| Calvin, John (1509-1564),
French theologian, church reformer, humanist, and pastor, whom Protestant
denominations in the Reformed tradition regard as a major formulator
of their beliefs.
Calvin was born in Noyon, France, on July 10, 1509.
III. Calvin's Theology
According to Calvin, the Bible specified the nature of theology
and of any human institutions. Thus, his statements on doctrine
began and ended in Scripture, although he frequently cited the church
fathers and important medieval Catholic thinkers. He sought
to minimize speculation on divine matters and instead to draw on
the Word of God. He also urged the church to recover its original
vitality and purity.
In Calvin's masterwork, Institutes of the Christian Religion, which
he revised at least five times between 1536 and 1559, Calvin sought
to articulate biblical theology in a sensible way, following the
articles of the Apostles' Creed. The four books in the definitive
edition (1559) focus on the articles "Father,""Son,""Holy
Spirit," and "Church."
A. On the Father
Knowledge of God is bound up with self-knowledge. In the world and
in the human conscience, spiritual demands are manifest. God created
the world and made it good. Since the fall, however, humanity, by
its own powers, has been able to apprehend God only rarely and imperfectly.
On their own, human beings can never achieve a true religious life
based on the knowledge of God. In God's grace, however, conveyed
through Jesus Christ as described in the Bible, the Creator resolved
this destructive dilemma and enabled humanity to gain a clear view
of revelation. Those people who learn the truth about human depravity-that
even the best deeds are tainted and none is pure-can repent and
depend on God the Father for salvation.
B. On the Son
Human sin, inherited from Adam and Eve, produces in each person
an "idol factory" All individuals deserve destruction,
but Jesus Christ served as prophet, priest, and king to call the
elect into eternal life with God. Christ summons the chosen into
new life, interceding for them in his atonement, and he reigns at
God's right hand. Calvin took pains to emphasize the continuity
of his doctrines with Christian orthodoxy as expressed in the Nicene
and Chalcedonian creeds.
C. On the Spirit
God's Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, gives power
to the writing and the reading of Scripture, to the devotional life
of believers, and to Christian growth in Christ (sanctification).
It also permits faith that God's resurrection of the dead will bring
the saved into perfection in God's presence. Any assurance of election
to grace is given by the Spirit, and even the condemnation of the
damned according to God's justice works by the power of the Spirit.
D. On the Church
God's church and the sacraments are also given in God's grace for
the edification of the elect and the good of the world. The church,
one through all time, can be known by the preaching and hearing
of God's Word and the proper administration of the sacraments. Although
the true church is known only to God, the visible church is thoroughly
related to it on earth. Officers and leaders in the church should
be those individuals who try responsibly to follow in Christian
discipleship, but their authority cannot depend on their righteousness.
The offices should be only those designated in the New Testament.
Sacraments
(Baptism and the Eucharist) should be celebrated
as mysteries in which Christ is spiritually present.
Calvin stressed the sovereignty of God,
the nature of election and predestination,
the sins of pride and disobedience, the
authority of Scripture, and the nature of the Christian
life. Each of these teachings has been seized upon at some time
by those following him as the central doctrine of Calvinism. Calvin
sought, however, to expound biblical teaching on various issues
of his day, in light of particular controversies within the church.
His theology has been recognized as lying in the Pauline-Augustinian
tradition; Calvin tried to steer what he perceived to be a middle
course between an exclusive emphasis on divine providence and an
exclusive emphasis on human responsibility.
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