John Calvin’s first catechism was originally written in French in 1537 and subsequently in Latin in 1538. It does not take a question-and-answer format like many catechisms from the early modern period, but rather sets out doctrinal points in essay form. It is very much a pearl of great price and provides a concise introduction to his theology. Many associate John Calvin’s name with the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God. While it is true that Calvin did write about these themes, and is justly considered famous for them, his theology was actually more comprehensive than the topic of predestination alone and considered a wide range of theological topics including the doctrine of God, man, sin and death, the law of God, faith, justification, sanctification, repentance, regeneration, prayer, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the return of Christ. His first catechism provides a window into his understanding of theology as it should be taught to children and adults. This article will explore the salient themes in his catechism and offer commentary on his thought drawing upon the English edition of his catechism edited by James. T. Dennison, Jr.[1]
The Knowledge of God and of Man
Calvin begins his catechism by arguing that ‘all men are born in order to know God’ (p. 354). This is Calvin’s famous notion of the sensus divinitatis or the awareness of God shared by every human being. There is no such thing as an atheist as far as Calvin is concerned, just someone who is engaged in the business of supressing the knowledge of God revealed in his own constitution as a creature of God and as one made after the image and likeness of the divine being. Given this awareness of God, Calvin argues, ‘the principal care and solicitude of our life [must] be to seek God, to aspire to him with all the affection of our heart, and to repose nowhere else but in him alone’. (p. 354). As St. Augustine famously said, our hearts are restless until their find their rest in God.[2] Calvin distinguishes between true and false religion in the heart and argues that true religion or piety consists ‘in a pure and true zeal which loves God altogether as Father, and revers him truly as Lord, embraces his justice and dreads to offend him more than to die’ (p. 355). Such is the holiness which God requires of humankind.
What must we know of God? Calvin lists several divine attributes
of God – his immortality, his great power, his wisdom, his goodness, his
justice, and his mercy. Humankind was originally created after the image and
likeness of God, but fell into sin to the extent that the ‘intellect of man is
indeed blinded, wrapped with infinite errors and always contrary to the wisdom
of God; the will, bad and full of corrupt affections, [which] hates nothing more
than God’s justice; and the bodily strength, incapable of all good deeds, tends
furiously toward iniquity’ (p. 357). This is known as the doctrine of total
depravity in the acronym for five-point Calvinism, TULIP. The others which
summarise Calvinistic teaching are unconditional election, limited atonement,
irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. The acronym would not find
widespread use until the twentieth century, and some find the specific
terminology unhelpful – preferring to speak of definite atonement or particular
redemption and effectual calling rather than irresistible grace. Calvin affirms
that human beings in the state of sin have no ‘free power’ of choosing between
good and evil – or what is commonly known as the freedom of the will. Calvin
argues that man is a sinner by nature and a slave to sin: ‘man’s spirit is so
alienated from the justice of God that man conceives, covets, and undertakes
nothing that is not evil, perverse, iniquitous, and soiled’ (p. 357). It is not
that man sins by compulsion, but according to his sinful desires. He wants to
sin and delights in wickedness. Human beings sin because they are sinners both
by nature and by choice, and the wages and consequences of which are divine
retribution, judgement, and everlasting death.
The Moral Law of God
However, according to Calvin, God in his mercy chooses to redeem a great multitude of sinners of lost humanity by his grace and mercy: ‘[God] recalls us from error to the right way, from death to life, from ruin to salvation, from the kingdom of the devil to his own reign’ (p. 358). God first stings our conscience with the severity of the law to reveal our utter helplessness in the state of sin and then offers the healing balm of the Gospel which sweetens the law with love and grace. The moral law reveals sin and drives the sinner to Christ for mercy – it has evangelical and Gospel purposes. It is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law in Exodus 20 was given in the context of grace: ‘I am the Lord thy God, who has gotten thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. Thou shalt not have other gods in my presence’ (Exodus 20:2). God redeemed Israel from the hand of the Egyptians and brought them into a state of freedom – and this before he gave them the moral law. Grace precedes giving of the law in Scripture. There was grace in Eden before there was condemnation. The first commandment teaches us to worship God alone, to rest ourselves in him with all our reliance and hope, to acknowledge that all good and holy things come from him alone, and to praise him for all goodness and holiness.
The second commandment instructs us against the making of any images or representations of the divine – which Calvin connects to the doctrine of John 4:23 which teaches that God is a most pure and holy spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. He has no body or parts that we should represent him. He is the invisible God. In the context of the Reformation, Calvin takes aim at the Roman Catholic veneration of images and reminds us ‘how gravely the transgression of this commandment offends him’. (p. 360). The third commandment teaches us never to take the name of the Lord in vain. In the broadest sense, this commandment forbids all profane and foul language, but especially takes issue with those who blaspheme the sacred and holy name of God. When we approach the Father, we must do so with reverence and grace upon our lips. Calvin views the sabbath as an ordinance fulfilled in Christ: ‘He is the truth by the presence of which all images vanish’ (p. 360). Christians should not be bound by the superstitious observance of days as in the Roman Catholic Church. This is not to say there is no place for the Sabbath in the Christian life, but that we should not be unduly legalistic about the matter: ‘Hence, although the Sabbath is abrogated, it so happens among us that we still convene on certain days in order to hear the word of God, to break the [mystic] bread of the Supper, and to offer public prayers; and, moreover, in order that some relaxation from toil be given to servants and workingmen’ (p. 361).
Calvin commends the fifth commandment to us that we must honour
our mother and father and all those ‘who are likewise constituted above us,
such as princes and magistrates’ (p. 362). For this reason, the Protestant
Reformation has sometimes been described as the ‘Magisterial Reformation’ which
includes the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican churches who allowed some role
for the secular authorities or magistrates in the life of the church. This
contrasts with the radical Reformation whose members often shunned the
authority of the state. The sixth commandment forbids murder and all violence
and injury towards our neighbours who are made in the image and likeness of a
holy God. The seventh commandment forbids ‘any kind of lewdness and immodesty’
and encourages the practice of faithful marriage between husband and wife. The
eighth commandment forbids theft and all kinds of fraud – we must respect our
neighbours’ rights, property, and goods. The ninth commandment forbids false
witness against our neighbour and all forms of malicious gossip. The final
commandment forbids covetousness and evil desire. According to Calvin, the sum
of this commandment means that ‘we must be so affectionate that we are no
longer even solicited by any cupidity [i.e. greed] contrary to the law of love,
and ready to render most willingly to each one that which is his’ (p. 364). The
avarice and greed of modern capitalism would have been wholly alien and odious
to Calvin who believed that all things ultimately belong to God. The sum of the
whole law according to Christ is ‘that we should love the Lord our God with all
our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. And the second article
is that we should love our neighbour as we love ourselves’ (p. 364). Love
summarises and fulfils the law.
The law has an evangelical function to lead us to Christ. Though it convinces us of inequity and transgression, it is designed to drive us towards Christ for mercy: ‘It is in Christ his Son that God shows himself to us benevolent and propitious … in Christ his face shines full of grace and kindliness even toward miserable and unworthy sinners; for, he gave this admirable example of his infinite love, when he exposed his own Son for us, and in him opened to us all the treasures of his clemency and goodness’ (p. 365). We lay hold of this Christ through faith. ‘Just as the merciful Father offers us the Son through the word of the Gospel, so we embrace him through faith and acknowledge him as given to us’ (p. 365). Christ is freely offered towards sinners in all his fullness in the Gospel, but it is only believers who apprehend and receive him by faith. At the back of faith, however, stands God’s eternal purpose of election or predestination. Without the foreknowledge and predestination of God, none would ever come to Christ or make the first step towards him. ‘For, if he willed to ruin all mankind, he has the right to do it, and in those whom he rescues from perdition one can contemplate nothing but his sovereign goodness. We acknowledge, therefore, the elect to be recipients of his mercy (as truly they are) and the rejected to be the recipients of his wrath, a wrath, however, which is nothing but just’ (p. 366). The fact that God chooses to save anybody is a testimony to his grace and favour. He would have been perfectly just to condemn all humankind to eternal misery, yet he chose in grace to save some – his elect people in Christ Jesus.
Faith and Repentance
What is the nature of true faith? According to Calvin, ‘Faith is a firm and solid confidence of the heart, by means of which we rest surely in the mercy of God which is promised to us in the Gospel’ (p. 367). He ties this to the definition of faith offered by the writer to the Hebrews who argues that faith is the certainty the things to be hoped for and the demonstration of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). This element of a certain hope seems to be the essence of faith in Calvin’s system. On this point, he may be said to differ somewhat from the English Puritans who correctly argued that assurance was not the essence of faith and who distinguished between strong and weak faith in believers. However, Calvin and the Puritans were agreed on one point: faith should not be seen as a ‘good work’, but as a ‘good gift’ from the hand of God. Salvation is all of grace (sola gratia) and not of works lest any man should boast. Calvin, in agreement with Martin Luther, argues that we are justified in Christ alone (solus Christus) through faith alone (sola fide). We are not declared right before God on the basis of our own merits and works, but on the basis of Christ’s absolute righteousness which is credited or imputed to our account. Justification is a forensic term and has to do with our legal standing before God. We are either guilty in Adam or justified in Christ. There is no middle ground. Sanctification, however, must be properly distinguished from justification. It is a work that follows justification and remains an unfinished work during this life until we are glorified with Christ. It is progressive, rather than declarative. Sanctification also comes to us by faith and through the grace of God in Christ. As Calvin argues, ‘Observance of the Law, therefore, is not a work that our power can accomplish, but it is a work of a spiritual power. Through this spiritual power it is brought about that our hearts are cleansed from their corruption and are softened to obey unto righteousness’ (p. 369). We are not sanctified by our own strength or efforts, but by the strength and efforts of the Holy Spirit working in us by his grace. The law becomes sweet and holy to us, and we desire to keep God’s commandments as a rule of life because of the Spirit of grace at work within us.
Calvin argues that repentance follows faith in the Christian life and becomes a continual habit until glorification. ‘This repentance depends upon regeneration, which has two aspects, that is to say: the mortification of our flesh, that is, a killing of our inborn corruption; and the spiritual vivification through which man’s nature is restored to integrity’ (p. 370). Believers are called to die to sin and to live for Christ for the glory and honour of God alone (soli deo gloria). Those who are justified by faith are also sanctified by God’s grace. They must kill sin, or it will kill them. ‘We must, therefore, meditate during all our life on the fact that, being dead unto sin and our former selves, we may live unto Christ and his righteousness’ (p. 370). Good works are the fruit of sanctification, but never the cause or ground of our justification. They have no merit before God and are always tainted with the stain of sin in our lives. We always need Christ to wash and sanctify our good deeds in order for them to be acceptable before the Father. ‘We always need Christ, so that his perfection may cover our imperfection, [so that] his purity may wash our impurity, his obedience may efface our iniquity; and finally his righteousness may … credit us with righteousness’ (p. 371). We are only ever presentable to the Father when we are washed in the blood of Christ and clothed in his righteousness divine.
The Apostles’ Creed
Calvin walks the reader step by step through the Apostles’ creed
which he describes as the symbol of our faith. This symbol adopts a tripartite
formula and invites the reader to consider the work of the one true God as Holy
Trinity. For within the one divine being, there are three co-equal and
co-eternal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And
these three are one God, equal in power and in glory. God the Father is the
Almighty who by his great power brought the earth and heavens into being. God
the Son is our Lord and Saviour. And God the Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver
of life. Jesus Christ is Lord both according to his divinity and according to
his humanity whereby he rules and defends us. He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His conception was the work of God the Holy
Spirit in the womb of the holy virgin and mother of God. This was to preserve
Christ from all taint of original sin and mark his eternal divinity as the Son
of God. He was also born of the virgin Mary and adopted by Joseph in order that
he should be known as ‘the true Son of Abraham and of David, who had been
promised in the law and the prophets, and as true man, in all things similar to
us except only in sin’ (p. 373). Jesus Christ is very God of very God according
to the divinity, and he is truly man – bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh
– according to the humanity, in every way like unto us, yet without sin. He
suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified by the Romans at the request of
the Sanhedrin. He died, was buried, and descended into hell. According to
Calvin, ‘He has shed his sacred blood for the price of our redemption in order
to extinguish the wrath of God inflamed against us and to purge away our
iniquity’ (p. 373). His death and descent into hell secured our atonement once
and for all. Calvin quite clearly views the death of Christ in terms of penal
substitution and vicarious satisfaction. It is worth quoting Calvin at length
on this point:
He
has been crucified in order to bear upon the cross ... our curse which our sins
deserved. He died in order to conquer by his death the death which was against
us and in order to swallow that death which otherwise would have swallowed and
devoured us all. He has been buried in order that we too ... [might] be buried
unto sin, being freed from the power of the devil and of death (p. 374).
Here Calvin comes close to expressing the title that would later by penned by the English Puritan John Owen – The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (1648) – so accurately capturing the nature of Christ’s death for us. In terms of Christ’s descent into hell, Calvin understands this difficult phrase to mean his suffering of the undiluted wrath of God against human sin upon the cross, rather than any literal descent into the abode of the dead.
The third day, Christ rose from the dead. After being seen by many witnesses, he ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High, even God the Father Almighty – and from heaven he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. He is no longer dead and death itself has been swallowed up in victory. There is a man in the glory – a man of human bones and flesh with teeth, nails, hair, and skin, with human organs, a human brain, a human mind, human affections, and a human heart. Christ has ascended into heaven and sat down. His work of atonement is finished. He is at the right hand of his Father making intercession for his elect people before the throne of grace. And one day he will come again with glory as judge of the whole earth. None shall escape the rod of his judgement. He will break the teeth of the wicked and condemn those to hell who have lived unrepentant lives before his Father in heaven. But the elect he shall fully and finally save at last, transforming their earthly bodies to be like his heavenly body, glorified and free from sin forever in a world of righteousness and peace.
The creed turns towards a consideration of the person and work of God the Holy Spirit. ‘By the power of the Spirit, Christ makes, upholds, maintains, and vivifies all things; by [the Spirit] he justifies, sanctifies, and purifies, calls and attracts us to himself in order that we may obtain deliverance’ (p. 375). In other words, the Holy Spirit applies the work of redemption to the hearts of the elect – enflaming them with love to God and love to humanity. The church universal and the communion of the saints come together under the Lordship of Christ and his Holy Spirit. There is one living head of the church – namely Christ – and those sanctified in the Spirit belong to his body and function together as various parts. The church is catholic or universal and found in every part of the world, united together by Christ. The church is holy, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, bound in one sacred holy communion or fellowship and united in one faith, one hope, one charity, and one inheritance of eternal life. The elect in this one holy and universal church believe in the remission of sins – ‘not through any merit of their own, but through the sole mercy of the Lord’ (pp. 376–77). Outside of this fellowship with Christ and his people, there is no forgiveness for sin. In the words of St. Cyprian, if we would have God as our Father, then we must have the church as our mother.[3]
The incredible news of the creed is that there is forgiveness for all our transgressions in the blood, righteousness, and satisfaction of Christ. The symbol closes with a reference to the resurrection of the body and the glorious life of the world to come. ‘It will so happen that the Lord will call back from the dust and from corruption to a new life the flesh of those who have been consumed by death before the day of judgement. And it shall be so through the one same power by which he has resuscitated his own Son from the dead’ (p. 377). Death is not the end of all being. We were created for eternity and God has stamped eternal life in our hearts. The reprobate will be raised in the misery of his sins to face the final judgement and the lake of fire for all eternity, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never dies and the fire does not go out, and where the smoke of their torment rises forever. The elect, however, will be raised in glory with exceeding joy and the eternal happiness of a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. Heaven is a place of love where we shall see his glory – not as in a mirror darkly – but face to face. Believers have a great hope in Christ. According to Calvin, ‘Hope is nothing else than the expectation of the things that faith has believed to be truly promised by God’ (p. 378). Every true believer should be an optimist about the future, since we have a certain hope of redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ – both body and soul – for all eternity.
The Lord’s Prayer
Believers are called to seek God and ask our petitions in prayer.
The Lord Christ gave us a model prayer to use and reflect upon in personal
devotion. ‘Prayer’, according to Calvin, ‘is similar to a communication between
God and us whereby we expound to him our desires, our joys, our sighs, [and] in
a word, all the thoughts [and meditations] of our hearts’.(p. 379). In other
words, prayer is communion with God. The Lord’s Prayer is made up of six petitions.
The first three petitions focus on God and his glory, while the latter three
consider the needs of our humanity. Prayer requires knowledge both of God and
humanity – and much as Calvin begins his Institutes of the Christian Religion
with the knowledge of God and of mankind, so must we begin our prayer life with
an awareness of the power of God and the plight of man. Our prayers must be
offered to God as our Father in the name of Christ. Prayer in any other name
than the name of Christ is wholly displeasing and odious to God. Observe that
we are to pray to our Father who art in heaven. According to Calvin, ‘His
marvellous majesty … is thus signified, inasmuch as there is nothing before our
eyes more excellent and full of all majesty than the sky. The phrase in heaven
is equivalent to saying that God is lofty, mighty, [and] incomprehensible’ (p.
381).
The first petition reminds us of the absolute sanctity of the divine name: hallowed be thy name. ‘The name of God is the renown whereby he is celebrated among men for his virtues, as are his wisdom, goodness, might, justice, truth, [and] mercy’ (p. 380). When we remember God’s name, it is fitting also to remember his attributes and gracious character – that we approach him as our Father, and not as a tyrant. The second petition looks to the coming and advancement of God’s kingdom on earth: ‘We pray, therefore, that God’s reign may come, that is to say, that the Lord may from day to day multiply the number of his faithful believers who celebrate his glory in all works, and that he may continually spread on them more largely the affluence of his graces, whereby he may live and reign in them more and more, until, having perfectly conjoined them to himself, he may fill them wholly’ (p. 382). The kingdom of God is already present on earth, but it is not yet finally consummated as it shall be at the last day. Therefore, we pray that his kingdom may come and that our Lord might reign and put all his and our enemies beneath his feet. The already/not yet eschatological dynamic in Calvin’s approach to prayer reminds us to be optimistic and hopeful as Christians about the future of the church and God’s righteous kingdom. The third petition concerns itself with the divine will in heaven and earth. God’s will in heaven is the pattern for his rule upon earth. He desires that all should keep his will even as the elect angels in heaven observe and do all that God requires of them. The will of man should be wholly and utterly subservient to the divine will so ‘that we wish nothing from ourselves, but that his Spirit may will in us, through whose inspiration we may learn to love all things pleasing to him and to hate and to detest all that which displeases him’ (pp. 382–83).
The fourth petition turns to a consideration of our bodily needs: give us today our daily bread. That we need sustenance, water, and nourishment is part of our condition as being human beings. Even Adam needed to eat fruits and vegetables in Paradise and was to look for the Lord’s hand and provision in this regard. ‘And we must have this trust that, when our Father shall have nourished us today, he will not fail us tomorrow either’ (p. 383). As far as Calvin is concerned, all private property belongs ultimately to God – not even sources of nourishment generated by our own labour and industry belong to us – since all things belong ultimately to God and are rightfully his, and they are given to us in grace, freely and without necessity by his fatherly hand. The fifth petition encourages us to pray for the forgiveness of our sins, even as we learn to forgive others who have sinned against us. Those who harbour grudges against their enemies have never truly experienced forgiveness for their own sins against God and humanity. But those who have been forgiven much, love much and forgive others for their trespasses as freely as God forgives those who have sinned against his awful majesty. The sixth petition of the Lord’s prayer urges us to pray against temptation and Satan’s devices. As Calvin points out, we are not so much asking for no temptations in life, but rather that we would be ‘waked up, stimulated, and agitated for fear that through too long a rest we become too soft and lazy’ (p. 384). According to the Holy Scriptures, we have an enemy – the evil one – even Satan who opposes us and we must be ready with remedies against his devices to ensnare us and to lead us into temptation and sin. We must cast ourselves wholly upon the arm of God in prayer to resist the devil – and the devil seeing the power and promises of God will flee before us – that ‘we may remain invincible above the devil, death, and all the weapons of hell’ (p. 384). And the danger of temptation is a constant reminder for the need of perseverance in prayer and the duty we have to pray without ceasing. Prayer is not a one off, or a quick fix, or a pick me up, it is a sacred and holy act of communion with God. We approach God as our hallowed Father with due reverence, love, and fear.
The Sacraments and Church Order
Calvin closes his catechism with a consideration of the sacraments of baptism and holy communion. What is a sacrament? According to Calvin, ‘A sacrament is an external sign through which the Lord presents and testifies to us his good will towards us in order to sustain us in the weakness of our faith … It is a testimony of the grace of God declared by an external sign’ (p. 386). Contrary to the claims of the Roman Catholic Church, there are only two sacraments according to the Scriptures and the witness of Christ, namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is an outward sign of inward grace. It is a public declaration that we belong to God and are numbered among his covenant people. The Lord has commanded that his own church be ‘sanctified through her bridegroom [namely Christ] and cleansed through the washing of water unto the word of life’ (p. 386). Calvin argues that we rightly baptise the children of believers ‘since they are already participants in the eternal covenant through which the Lord promises that he will be God not only of us, but also of our posterity’ (p. 387). In the New Covenant, baptism is the sign of God’s eternal promise to be faithful to his people, even as circumcision was the sign of the covenant under the Old Testament – and therefore was rightly administered to children. The signs of the Supper of the Lord or Holy Eucharist are ‘the bread and wine, under which the Lord presents to us the true yet spiritual communication of his body and blood’ (p. 387). This is not to say that the elements of the Lord’s Supper literally become the body and blood of Christ, but rather that they signify these elements of Christ’s death to us as we feed upon him crucified, dead, and buried for us. According to Calvin, ‘He gives us in the supper an instruction concerning this matter so certain and manifest that without any doubt we must be assured that Christ with all his riches is there presented to us, not less than if he could be put in the presence of our eyes and be touched by our hands’ (p. 387). This is not to say that we literally masticate the body and blood of Christ as the Roman Catholic Church insists, but that we partake of Christ spiritually by faith and under the direction of his word.
Calvin closes with a consideration of the pastors of the church and their power, the place of human traditions, the role of church discipline and excommunication, and the relationship between the magistrate or civic officer and the church. Since God has ordained that the word and sacraments be administered to his people, it is necessary for the church to appoint pastors and teachers for the flock – such who are pure in doctrine privately and publicly, prayerful in the administration of the sacraments, and who by their good example and teaching instruct God’s people to live lives of holiness and purity. They bind and loose as Christ teaches by the power and under the authority of his word. ‘For the sum of the Gospel is that we are slaves of sin and death, and that we are loosed and freed by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, while those who do not receive him as redeemer are bound as by new bonds of a graver condemnation’ (pp. 388–89). Pastors and teachers however have no more authority than such as is given to them in the Holy Scriptures. The power to bind and loose is wholly contained in the word of God and not in the office of pastor itself. As Calvin argues,
Let pastors boldly dare all things by the word of God, of which they have been constituted dispensators; let them constrain all the power, glory, and haughtiness of the world to make room for and to obey the majesty of that word; let them by means of that word command all from the greatest to the smallest; let them edify the house of Christ; let them demolish the reign of Satan; let them feed the sheep, kill the wolves, instruct the docile; let them rebuke, reprove, reproach, and convince the rebel – but all through and in the word of God (p. 389).
Notice how carefully Calvin ties the authority of pastors and teachers to the word of God as given in the Holy Scriptures alone (sola scriptura). Should a pastor or teacher exceed the divine word or turn away from what God commands in Holy Scripture, then they must be seen as ‘pernicious wolves’, who must be chased away from the flock of God.
Human traditions are to be allowed in the church only in so far as they conform to the word of God and are edifying for the body. Traditions which upset, distort, undermine, or turn away from the Scriptures are to be rejected. What may be reasonably deduced from the Scriptures for our edification is permitted as necessary, but we should be careful not to ensnare ourselves in the commandments and legalities of men. According to Calvin, excommunication is the act whereby those who are manifestly sinful without repentance or desire to reform their lives are excluded from the membership of the church and are subject to proper discipline. Although this may seem harsh to modern readers, it is actually a kindness to graciously admonish and rebuke the wicked so that they may see their sins and repent of them in order that they might be welcomed back into the fold of God, but only when there is clear evidence of their true faith and repentance. As Calvin says, ‘When this result is obtained, the church with kindliness will receive them again in her communion and in the participation of that union from which they had been excluded’ (p. 390). Discipline is a necessary kindness for the health and wellbeing of the church. However, we are not to sit in pharisaical judgement of others, but kindly and with grace show them their sins in the mirror of the law and lead them back to Christ for mercy, knowing that we ourselves are sinners saved by grace. God welcomes repentant prodigals with open arms and fatherly love. The civil magistrates are to be obeyed in so far as they uphold the word of God. They are called by God to ‘keep in true purity the public form of religion, to establish and to guide the life of the people by good laws, and to procure the welfare and the tranquillity of their subjects, both in public and in private’ (p. 391). For this work, civil magistrates require both justice and judgement: ‘Justice is to safeguard the innocent, to maintain, to keep, and to free them; judgement is to resist the audacity of evil men, to repress violence, and to punish misdeeds’.(p. 391). It is the duty of subjects to obey those in authority over them and to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.
Select Bibliography
There is a wealth of literature out there on Calvin and Calvinism.
The following titles include material about John Calvin and his theology, but
also about how Calvinism emerged and developed as a distinct tradition after
his death in 1564.
Benedict, Philip, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social
History of Calvinism (Yale, 2002).
Daniel, Curt, The History and Theology of Calvinism
(Durham, 2019).
Dennison, Jr., James T., Reformed Confessions of the 16th and
17th Centuries in English Translation, 4 vols (Grand Rapids, MI,
2008–2014).
Gordon, Bruce, and Carl Trueman (eds), The Oxford Handbook of
Calvin and Calvinism (Oxford, 2021).
Gordon, Bruce, Calvin (New Haven and London, 2011).
Hart, D. G., Calvinism: A History (New Haven and London,
2013).
Lehner, Ulrich L., Richard A Muller, A. G. Roeber (eds), The
Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600–1800 (Oxford, 2016).
Muller, Richard A., After Calvin: Studies in the Development of
a Theological Tradition (Oxford, 2003).
Muller, Richard A., Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The
Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520–1725, 4 vols (Grand
Rapids, MI, 2003).
Muller, Richard A., The Unaccommodated Calvin: Studies in the
Foundation of a Theological Tradition (Oxford, 2000).
Wallance, Jr., Dewey D., Shapers of English Calvinism
1660–1714: Variety, Persistence, and Transformation (Oxford, 2011).
Wendel, Francois, Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought (New York, 1963).
[1] James
T. Dennison Jr. (ed.), Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries
in English Translation, vol. 1, 1523–1552 (Grand Rapids, MI, 2008). All
page number references in the text are to this volume.
[2] See
Augustine, Confessions (1. 1).
[3]
St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519.
