righteousness." 2
Such words seemed hardly compatible with the proof texts
quoted in support of the Reformation doctrine of justifica-
tion. Calvin did not leave them to his enemies but sought to
understand them in the light of the Bible as a whole. He
observes that divergent Scripture texts cannot be harmonized
"if we fail to note that there is a twofold acceptance of Man
with God 53 . 3 We must distinguish justification granted to
man in his estrangement from God and the justification which
the believer needs during his lifetime. Hence there is a
justification which pays no regard to the works of man and
a justification in regard to which works are considered as the
fruits of faith. 4 The grace of rebirth which man receives
together with the grace of justification is a living reality.
Although the sinner whom God accepts by grace is again and
again in need of forgiveness, because he still lives in this world
and bears the body of sin, yet in making a gracious judgment
God beholds him in his ideally true situation. He does not
forget the fact that the believer is being renewed by the Holy
Spirit into the likeness of His Son. This reality is truer than
the fact that sin still lives in him. "The Lord cannot fail
heartily to love the good which His spirit brings to birth in
believers."*

The works of the regenerate are acceptable to God in spite

1 In. Ill, 1 1, 10. 2 In. Ill, i; > 5. 3 fa ni, 17, 4.

4 /. Ill, 17, 4, 5; cf. Gohler, op. cto., pp. 93 ff.

Ill, I 7)5 .

135

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

of the ever necessary forgiveness of sins ; but this does not
mean that they are counted in the reckoning. It is the same
with works as with persons. God cannot but be gracious to
them, "because He looks not upon their intrinsic value but
sees them as embraced by the merits of Christ". 1 Since even
our best deeds are sullied by sin., they cannot count in the
process of justification. "But after we have become sharers in
the life of Christ, not only are we ourselves counted as
righteous but our works also are reckoned as just in the eyes
of God ; for what is imperfect in them is covered by the blood
of Christ/' 2 The effect of our incorporation into Christ is so
great that we are justified in our being as a whole, and thus
our deeds become acceptable to God for Christ's sake.

By this doctrine of a twofold justification Calvin not only
refuted the Scripture proofs of Roman theologians but also
deepened his own view of the matter. He showed that not
merely once but again and again we are thrown back upon
the grace of God in Christ and that this grace really embraces
us on every side. We have already explained, in discussing the
law, the enormous importance for ethics of this doctrine of
the "justification of works' 5 . 3

Such, then, are the essential features of Calvin's doctrine
of justification. It will have been noticed that we have hardly
spoken of faith itself. Calvin treats of it in connexion with
his account of our communion with Christ before he comes
to deal with regeneration and sanctification. By contrast with
the Catholic emphasis on works, Calvin certainly stressed the
sola fide. But faith does not assume a central position in his
description of justification. "For if faith by its own efficacy,
as is said, made men righteous, it would do so only partially
because it is always weak and imperfect. In that case
righteousness would be mangled, giving us only a partial
salvation.' 5 4 It is dangerous to speak of faith with too much
emphasis. It is always to be noted that faith justifies "because
its effect is that we put on Christ, that He dwells in us and

i In. Ill, 17, 5. 2 CR 49, 60 ; OS 4, 263, 7.

3 See above p. 98 f. 4 /. m, 1 1, 7.

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THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

that we become members of His body 55 . 1 Christ is the ground
for the divine judgment that we are righteous; faith is
nothing more than an empty vessel, of which the purpose
is to receive the decisive content the God-man Jesus
Christ. 2

(c) The relation of regeneration and justification

It has been objected that Calvin simply juxtaposes the
doctrines of justification and sanctification without setting
them in immediate relation to each other. This criticism
does not reflect upon Calvin so much as on the theologians
who have expressed it and still do express it. They are over-
looking the heart and centre of Calvinistic theology namely,
the fact that it is a theology of revelation, and hence all
that he says is strictly concerned with the Mediator.

Of course it is not true that justification and sanctification
have nothing to do with each other, or that we might even
go so far as to dispense with one of these gifts of grace. When
Jesus Christ bestows Himself upon us, then we receive salva-
tion as a whole and a unity ; we are made just before God
without reservation, although we as men are and remain
sinners. But when we thus reckon with the present reality of
Christ, the other fact must not be forgotten the fact that our
old Adam must die daily and be resurrected as a new man
who eternally lives before God in righteousness and true
holiness. "He has been given to us for our righteousness,
wisdom, sanctification, and redemption. Hence Christ makes
no one just whom He does not also make holy. For these
benefits are connected together by an eternal and indis-
soluble bond." 3 "Just as Christ cannot be torn asunder in
parts, so also these two things which we receive in Him
simultaneously and together (simul et coniunctim in ipso) >
namely justification and sanctification, are never dissociated
from each other." 4 Justification and sanctification are a
reality in Jesus Christ and form in Him a living unity. 5 But

i CR 7, 599. 2 In. Ill, 11,7- 3 In - m > l6 > x -

4/n. Ill, n,6. sin. Ill, 16, i.

137

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

because "the Lord does not give us these benefits except in
so far as He bestows Himself, He confers both of them
simultaneously and never the one without the other". 1 Here
it must be noted that we do not in the strict sense receive
gifts, but the one gift, Jesus Christ Himself. If we do not
appreciate and receive this gift in its full significance for
ourselves, not only must our doctrine of sanctification or
justification be perverse, but we destroy the value and
meaning of that gift itself. When we attempt to separate
sanctification from justification we are in fact seeking to
break up the unity of the one Christ. 2

But of course justification and sanctification are to be
distinguished from each other, 3 and we shall be unable to
distinguish them if our thinking does not stem from the
Mediator but from one or other of those doctrines. When we
try to establish a direct nexus between justification and
sanctification, as did Osiander whom Calvin attacked
particularly in this matter, the result is a fusion of the two
which inevitably imperils the certitude of salvation. If God
were to pronounce us just in consideration of the new life
which is in us and will one day fill our souls completely, then
we could not avoid asking whether we should ever be able
to stand before God. "But God does not graciously accept
us because He sees our change for the better, as if conversion
were the basis of forgiveness; He comes into our lives,
taking us just as we are out of pure mercy." 4 One basis
and no other suffices for God's declaration that we are
righteous. This one basis in which we can really take
comfort is Jesus Christ. Also He alone is the guarantor of our
sanctification. The two things justification and sanctifica-
tion are one in Him but only in Him.

The teaching of Calvin that justification and sanctification
are two aspects of the same process in our lives, and yet are
not to be confused, has nothing at all to do with his gift for
dialectics, as has been supposed; but rather it is deeply

i In. Ill, 16, i. 2 Ibid.-, CR 7, 448; 49, 331.

3 /. Ill, 1 6, i ; 1 1, 6. 4 CR 39, 120.

138

THE GRACE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

grounded in the facts of spiritual experience. It is an indica-
tion that in his theology he is concerned to exalt the Mediator
Jesus Christ. In this doctrine of justification and sanctifica-
tion we are not simply faced by the general question : God
and man ; rather the fact is that here as elsewhere we have
to do with the God revealed in flesh.

139

Chapter w

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN*

THE fact that in Calvin's doctrine of justification and
sanctification it is not a question of theoretical know-
ledge but of witnessing to the one living Lord, who
adopts us as His own, becomes especially clear from one
consideration. Calvin does not content himself with noting
that our justification and sanctification flow from com-
munion with Christ ; rather he shows even in the texture of
our daily lives what it means that we are disciples of Christ.
Starting from a debate on dogmatics, he takes his sequences
of thought right into the field of ethical reflections. Here again
we find a good opportunity of noting what the ultimate
concern of his theology is.

I. CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

Critics have usually failed to observe the significance of the
fact that, in the Institutes, not only is the discussion of regenera-
tion followed by a few chapters on "The life of a Christian

i Peter Barth: "Was ist reformierte Ethik?" (%w. d. geiten, 10, 1932,
410-36). Peter Brunner: Die Alkoholfrage bei Calvin. Ein Beitrag zum
Verstdndnis der Ethik Calvins (Die Alkoholfrage in der Religion, Vol. 4, no. 2,
Berlin, 1930). Gall: La vie de I'homme chre'tien ou la vie salute selon Jean
Calvin, Diss. (Strasburg, 1930). Alfred Gohler: "Das christliche Leben
nach Calvin" (Ev. Theologie, 4, 1937, 299-325). H. Quistorp: Die
letzen Dinge im %eugnis Calvins (Giitersloh, 1941; Eng. trans. Calvin's
Doctrine of the Last Things, London, 1955). Martin Schultze: Meditatio
futurae vitas; Ihr Begriff und ihre herrschende Stellung im System Calvins,
Leipzig, 1901 (Studien z. Gesch, d. Theol. u. d. Kirche, Bonwetsch &
Seeburg, Vol. 6, no. 4) ; Calvins Jenseits-Christentim in seinem Verhdltnisse
zu dm religiosen Schriften des Erasmus untersucht, Gorlitz, 1902. K. Stokmann :
"Das Leben der Christen nach Calvin Inst. Ill, 6-9*' (Reform. Kirchenztg,
1908, pp. i62f).

140

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

man", 1 but similarly the chapter on justification is followed
by an ethical appendix 2 with the heading: "Christian
Freedom' 5 . 3 Both justification and sanctification yield con-
clusions for ethics. The fact that we are accounted just before
God is no less significant for practical life than the fact that
in Christ we die and are made alive again as a new creation.
Only when we pay heed to these points can the ethics of
Calvin be rightly understood.

The thesis that the life of a Christian man is a life under
the guidance of the Lord, which Calvin develops in con-
nexion with his doctrine of regeneration, is so fully confirmed
by the chapter on Christian freedom that the centring of
Calvin's ethics on Christ can hardly be overlooked. It is
barely understandable that from Calvin's discussion of "the
life of a Christian man" it could be inferred that he preaches
"a monastic outlook". 4 Such a misunderstanding becomes
incomprehensible when we remember that in direct parallel-
ism to the ethical appendix of the doctrine of sanctification he
has written a chapter about Christian freedom as an adjunct
to his doctrine of justification.

As those who in Christ are made just before God we are
called to walk in the freedom of the sons of God. We are
freed from the curse which strikes the transgressors of the
divine command and can go through life fearlessly. We are
free from the constraint of the divine law, and can go about
our daily tasks in the comfort of the assurance that God does
not judge us according to our achievement but after the
perfect obedience which Christ has shown. We are free
from the tyranny of things ; we may thankfully use all gifts
for the purpose for which the Creator gave them to us. Here
we need only recall these three aspects of Christian freedom
which inspire our life, because we have already enlarged
upon them in our discussion of the divine law. 5

In any case it must be made clear that in Calvin's opinion
it is impossible to speak about the Christian life without at

i In. Ill, 6-10. 2 1^ m, 19. 3 Jbid.

4 Martin Schultze : Calvins Jenseits-Christentvm> p. 30.

5 See above, p. 98 f.

141

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

the same time referring to the freedom of the Christian. We
must not lightly esteem what Christ has so dearly purchased
for us. 1 Whoever supposes that his life must be dominated by
principles forgets to glorify Christ, who has delivered us from
all worldly authorities and has called us to Himself so that
we may find rest in Him. 2 The rules according to which we
propose to shape our lives may be never so important, they
only lead us into bondage and idolatry. 3 On the other hand,
if we interpret as caprice the freedom to which we are called
and suppose that we can live our lives as our desires dictate,
then we are forgetting that Christ has made us free so that
we may serve Him and our neighbour. 4 With regard to the
conduct of our lives it must therefore be laid down that if we
do not remain in Christian freedom "neither Christ nor the
truth of the Gospel nor inner peace of soul are properly
understood". 5 By walking in freedom, we are bearing witness
in the midst of the bondage and the lusts which rule this
world to the Christ who is our Saviour and our Lord.

2. THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

Christ has freed us from the curse and the tyranny of the
law and delivered us from the rulers of this world in order
that we might be available for His service. As our Saviour,
He reveals Himself also and in one unified process as our
Lord. We have now to enquire about the meaning of this
second aspect. We should be eluding the fact of Christ if we
failed to see that our life is determined not only by justifica-
tion but also by the second gift sanctification. However
essential be our persistence in Christian freedom, it is from
this second point of view that Calvin has with particular
attention mapped out the Christian life. He has given the
ethical appendix to His account of sanctification the direct
heading: "Of the life of a Christian man".

(a) Calvin's points are clearly and simply made. Because

i In. Ill, 19, 14. 2 ibid. 3 in. Ill, i 9> 7,

4 In. Ill, 19; i, 9. 5i n . Ill, 19, i.

142

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

Christ has set us free, our daily life is moulded by the truth :
"We belong not to ourselves but to the Lord. 3 ' 1 What this
implies is suggested to us by the Lord's commands. 2 But
Calvin does not content himself with merely expounding the
law. The Reformer who is branded as legalistic sketches out
the main outlines of his ethics in quite a different manner.
He views our life from the standpoint of the imitation of
Christ. 3

By this he does not mean to supersede the instruction of the
law. On the contrary, he points out that the heavenly
Teacher Himself wished only the more carefully to direct our
lives by the rule of the law in calling us to be a living sacrifice
in discipleship to Him. 4 But by taking as his starting point
for ethics the insight that we are called to imitate Christ, he
makes quite clear the ultimate aim of the commands of the
law. We are not challenged to realize moral ideals but to
surrender ourselves to the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

"Only those can be called disciples of Christ who truly
imitate Him and are prepared to follow in His footsteps."
"He has given us a summary rule of discipleship so that we
may know in what the imitation of Him essentially consists :
namely, self-denial and the willing bearing of His cross." 5
Thus in surveying the Christian life from these two
points of view, self-denial and the bearing of the cross, he
is holding fast to the rule of discipleship which Christ Himself
has given us in Matthew 16:24. ^ n both passages of the
Institutes he expressly refers to this word of the Lord. 6 What
he says is nothing more than an exposition of this word of
Christ. If we fail to see this and try to explain Calvin's
arguments in a different sense, we do not understand them
at all.

() The first aspect of the imitation of Christ consists in
self-denial. "This self-denial has far-reaching implications.
We are to renounce our own point of view, turn away from
all covetous desires of the flesh, become as nothing in order

i /*. Ill, 7, i. 2 Ibid. 3 In. Ill, 7, 2 ; 8, i.

4 In. Ill, 7, i. 5 CR 45, 481. 6 See note 3.

143

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

that God may live in us and control us." 1 In this process it
is a question of human initiative ; but its negative character
is to be noted. The substance of Christian ethics is in no
sense the positive shaping of life by the initiative of the pious
man. The essential action which we are called upon to
perform is rather the renunciation of all that is our own, that
we may give scope to the action of God. " If we are discussing
the criterion of pious and holy living, we must always take
as our starting point the fact that the Christian who is as it
were dead in himself allows God to live within him, that he
rests from his own works in order to give place to the work
of God." 2 In the negative character of Calvinistic ethics
which has been recognized but rejected 3 lies concealed the
strongest positive force and inspiration. The fellowship with
Himself which Christ bestows upon us forms the guiding line
and inspiration of our life. We must fully accept the fact that
He Himself wills to live and rule within us. 4 What could
there be of greater consequence for our daily lives than just
this? Hence Calvin has coined the epigram: "Man becomes
happy through self-denial." 5

All this makes it quite plain that the self-renunciation
which we are called upon to exercise has nothing in common
with self-denial in the usual sense. Firstly, it is not a question
of resignation in itself but of a resignation which relinquishes
the control to Christ. Secondly, such resignation means not
merely passive self-denial but an active rejection of all our
own willing and desiring. The Christian must not merely
sacrifice himself peaceably and comfortably for the sake of
Christ : "He must rather in the light of Christ come even to
despise the most precious thing in the world." 6 This extreme
devaluation of all things earthly we find also in the mystics ;
yet the self-renunciation which Calvin teaches is something
quite different from the self-emptying which is extolled by the
mystics as the way to the highest grade of being. It is a self-
renunciation which is orientated to God, to Christ, and to

i #45,481. 2 c# 55, 48.

3 Martin Schultze, op. cit. 9 p. 28.

4 In. Ill, 7, i. 5 CR 55, 48. CR 12, 259.

144

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

one's neighbour. 1 In the same direction point the two tables
of the law 2 ; they guide us to the same goal as does the call
of Christ to the path of discipleship. This self-denial finds
its proper expression in love to the brethren, 3 and reaches its
climax in the fact that we allow our whole life to be controlled
by the will of the Lord. 4 This also precludes the mistaken
notion that self-denial consists in a self-tormenting scrupu-
losity. The secret of its power lies in the Lord and not in us;
it flows from the work of Christ and is poured out upon us
from thence. "Christ died and rose again that we might
have eternal Sabbath, i.e. that we might rest from our own
human works and allow the spirit of God powerfully to work
within us." 5

(c) The other aspect of the imitation of Christ lies in
bearing the cross. One cannot follow Jesus Christ "without
being determined to hold fellowship with Him in His cross". 6
The Son of God Himself was not only tried by the bearing of
His cross throughout His earthly life, but the whole of His life
was shaped and dominated by the cross, so that in this
fashion He should learn obedience. 7 Hence we cannot
escape this destiny. God wills thus to test His own so that
they become conformed to the image of His Son. 8 "By
means of the cross He disciplines and tames the pride of our
flesh, and that in manifold ways as is suited to the needs of
each." 9 By sending us misfortune and sorrow God breaks
our resistance to His will and trains us to obedience. The
cross of circumstance which He lays upon us promotes our
self-renunciation and brings us to cast ourselves wholly
upon Christ.

Of course the life of man in general is subject to pain
and sorrow. " God burdens both the evil and the good with
the cross, and yet only those who gladly shoulder the burden
can be said to carry it." 10 Misfortune and sorrow in them-

I In. Ill, 7, 4. 2 In. Ill, 7, 3. 3 In. Ill, 7, 7-

4/n. Ill, 7, 10,8.

5 CR 37, 335 ; see Alfred Gohler : Calvtns Lekre von der Hdligtmg 9 p. 37.

6 CR 12, 169. 7 In. Ill, 8, i. CR 45, 482.
9 In. Ill, 8, 5. 10^45,482.

145

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

selves do not help man. They are rather to be seen as
punishment for man's alienation from his Creator. If
suffering contributes to our salvation it is only because we
are in a communion with the Son of God. 1 When that is so,
we can carry the cross, because we know that we participate
in the sufferings of Christ. 2 The bitterness of the cross is thus
softened for us; "for what could we wish for more than to
share all things with the Son of God? 3 ' 3 The more we are
harassed by hardship the more our communion with Christ
is strengthened. 4 But, if we share the cross with the Son of
God, then like Him we shall enter into heavenly glory
through many afflictions. 5 He esteems us worthy of the cross
only that we might be glorified with Him. 6

This is our consolation in all sorrow. And this assurance
must be sufficient for us. We must count as nothing all
worldly success in comparison with the privilege of fighting
under the sign of our Lord Jesus by bearing His cross. 7 It is
the divine will that this struggle under the sign of the cross
should be permanently our lot. "It does indeed happen that
at times there is a truce or intermission, since God has regard
to our weakness. Yet even though swords are not always
drawn against us we must be prepared, because we are
nevertheless members of Christ, always to share His cross of
suffering." 8 In this world there is no escape from the cross.
We may turn where we will, "the cross of Jesus Christ will
always follow us". 9 When we have passed through many
afflictions we must still be thinking of equipping ourselves to
fight afresh.

We are especially comforted "when we suffer persecution
for righteousness' sake", 11 when we are burdened with the
hatred of the world, because we champion among men the
gospel and the law of God, His truth and His right. Then we
must cling to the promises of Christ and not interpret our

1 CR 50, 55. 2 In. Ill, 8, i. 3 CR 45, 554.

4 In. Ill, 8, i. 5 ibid. 6 CR 12, 169.

7 CR 13, 145. 8 CR 31, 447. 9 CR 13, 296.

10 CR 45, 482. 11 In. Ill, 8, 7.

146

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

situation falsely in the light of our fleshly nature. "Hence it
will come to pass that we, like the apostles, rejoice whenever
he deems us worthy to suffer shame for His name's sake. For
what harm can come to us thereby? If with an innocent and
clear conscience we are robbed of our goods by the malice
of wicked men, we are indeed impoverished in a worldly
sense, but true riches accrue to us in heaven; the more we
are expelled from our earthly home the more we shall be
welcomed in our heavenly, the more we are tortured and
despised the more we shall be rooted in Christ; the more we
are slandered and reviled the higher will be our seat in the
kingdom of God; and if we utterly perish, then the gates of
eternal life will be opened to us." * It was in this way that
Calvin exhorted the members of the persecuted church in
France and illuminated for them the meaning of their
suffering. He summoned them to sacrifice all for the sake of
Christ; if it could not be avoided, even their fatherland and
their own lives: " If you cannot restore your position, then
rather become exiles from your country for a time than be
excluded for ever from the eternal inheritance to which we
are called. Whether we like it or not we must be aliens in
this world. . . . Blessed are those who prove this in their lives
and prefer to abandon their homes rather than to fall from
the faith and surrender without hesitation their earthly
welfare in order to remain united to Jesus Christ/ 3 2 All this
can only be frightening "to those who have not known the
precious sweetness of Christ 35 . 3 The Christian man is resolved
to make the uttermost sacrifice for the sake of His Lord. 4
" There is no genuine fear of God in us if we do not carry our
heart in our hands; that is, if we are not always ready to
sacrifice our lives." 5

This fellowship in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which serves the end of slaying our old man, even includes
our being buried with Him. "For there is no death without
the grave." Hence those who have begun to die to the world

i In. Ill, 8, 7. 2 CR 12, 646; cf. 12, 453 f. ; 14, 741 f.

3 CR 12, 646. 4 CR 31, 447. s CR 40, 632.

147

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

out of love to Him "must equip themselves to suffer even
,io the uttermost". 1

Calvin did not suggest that we should take up our cross
with stoic resignation. On the contrary, Christian patience
and stoic calm are two very different tilings. "To carry the
cross patiently does not mean that we should brace ourselves
so as to feel no pain." 2 Christ Himself made that clear to us
by His behaviour. 3 As long as we are in the flesh, we shall
shrink from the cross. If we fail to realize this we are
disastrously deceiving ourselves about our condition. We
have not yet attained the state of perfection; we are still
engaged in pilgrimage. Here below we are shaken by adversity
and recoil from it. The point is simply that "if we wish to be
disciples of Christ, our hearts should be filled with such fear
of God and obedience towards Him as will subdue the
resistance of our senses and enable us to submit to His
decrees 5 '. 4 "Hence, when we are overcome by illness, we
shall sigh and be troubled and desire health ; when we are
oppressed by poverty we shall be tormented by the sting of
care and sadness, and vexed by the sense of disgrace, con-
tempt, and wrong; and when we bury our dead we shall, as
nature requires, weep ; in all this the last word will always
be : Thus has the Lord willed it, so let us be obedient to His
will." 5 The ability to bear the cross patiently flows from God
alone, just as does the capacity for self-denial. He it is who
imparts to us this power. 6

If we so strongly rebel against the bearing of the cross that
in the end we cast it away from us, we shall be repulsing
Christ at the same time. We cannot of course escape mis-
fortune and pain but only the special trials which come upon
those who confess the truth and the right of God in this world.
For we must be clear about the fact that we can only escape
the hatred of the world, and that suffering which strictly
deserves to be called the cross, when we have already be-
trayed the Crucified. "Since the life that is a daily dying,

i CR 12, 86. 2 In. Ill, 8, 9. 3 Ibid.

4 In. Ill, 8, 10. s ibid. 6 CR 12, 86.

148

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

that is exposed to ridicule and unremitting stress, is too hard
and too great a misery in the opinion of the backslider, he
abandons and denies Christ in a shameful way in order to
escape this fate. 35 1 Since Jesus Christ is the Crucified there
can be no fellowship with Him which is not also a sharing of
His cross.

(d] But our pilgrimage will one day have an end. We are
called to imitate Christ so that one day we may reach the
goal. If we share in Christ's cross of suffering, we shall also
share in His glory. "God subjects us to unjust persecution
that we may rejoice because, as we bear the cross with
Christ, we shall also experience and share in the resurrection
to a blessed immortality. 5 ' 2 The imitation of Jesus Christ
implies a looking forward to the eternal consummation and
the bearing of the cross implies the aspiration towards future
blessedness. The two things are indissolubly linked together.
Also the word of the Lord about discipleship, to which Calvin
referred as the basis for his ethical outlines, culminates in
eschatological sayings. He felt that there existed an objective
necessity to give his arguments about the imitation of Christ
an eschatological bearing. 3

He speaks from two points of view about the relation which
exists between the bearing of the cross and the vision of
eternity. Firstly, the painfulness of the cross which is laid
upon us should startle us out of our concern with this
transient life and direct our gaze towards eternity. "By what-
ever trouble we are vexed, we must fix our attention upon
the one aim of accustoming ourselves to despise this present
life, and of rousing ourselves to aspire to the next life. 55 4 We
are only really making progress in the school of the cross
when we learn to appreciate the fact that earthly life is full
of unrest and trouble without any enduring good. In this
world we have nothing but struggle to expect and we must

i #31,447.

3 All other points with regard to the origin of Calvin's meditatio vitae
futurae should be subordinated to this insight. Martin Schultze proceeds
in a different way and hence to a large extent fails, op. cit.

4/^111,9, i.

149

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

" raise our eyes to heaven whenever we think of the crown of
victory". 1

Secondly, the carrying of the cross is eased for us if we look
forward to the life that is to come. Jesus Christ, in whose
cross we share, is the living Lord who has promised us that
He will come again. "He will come for us as the Saviour
who will deliver us from this unfathomable gulf of misery
and sorrow, and lead us into the blessed inheritance of His
glorious eternity/' 2 Only as we reflect upon this can we
learn truly to despise this present life. 3 We become willing
to sacrifice all earthly goods, even the greatest. 4 The hope of
leaving our exile and gaining our heavenly home enables
Christians to overcome even the fear of death and makes
them ready gladly to sacrifice their lives when necessary. 5
"The glory of God must be of more importance to us than a
hundred lives." 6 The certainty that we shall become
participators in it is the inspiration of martyrdom 7 and still
more gives strength and patience to endure the shame and
disgrace of the cross. "For however much the world exerts
itself to bury Jesus Christ in infamy, His grave nevertheless
brings glory not only for Him but also for the members of
His body." s

All this suggests why we should long for the life of the
world to come, and despise our present life ; in fact accord-
ing to one expression 9 trample it under our feet. But let
us make the reason for this attitude still plainer. Earthly
life is not really to be abhorred because it is full of pain and
sorrow and culminates in death, "but we should hate it for
the sole reason that it subjects us to the power of sin ", 9 The
transiency of our life springs from the fact of sin which
destroys the value of all earthly things. 10 Yet we must not
wantonly cast away this life. God has placed us in this world
as in a military station, and hence we must abide here until

i In. Ill, 9, i. 2 In. Ill, 9, 5. 3 /. HI, 9, 4.

4 CR 12, 542. 5 i n . in, 9) 5 . e CR 40, 633.

7 CR 40, 633 f. CKia, lyof. ^ In. Ill, 9, 4.

10 CR 33, 661 ff. ; see Alfred Gohler, op. cit., pp. 42 f.

150

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN MAN

He calls us away. 1 But in the struggle by which God wills
to try us, 2 we must ceaselessly long for the day when we are
delivered from the dominion of sin and the prison of our
flesh 3 and shall enjoy full communion with our Lord, to
whom we now belong only in faith. In His unveiled presence
we shall find the life 4 which we have trifled away by sin
and by our alienation from God, the Creator.

Calvin does not teach us to despise the world in itself.
Such an attitude would help us just as little as the fond fancy
of men who "have forgotten their real estate and have taken
to dreaming that there is an imperishable kingdom upon this
earth 55 . 5 Calvin preaches neither pessimism nor optimism
but calls us inexorably to the imitation of Jesus Christ. The
true situation of man is just as much misapprehended by the
pessimists as by the optimists. It is far more worthless than
the worst pessimist might suggest. But in so far as we recognize
this in Jesus Christ and at the same time come to realize
that in this world of sin and death we are called to follow
Him, our earthly life receives a relative value. We must be
grateful to God for this life, because He has placed us here
so that through its sorrows we reach the life of eternity. 6 This
world has no value in itself but receives value from the
imminent outbreak of the kingdom of God. The present life,
for those who belong to the Lord, is "a pilgrimage in the
course of which they must strive to attain the kingdom of
heaven' 5 . 7 Hence we can comfortably enjoy the values of
this world, but in such a way "that furthers our course
rather than impedes it". 8

The ethics of Calvin are not negativist 9 ; they are rather
determined by the fact that we have a living Lord who was
crucified and rose again and who will come again as our
Saviour. In the strictest sense they stem from the principle
of the imitation of Christ.

i In. Ill, 9, 4. 2 In. Ill, 9, 3. 3 /. HI, 9 , 4 .

4 In. Ill, 9, 5- 5 CR 3 1, 399- 6 CR 33> 5<&.

Tin. Ill, 10, i. *IbuL

9 Thus Martin Schultze, op. tit., p. 28.

Chapter n

PRAYER i

I. THE NECESSITY AND THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF PRAYER

THE fellowship which we experience with Christ
through faith is not an objective permanent fact, but
the gift of God which becomes a reality for us solely
through the power of the Holy Ghost operative in response
to our faith. We are always in danger of misunderstanding
this. We are inclined to seek peace and satisfaction within
ourselves instead of lifting up our hearts to the source of all
life. "Our faith would quickly dissolve if God did not test
it by manifold trials. 5 ' 2 God sends us misfortune and
affliction of all sorts so that we do not get entangled in a
false self-complacency. The blows of fate which strike us are
meant to make us flee to God and call upon Him in our
distress. Since communion with Christ necessarily leads us
into the participation of His cross, God provides that we
shall not sink into a religious satiety but ever and again turn
away from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. "The
discipline of the cross is necessary in order that earnest
prayer may be kept alive in our hearts." 3 Prayer is one of
the fruits of the penitence which God has aroused within us. 4
Calvin gives a very exact and simple definition of the
essence of prayer. "Prayer is none other than an expanding

1 W. Dahm: "Gebete Calvins" (Reform. Kirchenztg., 82, 1932, 353 f.;
390 f.; 405 f.). A. Schneider: "Die Lehre vom Gebet bei Luther und
Calvin" (ibid., 85, 1935, 297 f.). UdoSmidt: "Das Gebet bei Calvin' 5
(ibid., 80, 1930, 97 ff.).

2 CR 30, 482. 3 CR 44, 359 . 4 CR 38, 595.

152

PRAYER

of our heart in the presence of God." 1 "When we pray, we
do no other than pour out our thoughts and wishes before
God." 2 Prayer is thus "a kind of conversation between men
and God, by which they gain entrance into the heavenly
sanctuary and personally address Him on the strength of His
promises; with the result that in their distress they see that
they have not vainly believed His word alone". 3

2. CHRIST AM> PRAYER

In the last quotation, taken from Calvin's Institutes, is to
be found an important indication which gives us the key to
Calvin's understanding of prayer. We sinful and mortal men
are able to come before God and to speak with Him because
He has first spoken to us and has given us His promises.
Calvin repeatedly emphasizes this aspect of things. 4 God
Himself has invited us to call upon Him. 5 Hence we must
honour His Word by relying upon it implicitly. 6 We our-
selves cannot by our own resources make a way to God. It is
God Himself who prepares for us the way of approach. In
His Word we draw near to Him. 7 It gives us the certainty
that our prayer will be heard by Him. 8

For the word of promise rests on the covenant which God
has made with us. In every prayer we can take our stand upon
this fact. We may come to God in confidence because in the
founding of the covenant He has declared His will to be our
God. No doubt is here possible; "for the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ seals the pact which God has concluded with
us". 9 "Hence each one of us by trusting in the grace of
Christ must have confidence in prayer and frankly dare to
invoke God." 10 In Jesus Christ we find the true basis on
which we can draw near to God in prayer. "For, even were
we of our own accord to praise the name of God, we would
only succeed in desecrating Him by our impure lips if

i CR 37, 402. 2 CR 49, 522. 3 J n . HI, 2 o, 2.

4 CR 3 1, 603 ; 34, 472 ; 44, 359 f. 5 CR 44, 360.

6 CR 26, 720. 7 CR 53, 368. 8 In. Ill, 20, 3.

9 CR 28, 292. 1 CR 45, 218.

153

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Christ had not once offered Himself as the sacrifice to make
us and all that we do holy. 5 ' l Hence it is not a question of
somehow or other bestirring ourselves to prayer, but rather
we must realize that we can lift up our voices to God in
prayer because He Himself in His incarnate Son has taken
action on our behalf. "God cannot be called Father except
through Him." 2

This does not mean that Christ by His atoning work has
opened up for us the way to God so that whenever we wish
we can tread it and pour out our concerns before God by our
unaided initiative. For Jesus Christ is not only the Preparer
of the way: He is the way Himself. 3 His atoning work is not
merely a basis on which we can proceed to build, but it
sustains and makes effective our prayer at every moment.
The possibility of prayer does not really lie within our grasp.
"For as soon as the terrible majesty of God strikes our mind,
we inevitably recoil in fear and shrink in the knowledge of
our own unworthiness, until Christ intervenes and makes the
throne of glory which terrifies into the throne of grace which
succours." 4 The priestly office of Christ which renders
possible our prayer to God is fulfilled without intermission. 5
It is not simply that He has once by His sacrifice interceded
between God and sinful humanity; it is rather that His
intercession with the Father on our behalf continues day by
day. 6 Because Christ intercedes for us, the prayers which we
bring before God are not in vain. 7 Our own praying is
nothing other than our uniting ourselves with the prayer of
Christ; and we have no hope of being heard unless He
precedes us with His prayer. 8

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND PRAYER

No prayer is possible without the Word, without the
incarnate Word, and the continuous intercession of this
Word for us. In this connexion the bearing of Calvin's

i CR 31, 615. 2 CR 37, 402; 27, 700.

3 In. Ill, 20, 19. 4/n. Ill, 20, 17. s CR 31, 208.

In. Ill, 20, 18, 19. 7 In. Ill, 20, 18. CR 31, 208.

154

PRAYER

teaching on prayer becomes quite clear. But this observation
does not take us far enough. Here,, as elsewhere, the real
issue is not the recognition of a point of doctrine but the
recognition of Jesus Christ. "Until God has caused us to taste
the sweetness of His mercy, we can have no access to Him and
no one prays rightly who has not experienced His grace and
is not convinced that God is graciously disposed towards
Him, "* In other words : " As we cannot pray unless the Word
precedes us, so before we pray we must believe." 2 This does
not imply that we must add something of our own to the
Word in order to make prayer possible. On the contrary, the
faith which is grounded in the work of Christ and supported
by the word of promise does not spring up from the depths
of our own hearts. It springs from the operation of the Holy
Ghost within us. 3

But such action of the Holy Spirit must take effect within us ;
this "yes" to the divinely given word must be spoken, if
prayer is to be a reality. Christ furnishes the objective
possibility of prayer, faith the subjective. Strictly speaking
we should say the Holy Spirit rather than faith. Hence
when Calvin comes to indicate the subjective presuppositions
of prayer he emphasizes at times the work of the Holy Spirit
instead of the power of faith. "Before we can utter a prayer
we must have received the firstfruits of the Spirit. For he
alone is the proper teacher of the art of prayer. He not only
inspires in us the words but guides the movements of our
hearts." 4 The work of the Spirit is thus not only faith but
also the fruit of faith; namely, prayer. This fact is the
guarantee that our prayer is grounded in the word of God.
For the Spirit which makes itself manifest in our prayer is not
some mysterious power which calls forth in us a certain
religious awareness ; but it is the Spirit which draws us to the
Son, the Spirit through whose action God accepts us as His
children for the sake of Christ. 5

i CR 31, 69. 2 CR 55, 387; cf. 48, 654; 34, 472, etc.

3 CR 48, 16; In. Ill, 20, 5. * CR 48, 16; In. Ill, 20, 5.

5 Cf. CR 32, 418.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

4. THE CHURCH AS THE SPHERE OF PRAYER

(a) The sphere in which prayer is properly exercised is the
church. If a dialogue between the soul and God is only
possible because Christ ever intercedes for us at His Father's
side, then only those can truly call upon God who are aided
by the priestly intercession of Christ. The body of Christ, the
church, may pray to God because the Head, Jesus Christ,
ceaselessly intercedes for it before the throne of the Father. 1
God cannot be called Father by all; "but it is a special
privilege of the church that it can name God Father 55 . 2 The
sacrifice and the intercession of Christ are efficacious among
the people of God ; among them the Holy Spirit accomplishes
its work to help their weakness. Hence at the heart of the
world that miracle happens within the church by which
sinful men draw near to the holy God and can pour out their
hearts before Him.

(V) In his lengthy discussions about prayer in the Institutes
Calvin deals especially with the question how prayer may
rightly be made before God. He draws up rules for true
prayer and explains the conception of prayer which Christ
Himself imparted to His disciples in order to help them in
their weakness. Thus in the Institutes Calvin gives instruction
about prayer rather than a doctrine of prayer. And this has
a good reason. It shows how practical is the purpose of his
whole theology. If anywhere, it must become plain here when
he considers prayer at the end of his teaching about man's
appropriation of salvation, that faith is no dead thing but
rather implies the absolute divine claim made upon man's
whole being, because the truth which evokes faith demands
full self-surrender. It is impossible to think theologically and
to discuss God and His revelation in Jesus Christ if we do not
realize that every moment we are thrown back upon prayer.
If we fail to grasp this we are not speaking of the one truth,
but of some truth or other and we are not really teaching
theology; for the latter can only arise in the sphere of the
church where prayer is practised. Calvin put this insight into

iCK 31,3076! 2 C 37, 402.

PRAYER

practice by uttering at the beginning of all his lectures :
"May the Lord grant us so to wrestle with the secrets of
His divine wisdom that our piety truly increases to His
honour and to our edification." 1 He similarly concluded
every lecture, which was always appropriate to the
previously discussed word of Holy Scripture. 2

Here we only wish to draw attention to this fact without
expounding the guide to prayer which Calvin gives in his
Institutes. We have set ourselves the task of extracting the
kernel of the various doctrines of Calvin. And, although it
must be recognized that Calvin in his section on prayer
wishes to give the reader, above all, guidance and advice in
the art of prayer, it is obvious that his practical suggestions
presuppose a clear view of the essence of prayer. We have
already stressed the fundamental features of his interpreta-
tion of prayer and must now, in order to complete the picture,
add to this what he says about the end of prayer.

5. THE END OF PRAYER

Prayer which proceeds from the Word of God is directed
towards the Word as its true end. It is based upon the
promise of God and takes place in the certainty that what is
promised will be our portion. With this basis of prayer firmly
fixed, it becomes clear that we cannot bring before God just
as we please any chance desires. The basis of prayer deter-
mines its end. "The one true aim of prayer consists in the
fact that the promises of God should have their way with
us." 3 "In prayer those treasures are disclosed which lie at
the heart of the gospel and which our faith has perceived." 4
The aim of prayer is not that we should carry through our
own will but that we should allow God to bestow upon us
what He has planned for us. The chief of our wishes should
be above all things to be in harmony with the will of God. 5

1 CR 37, 463.

2 Cf. W. Dahm, op. dt., and his translation : Johannes Calvin, Gebete %u
den Vorleswgen fiber Jeremia und HeseJdd^ Munich, 1934.

3 CR 32, 231. 4 /. Ill, 20, 2. 5 CR 52, 61.

157

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

This does not prevent us from freely pouring out our cares
unto Him. We are in fact exhorted to do so ; for by so doing
we testify that our God is One who is sensitive to our dire
need. 1 Hence submission to the will of God does not mean
that we must give up prayer. 2 " Not in vain does the heavenly
Father declare that our sole help and chance of rescue lies
in calling upon His name ; for when we do so we invoke the
reality of His providence the fact that He cares and
watches over us ; the power with which He sustains us in our
weakness and near collapse, and the mercy with which He
pardons us who are so heavily laden with sin ; yes, by such
invocation we seek to unite ourselves with Him wholly so
that He offers Himself to us here and now." 3 The aim of
prayer is communion with God. With that everything is given
us, even that which each one of us most desperately needs
for his journey through life; for when we belong to God, His
providence is active on our behalf and we stand under the
control of His power and mercy. It is the same point when
Calvin says: "We must continue steadfast in prayer so that
we daily grow in the power of the Spirit. I speak of growth,
for before we can utter a prayer we must have received the
firstfruits of the Spirit." 4 If we would understand this saying,
we must remember that the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus
Christ. If, as a result of prayer, the Spirit is more richly
showered upon us, then the aim of our prayer is that we
remain in communion with the Lord by the power of the
Spirit and grow ever more closely united to Him. And in
Jesus Christ we find communion with God and every gift
that we need.

Here at the close of these reflections on our appropriation
of salvation we find as it were a circular argument. There is
no prayer without the firstfruits of the Spirit, i.e. without
communion with Christ. But then it is also true that we cannot
belong to Christ and abide in Him without constant prayer.

1 CR 31, 163, 2 In. HI, 20, 3. 3 In. HI, 20, 2.

* CR 48, 16.

158

Chapter 12

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION 1

I. ELECTION IN CHRIST

UNTIL recently it appeared as if Calvin researchers
had gradually reached the conclusion that the
doctrine of predestination is not the central doctrine
of the Reformer on which all his other doctrines are based,
or which at least interpenetrates them all. But recently it
has been said with regard to the theological system of Calvin
that "the thought of predestination has overwhelming
significance for the other parts of his dogmatic system". 2
Still more in secular literature on the subject is the principle
maintained as though it were a matter of course : " Calvin's
central dogma, as is well known, is that of predestination." 3
If this be the case, then all that we have so far said is false.
Then Calvin's doctrines are not like so many signposts
pointing through the far-ranging and complex fields of the
Bible to the one incarnate God. It would rather be true to
say that Calvin's theology is a system of thoughts about God
and man proceeding from the one thought of the utter

1 Karl Barth: "Gottes Gnadenwahl", TheoL Existenz heute, no. 47,
Munich, 1936. Peter Barth: Die Envahlungslehre in Calvins Institutio von
1536 (in TheoL Aufsdtze, K. Barth . 50 Geburtstag, Munich, 1936, pp.
432-42) ; " Die biblische Grundlage der Pradestinationslehre bei Calvin"
(Ev. TheoL , 1938, pp. 158 f.). A. Bernel : Calvin defenseur de la predestination^
Diss. Geneve, 1931. L. Boettner: The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination,
Grand Rapids, 1931. H. Otten: Calvins Theologische Anschauung von der
Prddestination, Munich, 1938.

2 O. Ritschl: Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus y III, 156.

3 F. Schnabel : Deutschlands geschichtliche Quellen itnd Darstellwgen in der
Neu&it: Part I : Das ^eitalter der Reformation, 1931, p. 51.

159

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

dependence of man on God. Metaphysical speculation about
the ground of the world and its relation to the creature,
however powerful and impressive, and revelational theology
of which the only aim is to lead us to the Lord, are neverthe-
less mutually exclusive. We must now make a final decision
as to how we are to understand Calvin's theological work.

But is not this question already answered by the mere fact
that Calvin puts forward a doctrine of predestination in
formal terms ? In the Institutes the first chapter relating to this
doctrine bears the title : Concerning the eternal election of God
by which He has ordained some to blessedness and others to damnation. 1
These few words make it already plain that when Calvin
speaks of election he means an eternal decree of God made
before time and before the foundation of the world. But how
is it possible that such an eternal counsel of God can be
treated within the framework of a theology of revelation?
When we speak of revelation we mean too, of course, the
eternal God, but in so far as He has stepped forth out of His
hiddenness, has revealed Himself in time, and still to-day
declares His will. Thus does not Calvin betray, by the simple
fact that he affirms an eternal election, that in the last
resort he is not concerned about Jesus Christ but about
metaphysical speculation?

Exactly the opposite is true. It is just Calvin's doctrine of
election which proves that he is not primarily a speculative
thinker.

(a) At the very beginning of his considerations about this
" doctrine in the Institutes Calvin warns us against a speculative
approach to the doctrine. Those people who show such
tendencies " ought first of all to realize that in seeking to
investigate the idea of predestination they are trying to
penetrate the depths of divine wisdom. If any one audaciously
intrudes on that ground he will find nothing with which to
satisfy his curiosity, but will fall into erroneous courses from
which he will be unable to extricate himself. For it is not
right that a man should with impunity enquire into those
things which the Lord has willed to remain hidden in Him-

l/fl. 111,21.

1 60

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

self, and should seek to probe into that eternal ground of
wisdom which God wills to be adored but not understood,
that on account of it He may be feared by us." l God's
eternal counsels are for us "a tremendous and unfathomable
abyss". There is nothing there that we can explore to any
profit; on the contrary, if we attempt to do so "all our
understanding will be unavailing". 2

Calvin's warning goes still further. Not only does he
disallow all attempts to comprehend predestination by our
human resources of thought as fruitless and dangerous. He
considers it illegitimate that the question of predestination
should even be formulated. "If the eternal counsels of God
are in question, we, as people who are worthy of death,
should be struck with terror." 3 "What should God have
decided with regard to us His enemies except damnation?"
If we seek our salvation in God's inscrutable will, we get
involved in over-ingenious speculations. 4 "We should over
and over again become entangled in and dazzled by our
own ingenuity before being able to grasp the purpose of
God." 5 Merely by enquiring about election in itself we fall
into a labyrinthine maze of fancies in which we get com-
pletely lost. "Thus" says Calvin "this doctrine would not
profit us at all." 6 Rather all mere thinking about eternal
predestination as an idea in itself leads us into uncertainty
and despair.

When we see that Calvin rejects any attempt to investigate
the eternal purposes of God by the resources of human
reason, and even forbids any enquiry into this idea in itself,
then we are reminded that in another connexion he disallows
the pseudo-theology of Turks and Jews because it is concerned
to make affirmations about God in Himself and apart from
revelation. 7 Hence we should not be surprised about
Calvin's treatment of the question of predestination. If apart
from revelation all access to God is barred to theology, then

i In. II, 21, i. 2 CR 44, 407, 3 CR 54, 58 ; In. Ill, 24, 4.

4 CR 48, 314. 5 CR 54, 57. CR 42, 130.

7 See above p. 33.

161

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

also it may not seek to grasp what God has determined in
Himself before all time.

(b) But this must not be taken to imply here any more
than elsewhere that for Calvin the only possible course is to
keep silence. For God declares to us His eternal will in so
far as that is necessary. 1 Hence at this juncture in the
theological debate the implied answer to the question which
naturally arises is: "We must pay heed to what we are told
in the gospel." 2 "Those secrets of His will which God desires
to disclose to us, He has revealed in His Word." 3 Theology
cannot aim at being in part a theology of revelation and in
part a theology of speculation. God has spoken. Therefore
theology here as elsewhere must strictly adhere to His Word.
"Then we shall understand that, as soon as we step outside
the limits of the Word, we shall stray from the path of truth
and wander in darkness, where we shall necessarily fall and
stumble. Hence let us keep this well in mind: to aim at
reaching some other knowledge of predestination than what
is offered to us in the Word of God is no less nonsensical than
to wish to go by an undiscovered way or to see in the dark." 4

But what does it mean when Calvin requires that in regard
to the doctrine of election we should gain our knowledge of
the divine purpose solely from the Word? Certainly he is
thinking of Holy Scripture. But the very fact that in this
connexion he can substitute Gospel for Word suggests in
what sense he is using the phrase. In referring to the Word
he is not simply expressing the opinion that along with other
doctrines the Bible also contains this doctrine of election and
that we have only to extract it. To be sure, we find expressed
in the Bible the idea of God's choice, yet we must consider
that in Holy Scripture it is not a question of the Word only
but of the Word which in the last analysis apprehends us, as
indeed we have already seen ; the concern of the Bible is not
with doctrines as such but with the one joyful message which
claims our total obedience. As once with the people of Israel,
so now with us God has in Christ concluded with us the

i CR 51, 282. 2 CR 54, 57. 3 In. Ill, 21, i.

4 In. 111,21,3.

162

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

covenant of life ; in fact, in Christ He has chosen us before
the foundation of the world. When we grasp this message of
the Bible, when we encounter Jesus Christ at the heart of
it, then we know ourselves to be members of His chosen
people ; we know that our salvation is grounded uniquely and
solely in God.

If theology is to testify to the God who reveals Himself to
us in Jesus Christ then it may and must at the same time
bear witness to the fact that "some have been allotted eternal
life, others eternal damnation". 1 But only for this reason may
it speak of the eternal choice of God. "Hence it must be said
that God has not chosen those whom He has accepted as His
children because of their intrinsic worth, but because He sees
them in Christ (Ephesians 1:4); because only in Him does
He love them, nor could He reward them with the inheritance
of His kingdom until He had made them joint-heirs with
Christ. Seeing then that we are elected in Christ, we cannot
find the assurance of our election in ourselves nor even in
God the Father in so far as we see Him in Himself apart
from the Son. Hence Christ is the mirror in which we must
and certainly may behold the fact of our election. For as He
is the Person in whose body the Father has determined to
incorporate those who from eternity He has willed to regard
as His own, recognizing as His children all those who are
members of His Son, we have an open and sure witness that
we are written in the book of life, provided that we are in
communion with Christ/' 2

When Christ confronts us in His Word and we become
His own, then there is no longer for us any mysterious
counsel of God which might become the object of our
brooding and the source of our uncertainty. It is certainly
not the will of God that by the process of our thinking we
should seek to raise ourselves to Him in order to become
clear about our destiny. "But look, God condescends to our
level. He shows us the reason for this in the person of His
Son, as though to say : here I am to be found ; behold me

i In. Ill, 21,5. * in. Ill, 24, 5 ; CR 8, 318.

163

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

and recognize that I have adopted you as my children. 93 1 In
addressing us thus He gives us also the certitude of our
salvation. "For our Lord Jesus Christ is the ground of both
things of the assurance of our salvation and of our election
which was determined by grace before the foundation of the
world." 2 He is "the mirror to which we must lift up our
eyes if we desire to attain the certainty of our election", 3
" the mirror in which the will of God becomes visible to us
and in fact the pledge by which it is sealed". 4 But Christ is
not merely the ground of our recognition of the truth of our
election; He is also its objective ground. In the Institutes
Calvin goes as far as this insight; Christ is the Author of our
election. 5 If that were not so, then it would not be God who
declares Himself to us in Jesus Christ. "Because Christ is
the eternal wisdom, the unchangeable truth, and the abiding
purpose of the Father, we need not fear lest anything which
He proclaims to us in His word deviates in the smallest
degree from the will of the Father, whom we desire to know;
but He reveals the Father to us faithfully, as He was in the
beginning and ever will be." 6

Because Christ assures us of our election to salvation we
not only can and must speak of God's eternal counsel, but
we can do so, too, without being terrified at the thought of
our guilt and lost condition. "If we have Jesus Christ as our
Guide, we shall be able to rejoice in good comfort, since we
shall know that He possesses sufficient authority to make all
the members of His body pleasing to His Father." 7 For we
must bear in mind : Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God
who as such can alone give us a true disclosure of the will of
His Father, but He is also true man, and in the unity of His
divinity and humanity the Mediator who walked on this
earth for our benefit and experienced death for our sakes.
When Jesus Christ addresses us in the word of Holy
Scripture, then we are no longer mere onlookers who take
from the Bible what they please: we can no longer worry

i CR 8, 114. 2 Ibid. 3 CR 51, 282; 42, 127, 131.

4 CR 5, 333- 5 ^. Ill, 22, 7. 6 l n . m, 24, 5.

7 CR 54, 58.

164

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

our heads as to whether we are elected or rejected; nor can
we remain of the doubtful opinion that nothing certain can
emerge in these matters. When Jesus Christ really calls us
and we hear Him, when we are united to Him by faith
through the Holy Ghost, then our lot is decided, then all
speculation and all fear is ended. 1

Just in this discussion about God's eternal choice Calvin
proves himself to be a theologian of the Word, but not simply
in the sense that he derives his doctrine of election from the
Bible but in the sense that he points to our connexion with
the Word ; with Christ manifested in the words of the Bible.
Certitude of salvation in Christ is also certitude of election,
and vice versa : certitude of election is only to be found in
Christ.

(c) That Calvin even in treating the doctrine of election
adheres to his principle of disallowing all speculation on the
matter, in fact all discussion of election as such, is confirmed
by the way in which he has fitted the doctrine into the
structure of his theology as a whole. The first edition of the
Institutes contains no special section on the question of divine
predetermination. Only within the framework of the doctrine
of the church, which is described as the number of the elect,
does the matter emerge. 2

No doubt here the essential considerations on the point are
already mentioned. But the doctrine first receives special
treatment in the Genevan catechism of I537- 3 Yet even here
it does not stand first in the catechism; important aspects
have been already dealt with the doctrine of God, of man,
of free-will, etc. ; in fact, it has already been said that we
possess Christ only by faith, before the mention of the
doctrine occurs. It is not only the case in the Genevan
catechism of 1537 that fundamental doctrines are expounded
without mention of election, but also in the later editions of
the Institutes where the doctrine of election receives special
consideration. 4 But there, as contrasted with the catechism,
it stands in a still later position until in the last, the chief

i CR 51, 281 ff. ; 53, 152. 2 OS i, 86 ffl *OS i, 390 ff.

4 OS 3, XIV, XXI.

165

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

edition of the Institutes, it is deferred almost to the end of the
treatment of salvation. It is followed only by the chapter on
the resurrection of the dead. Everything else that Calvin
has to say about God, Christ, the appropriation of salvation,
has already been said without any mention of election. Thus
it is not surprising that the second and final Genevan
Catechism of 1542 l again includes no special treatment of
election, thus returning to an arrangement similar to what
we find in the first edition of the Institutes. Calvin could not
express more plainly from a formal point of view that the
doctrine of election has no intrinsic significance for theology
in the sense that other doctrines might stem from it. It must
be considered at the appropriate point within the total
structure of a theological system; but no more than other
questions. Indeed, Calvin's reserved treatment of the problem
is rather to be seen as a warning against a too diffuse
discussion which might easily degenerate into mere specula-
tion. If we refuse to see that and, as far as externals are
concerned, it is already clear from the place which Calvin
has allocated to this doctrine in the total structure of his
theology then it is because we refuse to see it and because
here as elsewhere we are adapting the theology of Calvin to
suit our private views just as we please.

(d) But within the total structure of his theology Calvin
does develop the doctrine of God's eternal election in its dual
aspect, speaking of God's election and rejection. It is not
merely that some whom the message of the Bible grips come
to recognize their election in Christ, but there is the further
surprising fact "that the covenant of life is not preached to
all men in the same way and that even among those to whom
it is preached it does not in all cases fall on the same ground
nor always retain its hold". 2 Such is the problem which
Calvin necessarily comes up against when his consideration
of the question how we are to appropriate the salvation
wrought by Christ has reached the point at which he
recognizes that we must always rely on prayer, and must ask

i OS 2, 88, 24. 2 In. Ill, 21, i.

166

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

God to strengthen us and keep us in communion with Christ.
God's promises, which, as we have seen, are the foundation
of our prayer, "do not concern everyone; but how can it be
that they are not similarly efficacious in the lives of all?" *
How are we to account for the distinctions among men
which arise when God reveals Himself to us in His word?
Are we to suppose that Christ is so powerless as not to be able
to win over to Himself and preserve all who resist Him, just
as He has conquered us? Certainly not. The distinctions
which thus arise among men are grounded in the fact that
" God has not made manifest His mighty arm to all. 3 ' 2

We are here confronted by something incomprehensible,
by "the inscrutable judgments of God 55 . 3 In other words : as
we know that in Christ we are chosen by God Himself when
we receive the gospel in faith, so also the refusal of the good
tidings is in the last analysis rooted in the divine will itself.
In face of God, man is in such a lost condition that he
possesses neither the power to say "yes" to the gospel which
has been preached to him, nor to utter a defiant "no 3 ' to it.
The independence of man is crushed into the dust in the
presence of the majesty of God.

The will of God, which triumphs over the will of man, is
not of course capricious ; it is His righteous will. Hence Calvin
speaks of the judgment of God which is reflected in the fact
that some accept the gospel and others reject it. The justice
of this divine disposition remains a mystery to us. But Paul
himself confessed "that the essence of divine righteousness is
too transcendent for it to be measured by human standards
or understood in the poverty of man's understanding". "At
least", says Calvin, "the apostle admits that the divine
judgments are so unsearchable, that the mind of man must
be engulfed in those depths if it would attempt to sound
them." 4 Calvin shows how sincerely he is inspired by this
insight in that he says very little about the damned. He keeps
strictly to what the Bible teaches on the subject.

i CR 14, 417. 2 ibid. 3 CR 9, 263; In. Ill, 21, i.
4 In. Ill, 23, 4.

167

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

(e) Yet the question may urge itself upon our minds, why
Calvin does not confine himself to the simple fact that Christ
finds both belief and unbelief. Why does he carry the
theological debate to the point of asserting that election and
rejection take place through the action of God? As we have
seen, Calvin's point of departure is the observed fact that the
Word of God is not everywhere preached, and that where it
is preached it does not always fall on the same ground. In
view of these facts of experience Calvin accepts the witness of
Holy Scripture that the divisions brought about by the
declaration of the Word to man are grounded in ultimate
divine determinations. He develops a doctrine of election
because he feels constrained to do so obediently to the word
of Scripture. But he was also clear about the fact that the
Bible not only offers a number of indications about the choice
of God, but in so doing wishes to communicate something of
decisive importance.

Firstly, the doctrine of election is the ultimate and
essential expression of the evangelical doctrine of grace. It
magnifies the honour of God and reduces us to a status of
true humility. 1 For once more it gives pointed expression to
the fact (which was already implied in the doctrine of
justification and sanctification) that the ground of our
salvation in every respect lies uniquely and solely in God and
nowhere else. It is an effectual antidote to every attempt on
the part of man to evaluate himself in terms of religious
significance ; it is the spearhead of the attack on the Romish
doctrine of grace in whatever form and wheresoever it may
raise its head. For it causes the merit of Christ and the
working of the Holy Ghost, in virtue of which we are made
members of Christ hence grace in its objective and sub-
jective aspect to be seated exclusively in the mercy of God.

This implies a second point : the doctrine of election alone
makes the certitude of salvation a living efficacious reality ;
for when we see that God gives to us what He refuses to
others, then we come to realize that our salvation truly flows

l/fl. Ill, 21, I.

168

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

from the spring of His pure mercy. 1 "It is impossible", says
Calvin in the first Institutes, "that those who really belong to
the elect people should finally perish or sink unsaved. For
their salvation is founded on such sure and firm bases that,
even if the whole structure of the world tottered, that
certainty itself could not dissolve. Firstly, it stands or falls
by divine determination, and thus could be changed or
disappear only as that eternal wisdom decides. The elect can
no doubt sway and fluctuate, nay even fall; but they will
not perish because the Lord will always stretch out His arm
to save them." "Further, the Lord has committed those
whom He has chosen to the guardianship of His Son, so
that He should lose none of them but raise them up at the
Last Day (John 6:39). Under so good a Guardian, while
they may err and slide, they certainly cannot be finally
lost." 2 Thus Calvin considers that the assurance of salvation
only becomes real and effective as the assurance of election. 3
And yet the latter as we see particularly well from the words
of the Reformer just quoted is not to be divorced from the
security of Christ, that security which Christ as the Good
Shepherd ever affords us.

The orientation of Calvin's theology towards the Incarn-
ate God is unmistakable precisely in regard to election,
where the flood-gates to speculation seem to be opened;
although it must be admitted that the Reformer has not
always consistently maintained this direction of his thoughts,
especially in his polemical writings about predestination. 4
But this does not alter the fact that Calvin's doctrine of
election is intended to be nothing more than an expression of
the glad tidings: in Christ God has elected us before the
foundation of the world, so that we may be holy and blame-
less before Him in love.

2. THE QUESTION OF ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

The question of assurance of salvation, which we have just
touched upon, needs more precise consideration because it

i In. Ill, 21,1. 2 In. HI, 24, 6. 3 CR 8, 260.

Cf. Ctfg, 713 f.

169

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

has played a great part in Calvin research and in fact is of
no small importance for our judgment of Calvinistic theology.
How can one chosen of God be assured of his salvation? May
he rely upon the promises of God, thus ultimately upon
Christ, or must he seek tangible signs of the divine election ?
For instance, must he, in order to become clear about his
relation to God, discover from his inner attitude and his
conduct whether he is elected or rejected? To a large extent
this opinion has been maintained and it has been supposed
that the starting point for the later doctrine of the Syllogismus
practicus is to be found in Calvin.

In order to elucidate this matter we must especially note
that it is not here simply a question of justification and
sanctification, or faith and works, nor is the point how far
the attitude and conduct of another person allow one to make
a judgment about his state of grace. The question is simply
and solely whether works have any sort of significance for
one's personal assurance of salvation. 1

(a) In order to find an answer we propose to turn first to
Calvin's major work, the Institutes. 2 If the truth is that,
according to the doctrine of Calvin, works are helpful in
permitting the believer to attain a secure knowledge of his
election, then somewhere in the section on predestination
which extends to four long chapters Calvin must have
said so.

But if we look for such an expression of opinion, we shall
not find it in the least. In one passage he certainly mentions
the fact that if we would be certain of our salvation we must
cleave to the " signa posteriora". 3 What does he mean by this?
Since he disallows any speculative approach to the doctrine
of election as fruitless and dangerous 3 he prefers to rely on the
" ''signa posteriori of our election. But by this he means not
our attitude or our works the latter are never mentioned

1 This is overlooked in the detailed thesis which Klingenburg has
devoted to this question. Cf. G. Klingenburg: Das Verhaltnis Calvins %a
Butzer, untersucht auf Grund der wirtschaftsethiscken Bedeutung beider
Reformatory Diss. Bonn, 1912, pp. 64-77.

2 Of, In. Ill, 2, 38 also. 3 Jn, ni, 24, 4.

170

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

but God's "objective Word",* "His calling", 2 which means
in the last resort, Christ, 3 whom we encounter in the Word in
virtue of the Holy Spirit. If we wish to be assured of our
election, then we must cling to the Word which the revelation
of God in Jesus Christ attests to us and which brings near to
us the Mediator Himself. Calvin is alluding to this Word
when in that one passage he speaks of the " signa posteriora" of
our election. The fact that within his exposition of the
doctrine of predestination he never by one word supports the
opinion that we can recognize the fact of our election by
what we are or do, but rather flatly rejects that idea, 4 ought
to give pause to all those who assert that Calvin teaches the
Syllogismus practicus.

(b) But does he nowhere else in the whole of the Institutes
support this doctrine ? In the section on justification Calvin
quotes at the end of a polemic against the Roman doctrine
of merit 2 Peter i : 10. He says, "See, we justify man not by
his works in the sight of God, but say that all those who are
of God are born again and become new creatures, so that
from the realm of sin they may enter the realm of righteous-
ness and thus secure their calling by the witness they bear
and as trees become recognized by their fruits." 5 The object
of Calvin in this context is to show the Roman con-
troversialists that he does not exclude works, that he teaches
not only justification but sanctification. When in this con-
nexion he simply quotes the exhortation of 2 Peter that we
should make assured our calling, without adding any
comment, we have no grounds for asserting that he is
countenancing the Syllogismus practicus. Moreover we shall
soon see that his exegesis of this text is quite different.

His real opinion on this point is expressed in another
section of his account of justification. In the Institutes III,
14, 1 8 flf. he goes into the question of the Syllogismus practicus.
It is the only place in which he does so in the whole work.
For a right judgment of what he says it is of the greatest
importance to note that he is not here concerned positively

i In. Ill, 24, 4. 2 Ibid. 3 in. Hi, 24? 5 .

4J]nd. 5 In. Ill, 15,8.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

to develop his own doctrine, but that the occasion is a
debate with the Roman theologians on the significance of
works.

The serious objection raised against Calvin is that the
saints of the Old Covenant "often think of their innocence
and uprightness and are comforted and strengthened thereby,
even at times not refraining from self-praise". 1 What answer
is he to make ? He suggests that in this regard two possibilities
arise. In many of such Old Testament passages the pious
were comparing their own good conscience with the bad
conscience of the godless, and were inferring from it hope of
an eventual triumph. Hence they were not so much con-
cerned to praise their own righteousness as to curse their
adversaries. 2 These passages can be eliminated for the con-
sideration of what is in question. Calvin has only to consider
the second group of texts which imply that for the pious
" the purity of their conscience, when they examine themselves
in the sight of God, brings to some extent consolation and
joy". 3 How are such passages of Scripture compatible with
Calvin's own doctrine "that in the judgment of God we
have no authority to rely upon our own works or to rejoice
in the conceit of them"? 4 What is his reply to the Roman
controversialists when they quote such Old Testament texts ?

It is for him a matter of course that "the saints, when it is
a question of the basis and security of their salvation, should
fix their attention without any regard to their works solely
upon the goodness of God. And they not only turn to it
above all things as the source and fountain of their blessed-
ness but rest in it as the fullness of life". 5 The mercy of God
is the sole foundation of our bliss. Hence it alone can afford
us assurance of our salvation; and, if it does afford us such
certainty, then we need no other assurance. Calvin first
establishes this principle; but he has not thereby answered
the Biblical objections of his opponents. Then he continues
in the following terms: "When our good conscience is thus
firmly based and secured, it is further consolidated by a

i In. Ill, 14, 18. 2 Ibid. 3 Rid. * Ibid.

172

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

consideration of our works in so far as they witness to the
indwelling of God in us." "For just as all the gifts which God
has given us are, if we think of it, like so many rays shining
upon us from the divine countenance, to enable us to behold
the glorious light of His mercy, so the good works which He
has permitted us to do should serve still more the same end ;
for they show us that the spirit of adoption has been bestowed
upon us." *

Thus Calvin concedes to the Roman theologians that our
works may have a certain significance for the conviction that
we are saved, but only when we have first of all fully and
sufficiently recognized that it is through the sole mercy of
God that we are saved. It is in this sense that Calvin desires
to interpret the Old Testament texts in question. Their
purpose is not to discuss the basis of our assurance of salva-
tion. 2 But because the saints of the old covenant see in the
fruits of their regeneration signs that the Holy Spirit dwells
within them, "they are not a little encouraged thereby to
wait for the help of God in all their distresses, because they
feel Him to be, in the great passages of their life, a heavenly
Father".3

This point of view is worked out by Calvin with greater
precision in the sentences which follow. He makes quite plain
what significance the Syllogismus pr actions has: "And they
cannot even do so unless they have first apprehended
the goodness of God which is confirmed to them solely by the
secure promises. For if they once begin to estimate it on the
basis of their own good works, there is nothing more un-
certain and unconvincing, seeing that the works when con-
sidered in themselves show no less the anger of God by their
imperfection than they testify to His goodness by the purity
which marked their commencement." 4 As it has already
been argued that the mercy of God alone affords us full
assurance of salvation and that our works can come into
consideration only in a subordinate sense, so now Calvin
reminds us that the divine mercy on which all our certitude

i In. Ill, 14, 18. 2 In. Ill, 14, 19- 3 End. * Ibid.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

is based is attested to us in the promise of God in His Word.
It is the will of God to reveal Himself to us in the Word. This
Word as a testimony to our salvation has thus quite a
different authority from that of our works, which can also
be an indication to us that we are the children of God. The
Word alone makes us truly confident of salvation in that it
discloses to us the mercy of God. The works, as indications
that we are in a state of grace, do not possess the same weight
as the word of promise, but they can be added after the
Word has already fulfilled its task. Works in themselves have
absolutely no power to assure us that we are saved. One
might interpret them as tokens of God's wrath as much as of
His mercy. Their authority as witness depends entirely on
that of the Word. In fact it is more likely that on account of
the multitude of our sins C the conscience on examining its
works will feel fear and despair rather than confidence". 1
This observation concludes the debate with the Roman
controversialists, after Calvin has once again firmly pointed
to the source of all our certitude which is contained in the
Word. This source is the free grace of God, our Mediator
Jesus Christ. 2

Only if we fail to read carefully what Calvin writes at this
point, or tear sentences from their context, can we assert that
he is here expounding the doctrine that our works serve to
confirm us in the assurance of salvation. The position is rather,
broadly speaking, as follows : Calvin is not here establishing
any principle of doctrine but is making a concession to the
Romanists. Just here he is not developing his own teaching
but is answering a serious Biblical objection raised by his
opponents. In so doing he concedes that our works can be
for us signs that we are in a state of grace, provided that we
have first assuredly and sufficiently recognized our salvation
4:o lie in the Word of God and in Christ. And in conclusion
he really cancels the small concession which he was able to
make to his opponents. For what else does it mean when he
says that our works, because they are so intertwined with

1 In. Ill, 14, 20. 2/fl. Ill, 14, ig, 20.

174

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

our sins, arouse in us despair rather than certainty? This is
not what is usually meant by espousing a doctrine.

This is the clear finding which emerges from Calvin's
major work, the Institutes. We now pass on to consider, from
the point of view of our problem, his Scriptural exegesis. So
far as we know, only two commentaries come seriously into
consideration.

(c] In the commentary on i John there would have been
in several places occasion to champion the Syllogismus
practicus if that had been Calvin's intention. But only in two
passages does he speak of it in any detail. Firstly in connexion
with i John 3:14:" We know that we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren." Calvin comments :
"In a striking statement the apostle commends to us the
virtue of love because it is a testimony of our transition from
death unto life." But two possible misunderstandings must
here be set aside. The text does not mean "that man is his
own saviour". The apostle "is not here speaking of the cause
of salvation. But since love is the necessary fruit of the Spirit,
it is also a sure sign of our regeneration." Hence it would be
false to draw the conclusion "that by love we gain life, for
love stands here in second place".

Equally false would be the further and at first seemingly
more justified conclusion: "If love assures us that we have
gained life, then the assurance of salvation rests upon works."
"Although, of course, faith is strengthened and supported by
the tokens of God's grace, yet it does not cease to have its
sole basis in the mercy of God. For example : when it is
bright around us we are certain that the sun is shining. If
the sun irradiates the place in which we happen to be, we
have a clearer field of view; but even if no visible rays reach
us we are still satisfied that the sun bestows its light on us.
Similarly after our faith has been rooted in Christ other
things can be added in support of it. Yet, in spite of all that,
it rests on the grace of Christ alone." 1 Our works, Calvin
means, are not the real foundation of our salvation, nor are

1 CR 55, 339-
175

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

they and this concerns us more closely the ground of our
recognition of it; for it is not the tokens of God's grace, which
include our good works, which assure us of salvation and of
our being in a state of grace ; that is the work of the grace of
Christ alone. However much our works as tokens of the grace
of God contribute to our certainty of salvation, its sole and
sufficient ground is in Christ alone.

We have seen that Calvin expresses this point of view in
the Institutes. But if we consider his exegesis of i John 3 : 14 in
isolation we might suppose that here, as distinct from in the
Institutes, Calvin really teaches the Syllogismus practicus even
though he assigns to it less significance. But if we read on a
little in the commentary, we shall have occasion to think
otherwise.

On i John 3 : 19 Calvin comments as follows: "But let us
always remember that it is not love which gives us the
conviction of which the apostle speaks, as though from love
we were to gain assurance of our salvation. In truth we know
that we are the children of God for no other reason than that
by His Spirit He seals in our hearts His free adoption of us as
His children, and in faith we grasp this sure pledge which is
offered to us in Christ. Love is thus an auxiliary of subordinate
significance, given to us for the strengthening of our faith ;
but it is not the foundation on which faith rests." 1 Thus
Calvin speaks here. He does not invite us to use the
Syllogismus practicus in order to strengthen our faith, but he
begins with the warning that we are not to place any false
emphasis on such a proceeding. And it is very important to
note that he also concludes his exegetical arguments with a
similar warning: "Although a good conscience cannot be
separated from faith, yet no one could rightly infer that we
should examine our conduct in order to gain a firm assurance
such as faith gives." 2 After his conclusion with such an
observation it is impossible to assert that Calvin teaches here
the Syllogismus practicus. His concluding point plays only a
subordinate role in his previous considerations and at the

1 CR 55, 34i 2 CR 55, 342.

I 7 6

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

close he almost annuls the exegetical concession which he has
made.

With regard to this commentary on i John, we are thus
faced with the question whether we are to place the greater
emphasis on the exegesis of i John 3 : 14 or on that of 3 : 19.
After all that we have heard Calvin urging, there cannot be
the smallest doubt that we should understand the notes on
i John 3 : 14 in the light of his exegesis of v. 19. His comment
on this verse goes further than that on v. 14, and the amplifi-
cation fits in with what we have seen to be Calvin's opinion
in the Institutes. The expansion consists in a warning against
the Syllogismus practicus and is at the same time a firm
reference to Christ as the One who alone can assure us of
salvation when we encounter Him in the power of the Holy
Spirit.

The second commentary in which Calvin has occasion to
say something about our problem is that on the second epistle
of Peter. It is a question of the text 2 Peter i : 10, which we
have already found mentioned in the Institutes: "Thus, dear
brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and
election sure."

Calvin is aware that this verse is misused by Roman
controversialists in support of their teaching. But the point
surely is as follows: "Because God calls us and chooses us to
the end that we should be pure and unspotted before His
countenance, purity of life is not wrongly regarded as a sign
of election and a proof whereby believers are not only made
manifest to others as the children of God, but also are them-
selves confirmed in this faith, though they know that its sure
foundation lies elsewhere." 1 This adds nothing new by
contrast to what we have already found in Calvin. But the
remark which he adds to these words is important for us :
"Yet the assurance which Peter speaks of is in my judgment
nothing to do with a good conscience, as though believers
should recognize themselves in the sight of God to be the
elect and the called. But I simply understand it to mean that

1 CR 55, 450.
177

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

our calling should appear as certain from the holiness of our
life." Calvin considers therefore that the Greek text may be
translated thus: "See to it that your calling becomes
assured." However this may be, "the main point is that the
children of God are distinguishable from the damned by the
sign that they live in piety and holiness". 1 Thus Calvin thinks
that this text is not an allusion to the Syllogismus practicus. It
does not invite believers to strengthen their assurance of
salvation by a consideration of their good works, but it
requires that they should contrast with others by the manner
of their life. In this sense, too, Calvin adduces this Petrine
text in the passage of the Institutes mentioned above. This is
also shown by the fact that he places it alongside the other
one about believers, like trees, being recognized by their
fruit. 2 For the latter says simply that faith is not without
works and that therefore the believer can be recognized by
his works. But it does not say that works are of significance in
answering the question whether I am a partaker of salvation
or not.

(d) We will now summarize the result of our enquiry.
Nowhere does Calvin teach the Syllogismus practicus. So much
could only be asserted if from his own theological insights or
in combating the errors of his opponents he had developed a
special doctrine on this point, and since it is a question of
a Syllogismus practicus were to encourage us to use this
method of deduction. He does neither. If of course we wrest
expressions of Calvin out of their context or bring together
everything which has any sort of bearing on the Syllogismus
practicus,* then it is possible that we may easily reach a
different conclusion ; by such a procedure we could find any-
thing in Calvin that we wished to find. Conclusions reached
in this way could make no claim to scientific scholarship.
What we have found as a result of detailed and exact
investigation is confirmed by the fact that neither Genevan

* Ibid. 2/7*. Ill, 15,8.

3 Cf. for example the explanation of the fifth petition of the Lord's
Prayer. In. Ill, 20, 45; CR 6, 103 ff.; 45, 201.

178

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

Catechism mentions by so much as a syllable at any appro-
priate point this doctrine of the Syllogismus practicus.

Calvin's theology is too closely dependent on the Bible for
him to be able to dismiss the texts which were quoted to him
by opponents or which confronted him in exegesis. He con-
cerned himself seriously with them. But he did not feel it
appropriate to generalize from occasional apostolic observa-
tions, such as he found in i John, and to build upon them
dogmatic definitions, however much the latter might have
appeared the necessary consequence of a theology which, like
that of Calvin, laid no less emphasis upon sanctification than
upon justification.

Calvin felt able to admit that our works may become a
sign of our godliness provided that in Christ we have
previously gained assurance of salvation. But he emphatically
called attention to the great danger of the Syllogismus
practicus. We have already seen how grave were his doubts :
Our "conscience feels upon consideration of our works more
fear and despondency than confidence 53 . 1 Or, as he says in
another place : "When a Christian looks into himself he finds
cause to be afraid or even to despair; but since he is called
to communion with Christ he must, in so far as assurance of
salvation is concerned, regard himself as a member of the
body of Christ so that he is in a position to appropriate all the
benefits of Christ's passion. Thus he will win a sure hope of
eternal perseverance when he considers that he belongs to
Him who cannot fall or fail. 352 Our salvation is grounded
solely and exclusively in the mercy of God, which is to say
in Christ. Hence we recognize that He alone is the Author
of our salvation, who gives us the certainty of final deliver-
ance.

But this is not meant to suggest that we tarry here in our
wretchedness and uncertainty of deliverance while in the
remote past looms the cross of Golgotha, bearing the figure
of Him in whom all our hopes are anchored, and that we
must look backwards, linking ourselves with the Crucified, in

i In. Ill, 14, 20. 2 CR 49, 313.

179

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

order to gain assurance of being saved. No. He in whom God
uniquely revealed His goodness takes the initiative in order
to bring us into union with Himself. In Him, the Crucified
and Risen Lord, God reveals Himself to us also to-day.
Christ ever confronts us in the power of the Holy Ghost and
bestows Himself upon us. Then we do indeed gain a sure
hope; for He, our salvation, becomes our own. 1

The means by which Christ the Risen and Ascended Lord
wishes to encounter us to-day is the Word which bears wit-
ness to Him. Hence, when the question of salvation arises,
Calvin not only refers to the mercy of God and to Christ but
just as rigorously requires that we trust in the Word alone,
because it is this Word which according to the will of
God mediates to us the fullness of divine mercy in Jesus
Christ.

There are certainly, according to the theology of Calvin,
ancillaries to the Word which seal its promise and thus
consolidate our faith and hope. But this function is performed
not by our works but by the sacraments which Christ has
instituted to this end. Calvin held fast to these commands of
the Lord. Hence he did not invite us to use the Syllogismus
practicus to strengthen our hope of salvation. But he did
require the Christian society to celebrate the Holy Com-
munion on Sundays because of the "great comfort which
believers receive therefrom "; for in that service our faith
receives the promise confirmed by visible signs " that we truly
participate in the Body and Blood of Jesus, in His death,
His life, His spirit, and all the benefits which He has procured
for us". 2 And Calvin admonished every Christian to adhere
loyally to the Word and Sacraments in order to become firm
in the faith. 3

The position which Calvin thus takes up makes it clear
that his theology is something very different from a pre-
destination system of thought concerning the relation of God
and man, in which the Syllogismus practicus is assigned an
important place. It becomes clear that Calvin is strictly con-

i In. Ill, 2, 24. * OS i, 370. 3 CR 13, 64.

180

GOD'S ETERNAL ELECTION

cerned with the theology of revelation and that his teaching
is wholly centred on Jesus Christ. For this reason he warns
us against the Syllogismus practicus ; for the latter implies that
our view is deflected from God, who is to be found in Christ
alone, and is turned towards man. By such a proceeding the
hope of salvation is not increased but rather imperilled.

181

Chapter 13

THE CHURCH*

I. THE CHURCH AS THE MOTHER OF BELIEVERS

GOD provides the means whereby we ignorant slothful
men, who are disobedient to truth., are called into
fellowship with Christ and sustained therein. He
Himself has made all the necessary arrangements for the
faith which unites us to Christ "to be born in us and to grow
unceasingly until it reaches its appointed end". 2 For this
purpose God has committed the gospel which awakens faith
to the keeping of the church. Calvin says very character-
istically that God has deposited this treasure in the bosom
of the church. 3 Just as a man invests his capital, so that it may
work for him and bear fruit, so God has committed the gospel
to the church. The latter, however, has no control over the
gospel and may not exploit it to suit its own convenience, to
influence men and bring them under its own authority.
Rather it is God alone who remains Lord of the Gospel and
who has entrusted it to the church, in His pure mercy,
although the church is not worthy of such a treasure.

1 Peter Earth: "Calvins Verstandnis der Kirche" (%w. d. %eiten, 8,
1930, 216-33). J. Bohatec : Cabins Lehre von Staat und Kirche mit besonderer
Berucksichtigung des Organismusgedankens, Breslau, 1937. P. J. Kromsigt:
"Calvins Lehre von der Kirche" (Bibl. ^eugnisse, 22, 1924, 45-76).
A. Lecerf: "La doctrine de Teglise dans Calvin", (Rev. de TheoL et de
Philos., 1929, 256-70). Th. Werdermann: Calvins Lehre von der Kirche in
ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung (Calvinstudien, Reform. Gemeinde,
Elberfeld, 1909, pp. 246-338).

2 OS 5, i ; 4, 12. Part of what follows is to be found in similar form
in my essay: "Wesen und Gestalt der Kirche nach Calvin", Ev.
Theologie, 3, 1936, pp. 311 ff.

V, i, i;s, i.

182

THE CHURCH

By the gospel Calvin understands the witness of the law,
the prophets, and the apostles of Jesus Christ. 1 The church
has not received this deposit from the Lord in order to
preserve it with veneration and as a mass of pious tradition
to hand it on from generation to generation. Of course the
books of the Old and New Testaments compose Holy
Scripture; but this does not mean that they are there to
arouse pious admiration. They are not there to enable
individuals to bury themselves in them for their own private
edification. Rather the fact is that the church is in a supreme
degree mastered and claimed by the gospel entrusted to it.
The proclamation of the Messiah who is to come and has
come makes of men, who would wish to use the gospel like
any other truth as they please, servants who stand at the
bidding of their Lord. In proportion as the good news is
imparted to the church it claims the church for its service.

The Word of God is of such a character that it is not
possible to treat it as though it were a piece of ancient
religious tradition ; but it requires to be spread abroad with
audible speech so that it may have its way with men. God has
committed this precious gift to the church so that the
preaching of the gospel should remain a live and efficacious
force. 2

The good news of Jesus Christ orally proclaimed by the
church captures our attention and arouses in us the response
of faith. Calvin refers those who despise this mission of the
church to the word of Paul: faith comes by hearing, by
preaching. 3 "It is not without reason", he says, "when it is
written that Jesus Christ shall smite the earth with the rod
of His mouth and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked.
The means by which He wishes to subdue us is the destruc-
tion of all that stands in His way." " God wills to make bare
His sovereign power by means of the spiritual sword of His
Word whenever it is preached by the pastor." 4 Although
Christ no longer lives on this earth He rules by His Word. He
overcomes and wins us by His Word which His preachers and

i In. IV, i, 5. 2 In. rV, i, i ; CR 8, 412. 3 i n . IV, i, 5.

4 CR 13, 72.

183

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

servants declare. Christ has not left the world "in order to
cast away all concern for us". 1 The very fact that He has set
up His rule in the church is proof "that He is concerned
about our salvation. Yes, He has borne witness that He will
remain with His own and guide them to the end ; and He
continues to be objectively present through His ministers." 2
Jesus Christ is with us to-day in the word of His witnesses.
By this orally declared Word we enter into communion with
Him through faith and so come to share in the salvation
which He has won for us. 3

After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ there
did not dawn, as the ecstatics of all times have supposed, an
aeon of the spirit in which we were allowed to enjoy an
immediate and so-called spiritual relation with God. "It is
always characteristic of God" Calvin constantly admits
this "that He works and creates by spiritual means, but as
He uses the servant of the Word as His instrument He
inspires in the latter His own spiritual message ; for He unites
with the efforts of man the Power of the divine spirit." 4 It
must not be forgotten that in order to draw near to the world
God revealed Himself in the disguise of human flesh in the
one man Jesus of Nazareth. And therefore both before and
after the incarnation of His Son He does not act upon men
otherwise. But parallel to that unique event He uses earthly
means in order to approach mankind. He offers us His gifts
in earthly vessels. 5 He wills to speak to us Himself through
the mouth of men 6 and through visible elements water,
bread, and wine to work upon us and within us. No pure
reality of the spirit has been promised us apart from the
work of the Incarnate Son of God nor in independence of the
message which, obediently to His command, His witnesses
spread abroad, or apart from the earthly sacraments which
He has instituted. At this important point the teaching of
Calvin is precisely the same as that of the Augsburg Con-
fession art. 5; "He has ordained pastors and teachers in
order through their words to instruct His own, has invested

A CR 48, 3. 2 Ibid. 3 fa IV, i, i.

4 CR 50, 235. s in. IV, i, 5. * CR 48, 109.

184

THE CHURCH

them with authority, and in fact has left nothing undone
which might serve the cause of the sacred unity of the faith
and good order. Above all He has instituted the sacraments
of which we in fact know that they are extremely useful
means to preserve and strengthen our faith." *

There is a divinely ordained institution in this world;
namely, the church. The church is the means by which the
exalted Christ accomplishes His work among men. By the
services which He has bidden it perform and by the earthly
signs which He has entrusted to it He continues His action
upon us and within us. "The Lord does not merely signify
that it pleases Him when we are instructed by His servants,
but He has committed that task to us as a holy ordinance
which He has instituted." 2 "Since He is the Author of the
ordinance. He wills that His presence should be recognized
in the arrangements which He has made." 3 The church is
the sphere of the self-revelation of God and of the encounter
between Christ and ourselves.

God is not of course fettered by His own ordinances ; but
He has bidden us use the regular channels of preaching and
instruction 4 and therefore we must obey His command and
not enquire whether God could not also take over avenues of
approach to us. That institution is authoritatively and
permanently binding upon us. "God could no doubt in one
moment perfect His saints ; but He wills that they should not
grow to maturity apart from the discipline of the church." 5
Since we live in a world which is hostile to God, our faith,
the very moment it is born, is threatened on all sides. Christ
must constantly call us and guide us by His word ; He must
again and again bestow Himself upon us if we are not to sink
in this world of death. Hence the church as the sphere of
Christ's presence is not only the point of departure for our
life in faith, but because in it the living Lord confronts
sinful men we are meant to abide within it throughout our
earthly lives. "Those who despise the spiritual food of the

IV, i, i ; 0*20,431 ft. 2CR48, 204. 3/n. IV, i, 5.

14. s Ibid.

I8 5

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

soul which Christ offers to them in the church deserve to
perish from terrible hunger." 1

For these reasons Calvin has characterized the being of
the church by a single word which was applied to it from
earliest times ; the church is our mother. This name is fitting
for it ce because there is no other means of entry into life
except that it should receive and bear us in its womb, feed
us at its breasts, and then preserve us under its guardianship
and guidance until we have put off this mortal flesh and
have become like the angels. For our weakness does not
permit that we should be dismissed from this school until we
have spent our whole life therein. Consider further that out-
side its bosom there is no hope of either forgiveness of sins
or of any felicity, as Isaiah and Joel declare, Jeremiah
agreeing with them." In their words "the fatherly mercies of
God and the special witness of the spiritual life are so bound
up with the people of God that separation from the church
always spells destruction". 2 Because the church is placed in
the service of Christ, because it has His promise that He
desires to meet us there and only there in human earthly
guise, Calvin can nay must repeat the ancient saying that
outside the church there is no salvation. 3 This truth is not
grounded in the church as such, but solely in the will of its
Lord. What is at stake in the ministry of the church is the
realization of the presence of Jesus Christ in Word and
Sacrament and thus something momentous and decisive
life or death. The fact that Calvin sees in the church such a
mystery, divinely ordained to serve our salvation, is strikingly
confirmed by the consideration that he has headed the
decisive first chapter of his section on the church in the
Institutes : Of the true church^ with which we strive to be at one,
since it is the mother of all the pious. 4

Many will suppose that in this characterization of the
essence of the church considerable vestiges of the Roman
doctrine of the church are visible. On this point we must
observe that in fact, here as elsewhere, Calvin is quite

iCRfy, 14. 2 in. IV, 1,4.

3 Cf. also CR 1 1, 25 ; 36, 578. * /. jy, i, i.

186

THE CHURCH

consciously dependent on the teaching of the early church and
takes seriously the testimony of the church fathers. But in
the last analysis he does so because he must agree with them
in so far as he recognizes that, according to the divine will,
we are made integral to an institution against which the
pride of the godless but also that of the pious and religiously
satisfied man rebels. 1 A "yoke of humility' 5 is laid upon us. 2
We must surrender all our own religious resources, all our
so-called points of contact with the knowledge of God, and
simply accept the word of another, confronting us authorita-
tively. "God searchingly tests our obedience when we hear
His servants not otherwise than if He Himself were
speaking." 3 But this ordinance was created and made
efficacious by God's merciful regard for us. "Because we are
so ignorant, slothful, and vain that we need these external
helps to allow faith to be born in us and to grow unceasingly
to its appointed end, God has given us the same as a means
of grace to help us out in our weakness." 4 God graciously
condescends to us so that there may be an encounter between
Himself and ourselves. He draws us to Himself by speaking
to us in human fashion through His servants. Were He to
speak to us directly, His majesty would terrify us and repel
us. 5 Thus in the ministry of the church there takes place a
condescension of God to our world similar to that implied in
the incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ. The condescension
of God in the institution of the church is a type of the former
original condescension.

2. THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

But the church by tending us ceases to be an institution
which is set over against us. We have seen that it is the sphere
where Christ comes into our lives. By the fact that the Lord
offers Himself to us in this His instrument "there arises an
integrated structure of the congregation of the faithful, the

i In. IV, i, 5. 2 In. TV, i, 6. 3 In. IV, i, 5.

4 In. IV, i, i. 5 In. IV, i, 5.

I8 7

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Body of Christ is built up, and we grow in every part in
adhesion to Him who is the Head and become at unity
among ourselves". 1 Because the church acts upon us and
within us we are drawn into its bosom. That very sense of
confrontation, in which the ministry of the church is enacted
towards us, works itself out in such a way that we become
one body with Christ, and by our union with Him are
drawn into a fellowship with each other which is distinguished
from all earthly and religious fellowships by the fact that it
rests, not upon a conviction and a decision of men, but solely
upon the saving work of Christ exerted towards us. Because
the Risen Lord claims men as His own, in order through
them to complete His work, we belong together as those who
serve as a congregation in which each is dependent on the
help of others. Thus the church is not a rigid institution but a
living organism, a fellowship of mutual service and help-
fulness. 2 The thought of the Body of Christ, of the communion
of saints, is necessarily bound up with the view that the
church is the mother of believers.

This brings out very clearly the fact that Christ alone is
the Lord of the church. Neither one individual nor
individuals as a collective body may rule over the church;
Jesus Christ alone is its ruler and head. As compared with
Him we are all nothing but unprofitable servants. 3 In order
that we may serve Him, as He wills, He must impart to
each of us the gifts of His Spirit. Each receives from Him a
special gift with which He is to work for the edification of
the whole. 4 Even the outward goods of this life are given to
us by God that we may bear the burden of the bodily needs
of our brethren. "It cannot but be that those who are
convinced that God is their common father and Christ their
common head are united together in brotherly love and
share their goods in common." 5 According to the gifts which
Christ imparts, and the services which He expects from
individuals so endowed, the various members of the church
are dependent on each other. Such mutual interdependence

i In. IV, 3, 3. 2 / n . iv, i, 2 ; OS i, 466. 3 CR 50, 235.

4 CR 49, 5238; 51, 1912. 5 i nt iv, i, 3.

188

THE CHURCH

precludes any government by individuals which would be
destructive of church unity. Certainly there is in the church
the fact of superiority and subordination. There is also the
task of church government. Calvin has expressly drawn our
attention to this and emphasized how necessary but also how
difficult this task is. 1 But God places men in office over us
only in order to keep inviolate His right. 2 Once this is over-
looked, once the brotherly fellowship in mutual service of
the members of the church is lost, then it is not just any sort
of harm which results, but the church is most deeply
damaged in its innermost being as the church of the one
Lord. If we fail to see that the order and the government of
the church spring from its very essence, we know little about
the church as the body of Christ. "The right method of
governing the church can be learnt from no other source
but from Him alone, the Lord." 3 Of course the attempt is
made again and again to plan a church which is governed
in a manner alien to and completely dissociated from Christ.
" But " so Calvin exclaims " what is that but a wanton and
wicked attempt to separate the body from its head?" 4 The
question of the order and the government of the church is
for Calvin not indifferent nor secondary, but utterly central,
because just there the sovereignty of Christ is at stake. It
must be confessed, and the confession must be put into
practice, that we as individuals and as a community are
subject body and soul to Jesus Christ our Head in order that
we may serve Him alone.

3. THE CHURCH AS THE ELECT PEOPLE

Calvin also described the church as "the congregation of
elect people". 5 It was above all in the first edition of his
Institutes and in his Catechisms that he stressed this aspect of
its being. It is "the total number of the elect, whether angels
or men and of men, whether dead or yet alive". 6 Calvin does
not speak thus in order to detract from the significance of

i CR 1 1, 281, 168. 2 CR 48, 109 3 CR 13, 284.

4 CR 13, 283. 5 in. iv, i, 2. OS i, 86.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

those ideas which we have had in view so far. On the
contrary, they receive from this new thought their most
serious purport. "The secret choice of God is the foundation
of the church" 1 ; this thought at once severs at the root all
self-praise of man, howsoever and wheresoever it may arise
and spread in the church. In the church we really are
confronted by the sovereignty of God and the glory of Christ.
As a totality we are of just as little importance as individuals.
As a church too we are nothing before Him, He is all. He has
the first and last word over the church. He alone can
separate the wheat from the chaff in the church. "He
knows his own." 2

But this knowledge must not lead us to idle speculations
or drive us into a sense of insecurity and fear. "It is not
enough that we with our understanding and heart should
apprehend the church as the body of the elect, if at the same
time we do not realize its utter unity, believing that we our-
selves are incorporated into it." 3 We must not speculate idly
but must cling to Christ if we are not to be lost eternally.
The thought of God's election is pointed like a sharp sword
against all who allow themselves to be complacent about
their religious possessions, who exult in the historical
development and impressive structure and exclusiveness of
the church, but not against those who know they are utterly
dependent on the grace of Christ. Those who realize that by
faith they are made members of the body of Christ must not
be afraid at the doctrine of election by divine grace, but
rather strengthened in the assurance that faith gives. The
church of the Lord, that body of poor and needy souls, must
be comforted by this conviction: "Our salvation rests upon
sure and firm foundations, so that even if the whole round
world were to collapse, it could not itself dissolve. For first
it rests upon God's own election and can just as little totter
or vanish as His eternal providence." 4 Because the doctrine
of election takes everything out of our hands, in reality it
leaves us securely abiding in the ultimate certainty of God.

i In. IV, i, 2. 2 Ibid. 3 Jbid. 4 l ni IV, i, 3.

IQO

THE CHURCH

The thought of election by divine grace deprives the church
of all self-security and power, but precisely in so doing
strengthens it to accomplish its work in the world. It robs it
of all false props and precisely so leaves it invincibly facing
all the attacks of the powers of this world. According to
Calvin's theory of the church, the fact of its election gives to
the church its peace and certainty and the impetus which it
needs for its ministry in this world.

4. THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE CHURCH

In connexion with the thought of election Calvin speaks
at times of the invisible church. 1 After all that we have had
occasion to say about his doctrine of the church, this cannot
mean and does not in fact mean that he intended thereby to
loosen in any sense our connexion with the church in which
we live and whose cult we attend. The momentous statement
that outside the church there is no salvation is found
precisely in his arguments about the visible church which is
the mother of us all. 2 If Calvin makes use of the Augustinian
distinction between the visible and invisible church, it is not
in order to withdraw the visible church partly or wholly
from the rule of Christ and to hand it over to other powers.
He does not intend his description "visible church" to be
taken as a cloak behind which human weakness and sin, and
the deliberate disavowal of the Lordship of Christ, may
undisturbedly work themselves out. We do not see the church
in its totality; for to it belong men who have gone before us
and such as will come after us. 3 Again, not all whom we
now see to be members of the church belong to it in reality.
Much chaff is mixed with the wheat. 4

But it does not lie within our province to make judgments
about this, and hence Calvin does not lapse into idle and
dangerous speculations. He takes over the ideas of Augustine,
not in order to develop a doctrine of two churches, but rather
in order to confront the empirical church which we know

i In. IV, 1,7. 2 In. IV, i, 4. 3 In* IV, i, 2, 7.

4 Ibid.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

with the concept of the invisible church. All this play of
ideas is intended to show clearly that God is really the Lord
of the church and that therefore the church in which we
live is not simply identical in its empirical reality with the
Body of Christ. In this sequence of thought Calvin is moving
on strictly Biblical lines.

Again, the fact that in his major work his arguments
about the elect church, visible only to God, form an integral
part of his consideration of the church as the mother of
believers also suggests that he is using the ideas of the visible
and invisible church in this sense. What he says about the
truth that God alone knows His own is strictly concerned
with the empirical church in which here on earth we live
and from which, Calvin declares, we cannot separate
ourselves without denying God and Christ. 1

5. THE TRUE AND FALSE CHURCH

Let us remind ourselves that he has entitled the first
decisive chapter of the Institutes: Of the true church, with which
we strive to be at one,, since it is the mother of all the pious. The
next chapter, which is intended to support his arguments
against the Roman church, bears the heading: Comparison
of the false church with the true. Here Calvin introduces, as a
further criterion, an antithesis which does not occasion such
common misunderstanding as does the expression visible and
invisible church. Here it becomes plain that there is not one
church in the world which must make its peace, well or ill,
with the powers of this world and over and above this in the
beyond, the true and pure church ; rather there is only one
church which is distinguished from the spurious church by
the fact that it exists to serve Jesus Christ. In spite of the
very relevant distinction between the true and the false
church, Calvin cannot give up the usual critical antithesis of
visible and invisible church. For he is obliged to use the
critical idea of the invisible church precisely with regard to
the church which serves Christ in this world, and proves its

i In. IV, i, 10.
192

THE CHURCH

truth by this service, and is also on account of its activity
in the world a visible church. Precisely if it is the true church
of its Lord it will be ready to undergo the test of that critical
idea and so will witness to the glory of its Head.

The true church, in so far as it is an empirical reality in
this world, is visible for every one. The same considerations
apply to it as to its Lord when He tarried upon the earth.
Against the background of the world the church emerges as
a despicable thing. 1 Just as the world in its enmity to God did
not allow that Jesus was His Son, no more is the church
recognized as the body of the Son who as Head of His com-
munion is also the Lord of the world. But by faith we can
"come to know which is the true church of God; namely,
that which follows the pure truth, i.e. which allows itself to
be guided by the teaching of Moses and the prophets and of
our Lord Jesus Christ". 2 The church which realizes by Holy
Scripture that Christ accepts its service is the true church. It
cannot but be that the church which rightly bears that name
becomes visible for us "where Christ is manifest and His
living Word is heard 53 . 3 For where the Head is, there is also
the body.

Since Jesus Christ as we have already seen comes face
to face with His own in the Word that is preached and the
sacramental signs which are added, Calvin like the Augsburg
confession specified as the marks of the true church the
unadulterated proclamation of the Word and the due
celebration of the sacraments. 4 cc We must maintain that the
church is not otherwise edified than by oral preaching, and
that believers are held together by no other bond of union
than their adherence to the divinely prescribed order of the
church, their hearing of the Word in unity, and their
constant expansion and growth" 5 ; for He wills that in the
words of His witnesses His own voice should resound. 6 In
doctrine, that is to say, in the preaching of Jesus Christ, the
countenance of God shines forth upon us. 7 It is reflected in

10843,361. 20241,482. 3CK 7 , 31.

4 In. IV, i, 9; CH iob, 275, 309. 5 /. iv, i, 5.

6 Ibid. 7 ibid.

193

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

the mirror afforded by the preaching of His Word. 1 Hence
true and pure preaching of the Word which Scripture
testifies to us is the one sign of the true church. Still more
powerfully than the orally preached Word the sacraments
proclaim to us the presence of Jesus Christ. Where in the
midst of the world of visible and tangible things the signs
chosen by Christ Himself appear in due operation, we can
be certain that there Christ and His flock are to be found.
These earthly elements water, bread, and wine have the
effect, so to speak, of making it impossible for the world to
overlook the church.

Since Christ has commanded us to preach the Word and
to administer the sacraments as the means by which He wills
to act upon us and within us, we may be sure that these
instruments are never void and without fruit. 2 Whenever the
Word is preached and the sacraments are administered
according to His will, Christ Himself confronts us in His
living reality, and where He is there also are His own.
These appointed tokens of the presence of Christ guarantee
for us the existence of the church at a specific "locus 33 , even
though false brethren be found within it. 3

On the other hand we cannot deduce from an assembly of
pious men as such, neither from its size nor from its character,
whether we have before us the congregation of the Lord.
The true signs by which the church can be recognized lie as
it were within the disposal of the church, but they are not
contained within the fellowship of believers itself. They are
the means of grace but not the results of grace.

Calvin's objection to all who wished still to recognize the
Roman Church as the true church was that it could not in
any case be the church of Jesus Christ "who makes His own
flock recognizable by other tokens when He says : My sheep
hear my voice". 4 The institution as such does not constitute
the signs, nor does the fact of an existing notable religious
body. The question arises whom that body worships. "The
church of God is distinguished from all corrupt sects by the

i In. IV, i, 5. 2 CR 53, 308. 3 CR 38, 228.

4 CR lob, 149.

194

THE CHURCH

fact that it alone hearkens to His word and is willing to be
guided by His counsels." 1

Nor does Calvin consider that the fruits of piety in the
church are a sure sign by which it can be recognized. How
in such matters could we make a confident judgment? It is
a dangerous temptation to refuse to believe in any church
which does not evince perfect purity of life. 2 Calvin rejected
in an impassioned way the delusive ideal of a spotless church. 3
For in church life it is not a question of striving to attain an
ideal community but of accepting the life in fellowship which
Christ bestows upon us. What is at issue is the living reality
of Christ ; not the formation of a circle of pious men.

The fact that Calvin accepts as valid signs of the true
church only the Word and the sacraments strikingly shows
that his doctrine of the church is a testimony to God's
revelation in Jesus Christ, and not a characterization of the
essence of religious fellowship.

6. THE DANGER OF SCHISM

Because the true church only exists where the pure Word
is preached and the sacraments are rightly administered,
there is constant need for every church to examine itself. 4
The preaching of the Word is unceasingly threatened in this
world. Satan himself is at pains to silence the authentic
proclamation of the Word. 5 Hence it behoves the church to
watch in all earnestness. But even here the adversary
intrudes himself, and attempts to seduce us into applying
false criteria so that we turn our backs on the church
without sufficient reason. 6 Hence we must bear in mind that
when the question of the true church is raised as it must
be raised Satan ever lurks in our path.

In regard to this perilous situation Calvin issued the most
serious warning against a premature secession from the
church for some doctrinal reason or other. We have already

i CR 48, 569- 2 GR 49, 307- 3 & IV, i, 13.

4 In. IV, i, 1 1. 5 Hid.

195

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

heard him affirming that he who abandons the church, his
mother, without sufficient cause, is denying God and His
Christ. 1 For His body must not be torn asunder. Its unity
should find expression even on this earth. Anyone who sees
in Calvin the author of all modern centrifugal tendencies in
church life shows that he has not read a single line of him.
When the Reformer had been expelled from Geneva his
followers refused any longer to take part in the Holy Com-
munion service as celebrated by pastors who were hostile to
him. On this occasion Calvin absolutely implored his friends
to desist from their intention, so that the unity of the church
might not suffer harm. 2 There is no reason to leave the
church simply because the preaching contains some false
elements and strange doctrines are disseminated; "for there
is probably no church which is not marred by some degree
of ignorance". 3

This does not mean that Calvin defended or indeed
extenuated error. 4 Calvin has acquired the reputation of
being a schismatic because of his sharp break with Rome. 5
But the schism can only be made responsibly when "the
church has completely lapsed from the adoration of God and
the preaching of the Word". 6 When the message of salvation
is no longer heard and the sacraments are perverted or set
aside, then Christ is no longer preached and His church no
longer exists in such circumstances, whatever appearances
may be. In such a case the only possible course is secession. 7
Calvin attempted to specify the fundamental points of
Christian doctrine which the church must unconditionally
hold. 8 He means of course those aspects of doctrine which are
essential to salvation. 9 But such an enumeration must always
remain inadequate, because in the last resort the one
essential doctrine of the church which may never be impaired
is nothing other than its testimony to the prophets and the
apostles of Jesus Christ. 10 Once that foundation is abandoned

i In. IV, i, 10. 2 CR iob, 309 3 CR iob, 275, 309.

*In. IV, i, 12. 5/fl. IV, 2, 5. 6 CR iob, 310.

7 In. IV, 2, 2. 8 In. IV, i, 12. $ CR iob, 354.
10 In. IV, 2, i.

196

THE CHURCH

it can no longer be called a church. When Christ ceases to
be known as the living Lord, then, in spite of its outward
forms and ordinances, the church no longer exists. 1 But even
so Calvin's reserve in passing judgment is clear from the fact
that in the Roman church itself he perceived traces of the
true people of God, because it held fast to the sacrament of
baptism. 2

On this whole question it is to be noted that those who
believe in Christ are not in danger of schism. 3 They are
convinced of the unity of the body of Christ into which they
are incorporated. If they are compelled to secede, there is
no break up of church unity but a discrimination of the true
and the false.

7. CHURCH DISCIPLINE

Implicit in the church's task to preach in purity the Word of
God and rightly to administer the sacraments is not only the
clear necessity of unremitting vigilance in self-examination,
and the dangerous possibility of schism, but also the
disciplinary duty of the church with regard to its individual
members. In Word and sacramental sign Jesus Christ wills
to meet His own as they experience the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. Hence it is impossible that those should take
part in the assembly of the congregation who show by word
or deed that they live a life of impenitence in open rebellion
against the word of the preacher. In order to obviate
contempt of the Word it is imperative that pastor and elders
should care for each individual member of the flock and
admonish each in particular by the solemn message of the
divine Word. 4 Such admonition of the individual forms
the basis of church discipline. If any one refuses to hear the
special warnings thus addressed to him, and openly rejects
the Word of God, then in the last resort he must be excluded
from the fellowship of the faithful so that Christ who dwells
in its midst be not blasphemed and dishonoured. 5 Thus

i In. IV, 2, 3. 2 CR lob, 308 ; In. IV, 2, 1 1. 3 CR 45, 665.

4 In. IV, 12, 2. * in. IV, 12, 5.

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THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

exclusion from the Holy Communion does not mean that a
specially severe punishment is administered to the one con-
cerned after other attempts to reform him have failed. It
implies rather that the notorious sinner may not present
himself at the service where Christ offers His presence to His
own. " For it is assuredly true that any minister who wittingly
admits to the sacrament a person whom he should properly
refuse is as guilty as if he were to cast the body of the Lord
away to the dogs." 1 Such church discipline is necessary for
the sake of the Lord of the church. By seeking to preserve
the honour of Christ in the church this disciplinary action
serves to call the sinner to repentance, and that with the
utmost seriousness, while at the same time it secures others
against the temptation to lapse. 2

Thus church discipline does not exist in order to promote
moral conduct in the church, or in order to attain purity of
church life. We have seen how sharply Calvin disallows such
endeavours. But his criterion that the true church is to be
recognized solely by the purity of its preaching of the Word
and by its due celebration of the sacraments does not mean
that he did not think the inner life of the church important.
This is not the case provided that the church has already
been summoned to obedience by the preaching of the Word.
But whether the church is a true church or not cannot be
decided by the moral condition of its life; it must be decided
solely by asking whether it preaches the Word. That is an
important consideration for us ; for the sake of our salvation
we must be clear whether a church, be it the local church
or the church in its totality, is genuine or not. Hence God
has given us the two infallible tests we have mentioned that
we may recognize the truth. 3 The degree of spirituality
which the church evinces is not an indubitable sign. "For
those who seemed lost and utterly abandoned are by the
mercy of God brought back into the way of life, and such as
seemed most advanced often fall." 4 Hence in regard to
individuals we can make no certain judgment whether they

1 In. IV, 12, 5, cf. CR 13, 76; 14, 606; 17, 452.

2 In. IV, 12, 5. 3 /. IV, i, 8.

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THE CHURCH

are Christians or not ; we can only judge them in love. We
must "regard as members of the church all such as testify
to God and Christ by their confession of the faith, the
example of their lives, and their participation in the
sacraments". 1

The knowledge, both necessary and consoling to us, that
the church exists where Christ is preached, in spite of all
shame and weakness, does not, however, release us from the
task of discipline, from vigilant attention to the life of the
church and of every single one of its members ; not with a
view to achieving some sort of moral standard but for the
sake of Christ and His honour. If in any church His name is
proclaimed, while His Lordship is denied, and nothing
happens to those who rebel against Him, then the Church is
endangered in the extreme. Calvin did not include the fact
of the exercise of church discipline among the signs by which
the true church may be recognized. Here again the Christo-
centric direction of his theology becomes clear. The reality
of the church depends not upon our standards, even though
they may have been commanded us, but solely upon the
work of Christ accomplished towards us and within us through
Word and Sacrament. Yet Calvin maintained that the
existence of the church can hardly be preserved apart from
the exercise of discipline. 2 "As the saving message of Christ
is the soul of the church, so its discipline is like the sinews by
which the members of the body each in its place are held
together." 3 If the church allows each member to behave as
he pleases, if it permits the government of man to be
established in its midst, then it is threatened as a community
of the Lord and its complete dissolution is imminent. 4

8. THE ORDER OF THE CHURCH

In Calvin's description of the essence of the church it
becomes at once plain that the church has an order. This is
not due to the fact that it lives in this everyday world and of

i In. IV, i, 8. 2 CR lob, 154.

3 In. IV, 12, i ; CR 13, 76. * /. IV, 12, i.

199

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

necessity must adopt something of the forms of its social life.
Rather the church has an order because it is the mother of
believers and the body of Christ here below. We have
sketched out the fundamental thoughts of Calvin on this
point in the two first sections, and propose now to call
attention to one or two matters of detail.

The order of the church is implicit in the service which it
is called upon to fulfil. Both as a local church and as a totality
it is not built up from powers inherent in its common life,
but from the functions which devolve upon it. The life of the
church is ordered from above, from Christ, who acts through
His Spirit and His gifts. Neither a single individual nor the
society as a whole has any controlling power over the
organization of the church. Calvin thinks that the assembled
believers have just as little to say about the matter as any
single member. The right order is imparted when all even to
the least are obedient to Christ as sovereign King 1 ; when
they are guided by His Spirit 2 and the church thus manifests
itself as His body, as the communion of the saints in which
each serves the other according to the gift which is given
him. The order of the church is the true one when it expresses
the fact that Christ is the sole Lord and Master of His own. 3

What are the marks of such an order ? In answering this
question Calvin refers us to Scripture and says that we must
adhere to its precepts. 4 He followed his own injunction, but
not in the sense that he deduced from Scripture principles
for the ordering of church life. Hence he did not project a
church order on the basis of such guiding principles and put
it into practice at Geneva. Calvin was far removed from so
misunderstanding the Bible and from the reliance on works
which such an approach would imply.

Yet, of course, Calvin appreciated as a result of his
Scriptural studies that various offices are necessary for the
proper organization of the church. All these offices have the
one purpose of proclaiming Christ and His reign ; for only
so is the church truly edified. The most important office is

i CR 48, 357. 2 CR lob, 308.

3 CR 52, 147; 48, 188; 52, 95, 172. * CR n, 281.

200

THE CHURCH

that of the pastors to whom is entrusted the duty of preaching
and of administering the sacraments. 1 Closely allied to it is
the office of the doctors. 2 Their duty is constantly to test the
preaching of the church by the norm of Holy Scripture and
to train future ministers. 3 The function of the pastors and
doctors is the most essential because Christ Himself wills to
speak to us out of the mouth of those who bear these offices. 4
"Without pastors and doctors there is no guidance in the
church." 5 But the function of the elders who together with
the pastors to be sure Calvin sees in the latter not merely
preachers but, as the name implies, shepherds of the flock 6
exercise discipline, 7 proclaims the Lordship of Christ; for its
effect is to restrain evildoers. Finally the deacons in the
performance of their duties show that Christ is merciful
towards the wretchedness and weakness of our body and
satisfies our earthly needs. 8

It should already have become clear from this short
account of the offices of the church that Calvin by dis-
tinguishing these four functions did not attempt to construct
a system of orders and to base it upon Scriptural references.
But he recognized from Holy Scripture that these various
functions must be permanently fulfilled if the church is to
expand and be preserved. In this connexion it is to be noted
that for Calvin an order of the church is not a given
prerogative but, in the New Testament sense, a ministry. 9
Hence at times he refers to the various modes of service 10 or
functions n to be fulfilled in the church rather than to offices.

How little rigid is Calvin's doctrine of order can be seen
from the fact that he recognizes special powers and functions
to be characteristic of special seasons in the church ; and
hence he allows for extraordinary offices, 12 as, for example,
the apostolate or the prophetic office or the gift of healing

i In. IV, 3, 4. 2 In. IV, i, i ; 4, i ; CR 51, x 9 8.

3 In. IV, 3, 4; CR 51, 198. 4 /. IV, i, i. 5 CR 51, 198.

6 CR lob, 154. 7 in. IV, 3, 8; CR 52, 315.

8 In. IV, 3, 9 ; CR 48, 96, 265. 9 In. IV, 3, 2.

10 Official IV, 3, 8; CR 51, 198. " Functions*: IV, 3, 4; 46, 23.

12 Ibid. CR 49, 506; OS 5, 50, 17.

SOI

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

the sick. But it must especially be noted that as regards the
permanently necessary offices Calvin affirmed as self-
explanatory that more than one of these can be exercised
by the same person. The pastor must in any case fulfil also
the duty of an elder, while that of the doctor is also open to
him, 1 and similarly the doctor can serve as a preacher and
pastor. 2 In the final edition of his Institutes even, Calvin
speaks in one important passage of three rather than of four
orders in the church, reckoning the office of pastor and that
of doctor as the same. 3

Of course it must be said that offices may not arbitrarily
be accumulated in the hands of one person. The pre-requisite
for the bestowal of an office is that the person concerned shall
have the necessary capabilities. 4 And in this respect we have
already seen, in discussing the church as the body of Christ,
that the Lord does not bestow all gifts on one individual but
distributes the gifts of the Holy Ghost in such a way that
each member is dependent on others, so that the coherence
and the unity of the church are promoted. 5 Human ambition
and desire to rule must be checked. "We must therefore
realize that in the church we are assigned our places by the
Lord in such a way that we must serve each other under the
one Head ; we must realize also that we are so endowed with
a manifold diversity of gifts that we serve the Lord in all
modesty and humility and bear in mind the honour of Him
who has given us all that we possess." 6 This is why Calvin
so much stresses the fact that the ministry of preaching in its
varied aspects should be undertaken by variously gifted
persons; the gifts which Christ has imparted to each
individual are to be respected and thus "the sole Lordship
and pre-eminence of Christ" 7 must be secured and His
position as Head of the church recognized. For Calvin's
doctrine of orders the New Testament vision of the church as
the body of Christ is fundamental, while the thought of the

i In. IV, 3, 4. 2 CR 51, 198. 3 fa jy, 4, i.

4C# 5 i, 196; IV, 3, 12.

5 CR 51, 192; 49, 497 f., 238, 367, 503; 48, 186; In. IV, 6, 10.
CR 49, 367. 7 CR 48, 1 86.

202

THE CHURCH

priesthood of all believers, which only too easily can be under-
stood as a common possession of all the necessary gifts, plays
no part in his doctrine. Here again the strong Christo-centric
tendency of his theology becomes clear.

Although the ministry and especially that of the preacher
remains always a service, and its members are servants and
unprofitable instruments of God, 1 yet its authority must be
recognized and it must be had in honour of men. This is so
because God Himself, as we have already seen, wills to act
towards us mediately through the agency of men. 2 Naturally
the dignity of the individual minister varies according to the
character of the gifts and offices; but it is always a fact. 3
Calvin declares that the Lord wills that His servants should
be regarded plainly as His messengers. 4 "To them is
applicable the word : Whosoever hears you hears me : whoso-
ever despises you despises me." 5 The preachers of the Word
"represent the Person of the Son of God". 6 Hence Calvin
could dare to say that by his ministry Christ ruled His
flock. 7 He knew, of course, that the authority and dignity
of the office did not spring from the man to whom it is
committed. This authority and dignity are rather inherent in
the office itself, or better still in the Word of God, to serve
which the person concerned is called. 8

No one should presume of himself to seize the authority
and dignity of any office. 9 For the exercise of any office it is
indispensable that one should be truly called. 10 This calling
is decided by election. 11 For an understanding of Calvin's
doctrine it is extremely instructive to observe how he con-
ceives this election. It does not mean that by the will of a
majority is to be decided what person is to hold any particular
office in the church, whilst the independent power of the
individual wishing to hold such office must be repressed.
The choice does indeed take place through the agency of
men; but it is not they who properly speaking decide

1 CR 49, 350; 50, 235. 2 See above. 3 CR 50, 190.

4 CR iob ? 352. 5 in. IV, 3, 3. 6 CR 27, 688.

7 CR 1 1, 121. 8 In. IV, 8, 2. 9 l nt IV, 3, 10; CR 55, 59.

n. IV, 3, 10. 11 In. IV, 3, 15; CR 48, 120.

203

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

anything in the matter. Their own wishes are just as much
excluded as the initiating impulse of the individual who
considers himself to be the right man for the duty. The
decision concerns the Lord of the church in that He
distributes the gifts which are requisite for the offices in
question. 1 The choice is nothing other than the recognition
of this decision, seeing that the one who possesses the
necessary suitability for the post concerned is only described
and indicated. 2 This state of affairs is confirmed by the fact
that the choice is only undertaken after prayer. Since the
electors are not in a position to discover the right man whom
they need, they ask God for the Spirit of counsel and
understanding. 3 If this method is not followed, if they do not
proceed to elect the bearer of office with the greatest care
but prefer to appoint any one to the service of the church
as they please, then a great injury is done to God Himself. 4
In particular it is implicit in Calvin's idea of the church that
it is impossible for any one individual to appoint to office in
accordance with his own discretion. The choice funda-
mentally concerns the church as a whole, that is, the com-
munity of Christ. 5 But in order that it should not simply be
a triumph for the will of the majority but a real choice of the
church, Calvin states in regard to practical procedure that
there should be co-operation between the existing pastors and
the congregation as a whole. 6

It is also incumbent upon the church to see that the one
thus elected to office rightly exercises his functions. 7 Only he
can claim obedience who proves himself to be a faithful
servant of Christ. 8 Appointment by the church does not in
itself guarantee this. If we wish to know who is a servant of
Christ, we must consider both aspects calling and fidelity
in the conduct of office. 9 But it is with the utmost reserve
that Calvin speaks of the possibility that the church may
depose those servants of whom it becomes persuaded that

i In. IV, 3, ir. 2/n. IV, 3, 15, 12; CR 12, 296.

3 In. IV, 3, 12. 4 CR 48, 121. 5 CR 48, 120,

* In. IV, 3, 15. 7 CR 49, 361. Ibid.

9 49,305, 362; 52, 172.

204

THE CHURCH

they have insinuated themselves into office without possessing
the inward conviction of a divine call. In such action the
risks are too great that the sacred dignity of the office and in
the last resort the honour of its Giver may be violated. 1

In no case may anyone be removed from office "or the
recommendation of some other authority" without the
rightful judgment of the church. 2 If without cause we compel
a man to leave the church, then we are doing wrong not only
to a man but to God Himself; for the person concerned was
called to his office not merely by men but through them by
God Himself. 3 Calvin required the servants of the Word to
be fully answerable for the right exercise of their office : " It
would be more than infamous if we pastors who exhort the
flock to shed their blood as a testimony to Christ are made
unsteady by any kind of fear. For what could be said if we,
in order to maintain our power and prestige, were to fall
away from Christ and the gospel ? " 4 If anyone, however,
relinquishes his post deliberately, he is a traitor. "If we are
subjected to compulsion it is not our duty to resist unless the
church requires us expressly to expose ourselves to every
danger; for then it would be better to die a hundred times
than to fail to respect the counsels of those who are prepared
to follow Christ." 5 Because the holder of an office has not
taken that office by his own exertions, but has received it by
invitation of the church, it is not only he but the whole
Christian society which is concerned to defend and secure it.

Whoever subverts the order of the church is fighting against
God. 6 " The church should realize this for its comfort but also
for its admonition. If a member of the church is not content
with the position assigned to him and presumes to undertake
further tasks, then, like the giants, he is declaring war on
God." 7 The threat to church order by attacks from without
or by encroachments on the part of individual members
within is something of momentous import. The church order

1 CR 55, 59. 2 CR 15, 213; loa, 223. *CRu> 295.

4 CR 12, 689; cf. ii, 625, 707. 5 CR 13, 156, 194.

6 CR 49, 238. 7 CR 49, 503.

205

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

which Calvin outlines rests upon the divine command. 1 We
refer to the order which arises from the fact that God wills
to act towards us through human agency, and which gains
articulation and unity because God imparts varied gifts for
manifold functions and thus binds us to each other through
our mutual service.

9. CHURCH CEREMONIES

From what precedes it should have become clear that
Calvin understands the organization of the church wholly in
the light of Jesus Christ its Head. This decisive orientation
of his thought is suggested also by his discussion of other
questions concerning the structure of the church. If he warns
us against secession on the ground of doctrinal disagreements,
still less, he thinks, should there be divisions arising from
differences about the forms of church life and worship. It
is not necessary for the unity of the church that everywhere
the same ecclesiastical rites and customs should prevail.
Because the members of the church are Christ's own flock,
they enjoy freedom in this matter. 2

But this does not mean that occasionally a question of form
and rite may not become a decisive issue. It is well known
that Calvin opposed any co-ordination of Genevan sacra-
mental usage with that of Berne it was a question of
baptismal fonts and wafers and preferred to leave the city
rather than give way on the point. But he was not primarily
concerned about the use of fonts and wafers. "That is an
indifferent matter which each church is free to decide." 3
Rather it was a question of the freedom of the church over
against the state, which insisted on this degree of
co-ordination.

For another reason Calvin did not so keenly defend the
sacramental usage of Geneva. He says for example in regard
to the celebration of the Lord's Supper : "As for the outward
details of the action, whether believers should take the bread

i CR 49, 238, 2 CR 14, 285; 15, 538. 3 CR lob, 189.

206

THE CHURCH

in their hand or not, should distribute it among themselves
or whether each should eat the portion just as it is given to
him, whether they should hand back the cup to the hand of
the deacon or pass it to their neighbour, whether the bread
should be leavened or unleavened, whether red or white wine
should be used all this is of no importance. These things are
merely material instruments about which we can decide
freely." 1 Under no circumstances must we idolize what are
after all simply the forms of worship. Otherwise we are no
longer serving the Lord of the church in the freedom of the
children of God but are serving idols in the spirit of bondage.
"It would be extraordinary indeed if in those matters in
which the Lord has granted us freedom, in order that we
might have greater scope for the edification of the church,
we were to strive to attain a slavish uniformity without
really caring about the true ordering of church life. For
when we appear before the judgment seat of God in order to
give account of our deeds we shall not be asked about
ceremonies. In any case, such uniformity in outward matters
will receive no consideration ; we shall rather be asked about
the right use of freedom. But the right use will be that one
which has contributed most to the edification of the church." 2
Such is the opinion of Calvin who has been branded as
legalistic. The church does not live and grow by strict
conformity with specific forms. It does not live at all by our
works, but solely by the Word of God. Now and then it is
even good if complete uniformity does not prevail "so that
it may be manifest that the Christian faith does not consist
in such matters". 3 Every structure of church life can only
have the purpose of contributing to the strengthening of the
church through the power of the Word. That is the decisive
viewpoint which should determine our use of ecclesiastical
custom, and ritual.

This consideration too should prevent us from arbitrarily
creating new forms of church organization and worship as
we please and making innovations. The church is free in such

i In. IV, 17, 43. 2 OS i, 432. 3 CR 14, 285; 15, 538.

207

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

matters because it is bound to its Head, Jesus Christ.
Everything must serve Him.

IO. THE PERILS TO WHICH CHURCH ORDER IS EXPOSED

However true it is that the mission of the church implies an
order according to which its worship should be carried out,
and important as it is that it should be properly organized
and governed, Calvin realizes nevertheless that the shape of
the church is not always evident. 1 The church is, of course,
not at home in the world, it is on its pilgrimage and has not
yet attained its goal; it is therefore threatened by every sort
of danger and enemy without and within. It may be the
case that in certain periods of history the church can find
expression only in the form of house-communities. 2 God often
marvellously sustains the church in hiddenness and
obscurity. 3 This imposes a severe test on its members. God
wishes at times to teach them that it is He alone who protects
the church with His power and apart from all human aid, 4
In fact when it seems on the point of perishing "it is wonder-
fully preserved as in a tomb" though it is no longer visible. 5
Even in the destruction of church order Christ manifests His
sovereignty, even when in the opinion of men the church is
declining His name is praised. In such circumstances the
church will again emerge one day because it has God as its
ever watchful Guardian. 6 He will "miraculously gather it
together after it has been scattered, that it may grow up
again as one body". 7 God so upholds the church "that He
maintains it even when the whole world is perishing". 8

These considerations of Calvin show that for him the being
of the church is not dependent on any specific form or
structure of church life. If we wish to judge by the appear-
ance of things and "to believe the evidence of our eyes, we
shall soon come to think that the church is finished. Since
the Lord visits His own with the greater punishment all

i OS 3, 23, 38; CR 38, 597. 2 OS i, 326. 3 CR 40, 237.

4 CR 12, 552, 513. 5 CR 40, 387. 6 CR 12, 25.

7 CR 38, 597. CR 12, 525.

208

THE CHURCH

attempts at rescue appear impossible ; and since the various
sicknesses of the church seem to us incurable, we should soon
be comfortless if the promise of God did not come to us." 1
Where the Word of God is living, there we are called into the
church in spite of the wretchedness and apparent hopelessness
of its plight. There the church of Jesus Christ comes alive.

II. THE CHURCH MILITANT

Calvin was under no illusions about the fact that the
church is committed to warfare in this world and must
always be militant. In its own strength the church cannot
win through. The power of endurance is not promised to the
church as such, but only to the church in so far as it abides
in Christ. 2 In Him alone will it be able to overcome its
enemies. 3 Because under the ensign of Christ we fight as
victors, confident in His strength, we may aspire to be
triumphant. 4 And if the church appears to succumb : "it will
remain healthy even in the valley of the shadow of death,
and in ultimate despair it will nevertheless be freed by the
power and help of God". 5 Calvin set no store on so-called
extensions of the front in battle, 6 but trusted wholly in the
promise of God and based all his hopes on Christ alone :
"One thing alone will suffice to strengthen us, namely, the
fact that we have a leader who is so invincible that the
oftener he is attacked the more he emerges victorious." 7 Yet
at times Calvin sighed about the protracted and severe
nature of the struggle. He had no desire to evade it in order
to enjoy rest and peace. " We shall not grow weary of fighting
under the sign of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ; for that is
more valuable than all the victories of this world." 8 But Calvin
saw that the church was engaged in eschatological warfare,

i CR 42, 578. 2 CR 48, 194. * CK 48, 277.

4 CR 13,597- 5C#4i, 289.

6CR 27, 614. Cf. also his statement: "quam perversum sit
multitudine ecclesiam metiri, ac si in turba consisteret eius dignitas"

(CR 15, 199)-
7 CR 13, 286. * CR 12, 561, 659, 552, 513.

209

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

and hence longed for the end which God will bring in
when the church, delivered at last from all strife, will rest in
its Lord as one who has overcome. This longing stirred in him
daily. 1 This is shown by the prayers which at the close of each
lecture he offered up in the presence of the students. Usually
they end by looking forward to the consummation, "to the
coming glory of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ". 2

i CR 21, 161; In. Ill, 9, 5.

2J. Calvin, Gebete zu den Vorlesungen uber Jeremia und Ezeckiel, trans.
W. Dahm, Munich, 1934. The publishers of CR have unfortunately
published the lectures on the books of the Bible without these prayers.

910

Chapter 14

THE SACRAMENTS

WHEREAS the fifth article of the Augustana reads:
C To win such faith God has instituted the order of
preaching and has given the gospel and sacraments
as means by which He imparts the gift of the Holy Ghost", 2
Calvin begins his doctrine of the church with the observation
that God has instituted "shepherds and teachers in order to
instruct His servants by their words" and then continues in
characteristic fashion: "Above all He has instituted the
sacraments, of which we know in fact that they are
efficacious means of grace means of maintaining and con-
solidating our faith.' 5 3 The administration of the sacraments

1 Joachim Beckmann: Vom Sakrament bei Calvin: Die Sakramentslehre
Calvins in ihren Beziehungen zu Augustin, Tubingen, 1926. D. J. Groot:
"Het effect van het gebuik der sacramenten voor ongeloovigen volgens
Calvijn" (Vox TheoL, 7, pp. 144-49). Jean de Saussure: "La notion
reTormee des sacremens" (Bull, de la Soc. de VHist. du protest, frangais, 84,
1935; pp. 243-65). W. Boudriot: "Calvins Tauflehre im Licht der
katholischen Sakramentslehre" (Ref. Kirchenztg. y 80, 1930, pp. 153 f.).
Alfred de Quervain: "Der theologische Gehalt von Calvins Tauf-
formular" (ibid., 84, 1934, PP- 261-3). W. Boudriot: "Calvins
Abendmahlslehre" (ibid., 79, 1929, pp. 90 ff.). Wilhelm Niesel: Calvins
Lehre vom Abendmahl, 2nd edn., Munich, 1935: "Das Calvinische
Anliegen in der Abendmahlslehre" (Ref. Kirchenztg^ 82 , 1932, pp.
49-51). E. Pache: "La sainte cene selon Calvin" (Rev. de The'ol. et de
Phil, N.S. 24, 1936, pp. 179-201). Ernst Pfisterer: "Calvins Stellung
zum Krankenabendmahl" (Ref. Kirchenztg., 85, 1935, pp. 268).

2 Die Bekenntnisschr. d. ev. luth. Kirche, Gottingen, 1930, p. 57, 1 ; see esp.
Lat. text, "institutum est ministerium docendi evangelii et porrigendi
sacramenta".

3/II.IV,I, I.

SJII

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

is not simply placed in the hands of the pastors as something
ancillary to preaching (despite the fact that Calvin regards
them alone as having authority to administer the same) 1 but
they are stressed as something of particular importance. The
focus of church life, that upon which the act of worship
depends, is not simply the Word of God proceeding from
human lips, but also and above all the sacrament in its
objective reality independent of man. Whereas the Word can
and must be preached to individuals also, the celebration of
the sacrament requires absolutely the presence and the
participation of the congregation. 2 It is an act of worship in
which the whole community engages, even though the
distribution of the sacred elements is entrusted to the servant
of the Word alone. Calvin regards the church as essentially
a Eucharistic fellowship. "It is certain that a church cannot
be regarded as well ordered and governed if the holy meal
instituted by our Lord is not often celebrated and well
attended*" 3

I. THE MEANING OF THE RITE

Seeing that Calvin lays such emphasis on the sacrament,
we must at once ask what he means by the rite. It is a
"token of divine grace towards us confirmed by an outward
sign". 4 Hence the Eucharist does not consist only of its
earthly species. Rather its fundamental nature is determined
by the divine word of promise spoken by Christ when He
instituted the service. His word alone lifts the sacramental
tokens out of the mass of earthly things which form our
material environment. He declares to us for what purpose
He has set aside the elements of water, bread, and wine. 5
In themselves and apart from the divine promise of grace

1 In. IVj 3, 4; it is typical of Calvin's strict idea of the ministry that
he definitely disallows baptism by private persons or women (cf. CR
45, 822). Baptism by women is invalid: CR 17, 453; roa, 54; cf. n,
625, 706.

2 Cf. CR 15, 265, and next note. 3 jfo. IV, 17, 43, 44.
4/n. IV, 14, i. 5/ n . IV, 17, ii.

212

THE SACRAMENTS

these signs mean nothing. No efficacy is inherent in them as
such by which they might acquire for us sacramental
significance and be of use. 1 In fact it must be said: "If the
visible symbols are offered without the Word, they are not
only powerless and dead but even harmful jugglery." 2
"What meaning could it have if the whole assembly of the
faithful were to pour out a little bread and wine without
proclaiming aloud that heavenly truth which says that the
flesh of Christ is meat indeed and His blood drink indeed ? " 3
Let us recollect the fact that to-day Christ reveals His will
through the words spoken by men. Thus it is not sufficient
that in the celebration of the sacrament His words should
be read out. The latter must be interpreted in a sermon, 4 for
only the real preaching of the divine promises "leads the
people as it were by the hand to those heavenly places which
the symbols shadow forth and whither they are intended to
guide us". 5 For faith and just in this connexion Calvin
stresses the point comes by preaching, 6 When the promise
of God rings out, when a voice from heaven is really heard,
when God Himself speaks to man, then faith is made steady,
comforted, and strengthened. 7 Thus the certitude of salva-
tion is not grounded in the sacraments in so far as by these
we mean earthly signs and tokens. 8 The Word of God alone
is the foundation of our faith. 9

But what is the purpose of outward signs if the Word itself
secures our salvation? "Because our faith is slender and
weak, it is soon shaken, tottering unsteadily, and finally falls
if it is not supported on every side and held upright in every
possible way. And so in this respect the merciful Lord
according to His unfathomable goodness adjusts Himself to
our mode of apprehension : since we are fleshly and ever
creep on the earth, cling to the things of sense and think of
nothing spiritual, far less understand it, He is not vexed to
lead us to Himself precisely by means of these earthly
elements, and even holds before us in the things of flesh a

1 7n. IV, 14, 3. 2C#9, 21. 3C 9 , 21 ff.

4 In. IV, 14, 4. 5 Hid. 6 In. IV, 14, 5.

7 QS i, 137. s CR 7, 693, 702 ; 12, 728. * In. IV, 14, 6.

213

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

mirror of spiritual values.' 3 1 God knows that we are not
naturally inclined to seek Him, and hence He confronts us
just in this earthly world here below which we love so
much. Not only does He call us by His word but He offers
us as media tangible palpable things. In speaking His word
He claims for Himself our faculty of hearing, but through
sacramental signs He claims also our other senses, 2 so that
we cannot possibly escape His gift. We have seen that in
the human word of preaching God condescends to us sinners.
In the Eucharist His merciful condescension to the measure
of our everyday realities attains its utmost extent. If we refuse
His gift in the face of such kindness we are piling a very heavy
load of guilt upon ourselves. 3

These earthly elements so we have understood are like
a mirror in which we see reflected spiritual values. They have
this advantage over .the word that as in plastic art they hold
before our very eyes the promises of God. 4 Water, bread,
and wine are tokens, figures, and symbols, of what is promised
to us in the word. 5 Of course this does not mean that they
should induce in us a mood of pious contemplation. During
the celebration of the sacrament they are not merely visible;
they are put into operation and in that process exert their
due effect upon us. These symbols have a specific purpose.
They express to us the promises in such a tangible way that
we are as certain of them as if they were before our very
eyes. 6 Their role is to seal for us and to make effectual within
us God's promise of grace and salvation. 7 Hence Calvin
compares the sacramental signs with a seal affixed to an
original document in order to confirm its contents. 8 The
elements render valid for us and make effective this divine
promise.^ Thus, strictly speaking, we should not say that the
tokens authorize and make effectual the promise itself. "The
truth of God is sufficiently firm and assured in itself not to
require confirmation from any other source than its own

i In. IV, 14, 3; CR 6, 114; 28, 251. 2 CR 46, 679.

3 Ibid. *In. IV, 14, 5. 5 i n% jy, 17, i, 11.

In. IV, 17, i. 7 fa iv, 17, 4; 14, 2. 8 In, IV, 14, 5.

9 In. IV I4,3;C#20, 423 f.

214

THE SACRAMENTS

authority." 1 It is not the Word of God which in itself requires
the service of these earthly things; but we need them in
view of our ignorance and dullness and weakness. The sacra-
mental signs must plastically represent to us what the words
say, in order to arouse in us effective belief.

From this it is clear that the earthly tokens do not possess
any intrinsic value. It is not the case that alongside .the
proclamation of the Word there is another mode of pro-
clamation by signs. Rather it is that from the start the signs
gather all their value from their vital connexion with the
divine promise. They are nothing more than appendices to
the Word, 2 or, as Calvin says in commenting on Augustine,
"visible words 5 '. 3 Their purpose is in the service of the Word
to preach the same thing as the latter.

The sacraments have this appointed part to play and it
must not be denied. Their task is not simply "to maintain
faith but also to increase it". Of course it must be noted that
they do not fulfil this purpose by means of any power residing
within them. In comparison with the divine grace imparted to
us they are nothing more nor less than "instrumental

causes". 4

It is just here that Calvin joins issue with the Reformers
of Zurich and their friends, Zwingli refused to entertain the
notion that faith receives anything through the sacraments.
He thought that such a doctrine violated the honour of God
and implied a false view of faith. The Holy Spirit alone can
generate faith, and it will not do to connect the reality of the
spirit with material things. And as far as man is concerned
he has everything if he has faith. But if he does not believe,
the sacraments cannot help him. 5 Zwingli thinks that the
Lord's Supper has merely the significance of enabling the
believing congregation through the use of the signs to
remember vividly the saving work of God, to confess its
faith thereby and vow to pursue a Christian manner of life. 6

i In. IV, 14, 3. 2 ibid. 3 In. IV, 14, 6.

4 CR 7, 494. 5 CR Zw. opp. 3, 760 ff.

6 Cf. my essay: "Zwinglis *spatere* Sakramentsanschauung" (Theol.
Blatter, u, 1932, 12 ff.).

215

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Calvin, of course, admitted that faith is the proper effect
of the Holy Spirit. "But instead of the one benefit wrought
by God on our behalf which they praise we count precisely
three: For first, the Lord teaches and instructs us by His
word; then He confirms our faith through the sacraments,
and finally He sheds into our hearts the light of the Holy
Spirit, and so opens them to the power of Word and sacra-
ment. 53 l We are dependent on this regular channel of hearing
and instruction, 2 and are referred to the sacraments which
the Lord has instituted for our soul's health, 3 although it is
undeniable that God retains the freedom to accomplish His
saving work towards man if it so pleases Him without any of
these means. This freedom of God does not give us permission
to wait for secret inspirations of the Holy Spirit. 4 We must
hold fast to the means by which Christ wills to be present
with us to-day. In this connexion it is wrong altogether to
reject the sacraments as means of grace. Calvin pointed out
to Bullinger that "the word of man too is an instrument of
God for the promotion of our salvation, although in itself it
is just as dead as the sacramental sign". 5 The human word of
the preacher as such has no advantage over the earthly
element. Neither can it intrinsically help us. The word of
man is an instrument of God in so far as it testifies to the one
Word, and the sacrament is a means of grace inasmuch as it
expresses the word of promise and seals it for us, 6 and both
channels can only be of any avail to us if the Holy Spirit
makes them effectual within us.

But if the revelation of God in flesh implies that Christ wills
to act towards us to-day through word and sacramental sign,
then the second objection of the Zwinglians falls to the
ground. There is no such thing as a faith that in itself is firm
and complete. Faith is utterly dependent on the word of
preaching and the use of the sacraments. Apart from the
means of grace it would not arise within us and remain
alive ; for in this world it is threatened on all sides. Calvin

i In. IV, 14, 8. 2 See above, p. 214, note 2.

3 CR 9, 29 ; 15, 227. 4 CR 9, 29. 5 CR 7, 704.

6 Ibid.

THE SACRAMENTS

reminds us of the word: "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine
unbelief", 1 and says that the fact that we are all sinners is
sufficient proof of the imperfection of our faith. 2 Placed as we
are in the midst of the temptations and assaults of this world,
we need too just those sacramental means of grace which God
has given us which confirm for us the favour of God and
"in this way support, maintain, consolidate, and increase
our faith 55 . 3

2. THE OPERATION OF THE SACRAMENTS

After hearing about the meaning of the sacraments as
expressed in the words of promise, we must now turn to
consider the nature and effect of the sacraments themselves
as implied in the word of promise and sealed by the signs.
Here we come to the heart of the Calvinistic doctrine of the
sacraments, and are faced by the question whether the
sacraments really convey a gift to us or whether they merely
exercise an effect upon our faith as has mostly been
supposed. Anyone who has the remotest idea of Calvin's
teaching about our appropriation of salvation must know
straight away how he answers this question: "In proportion
as by the ministry of the sacraments the true knowledge of
Christ is implanted, strengthened, and increased in us, and
in proportion as we attain perfect fellowship with Himself
and enjoy the benefit of His gifts, so is their effect upon us. 55 4
The operation of the sacraments depends entirely on the fact
that they bring us into relationship with Christ and bind us
to Him. For Calvin believes that all spiritual effects have
their ground in the one Mediator, and thus can be
experienced by us only in so far as we stand in vital
relationship with Him. 5

But this insight does not only flow from the whole system
of Calvinistic doctrine ; it springs above all from the words of
promise which are joined to the sacraments. If in the Last

i In. IV, 14, 7. 2 Hid. 3 Rid. 4 fa IV, 14, 16.

5 OS i, 507.

217

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Supper we are told that we must take the body of the Lord,
then in fact this means that the Lord is really our Lord ; and
if we are further told that we must eat it, it means that He
becomes fully one with us. The Word of the Lord cannot
deceive us falsely. What God says takes effect. Because in the
Last Supper a promise of God is declared, we must know
that what is promised us will really be conveyed to us "not
otherwise than if Christ Himself were present to our view
and taken in our hands ". 1

The same applies to the sacramental signs themselves. God
does not intend to deceive in them either. 2 Because it is the
Lord who has given them to us they are completely different
from all other signs in this world. For example, bread and
wine do not symbolize to us the presence of Christ as the
picture of a man brings the latter visually before us. 3 The
material species do not merely suggest to us the spiritual
reality in order to strengthen our assurance and faith ; they
also effectually convey it to us. If the breaking of bread is
intended to show forth plainly that we are made participants
in the body of Christ, we must not doubt that the Lord truly
bestows on us His body. 4 If He causes the visible token to be
presented to us, then He gives us also His living body. We
are made to share no less truly in His life than in the bread
which is put in our mouths. 5 By the symbols of bread and
wine the real presence of Christ is conveyed to us. 6 They are
not the thing represented, and must be carefully distinguished
from the latter ; but they are instruments and organs by which
the Lord gives us His body and His blood. 7

Just as certainly as the words and the species of the
Lord's Supper do not promise us an accession of vaguely con-
ceived spiritual strength, but rather certify to us our com-
munion with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, so the
substance of the meal is the crucified and risen Christ, or
"His body and His blood with which He perfected His

i In. IV, 17, 3. 2 fa iv, 17, 10; CR 12, 728.

3 CR 49, 486. 4 /. iv, 17, 10. s CR 49, 486 if.

6 In. IV, 17, ii ; CR 9, 30, 182, 195; 29, 226.

7 05 i, 5o8;C72 9 , 17 ff.

2l8

THE SACRAMENTS

obedience in order to win righteousness for us." * The gift
of the Lord's Supper is not therefore the spirit of Christ or His
divine nature. Nor does it consist in His human nature as
such, but in His humanity in so far as it was given over to
death for our sakes. 2 There lies the crux of the matter. The
crucified body would, of course, avail us nothing if Christ had
not thereby overcome death and passed into eternal glory.
For us Jesus Christ is for ever the two things the Crucified
and the Risen One. Our salvation depends upon the fact that
He is both. But in this connexion Calvin avoids speaking of
the heavenly or glorified body of Christ. 3 What is in question
in the Eucharist is not the imparting of a heavenly substance
but communion with the Mediator. This is what Calvin is
concerned to express, whether he speaks of the body of the
Son of God delivered up for us, or whether in allusion to the
gospel of John he speaks of the flesh of Christ in which for
us lies embodied eternal life, so that we have not to seek it
in some remote sphere but can find it quite near to us, nearer
than hands and feet. 4 Through the Eucharist we truly receive
the body and the blood of Christ, and grow with Him into
one body, so that He dwells in us and we in Him. 5

This recognition is the living heart of the Eucharistic
doctrine which Calvin develops in the framework of his
revelational theology. If anyone supposes that Calvin made
such statements only in order to be at one with the Lutherans,
let him read what he writes, about the sacramental teaching of
a Lasko, to someone like Vermigli to whom he really did not
need to prove that his own view of the presence of Christ in
the Eucharist was beyond suspicion. In this letter he deplores
the fact that the arguments of a Lasko always end up in the
assertion "that the natural body of Christ is not given us to
eat. As though we could gain life from any other source
than the natural body of Christ". 6 If we did not gain

1 OS 5, 354; 7, 21. 2 CR 9, 9 E, 188 &

3 Once in debate with Sadolet: In. IV, 17, n.

4/H. IV, 17, 8. 50^1,509; #49,487; i2,728./fl.IV, 17, n.

6 CR 15, 388.

219

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

communion with the God revealed in flesh, then all would
be in vain. With reminiscences of the New Testament, Calvin
describes this communion by means of various metaphorical
expressions, all of which are meant to express the closeness
of the union between Christ and His own. He even compares
the communion between Christ and ourselves to the unity of
the divine Son with the Father. * So important is to him the
fact that the whole Christ in His spiritual and also in His
bodily reality becomes our own. 2

For the sake of clarity in exposition we have so far spoken
only of the substance and theme of the Lord's Supper, but
must now add that for Calvin what is at issue in baptism is
equally the reality of the same Jesus Christ. "Baptism is the
sign of our adoption, of our reception into the communion
of the church, so that incorporated in the body of Christ we
may be numbered among the children of God." 3 Calvin,
mentions three gifts which are imparted to us in baptism:
forgiveness of our sins, our dying and rising again with
Christ, and our communion with the Lord Himself 4 ; but the
first two of these gifts depend wholly upon the third.

Baptism is in the last resort symbolical of the fact that we
are incorporated in the body of Christ. Christ is the real
Subject of baptism. 5 This is the correct view of the matter,
although Christ Himself it is who has commanded us to
baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. For "although we receive the mercy of the Father
and the grace of the Spirit only through Christ Himself, we
rightly describe Him as the real aim and end of baptism". 6
It is for this reason that according to Calvin the New
Testament at times speaks of baptism in the name of Christ
alone. "If we wish to summarize the power and inspiration
of baptism we name Christ alone." 7

To sum up : " Christ is the matter or rather the life-blood

i OR 9, 31. 2 fa iv, 17, 9. 3 /. iv, 15, i.

4/n. IV, 15, 1,5.6.

5/n. IV, 15, 6; CR 6, 119; 9, 718; 48, 600; 51, 407.
6 CR 49, 318. T Ibid.

22O

THE SACRAMENTS

of all the sacraments." * In this respect we must keep well in
view the fact that not only the spirit but also the very body
of Christ is promised us and must be bestowed upon us
through the sacraments. " Although they direct our faith to
the whole Christ and not to a mere part of Christ, yet they
also teach us that the cause of our righteousness and salvation
lies in His flesh ; not that a mere man could make us just and
spiritually alive, but that it has pleased God to reveal in the
Mediator what in Himself lay unfathomably concealed." 2

3. THE EFFECT OF THE SACRAMENTS

When through the sacraments we attain communion with
the Mediator we receive everything which He has gained on
our behalf. "We receive a share in the body and blood of
Christ, that He may dwell in us and we in Him, and that thus
we may enjoy all the benefits of His passion." 3 It must not
be overlooked that from Christ who has performed His
saving work for us there flows out upon us a decisive effect.
We must now consider this in order to give a complete
representation of the spiritual reality of the sacraments.

"Baptism testifies to us that we are purified and cleansed,
the Eucharist that we are redeemed. The water symbolizes
for us the washing away of sins, the blood the satisfaction
wrought to redeem us from sin. We find both in Christ who,
as John says, came with water and with blood ; that means,
to cleanse and to ransom." 4 The language of the symbols
not only speaks to us about the theme and the meaning of the
sacraments but also about the fruit which they are to bear in
us. In virtue of the divine institution there exists an analogy
between the earthly sign and the thing symbolized in regard
to the effect which the sacraments exert upon us. 5 By the

i/ii. IV, 14, 16; CR 5, 437; 6, 114; 9, 718, 728; 29, 414. For the
idea of "substance", cf. Niesel, Cabins Lekre vom Abendmahl, pp. 50 f.

2 In. Ill, ii, 9; CR loa, 159.

3 CR 12, 728; In. IV, 17, ii ; CR 9, 81, 165.

IV, 14,21. 5//2. IV, 17,3.

221

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

water of baptism we are meant to experience that in Jesus
Christ we obtain the forgiveness of our sins, by the offering
of bread and wine that the body and blood of Christ feed
and sustain in us true life. 1

All this is implied too in the words of promise which are
uttered when the sacraments are celebrated. The words of
the Eucharist especially make clear to us that Christ did not
receive and sacrifice His human body for His own advantage
but for our salvation. 2 Hence Calvin, following Luther, says :
" It must be carefully noted that the most conspicuous, indeed
almost the whole power of the sacrament resides in these
words: 'which is given for you', e which is shed for you'.
For otherwise it would be of no avail that the body and the
blood of the Lord should be administered, had they not once
for all been sacrificed for our redemption and salvation." 3
Calvin's view of our communion with Christ is far removed
from all mysticism of being. The sacraments do not effect our
union with divinity as such, but with the Mediator, and we
thereby attain the salvation which He has won for us by His
suffering and death : "Redemption, righteousness, sanctifica-
tion and eternal life." 4

Just as certainly as the question of the effect of the
sacraments is not a subsidiary one, since the work of Christ
may not be separated from His person, so it must also firmly
be believed that " the benefits of Christ would not reach us if
He were not from the start willing to bestow His life upon
us". 5 He Himself in His person is the substance and the
foundation of all other gifts. 6 Without the matter of the
sacrament there is no effect, and apart from fellowship with
the divine-human Jesus Christ there is no salvation. 7 This
teaching discloses the roots of the whole theology of Calvin.
If anyone supposes that he expounded such a sequence of
ideas only in order to achieve unity with the Lutherans,
then he has understood nothing of Calvin.

i In. IV, 1 7, 3 ; 345, 1, 4. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

4 In. IV, 17, 1 1. 5 Hid. 6 QS i, 508,

7 CR 9, 88.

222

THE SACRAMENTS

4. THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The communion with Christ which is assured us and
bestowed upon us through the sacraments remains a mystery
which we cannot pierce by our understanding nor describe
in human speech. 1 Hence Calvin refrained from answering
the question how the sacraments can mediate such com-
munion. But he could not ignore what Holy Scripture
declares to us on the subject. He observed that the Scriptures
always refer to the Holy Spirit in answer to the question
how it is possible for us to be united with Christ. 2 The
distance between ourselves and Christ, who has really over-
come and departed from this world and now dwells in the
world of eternity, can only be overcome by an act of God
Himself. Such action is effected by the Third Person of the
Holy Trinity, "by the secret and incomprehensible power of
the Holy Spirit". 3 By the action of the Spirit Christ con-
descends to our level and at the same time lifts us up to
Himself. 4 By the Spirit our hearts are opened to the
penetrating power of Word and Sacrament. 5 The Spirit
links and unites us with Jesus Christ, 6 so that in body, mind,
and soul we become His very own. 7

Only so is it possible that by the word of man and earthly
elements we become sharers in the living reality of the
Christ. This statement does not mean that Calvin wishes to
render acceptable to our human understanding the mode of
Christ's self-communication to us. 8 The reference to the
Holy Ghost is rather to be construed as the recognition of
sheer divine miracle. 9

His teaching is a protest against the idea of the inherence
of Christ in the Eucharistic species as such, since it is
legitimate to speak only of Christ as becoming inherent for
us through word and sign and the power of the Holy Ghost.

i In. IV, 17, 7, 9; CR 9, 31. *In. IV, 17, 12; CR 16, 678.

3 CR 16, 677, 430. 4 CR 16, 677; In. IV, 17, 24, 16.

5 In. IV, 14, 8. In. IV, 17, 12, 24. 7 In. IV, 17, 12.

8 CR 16, 678. *> fa IV, 17, 24; CR xoa, 157.

223

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Two deviations of Lutheran sacramental doctrine are thus
avoided.

Firstly : sign and gift of the sacrament are not confused. If
we affirm, like the Lutherans, an inherence in the sacraments
themselves of the reality they convey, we are violating the
glory of the exalted Lord who has really overcome this our
world. 1 But more important for Calvin is the fact that the
true humanity of Christ is threatened if we suppose that
Christ, invisibly omnipresent, corporeally indwells the
bread and wine. Certainly the humanity of Christ enjoys
pre-eminence through the resurrection 2 but assuredly not
that immeasurability which the Lutherans ascribe to it in
order to be able to maintain their Eucharistic doctrine. 3 For
by glorification a body loses only those characteristics which
arise from the corrupt and decadent state of this world, but
not such as belong inseparably to its essential being. 4 If we
describe the body of Christ in such a way as to cancel out
the community between His body and ours, then we are
endangering God's self-revelation in our flesh. Calvin said
that he quarrelled with the Lutherans only on this ground.
Because they substituted a reality of infinite extension for the
flesh of Christ, he defended as against them "the truth of the
human nature in which our salvation is grounded ", 5

We have already emphasized the fact that Calvin wished
,to see the symbol and the reality of the sacrament strictly
distinguished but not separated from each other. We are
bound to the sacraments in virtue of their divine institution.
We do not indeed possess Christ in them ; but the Holy Ghost
bestows Christ upon us not otherwise than through word and
sacramental sign. In the church which gathers around word
and sacrament we stand face to face with the divine decision
upon us. We may not seek it elsewhere because we have no
promise that we shall find and receive Christ elsewhere.

It must, of course, be observed that the connexion between
sign and reality which Calvin asserts is not only non-spatial

i In. IV, 17, 19, 32. 2 CR 9, 79 f. 3 CR 16, 429, 677.

4 CR 14, 333 ; In. IV, 17, 24. * CR 9, 208; 16, 678.

224

THE SACRAMENTS

but also non-temporal in our sense of the words. 1 When the
sacramental rite is completed, at that moment the sacra-
mental gift is imparted, as certainly as God is true and His
word and sign do not lie. But the connexion of sign and thing
signified is grounded solely in the Holy Ghost. 2 The
expression "at that moment", as far as this connexion is
concerned, implies a divine reality. The divine moment in
which the Holy Ghost fulfils His action of rendering effectual
to us the ministry of the signs is not interchangeable with
the earthly moment of the completion of the sacramental rite.
The divine moment can humanly speaking be situated
before or after the celebration of the sacrament. 3 Also it
outlasts this action. 4

Secondly, Calvin objects to the idea of a natural physical
assimilation of the life-giving reality of the sacrament by the
communicants. If a spatio-physical connexion exists between
the reality and the sacrament which embodies it, the same
connexion necessarily exists also between the reality and the
sign on the one hand and the communicant on the other.
The latter is implied in the former. In that case the reception
of the body and blood of Christ takes place through the
mouth in physical fashion 5 and a fusion of the underlying
reality of the Eucharist with the communicants is an
unavoidable thought. But this idea must be rejected 6 ; for
everything depends on this that if Jesus Christ the God-man
is to help us, then in His union with us He must remain
what He is. In spite of the emphasis which Calvin places on
the communion of the whole Christ with us, he is strictly
concerned to note that there must be a distinction between
Christ and ourselves. Hence he says : " It is enough for us that
Christ out of the substance of His flesh brings life to our
souls, indeed pours out His own life into us, although the
flesh of Christ itself does not enter into us/' 7

i CR 7, 704; 9, 29. * CR 48, 1 80. 3 CR 9, 1 18.

4 CR 9, 232 ff. 5 CR 9s 187, 183; In. IV, 17, 33.

6CR 15, 388; In. IV, 17,32.

7 In. IV, 17, 32. Thus also is to be understood the passage in the ist
Institutes (OS i, 142, below), which does not appear in the later editions.

225

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Let us note well that Calvin contrasts this point with the
assertion that the body of Christ is received directly by us
through our mouth. He does not by any means intend in all
this to cancel his fundamental thesis that we really receive
through the Eucharist the true body and blood of Christ. But
it is just that we receive it by the agency of the Holy Ghost,
which means that we are united with Christ but not fused
with Him. The Holy Spirit guides us and preserves us as an
integral personality. The fellowship with the divine which
He procures is real fellowship and not fusion. " Christ in His
body is far from us, but by His spirit He dwells within us and
draws us upwards to Himself in the heavens in such wise
that He pours out upon us the life-giving power of His flesh." 1
Christ is the gift of God to us and not a given power of which
we can avail ourselves as we please. After His ascension He
is not simply there for us but He comes to His own as their
Lord. This implies too that Calvin rejects the doctrine of the
enjoyment of the body and blood of Christ by the unworthy.
This doctrine is a necessary consequence of the idea that we
receive Christ directly through our lips, and shows very
plainly its untenability. What sort of Christ is that which in
the opinion of the Lutherans even unbelievers receive through
the Eucharist? Is he not a dead thing? For with Christ
dwells always His life-giving spirit. 2 If Christ is bestowed
upon a man, it cannot be other than that at the very heart
of this world of unbelief faith arises and goes on increasing.
Because the living Lord in His sovereign ascendancy is the
gift of the Eucharist, the saving effects of the rite cannot be
separated from this gift. It is impossible that the unworthy
should really receive Christ in the Eucharist.

This does not mean that the validity and efficacy of the
sacrament are dependent upon man. What the words and
the sacramental signs of the Lord declare to us is and remains
true. "The Lord intends the bread as His body to be there
for all. 3 ' 3 "Christ with His gifts of grace is offered to all in
the same way, and the truth of God remains unaffected by

i CR 9, 33. 2 In. IV, 17, 33. 3 CR 16, 678.

226

THE SACRAMENTS

the unfaithfulness of men, so that the sacraments always
retain their power." * In fact, Calvin can go so far as to say
"that the body and blood of Christ are as truly given to the
unworthy as to the elect faithful of God". 2 But this happens
to the godless as when rain pours over a rock. The result of
their hardness of heart is that divine grace does not penetrate
their being. They are not worthy to receive so precious a
gift. 3 In other words, Christ passes them by and does not
cause His spirit to move within them in the way in which it
accomplishes its work on the elect of God, incorporating them
into Christ. The doctrine of Calvin preserves the objectivity
of the sacrament on which the Lutherans set so much store ;
but he distinguishes it from the objectivity of a thing 4 by
exalting the sovereign freedom of the Lord who in word and
sign wills to bestow Himself upon us by the working of His
Spirit. By the preaching of the gospel and the use of the sacra-
ments the Holy Ghost as it were bridges the gulf between
Jesus Christ and ourselves. Just as certainly as Calvin objects
to a fusion of the sacramental gift with the communicants
themselves, so here again he has no intention of teaching a
reception which is not based on an inward spiritual relation.
He wishes to distinguish but not to separate. If the Holy
Spirit accomplishes His work, the receptive faculty of faith
is created and strengthened in us 5 : for we ourselves are
intrinsically incapable of receiving Jesus Christ into our-
selves. Neither our soul nor our physical lips are capable of
receiving the Lord who died and rose again for us. Christ
Himself must by His Spirit open our hearts to His coming.
This accessibility to Himself which He creates is called faith.
But Calvin draws our attention to the fact that faith is not
the reception of Christ, the eating and drinking of His body
and blood itself. 6 When we receive the gift of Christ then
that means not only that by the power of the Holy Spirit
our hearts are turned towards Him, but that we receive life-
giving fellowship with Him. 7 The Holy Spirit creates within

i CR 7, 719; 49, 74- 2 In > X V, i? 33- 3 C R l6 > 6 7^; 7>
4 /n. IV, 17, 33. 5 See p. 217, note i. In. IV, 17, 5.

Tin. IV, 17,5, ii ; OR 9, 75-

227

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

us the relationship to Christ which we describe as faith ; but
He also crowns faith with that which consummates it. 1 The
establishment of a relation between Christ and ourselves
cannot take place apart from a relation at the deepest level
of being. Our faith as such is always an empty vessel ; but
the Holy Spirit which creates and strengthens it through
word and sacrament imparts to it in so doing its true
content : Jesus Christ. That content leaves no part of our
being untouched. Body and soul we become united with
Christ.2

Calvin said that he clung to his particular form of sacra-
mental doctrine not from obstinacy but because he believed
himself to be bound by the authority of Scripture. 3 In
defining his doctrine by contrast with that of the Lutherans
he has no wish to cast doubt upon the fact that the Christ
who died and rose again for us is the essential gift of the
Eucharist. By his differentiations from the Lutheran doctrine
he secures precisely the truth that the very body and blood
of Jesus Christ are bestowed upon us in that sacred rite.

i In. IV, 17, 5. 2 In. IV, 17, 12 ; CR 9, 208. 3 CR 16, 430.

228

Chapter /j

SECULAR GOVERNMENT*

THE last chapter of the Institutes., in which Calvin
considers the question of secular government, has the
effect of an appendix to the rest of the work. It follows
immediately upon his exposition of sacramental doctrine.
And Calvin at once observes "that the spiritual sovereignty
of Christ and the civil order are two quite different things' 3 . 2
Hence the possibility is excluded that, for example, Calvin
might have wished to show in conclusion how his conception
of the God revealed in flesh, and His eternal kingdom, finds
its realization in this world and in human society and culture.

1 Hans Baron : Calvins Staatsanschauung und das konfessionelle %eitalter 9
Munich, 1924. Peter Earth: Calvins Lehre vom Staat als providentieller
Lebensordnung (Aus funf Jahrh. Schweiz- Kirchengeschichte. Festschrift fur
Paul Wernle, Basel, 1932, pp. 80-94). Gisbert Beyerhaus: Studien zur
Staatsanschauung Calvins mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung seines Souverdrdtdts-
begriffs, Berlin, 1910. Hans Hausherr: Der Staat in Calvins Gedankenwelt,
Leipzig, 1923. V. H. Rutgers: "Le Calvinisme et l'6tat chretien" (Bull,
de la Soc. de Fhistoire du protest. fran$ais, 84, 1935, 151-71). Paul Wernle:
"Zwinglis und Calvins Stellung zum Staat" (Verhandl. des Pfarrvereins des
Kantons Zurich, i, J, 1916). Eduard Bahler: "Der Kampf zwischen
Staatskirchentum und Theokratie in der welsch-bernischen Kirche im
sechzehnten Jahrh. " (%eitschr.f. Schweizer Geschichte, 5, 1925, pp. i ff.).
Josef Bohatec : Calvins Lehre von Staat und Kirche mit besonderer Berucksichti-
gung des Organismusgedankens, Breslau, 1937. Karlfried Frohlich:
Gottesreich, Welt und Kirche bei Calvin, Munich^ 1930. H. E. Hess : "Kirche
und Staat bei Calvin" (Reform. Kirchenztg., 84, 1934, pp. 37 rF.)- Ernst
Pfisterer: "Die gesetzliche Regelung des Verhaltnisses zwischen Kirche
und Staat in Genf zur Zeit Calvins" (ibid., 85, 1935, pp. 153 ff.). Alfred
de Quervain: "Der theologische Gehalt des Genfer Pfarrereides" (ibid. y
88, 1938, 68-72). E. Chenevtere: La pensee politique de Calvin, Paris, 1938.

2 In. IV, 20, i.

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Rather his interpretation of their connexion is just the
opposite. Calvin regards the state as fulfilling its appointed
role in the service of Christ's dominion. When he speaks of
the secular government he is not concerned about the state
as such, nor even about the Christian state ; but about Christ
and about the significance which the civil power has for our
life in fellowship with this Lord. " It is the will of God that
so long as we are striving to reach our true fatherland we
must be pilgrims on this earth; during the time of our
pilgrimage, however, we imperatively need such help." 1

In the fourth book of the Institutes Calvin treated of
the Church, the Word, and the Sacraments, and he now
proposes to show that among these "outward aids or instru-
ments by which God calls us to and maintains us in com-
munion with Christ", 2 the secular government also belongs.
The latter is not the same thing as the spiritual reign of
Christ ; but neither does it function merely in juxtaposition
with it, but it exists for the good of those who in this perish-
able world belong to Christ and His eternal kingdom. There
can be no decisive separation between state and church
because the state has the same Lord as the church. Christ as
the Head of His church is also precisely the Lord of this
world. The fundamental section containing those reflections
which Calvin devotes to the subject of civil government in his
Institutes received therefore in the first edition the title : The
civil order is necessary for the well-being of the church.*

I. THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE STATE

"Secular government rests upon God's providence and
sacred prescription." 4 But the authorities of this world have
not their origin in God "in the same way as plague, hunger,
war, and other punishments for human sin flow from His
righteous will"; the fact is that "He Himself has instituted
them in order that they may govern the world according to
law and righteousness." 5 Magistrates "have a commission

i In. IV, 20, 2. 2 In. IV, i, i. 3 OS i, 283.

4 In. IV, 20, 4; CR 29, 306; 55, 244. 5 CR 49, 249.

230

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

from God, they are equipped with divine authority, in fact
they stand in the place of God and in a certain sense conduct
His affairs". 1 They occupy a place midway between God
and man. 2 Calvin points out with emphasis that in Holy
Scripture they are even called gods (Psalm 82:6) "not
indeed in regard to their person but in regard to the office
theyhold".3

Yet as the representatives of God 4 they enjoy no
independent power but are entirely His servants 5 and
officials. 6 " God needs, of course, subordinate executives in
order to govern the world ; but that does not have the effect
of diminishing His own authority, nor does it happen because
He wishes to have co-rulers ; for He remains at all times Lord
over all. What are the greatest kings but the hands of God ?
And He makes use of them as He pleases." 7

This mode of the divine government of the world is
grounded in the fact that God exercises His sovereign power
only mediately. He has exalted Jesus Christ as the eternal
king and now reigns with His help. 8 Christ is, as it were, the
vice-gerent of God and all earthly rule is like "a symbol of
the kingly authority of our Lord Jesus Christ". 9 Thus,
when Calvin teaches that civil government was instituted of
God, he is not thinking of an ill-defined supernatural
foundation of human rules but of the one Lord Jesus Christ.
The kingdoms of this world are grounded in Him and main-
tained by Him. 10 His throne is erected among us "so that
His heavenly voice both for governors and their subjects is
the one rule for living and dying". 11 All magistrates and
princes are therefore bidden to subject themselves in all
humility to the great king Jesus Christ and to His spiritual

i In. IV, 20, 4. 2 CR 36, 626.

3 CR 7, 83 ; 24, 609 f. ; 31, 46, 769.
4 Lieutenants: CR 7, 83; 14, 342; 49, 637 ff.; 53, 138, 140, etc.

5 Ministri, servi: OS 3, II, 30; CR 7, 84; 29, 555; 38, 544; 39, 243;
53, 134, etc.

6 Qfficiers: CR 25, 645; 26, 315; 53, 138 ff., etc.

7 CR 35, 152; 25, 645. 8 In. II, 15, 3, 5.

9 CR 53, 132. 10 CR 13, 17. 11 CR 13, 282.

231

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

sceptre. 1 Their government can be nothing other than a
service under this one Lord. It can have no other aim but
that this One should tower far above all others and exercise
His sovereign sway over all. 2 When the magistrates fulfil their
obligations "what they do is harmonious with the order of
the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ" 3 although the latter
kingdom is a spiritual one and the rule of the magistrates an
earthly rule.

2. THE TASKS OF THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT

We appreciate more clearly the fact that the character of
the civil government does not in any sense bring it into
conflict with the spiritual rule of Christ when we enquire
into the nature of the tasks which are incumbent upon
secular rulers. It is their duty "to look after and protect the
outward side of church worship^ to defend the pure doctrine
appertaining to the true worship of God and to secure the
stability of the church, to establish social harmony, to shape
our conduct as citizens according to the law, to bind us to
each other and to maintain the common peace 35 . 4 Although
the civil authorities have a secular duty, yet it is not their
proper task to care for the physical well-being of men
nevertheless they must be to some extent concerned about
it 5 ; rather their main concern must be "that in a Christian
society religion receives public and official recognition and
that humanity prevails among men". 6

iCR 13, 69; 17; 14, 342.

2 OS 5, 4765 5; CR 13, 69. Hence the teaching about civil govern-
ment belongs not simply to the doctrine of divine providence : it is
rather to be viewed in the light of the doctrine of the royal Lordship
of Christ. The powers of this world are not so much grounded in the
general providence of God as in His special decrees (see p. 230, notes 4, 5) .
Their office is founded on the fact that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand
of God.

3 CR 53, 137.

4 In. IV, 20, 2. 5 fa IV, 20, 3. 6 ibid.

232

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

The task of secular authority in the strict sense has there-
fore two aspects. But the one cannot be separated from the
other. 1 Peace in a country is threatened when God is not
worshipped and His commands are not heeded, and the
public worship of God is imperilled when strife prevails
among men. This connexion must not be lost sight of. If
Calvin more often speaks of the fact that the duty of the civil
power is to preserve and protect the lives of citizens, 2 this is
not because for him human life as such has ultimate worth
which the civil government is called on to serve. But ordered
human conditions are the ground on which the Christian
community can live in peace. 3 Already in our exposition of
the doctrine of divine providence we have heard that God
sustains the world and humanity for the sake of His church. 4
Humanity does not exist in its own right but because it has
been called to the service of God. Calvin has left us in no
doubt about the fact that the pre-eminent duty of the
secular power is to secure the right worship of God. 5 The
other duty, which is concerned with peace and the exercise
of the human virtues among the subjects, is clearly subordinate
to the former. We must not suppose "that God has instituted
magistrates in His name solely to bring to an end earthly
disputes, as though He had forgotten the most important
point, namely, that He Himself should be purely honoured
according to the precepts of His law". 6

The foremost duty of the secular power, which is con-
cerned with the first table of the divine law, consists of two
parts. First, it is obliged to protect the pure preaching of the
gospel and therewith the church which has this service to
perform. It must take care lest "idolatry, taking the name of
God in vain, blasphemy, and other troubles subversive of
religion openly break out and spread among the people". 7
If need be, the magistrates must take action with the sword

i CR 29, 532 ; 41, 377. 2 CR 52, 266, 426; 53, 143.

3 CR 52, 266. 4 See above pp. 73 f.

sin. IV, 20, 9; CR 29, 532; 52, 267; 53, 135.

6 In. IV, 20, 9. 7 in. IV, 20, 3 ; CR 37, 21 1 ; 40, 650, etc.

233

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

against open despisers of the divine name. 1 If God commands
the civil ruler to punish all rebellion in earthly things, it must
be noted that an open contempt of God, a wanton slandering'
of His Word, is much less to be borne. 2 "If the authorities
were to overlook such evil deeds, they would themselves incur
a degree of guilt which God would by no means leave
unpunished." 3

Then the government has the duty of caring for the church
which preaches the pure unmixed gospel. It is not enough
for the civil power to secure and protect the church. Rather it
must further the cause of the church which is the proclaimer
and servant of the Lord to whom the civil power itself is
subject. It is even obliged to support the church in its
endeavours to establish the ascendancy of true doctrine. It
must promote the work of that church which preaches the
pure gospel, and is therefore alone entitled to be called the
church; and it must recognize ecclesiastical decisions and
discriminations. In this connexion Calvin has often pointed
to the word of Isaiah: "And kings shall be thy nursing
fathers" (Isaiah 4g:23). 4 The holders of civil office are
responsible in part for the spread of the gospel. This means in
detail: "They are to provide for the pastors and servants of
the Word everything needful for their maintenance and for
church worship ; their duty is to care for the poor and not to
allow the church to find itself in a position of disgraceful and
oppressive poverty; they are to erect schools and to furnish
emoluments for the teachers ; they must build houses for the
poor and for travellers and arrange all other matters con-
cerning the protection and maintenance of the church." 5 In
particular they must be concerned about the spirit prevailing
at the universities. Those seed-beds of future servants of the
Word must be places where the gospel is supported. 6

i Calvin explains in detail the reasons for this duty in his treatise
against Servetus : CR 8, 461 ff. 2 CR 27, 688, 246.

3 CR 27, 688.

4 In. IV, 20, 5; CR 7, 82; 8, 478; 14, 288; 24, 357; 27, 246; 29, 532;
37, 210; 43, 135 ;53, 138, etc.

5 CR 37, 211. * CR 14, 40.

234

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

Whether the government does these things is another
matter. It is its duty to do them, just as every man, even the
heathen, is called to confess Christ as Lord. "That ruler is
deceiving himself who expects his kingdom lastingly to
prosper when it is not ruled by God's sceptre, that is, by His
holy Word, since the sacred proverb cannot remain without
effect which says that where there is no vision the people
perish." 1 If the government does not decide for Christ, then
it decides against Him. There is no other alternative.
Whether or not it recognizes and furthers the cause of the
true church is in any event a decision for or against faith.

When the secular authorities obediently do their duty to
advance the kingdom of Christ, the spiritual character of that
kingdom is not impaired, 2 just as it is not impaired by secular
government in general.

It is in general true of all this-worldly ordinances and laws
that they have no authority over the inner life of man. 3 God
alone can search man's heart and call him to account with
regard to his most secret thoughts. 4 He alone is the spiritual
Lawgiver whose law disposes both of our bodies and our
souls. 5 Human laws have no power to constrain consciences.
When Paul says that we must be subject to the powers that be
for conscience sake (Romans 13:5), according to Calvin it
does not mean that secular law is binding on the conscience
of man, but is simply a reminder that the divine law in
general bids us honour civil authority, since it rests upon the
ordinance of God and there must be social harmony among
us. 6 Hence with regard to all human laws it must be precisely
and carefully noted that "the judgment seat of God which
is spiritual and the earthly judgments of men" are by no
means the same thing. 7

That is the position with regard to the law of secular
governments as distinct from the divine law. Still less, of
course, has it the duty of itself preaching the gospel. That is
the business of the church alone. Christ wills that His

1 OS 3, 1 1, 32. 2 CR 24, 357. 3 l n . n ? 8, 6.

4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 In. IV, 10, 5. ? / n . IV, 10, 3.

235

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

ministers should openly preach the gospel even though the
power of the whole world be against them, and for this
purpose He equips them alone with the inspiration of the
Word. But this does not prevent Him from leading earthly
rulers into the way of obedience to Him and causing them to
fulfil their duties towards the church. 1 Only it must be strictly
noted that they fulfil their good offices towards the church
precisely as holders of civil authority. Calvin strongly
criticized the fact that in the Germany of his day the princes
encroached too much on the spiritual sphere. If the
magistrates do not keep within their proper limits, but try to
usurp ecclesiastical control and constitute themselves judges
both in matters of doctrine and in those of spiritual govern-
ment, their service to the church becomes a disservice. 2

3. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECULAR GOVERNMENT

We have already seen that rulers are bound by the Word
of God. Hence Calvin protests against the opinion that the
civil power functions within a sphere of life which is not
affected by the claim of God. Guided by his Biblical insights,
he refuses to surrender the world utterly to impiety and the
powers of darkness. Since Christ is the Lord of all there can
be no sealing off of the civil power from His universal
dominion. If the rulers of this world are to bow before Him,
they are also called to recognize the truth and authority of
the Gospel. 3 No doubt they would like to be free from all
law and from every kind of yoke; but they are subject to the
Word of God 4 and must allow themselves to be enlightened
by the preachers of that Word. 5 They depend ultimately on
the Word of God and are bound to the law of God. 6 They
are obliged to be obedient, and therefore have constantly to
ask whether their action is in harmony with the divine
Word. 7 In the school of God they learn how to fulfil their
tasks rightly, 8 and in particular the law of love to God and

i CR 24, 357- 2 CR 43, i35- 3 CR 27, 246 ff.

4 CR 38, 322. 5 CR 43 , 79 . 6 CR 29, 555.

7 CR 40, 622. 8 CR 25, 645.

236

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

neighbour is applicable to their fulfilment of their functions. 1
In teaching that the supreme duty of the civil power is to
foster the fear of God and peace among men, Calvin considers
that this twofold duty is laid upon it by the two great
commands of the divine law.

This does not mean that rulers must control the life of their
peoples according to particular laws prescribed in Holy
Scripture. The Mosaic ceremonial and judicial law had its
special function to fulfil in the economy of the life of Israel 2 ;
but now after the appearance of Jesus Christ it is superseded
and cannot be relevant for the ordering of the life of other
peoples. 3 But, within the requirement of the twofold law of
love to God and neighbour, rulers have freedom to issue such
laws as seem to them necessary and useful. 4 In virtue of
their office they are authorized by God to do so. 5 The civil
laws valid in any particular state are thus altogether the
work of man. 6 They are in the strictest sense laws governing
the life of citizens; yet they must be compatible with the
abiding law of love which is the divine requirement. 7

Rulers stand in a position of responsibility before the Lord
who is the Author of this eternally valid law. Since they
are not private citizens, but rule the peoples at the bidding
of God, their responsibility is particularly heavy. They must
constantly "consider what is permissible to them and what
God allows. For as they may now simply issue commands,
they have also to remember that one day they will have to
give an account to the King of kings." 8 This applies to all
who hold any official post in the state. Their responsibility
is not of a vague and indefinite character ; but they must know
"that they will have to appear before the Lord Jesus Christ
in order to give a reckoning of the way in which they have
acquitted themselves in their office". 9 He is the sovereign
Lord in whom all authority on earth is grounded. Hence all
must give account to Him. Those, too, who refuse to

i In. IV, 20, 15, 9. 2 See above, p. 101. 3 fa. IV, 20, 14.

4 In. IV, 20, 15. s CR 25, 645. <* ibid.

7 In. IV, 20, 15. 8 CR 40, 713. 9 CR 53, 139.

237

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

recognize this and exercise their rule with arrogance and
self-will must give heed : "Though to-day they do not admit
that they are subject to the Word of God, they will one day
appear before that tribunal where they will be forced to
realize how perversely they have misused their power." l The
hour when that happens is supremely the hour of God and
lies solely within His power of determination. "As the life of
an individual man has an absolute limit, and as God has
determined what is to become of the kingdoms of the whole
earth, so the course and the termination of every kingdom
and people lies utterly in the hand and the counsel of God." 2
But rulers are not only called to responsibility by the Word,
but the comfort of the Word stands at their disposal. They
need not let themselves be afraid at the difficulties which
pile up against them ; rather they can look upwards to God
with the comfortable assurance that He will support them in
their work. They are indeed invited to turn to Him and to
pray to Him for His help. 3 "They must recognize that their
duty is to meditate on the divine Word at all times and that
they need the constant help of the Holy Spirit." 4 The bearers
of civil authority who rightly understand their duties have
their place in the hearkening and praying congregation of
the church. The duty of punishment which they have to fulfil
does not render them unworthy to belong to the congregation
of Christ. On the contrary, the great responsibility which
lies upon them has as a natural consequence that they should
be eminent members of the church. 5 For a ruler, member-
ship of the church is the highest honour which can come to
him. 6

4. OBEDIENCE TO THE SECULAR GOVERNMENT

The citizens are obliged to be obedient to those whom God
has deemed worthy to be the delegates of His power on earth.
Calvin never tired of sharply calling attention to this duty,

i CR 38, 3122. 2 CR 38, 545. 3 CR 29, 660 ff.

4 CR 29, 553 ; 27, 468 ff. 5 CR 53, 137 ff.

6fts8, 511.

238

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

especially in his sermons. God wills that we should respect
the dispositions He has made on this earth. But he demands
not merely outward obedience. We are to recognize in the
institution of the secular government His providence and
fatherly care for us, 1 and must realize that authority is there
for our good 2 ; for without it there would be chaos and
confusion in the world. Finally we should appreciate the fact
that the persons invested with authority are the repre-
sentatives of God Himself. This is the real ground of the
demand that we should obey them. 3 "If we obey men who
rule over us according to the will of God, we are obeying
Him who has appointed and authorized them." 4 Hence
Christians must gladly and without constraint yield obedience
to civil authority whatever form it may take. 5 In fact Calvin
goes a step further : " Even if we lived under Turks, tyrants or
deadly enemies of the gospel it would still be incumbent upon
us to be subject to them. Why? Because it is the good
pleasure of God." 6 This does not mean that it should be a
matter of indifference to Christians whether God-fearing or
godless men exercise rule over them. On the contrary, every
Christian should realize his responsibility for securing a God-
fearing government, and, whenever opportunity offers, help
to see that upright men obtain office. 7 But those who will not
allow themselves to be governed according to the order which
God has established in this world are resisting God Himself. 8
Whoever rebels against authority is attacking God and must
be clear about the fact that in such a struggle he will in any
event succumb. 9

But the obedience towards authority required of us is no
bondage. The subjection of the governed is "not of such a
kind as would allow princes to exploit it as they please". Of
course "subjects find themselves under the control and at the
disposal of kings ; but in return kings must be concerned
about the common weal". 10 "God has created governments

i CR 26, 314. 2 CR 34, 656. 3 CR 26, 315.

4 CR 54, 558. 5 CR 30, 488.

CR 54, 557; 27, 455; 30, 488; 45, 602. 7 CR 27, 467.

s Ibid. 9 CR 26, 317; 23, 107 10 CR 29, 554.

239

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

and kingdoms and the order of this world, not with the
purpose of giving pre-eminence to some, but because we
cannot do without such means of help." Rulers "are there-
fore not appointed for their own pleasure but to promote the
common good". "Since then God has appointed magistrates
under this condition it is certain that they are subject to
those whom they must serve by ruling." 1 The rule which
authority exercises over the people is by its very nature
nothing but a service. 2 The people are submitted to
authority and authority is subject to the people it serves.
This reciprocal relationship of mutual service is founded on
the fact that the sovereign Lord Himself stands over rulers
and ruled and has established civil government for the good
of men.

Subjects owe obligation to the government only so long
as it really holds office. They must serve it with body and
soul. If it collapses through some chance and is replaced by
another, then the subjects are released from their obedience,
even from their oath of allegiance ; "because it does not lie
within the power of the people to determine who their ruler
shall be ; for it is the affair of God to change governments as
it pleases Him". 3 Obedience to authority rests solely on the
fact that God Himself sets up rulers. This again becomes
clear from the limit which Calvin here sets to obedience.

5. THE LIMITS OF SECULAR GOVERNMENT

So far we have been speaking almost exclusively of secular
authority which, in contradistinction to unlawful power,
Calvin describes as legitimate. That authority is legitimate
which keeps within the bounds divinely prescribed for it. 4
It recognizes the fact that it has received its office from God,
and therefore may not attempt to rule over its subjects in any
arbitrary manner but solely on the basis of the mandate it
has received from God. 5 The legitimacy of a secular govern-
ment is not a secure and permanent possession. It stems

10/251,733. *CK29,555- 30/239,158.

4 CR 29, 552. 5 CR 29, 554.

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

from the relationship in which the rulers stand to the Lord
of all lords and depends on how far those rulers remain in
obedience to God. 1

Rulers are threatened by the temptation " of supposing
that they can stand in their own strength and of evading the
command of God, as though there were no Judge in heaven". 2
They no longer remain within that responsible position
which devolves upon them as mediating between God and
mankind, and they forget that they are mortal creatures and
fondly imagine themselves to be demi-gods. 3 "Because they
hold the reins of earthly power they think that they tower so
far above the status of men as to have the right to require
from them sheer divine honours." 4 "Although in their pride
they despise God, yet they need the sanction of religion in
order to buttress their authority, and to this end simulate an
attitude of religious veneration in order to keep the people
fettered to their duty." 5 They do not deny the existence of
God ; but "they shut God up in heaven and suppose that He
is so content with His felicity as not to wish to interfere in the
affairs of men". 6

Rulers who in this way attempt to eliminate from the
sphere of earthly affairs the living God who has called them
to their office, and set themselves up in His place, are in
Calvin's opinion no longer legitimate. But this certainly does
not mean that they are no longer in possession of authority.
In this respect there is a notable difference between secular
and ecclesiastical authority. If the latter rebels against God,
it not only loses its legitimacy but also every kind of claim to
obedience. The position is different with regard to secular
authority: "We must by no means consider whether persons
in authority are fulfilling their duty or not, but must have
regard to the order which God has instituted. The latter can
never be so seriously harmed by the wickedness of men or
rather so fully effaced that no traces of it any longer remain.
Thus, even if those who stand in power and hold the sword

i #40,622. 2 #40, 715. 3 C#27, 479-

4 CR 29, 555 ; 27, 479. 5 CR 40, 626. CR 40, 682.

241

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

of justice in their hands perform their functions never so
badly, even if they cause greater distress and confusion than
would such as have no office or duty, even if they are the
declared enemies of God, it must still be recognized that God
has set up kingdoms, principalities, and the throne of justice
in order that we may peaceably pass our day in His fear and
lead an honourable life: and this" so Calvin declares "is
something which the wickedness of men can never frustrate." 1
"The right to command as such has been instituted by God
for the good of mankind." 2 For this reason the worst tyranny
is "more bearable than no order at all". 3 It is better and more
profitable than anarchy 4 for it still serves in some sense to
hold human society together. 5 But this must not be under-
stood to mean that secular government as such is endowed
with an intrinsic quality which, even when corrupted by the
greatest degeneracy, it could not lose. The fact is rather that
God does not completely withdraw His grace even from those
rulers who rebel against Him. 6 If the secular authority fulfils
its function, if even what is degenerate to some extent
performs a service, this is due utterly to the grace of God.

Hence subjects are obliged to yield obedience even to a
bad government. In fact, even in such circumstances they
must love what God has ordained. 7 Further, they should
consider that it is their own fault if God withdraws from
them the benefits of good government. "For it is the wrath of
God which sends us evil rulers." 8 "Because we repel God
from us He is obliged to withdraw His favour, and revoke
His benefits, sending to rule over us people who subvert all
that is right and good." 9 In such cases subjects have no
occasion for complaint; rather they should look into their
own hearts and confess their sins. 10 God has, of course, placed
one means of help at their disposal; namely, prayer. "We
must pray to God that He will bring good out of the evils of
bad rulers." Finally the oppressed must by their prayers seek

i CR 53, 130. 2 CR 49, 249. 3 CK 53, 131 ; 54* 559-

4 CR 55, 245. 5 CR 49, 250. CR 29, 574.

7 CR 52, 266. s CR 52, 267. 9 CR 54, 558; 53, 131.

10 CR 53, 131 ; In. IV, 20, 29.

242

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

to turn away from themselves these scourges which have
come upon them as a result of their sins. 1 We must "call
upon God that it would please Him to give us such
magistrates as would establish the reign of justice, so that we
may serve God and that all may worship Him with one
mind".*

But until such time as God intervenes we must give
obedience to tyranny. 3 Authorities who do not exercise their
office with a sense of responsibility towards the Lord of all
lords will discover "that the kingdom of our Lord Jesus is as
a stone of stumbling" which "will ruin the powers of this
world when they rise against the majesty of our Lord Jesus
Christ". 4 Calvin has also indicated how such intervention
of God can take effect : " Sometimes He summons from among
His servants public avengers and arms them with the
command to bring to just retribution this odious rule and to
free the unjustly oppressed people out of the misery of their
bondage ; at other times He uses for this purpose the fierce
anger of men who have quite other thoughts and other
intentions." 5 Because the former have received a special and
rightful call of God, they do not violate by their action the
dignity of the civil order and authority. The latter commit a
crime because they lead a revolt against legitimate authority ;
but unwittingly they must do the work of God. 6 Yet in
either case there is no question of an ethical possibility of
self-help. Calvin is considering only those resources which
God alone is able to bring into operation. He considers that
only holders of subordinate office have the right to proceed
against a government which has degenerated into tyranny. 7

There is, however, one limit to the obedience of even the
simplest subject: "If princes forbid us to serve and honour
God, if they command us to sully our conscience with
idolatry, and to concur and engage in abominations which
are contrary to the service of God, then they are not worthy
to be regarded as princes or to be recognized as having any

i CR 52, 267; In. IV, 20, 29. 2 CR 53, 131. 3 CR 53, 548.

4 CR 41, 417. 5 In. IV, 20, 30. 6 Ibid.

7 In. IV, 20, 31, intercedere (French: de s'opposer et resistor) ; CR 29, 552.

243

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

sort of authority. And why so ? Because there is only one
foundation for the power which princes may legitimately
enjoy. This is that God has placed them in their office. And
if they would dethrone God, must we continue to pay heed
to them?" l The fear of God must precede everything else.
It is the foundation of obedience. Once it is destroyed there
is no longer any ground for the connexion which binds
subjects to their rulers. 2 "They have lost every vestige of
authority." 3 "They are then nothing but ordinary men." 4
"Hence, if religious considerations compel us to withstand
tyrannical decrees which forbid us to give to Christ and to
God the honour and worship which we owe them, then it can
rightfully be claimed that we are not violating the majesty of
kings." " If they are not content with their lawful authority
and wish to uproot in us the fear and worship of God, then
there is no reason for anyone to say that we are despising
them because the kingdom and the glory of God are of more
worth to us." 5 "The Lord is the King of kings; when He
speaks His Word He must be heard before all and above all.
According to this Word we are subject to the rulers set over
us, but only in Him." 6

Calvin realized how difficult it is for a man to prove
himself a Christian when involved in a conflict between the
divine command and human authority. He warned his
countrymen, who had to suffer severe persecutions for their
faith, time and again, to stand fast. He wrote in reproof of
those followers of Nicodemus who dared only in secret to
confess their allegiance to Christ. 7 But he also advised
Christians who found themselves in isolation and thus in very
special danger to take the decision which he himself had taken
with a very heavy heart. He wrote to such oppressed and
persecuted Christians to the effect that "there was nothing
better than to dwell within His congregation, where He
abides and has made His seat", and that thus "we should

i CR 41, 415 ff. ; 1 1, 707. 2 CR 26, 315.

3 CR 26, 318. 4 CR 48, 109.

5 CR 48, 398; In. IV, 20, 32. 6 Ibid. 7 CR 6, 537 ff.

244

SECULAR GOVERNMENT

prefer to our own country any place where the sincere wor-
ship of God is practised". 1 "If it is possible for us to live in a
place where God is truly honoured and worshipped, then it
is by far better to live in exile than to remain in the fatherland
from which Christ the King of heaven and earth has been
banished." 2

In this sentence there resounds once again the theme of
Calvin's whole life and work. It is the name of Jesus Christ.

iCft 12,453.

*45

Chapter 16

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN
AND ITS STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION

IT is not strictly necessary that we should now summarize
the progress of our enquiry and set out the conclusions
reached. We think we have showed plainly enough that
in every aspect of doctrine Calvin is concerned only about
one thing: namely, the God revealed in flesh. But in con-
clusion we wish to draw attention to two sets of considerations :

i. We are now in a position to understand to some extent
the many attempts of Calvin researchers to interpret the
theology of the Reformer from the point of view of some one
predominant element in the content of his doctrine.

If Calvin is concerned about Jesus Christ, then the idea of
the honour of God will inevitably play a part in his thinking.
If only people had heeded the fact that it is a question of the
honour of the God who in Jesus Christ has disclosed to us the
depths of His mercy ! It is this God whom according to Calvin
we should honour and praise.

It has been rightly noticed that the law occupies an
important place in the doctrine of Calvin. How could it be
otherwise, when he wishes to glorify the Son of God and His
saving work? Only it ought to have been appreciated that
Calvin understands the law from the point of view of its
fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

It has been emphasized that the thought of sanctification
controls both the teaching and the life of Calvin. Again we
must say: with reason, provided that we belong to Christ
and He, the living Lord, claims our life for Himself.

246

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION

It was completely correct to refer to the emphasis on the
transcendent in the preaching of Calvin. Because he pro-
claims the Lord who will come again,, his theology must of
necessity be eschatological in bearing.

A very important contribution was made when it was noted
that the sacraments were central to the doctrine of Calvin
and to the parochial life which he organized. How could it
be otherwise, since the sacraments promise us and bestow
upon us communion with Jesus Christ ?

And so we could go on with this enumeration. There is
hardly an aspect of theology which someone or other has not
considered as quite specially typical for Calvin's doctrine.
The variety of these proposals need no longer astonish us ; for
we have seen that Calvin was concerned to expound in all
its fullness and depth the self-revelation of God to which Holy
Scripture bears witness.

2. Just as each individual facet of the theology of Calvin is
determined by the central theme which he wishes to bring
home to his readers, so is its structural organization. We do
not wish to deny that Calvin has moulded his doctrine by the
help of those resources which history and his own disposition
suggested. How could it have been otherwise? But the
observation of what is after all a matter of course does not
take us far in the understanding of Calvin. More decisive is
the appreciation of the fact that the form of Calvin's theology
was shaped by the axis on which it revolves. Jesus Christ
controls not only the content but also the form of Calvinistic
thought. In proof of this assertion we refer to two important
characteristics which constantly recur in Calvin's sequences
of thought :

(a) We have seen that Calvin understood the conjunction
of the two natures in the Person of the Mediator in harmony
with the Chalcedonian dogmatic definition: union but not
fusion : distinction but not separation. 1 The thought of Calvin
in many other doctrinal matters is guided by this attempt to
apprehend and describe the Person of Jesus Christ.

i See above, pp. 1 15 ff.

247

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Thus in the light of it he seeks to understand the essential
character of Holy Scripture. The relation between the words
of Scripture and the incarnate Word is analogous to that
between the human nature of Christ and the Logos. The
written word is not interchangeable with the one Word but
neither is it separable from the latter. 1 Exactly in the same
way Calvin solves the question of the relation between the
divine word and the human word in preaching 2 and the
problem which was then so much discussed: the relation
between sign and thing signified in the Eucharist. 3

Calvin similarly defined the nature of our relation to
Christ: a real communion of persons but not a fusion of
being. 4 He insisted upon this, especially in his interpretation
of the sacrament. 5 The sacramental gift is imparted to the
communicant on the ground of the divine promise and in
virtue of the action of the Holy Ghost ; but this does not
result in any fusion of the being of Christ with that of man.
Even the communion which man originally had with God,
Calvin thinks, is to be understood in the same way. 6

As regards the gracious gifts of justification and sanctifica-
tion, Calvin teaches that while they are inseparably contained
in Christ they must nevertheless be distinguished. 7 Again, in
the same way, in spite of all the divergences which are to be
noted, he sees the unity of the Old and the New Testament
implied in the living fact of Christ, 8 and by the same direction
of his thought he seeks to solve the complementary problem
of the law and gospel. 9 In a similar way he defines the
relation between the spiritual and the secular power. 10

From the same point of view he characterizes the effects
wrought by the graces of justification and sanctification
within us: "Here Paul reckons penitence and faith as two
different things. How so ? Can then penitence subsist without

i See above, pp. 33 ff. 2 In. IV, 1,5. 3 See above, p. 224.

4 See above, p. 124. 5 See above, pp. 225 f.

6 See above, pp. 68 f. 7 See above, pp. 137 f.

8 See above, pp. 105 ff.

9 CR 50, 39 ff., 354; 24, 727 f.; 28, 539; 53, 33.

10 OS 2, 362, 14; CR lob, 263.

248

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION

faith? By no means. But although they cannot be separated
from each other, yet they must be distinguished. Just as faith
cannot live without hope, and yet faith and hope are two
different things, so it is with penitence and faith : although
they are inseparably bound up with each other yet they
must be united rather than fused.' * *

Finally, it is especially worthy of note that even in regard
to the doctrine of the Trinity Calvin works with the same
apparatus of ideas. He teaches us to distinguish but not to
separate both person and being and person and person. 2
Even his formulation of this doctrine is moulded by the data
of revelation.

(b) Calvin goes yet a step further in this direction. In
thinking of the outcome of the actions of God, he suggests
that their effects are both distinguishable and interrelated.
Thus as regards justification and sanctification he explains
as follows: "Just as Christ cannot be torn asunder, so these
two benefits which we receive in Him both simultaneously
and in conjunction (simul et coniunctim in ipso] are not to be
separated from each other." 3 Since it is here a question of the
saving action of God, the characteristic ideas simul et
coniunctim serve to express the sense of juxtaposition and
interrelatedness. But in the sentence just quoted what is
above all essential is the reference to Christ as the ground of
this indissoluble nexus.

As we have shown, the simul plays a great part in the
sacramental doctrine of Calvin. The outward completion of
the rite ordained by God, and the action of the Holy Ghost
by which Christ is imparted to us, take place at the same
time. 4 In considering this point we drew attention to the
fact that this simultaneity refers to a divine and not a human
moment. Hence we need here do no more than recall the fact
that the simultaneity in Calvinistic doctrine cannot be under-
stood from the standpoint of our human sense of time.

1 In. Ill, 3, 5.

2 See above, p. 59, note 3 and p. 60, note 6.

3 See above, p. 137, note 4. 4 See above, pp. 218 ff., 223 ff.

249

THE THEOLOGY OF CALVIN

Calvin used similar expressions with regard to the effect
wrought upon us by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit must
at one and the same time be present in the Word and move
within us as we hear it, if that Word is to find an entrance
into our hearts. 1 But the Spirit is in no sense bound to the
word as proclaimed by man. 2

All this applies equally to the special case of man's call to
hold an office in the church. To the outward call by the
church corresponds the inner call by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Since no one can read in the heart of another, that
person is considered to be truly called who has been com-
missioned by the church ; but if the inner vocation is lacking,
he is nothing but a hireling. 3

These references may suffice. They show plainly enough
how closely the structure of Calvin's thoughts is dependent
on the Chalcedonian definition and so on the living fact of
divine self-revelation.

i See above, pp. 37 ff. 2 QR 50, 40.

3 See above, pp. 203 ff. and OS 5, 52, 2 1 f. Gf. H. Obendiek : " Vocatio
legitima" (Ev. Theologie, 5, 1938, pp. 89 fF.).

250

INDEX

Adam, 43 , 81, 83 ff, 115, 127
Assurance of salvation, in,

117, 138, 1 66, i68f, 190,

213

Augustine, 81, 191, 215
Authority, right, 146, 148, 235

Backsliding, 149

Baptism, 40, 60, 197, 212, 220

Its essence, 211
Baron, H., 229
Barth, Karl, iftsgffi, 159
Barth, Peter, 18, 20 , 39 ,

51 , 140, 159, 182, 229
Bauke, Hermann, 10 f, 38
Bearing the cross, 143, 145 ff.,

152, 209

Bohatec, J., 182, 229
Brunner, Emil, 39
Brunner, Peter, 17, 30 ff., 38 ,

in ff, 1 1 6, 140
Bullinger, 216

Caroh',^55

Castellio, 44

Ceremonies, 95, 100, 106,

206 ff.
Christ :

Communion with, 85, 114,

126 ff, 144 ff, 152, 163,

179, 182, 187, 190, 217 ff,

230, 247, 248
Cross of, 50, 76 , 144 , 147,

179
End of the law, 27, 32,

95 ff, 100, 106
Extra Calvinisticum y u8
Head of the Church, i88,

2OO, 202, 207 , 230

Image of God, 69

Christ continued
Intercessor, I54f.
Lordship of, 183, 230 ff., 234,

236 , 243
Mediator, 27, 36, 106,

no ff, 219, 221
Obedience of, 115, 131, 141,

*45
Revealer of God, 33 ff, 43,

49ff.,57ff,62, ii8, 120,

163 , 221, 247
Righteousness of, 131 ff.
Saving work of, 96, 97, 106,

113, 115, 120, 126 , 133,

142, 145, 153 , 169,

1 88
"Scopus" ("end") of the

Scriptures, 26, 30, 32,

107

Second coming of, 150
Substance of the Gospel, 27,

107 , 248
True God, 57 , 109, 1 1 1 ff ,

133 , 163
True Man, H3ff, 133 ,

224

Unio Personalis, 1 15 ff.
Church, 64, 66, 73 , 78, 93,

97, 99 , 105, 156 , 165,

179, 182 f, 212, 230,

232 ff.

Confession, 55

Congregation, 194, 197, 209
Form, 206 ff.
Guidance, 236
Order, 99 , 185, 199 ff.
Unity, 195 ff, 206
Church discipline, 197 ff.
Condescension, 35, 93, 113,

187, 214

25 1

252

INDEX

Conscience, 98, 102, 134, 172, God the Father, 59

i74ff., 235, 243 Name of Father, 154, 156

Covenant, 92 ff, 101, 103, 105,
107, 153, 163, 166

Cramer, J. A., 22, 31

Creation, 43, 53, 61 ff, 71

Dahm, W., 152, 157, 210;

Deacons, 201, 207

Death, 66, 73>. 8 5> 9> IJ 5>

128 , 150

Despising the world, 149
Dilthey, 10
Discipleship, 143 ff.

Righteousness of, 16, 85,

167

Gohler, Alfred, 19, 96, 126,
129, 130, 135, 140, 145,

Gospel, 107, 162, 182, 248
Grace, 107, 120 ff., i68

de Groot, 22, 30

Hauck, W. A., 20, 80
Heathen, 51 , 235

Divine worship, 99 , 185, Holy Scripture, see Scripture,
196 ff., 206 , 233, 234, Holy

245

Doctors, 20 1
Doumergue, E., 31

Honour of God, 13, 16, 18,

1 68, 246
Human works, 78 , 82 , 97,

100 , 130, 135 , i7off.
Elders, 197, 201

Engelland, Hans, 16 Idolatry, 47, 51, 53, 56, 142,

Eschatology, 43 , 65, 125, 343

128, 149, 184, i86, image of God in man, 67 ff.,
208 , 247 81, 127

Eternal divine election, 16, 72, Immortality, 65 ff.

159 , 189 ff., 227
Ethics, 78, 140, 141, 151
Eutyches, 117
Evil, 63, 76 , 87

Faith, 71 , 108, 114, 122 ff.,
130, 136 , 152, 155, 167,
1 68, i75ff., 1 80, i82f.,
207, 211, 213, 215 ff,
227 , 249

Fatherland, 147, 245

Forgiveness, 132

Freedom, 55, 69, 98 ff., 141 ,
207

Gentilis, 57

Gloede, Gtinter, i6, 39, 41,
42, 44, 48

Jesus, see Christ

Judgment, 83 , 86, 90, 98, 103,

167, 235, 236 ff.
Justification, 13, isoff,, 140,

1 68, i7o, 179, 248
twofold, 136

Klingenburg, G., 170
Kolfhaus, W., 20, 120
Kriiger, Gustav, 9

Lang, A., 14, 104, 126

& Lasko, 219

Law, 32, 92 ff., 104, 105, 141,

143, 145, 233, 235, 236 ,

246, 248

INDEX

253

Lord's ^Supper, 32, ^41, 180, Preaching, 183 , 187, 194,

195, 196, 198, 201, 202,
213, 216, 248

196, 198, 206 , 212 ,
aiSff., 248

Body and Blood of Christ, Predestination, 16, 159 ff., 171
41, 1 80, 213, 218, 221, Priesthood of all believers, 203
222,227 - -- ~ ~ -

manducatio indignorum, 226 f.

Providence, 47, 61, 70 ff., 89,

158, 230, 237 f.
manducatio oralis, 225
Love of one's neighbour, I44f., Quervain, de, Alfred, 18, 211,

175, 188

229

Luther, Martin, 12, 15, 34, 222 Quintin, 75

Luttge, Willy, 126

Quistorp, H., 140

Man, 41 , 44 ff., 53, 63 ff.. Regeneration, 85, 87, 90 ,

73, 75, 80 ff. ~ C * ~ -""

Martyrdom, 150
Meditatio vitaefuturae> 140,
Melanchthon, 16
Menno Simons, 118
Miilhaupt, Erwin, 15 ff., no
Mysticism, 126, 144, 222

Natural knowledge of God,

39 ff-
Nestorius, 115, 117

Oath of allegiance, 240
Obendiek, H., 250
Office, 200 ff.

calling, 203, 250

deposition of office bearers,
205

election, 203

Old Testament, 104 ff., 172
Osiander, 126, 133 , 138

126 ff., 132, 137 ff., 140 ff.,

!73 *75
Ritschl, Albrecht, 10

Ritschl, Otto, 1 6 f., 159

Sacraments, 40, 60, 108, 133,
1 80, 184, i86, 193, 194,
198, 201, 206 , 211 ff.,
247, 248

elements, 184, 194, 206 3
212 ff.

Sadolet, 38, 219

Salvation, 100, 122, 124, 186,
190, 196, 198, 219, 221,

222

Sanctification, 13, 26 ff., 137 ff.,
140 ff., 168, 179, 246,
248

Schism, 195 ff.

Schnabel, K, 159

Schneider, A., 152

Schools, 234

Our righteousness, 85, 96, 132 Schultze, Martin, 140 , 144,

i49 ? I 5 I

Pannier, Jacques, n Scripture, Holy, 22 ff., 37, 40,

Pastors, 183 ff., 197 , 201 ff., 49 ff., 52, 54 ff., 61, 64,

211, 234, 236 69, 71, 77, 80, 162, 164,

Penitence, 127, 152, 249 183, 193, 200, 228, 237,

Pfisterer, Ernst, 12, 211, 229 247

Prayer, 78, 106, 152 ff., 204, Secular government, 229 ff.

242 Seeberg, R., 104

254

INDEX

Seed of religious awareness Trinity, 54 ff., 62, 220, 234,

(semen religionis), 44, 47, 249

52, 65, 96 Troeltsch, 10
Self-denial, 143 ff., 148

Servetus, 56 f., 234 University, 234
Simon, Matthias, 18 f., 22,

104
Sin, 80 ff., 112, 129, 150, I74f.,

243

Smidt, Udo, 18, 152
Soul, 65 ff., 82, 83, 90
Stoic resignation, 148
Suffering, 145 ff.
Syllogismus practicus, i7off.,

175 ff.

Theology, 9 ff., 116, 156,

159 ff ^
natural, 39 ff.

Time, 52, 109, 160, 224 f., 237
Torrance, T. F., 20, 80
Transience, 150

Vermigli, 219

Weber, Hermann, 12 ff., 17

Wernle, P., 104 , 229

Will of God, 76, 102, 157, 162,
167

Wolf, Ernst, 56

Wolf, H. H., 104

Word of God, 27, 30, 33, 38,
50 ff., 62, 72, 78, 107 ,
109, 153, i62f., 1 68,
i7of., i73 f -> l8o > l8 3?
186, 193 ff., 203, 205, 216,
234, 244, 250

Zwingli, 15, 51, 215

( Con i in ucd from front 1 1 up)

must be searched in every detail and eluci-
dated more thoroughly than ever before.

Adopting for his examination the order of
topics established in the Institutes, Dr. Nie-
sel expounds the principal Calvinistic doc-
trines, devoting a separate chapter to each.
Beginning with the knowledge of God, he
proceeds in turn to the Trinity, creation and
providence, sin, the law of God, the Old and
New Testaments, the Mediator, and the
grace of Christ. He discusses the life of a
Christian man, prayer, God's eternal elec-
tion, the Church, the sacraments, and finally
secular government.

Throughout the exposition, because it is
everywhere the theme of Calvin's life and
work, is heard the name of Jesus Christ.
"We think we have showed plainly," this
noted scholar asserts, ". . . that in every
aspect of doctrine Calvin is concerned only
about one thing ... the God revealed in
flesh. . . . Jesus Christ controls not only
the content but also the form of Calvinis-
tic thought." In his inquiry the author also
makes clear why researchers were led to seek
a " central doctrine."

Harold Knight's excellent translation at
last gives this pivotal study to American
readers. Closing a conspicuous gap in our
theological reference shelf, THE THEOL-
OGY OF CALVIN is a critical tool for the
specialist, a definitive text for the student,
and a lucid source of enlightenment for the
minister and the serious layman who want
to investigate for themselves the major bases
of Reformed belief.

THE AUTHOR As Wilhelm Niesel
puts it, " I have sat under Harnack in Ber-
lin, under Karl Heim in Tubingen, and,
above all, studied under Karl Barth in
Gottingen." Now a foremost scholar of the
Reformed Churches in Germany, he received
his Th.D. degree from Gottingen and his
D.D. from Aberdeen. He is, in his country,
a member of the Council of the Evangelical
Church, member of the Central Committee
of the Ecumenical Council, and Moderator
of the Council of the Reformed Churches.

132539