Great Theologians: John Calvin

There is no shortage of biographies on the French Reformer John Calvin (1509-1564). Interest in the “Master of Geneva” has not waned since his remarkable career as one of the Reformation’s great pastor-theologians. Arguably, most of the interest has been polemical in one of two directions.

In one direction are those who harshly condemn Calvin due to their differences with the theological tradition associated with him. One biographer remarked in 1964, “By attacking Calvin’s person, one tries to discredit his thought and that of the theologians who claim him.”[1] Undeniably, there are many such discreditors. More than 40 years after the above comment, another author observed, “The prevailing image of John Calvin continues to be that of the domineering tyrant, the utterly inflexible moralist, the humorless preacher, and the unrelenting dogmatist unshaken by even the slightest self-doubt.”[2]

In a different direction are those who celebrate the Reformer as they celebrate their shared convictions about truth, worship, and what makes life good for those who live it. As Presbyterian pastor David Hall wrote in recognition of the 500^th anniversary of Calvin’s birth,

“Calvinism, when all is over and done with, may be more worthy of international celebrations than many other movements. When various ideological movements throughout history are assessed, the Genevan Reformer’s positive cumulative impact is greater than that of Rousseau, Nietzsche, Marx, and many other philosophers. Certainly, few if any ministers or theologians will make greater contributions to political, societal, or cultural change than did Calvin.”[3]

In full transparency, I march with the celebrants of Master Calvin’s legacy, and this is where I suspect many readers of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals land. What follows are three specific—and perhaps underappreciated—observations about Calvin’s theological character that make him not only a great Reformer, but also a great role model for pastors and theologians today.

Theologian of the Spirit

Those who are familiar with Calvin only through his theological writing might be surprised to learn that Calvinists are often jokingly referred to as “the frozen chosen.” On the contrary, there is a fire at the heart of what is commonly called Calvinism. That fire is the vital doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Calvinistic pneumatology is unabashedly biblical in its recognition of the full deity of the Spirit, the true Personhood of the Spirit, and the utter necessity of the work of the Spirit for the salvation of men otherwise “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).

In Book One of Calvin’s magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion, the Reformer establishes the Spirit’s essential deity as one of three distinct Persons of the Godhead. In Book Two, he highlights the Spirit’s work in the anointing of Christ for His earthly ministry. But it is in Book Three that Calvin’s doctrine of the Spirit finds full expression. This is telling, for Book Three is concerned with “The Way in Which We Receive the Grace of Christ.” In other words, Christians experience God’s salvation only by the Spirit’s application of Christ’s accomplishment of redemption. To riff on a popular bumper sticker, “No Spirit, No Christ; Know the Spirit, Know the Christ.”

Calvin declared the Spirit’s mission-critical importance in man’s salvation: “Since we see that not all indiscriminately embrace that communion with Christ which is offered through the gospel, reason itself teaches us to climb higher and to examine into the secret energy of the Spirit, by which we come to enjoy Christ and all his benefits.”[4] This “secret energy” is simply the invisible work of the Spirit, whom Christ likened to the wind which “blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going” (Jn. 3:8).

But Calvin continues, describing the Spirit as the bonding agent between the believer and Christ, the Spirit of adoption into God the Father’s household of faith, the seal of redemption, the source of spiritual life, the water that nourishes and cleanses the believer in sanctification, the oil of anointing, the fire of purgation and zealous devotion, the spring of heavenly delights and blessings, the mighty hand of God in moving the hearts of men, and the producer of the fruits of divine grace.[5] With this litany of honors conferred upon the Spirit, Calvinists should be known as “fiery” rather than “frozen.” Indeed, Calvin taught that true Christians are “pneumatic Christians.”[6]

Opponent of Superstition

However, many Christians who focus intently on the Holy Spirit’s work in the world today slide into the silliness of mysticism and superstition. Not so with John Calvin and his contemporaries! Beginning with the publication of the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541, the ministers and elders of Geneva in Calvin’s day organized as the Consistory to oppose Roman Catholic superstition and rampant immorality. Without dampening the fire of a robust doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Calvin and the Genevan Consistory were unflinchingly committed to Christianity according to God’s Word rather than religion enslaved to man’s whims.

Historian Scott Manetsch outlines the three aims of the Consistory’s exercise of church discipline in Geneva: the purity of the church, the protection of Christians from wickedness, and the encouragement of sinners to repentance and restoration.[7] The Consistory was not the governing body of the church, but rather a court of adjudication for matters concerning personal morality.

Calvin’s ultimate concern was to promote the glory of God even as he advanced the well-being of the people. An orientation on God’s glory keeps believers and church leaders aligned with God’s will and God’s Word. If Calvin and his colleagues had subsumed the glory of God under the good of man, their leadership might have been compromised when confronting error. Instead, the Consistory had a mandate to combat superstition for the purpose of cultivating God-honoring religious devotion throughout the city of Geneva.

The Ecclesiastical Ordinances harmonized with Calvin’s theological writing in opposing superstition. In the 1541 French edition of the Institutes, Calvin wrote, “Truly, one can see how many empty illusions superstition uses to make fun of God when it tries to please Him. For in doing practically only the things which He testifies He cares nothing about, superstition neglects those which He has ordained and said are pleasing to Him, or even openly rejects them.”[8] Calvin warned elsewhere, “When once we have turned aside from the right path, there is no end to our wanderings, until we get buried under a multitude of superstitions.”[9]

In the years of Calvin’s pastoral ministry in Geneva, he gave many hours to correcting superstition and reforming the religious life of the people. Though unpopular at the time, Calvin’s opposition to superstition is a mark of his greatness and of the Consistory’s faithfulness as they met steady resistance from the people over a period of years.[10]

Man of Humility

John Calvin’s personal motto was cor meum tibi offero domine prompte et sincere, which translates to “my heart to You I offer, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.” Though sometimes caricatured as being cold, rationalistic, harsh, arrogant, and unyielding, Calvin was deeply aware of his full dependence on God alone for everything: life, breath, salvation, and blessedness. He was a man of great personal humility before God, even as he ministered with firm resolve in dependence on God and confidence in His Word.

This quality of personal humility—what the old writers call meekness—is what made John Calvin a great pastor-theologian. Not everyone can emulate Calvin’s titanic theological intellect, replicate his Reformational labors, or duplicate his devastating polemic against false religion. But every Christian is called to a life of humility before God and humble service in His kingdom.

Ian Hamilton writes, “Far from trampling on humility and promoting pride, authentic Calvinism by its very nature breeds a meek and lowly spirit. How can you or I be savingly united to the meek and lowly Saviour, and yet be proud, cold, and clinical in our Christianity? Proud Calvinism is the ultimate oxymoron.”[11] When we strip away the hype and hagiography, we find that John Calvin was far from perfect, but sincerely humble. He forbade his friends from even marking his grave, lest it become a destination for Protestant pilgrims tempted to superstitious devotion.

Christians may proudly boast only in the cross of Christ. Hamilton continues, “Calvinism is proud, but only of the Saviour; proud of his glory and of his grace; proud that, though he was rich, yet for our poor, judgment-deserving sakes, he became poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich.”[12]

Humility of heart before God is what made the Master of Geneva great, and such humility is what makes any pastor-theologian great by any measure worth recording.