JOHN CALVIN
*”The Bible the Word of God”
History and Introduction:
*Reformer of Geneva/Pastor of
Geneva
*One of the father of Modern
Democracy
*Some viewed him as a virtual
director, “The Pope of Geneva”
*A master of dissimulation who
always got his own dictatorial view
across by subtle means.
*The son of Picard lawyer, he was at
first destined for the priesthood.
*Calvin’s training prepared him to be
both a humanist scholar and a
lawyer.
*During his studies at Bourges, he
seems to have accepted the
teachings of the new religious
movement which we know as the
reformation. By this time, Luther
teachings had spread widely, even in
France.
* There was also the reforming
activity of Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich and
Anabaptists in Switzerland and
Germany.
*Luther thought of the ruler as being
supreme over the church in all such
worldly matter as property and even
organization.
*Zwingli, on the other hand, allowed
the civil ruler nearly total control over
the church.
*The Christians did not require civil
supervision, since they already
obeyed God’s Law.
*By the time, the first edition of the
“Institutes of the Christian Religion”
appeared in 1536, Calvin had
considerable knowledge of these
varying views, as well as these of
classical writers such as Seneca and
Cicero.
Ultimate Authority:
*The Oracles of God possessed
ultimate authority over man.
*True, man might not understand
everything in the scriptures or in
God’s purpose, for “the secret things
belong to God.” (Deut 29:29), but
what God has revealed must form
the basis and the structure of the
Christians thinking.”
*To Calvin, this meant that there was
very clearly a Christian-biblical word-
and-life view which encompassed all
phases of life-not just religion, but
science, economics and politics.
*He believed that even non-Christian
had implanted within him, by the
grace of God, a sense of justice and
equity.
*The ultimate authority for his
political ideology was the Bible.
*According to him the church has the
role to play with regard to the state.
*Calvin believed to set forth the
biblical teaching concerning the state
and its function.
*Calvin believed in a theocracy, bot
an ecclesiocracy.
-Both the rulers of the church and
the civil magistrates are directly
responsible to God for their actions,
but they do not rule over each other.
-The church: may admonish the
magistrate as to what God’s law
says, but cannot determine how that
law is to be applied in matters of civil
jurisdiction.
-The magistrate: may advise the
church concerning matters relating to
civil affairs, but cannot force the
church to conform to civil rules in its
teachings, worship, or gov’t.
*Calvin believed that the church form
of government was to be
fundamentally democratic.
The Magistrate and the Law:
*Calvin held the magistrate in high
honor. In fact, he insisted that being
a magistrate was the worst important
calling anyone could receive.
*To Calvin this natural law or moral
law as Calvin called it, is the
foundation for all political gov’t. It has
2 chief articles:
-to worship God and love one
another
-the laws of different nations may
rightly differ
*Who is to govern?
-To Calvin, a ruler whether an
individual or a body made up of a
number of individual is a necessity.
Without someone to guide and direct
the enacting and enforcing of laws, a
society simply falls into anarchy.
*Calvin did not favor the idea of
succession by right of birth.
*What the s the proper relation of the
magistrate to the law? Is the ruler
above or under the law?
-the ruler is under divine law in his
relation to his sovereign God.
-At the same time, the people are to
obey the ruler, not merely because
of social benefits, but because they
are obeying the authority which God
has established over them.
Covenant and Rebellion:
*At the base of this concept of the
relation of ruler and ruled was
Calvin’s covenant idea.
*In a truly Christian gov’t, there is
also covenant between God and his
subjects.
*Many of his rulers of his day were
tyrannically exercising their authority
over the people.
*In his Epistle Dedicatory to 1st
edition of the Institutes, Calvin called
upon France I of France to stop
attacks on and execution of
Protestants.
*What about the possibility of
rebellion?
-At first, Calvin was absolutely
opposed to such any action. But it
seems he gradually become more
reconciled to the idea of anti-
tyrannical action.
*Calvin believed, however, that
magistrates who are elected are
more likely to rule justly than those
who take control by inheritance or
force.
*In political thought, as in theology,
Calvin id in essential agreement with
Luther.
*Calvin, unlike Luther, considered
the problem of the best form of gov’t
and chose either aristocracy or a
mixture of aristocracy and
democracy.
The 5 foundational tenets of
Calvinism:
T-otal depravity: the belief that all
human beings are sinful and are
born with an inherent sin-nature.
U-nconditional election: belief that
God predestined individuals for
salvation, and that individuals cannot
choose God without God enabling
them to do so.
L-imited atonement: belief that God
sent Jesus Christ to die for the sins
of his chosen saints only, and not for
the sins of those who are
unbelievers.
I-rresistible grace: belief that Go’s
chosen elect cannot resist God’s
grace in their lives.
P-erseverance of the saints: belief
that once an individual is saved, he
or she can never lose his or her
salvation because he or she is
eternally bound to Christ.