thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.(Calvin 1964:3738) It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Rm Viii. 3334)...To justify, therefore, is nothing else than to acquit from the charge of guilt, as if innocence were proved. Hence, when God justifes us through the intercession of Christ, he does not acquit us on a proof of our innocence, but by imputation of righteousness, so that though not righteous in ourselves, we are deemed righteous in Christ.(Calvin 1964:39)It is clear to Calvin that Christ is in fact the only ground for man's justification, and faith is an empty vessel for the purpose of receiving the decisive content: the God-man Jesus Christ, man's Saviour (Niesel 1980:137). But faith's encounter with Jesus Christ does not leave man unchanged. In Christ a new life is resurrected. Niesel explains Calvin's understanding as follows: 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 life which was hostile to God, but attracts us into His own dying and rising again.(Niesel 1980:130, 131)Undoubtedly, the doctrine of justification was to 16th century Protestantism the doctrine by which everything in church and theology stood or fell 'articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae' (Bosch 2004:241). The reason for this was that at the heart of Calvin's theology, as well as at the heart of Reformation theology (cf. the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism), figured man's concern for salvation that needed answers. The doctrine of justification had to respond to precisely that.Understandably Calvin also refers to the doctrine of justification as the doctrine of salvation. For instance, in his Last Will and Testament Calvin dictated (as recorded by Theodore Beza): thanks to God, that taking mercy on me, he not only delivered me out of the deep darknessthat he might bring me into the light of his Gospel, and make me a partaker in the doctrine of salvation, of which I was most unworthy(Beza 1964:207)For many, in the light of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the theology of the Middle Ages dismally failed to provide the answers to man's critical questions on personal salvation. To follow the teachings of the Medieval church without questioning any of them did not satisfy everyone. In Reformation theology everything is in some way or another inextricably linked to the most important doctrine of justification, which ultimately focuses on every individual's salvation. The moment we emphasise every man's salvation, this doctrine becomes something about which all people across the entire world and certainly every individual should really know. And then, logically and consequently, this doctrine (together with all related doctrines) necessarily becomes foundational to the mission of the church. For Calvin and the Reformation, the faith that follows from the justification in Jesus Christ is always a faith that has to be shared with
others, and always a caring faith concerned with the well-being and salvation of all people.However, the point of departure for the Reformers in the doctrine of justification is not what people can and ought to do for their salvation, but what God has already done for their salvation in Jesus Christ. What God has done can be received by faith alone sola fides. God has done all this in his love and his sovereignty, by grace alone sola gratia. Man can in no way whatsoever contribute to his own salvation. At the basis of this doctrine is the conviction of the Reformers that there is a great distance (difference) between God and man, in fact all of God's creation. This means that there is an ongoing dialectical tension between God and man definitely also in Calvin's theology. Again: all of mankind is therefore in need of salvation and that in itself is already enough reason for mission, so that every individual may hear the Gospel's message of salvation.The emphasis by the Reformers on the idea that all initiative concerning man's salvation is in the hands of God might explain why in more orthodox circles there is a tendency to give up the dialectical tension between God and man, i.e., the 'creative tension' (Bosch), and to put all the emphasis on God's saving work, with man in the process withdrawing from the scene and the church losing its missionary vision (cf. Bosch 2004:250).However, to argue that the 16th century Reformers had no missionary vision is misguided and built on a misunderstanding of the basic substance of Reformation theology and ministry. Against this misunderstanding would argue the whole weight of Calvin's pneumatology, in addition to the already mentioned argument of the individual's concern for salvation, which figures in the centre of the doctrine of justification, and which necessitates the spreading of the Gospel and a missionary vision. Calvin stressed two aspects in his pneumatology: (i) The work of the Holy Spirit in the renewal of the individual human spirituality; and (ii) the activity of the Spirit in the renewal of the world. He elaborates on these two dimensions of his pneumatology in Book III, chapter XX, 42, by referring to the individual that has to be purified from all corruptions and to the whole world that needs to be brought to the voluntary obedience of all minds and hearts: . . . his Spirit corrects all the depraved lusts of the flesh when he brings our thoughts into obedience to his authority. This petition, therefore, is duly presented only by those who begin with themselves; in other words, who pray that they may be purified from all the corruptions which disturb the tranquillity and impair the purity of God's kingdom. Then as the word of God is like his royal sceptre, we are here enjoined to pray that he will subdue all minds and hearts to voluntary obedience. This is done when by the secret inspiration of his Spirit he displays the efficacy of his wordGod, therefore, sets up his kingdom, by humbling the
whole world, though in different ways.(Calvin 1964:189)When referring to the two dimensions in Calvin's pneumatology, the renewal of the individual and the transforming of the world, Bosch says: For Calvin, the Christ who was exalted to God's right hand was pre-eminently the active Christ. In a sense, Calvin subscribed to an eschatology in the process of being fulfilled. He used the term regnum Christi (the reign of Christ) in this respect, viewing the church as intermediary between the exalted Christ and the secular order. Such a theological point of departure could not but give rise to the idea of mission as 'extending the reign of Christ', both by the spiritual renewal of individuals and by transforming the face of the earth through filling it with 'the knowledge of the Lord'.In most of the early seventeenth century Second Reformation theologians G Voetius, J Heurnius, W Teellinck, and others the two dimensions were held together in a creative tension.(Bosch 2004:256)Calvin's views on predestination (as an explanation as to why some people are drawn to faith and others not) have often been 'targeted as unevangelistic and destructive to missionary zeal' (Van Neste 2009:2). However, this view has in fact inspired Calvin to encourage Christians to become involved in spreading the Gospel. In his treatise, Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God, Calvin says: Since we do not know who belongs to the number of the predestined and who does not, it befits us so to feel as to wish that all be saved. So it will come about that, whoever we come across, we shall study to make him a sharer of peaceeven severe rebuke will be administered like medicine, lest they should perish or cause others to perish. But it will be for God to make it effective in those whom he foreknew and predestined.(Van Neste 2009:2)When comparing the view of John Calvin and Martin Luther on mission, it is noticeable that Luther linked foreign mission to brotherly love. According to Walter Holsten, Luther believed that if a Christian were to find himself among non-Christian people he would be under the obligation to preach and teach the gospel to the erring pagans or non-Christians because of the duty of brotherly love, even if no human being had called him to do this.(Bosch 2004:245)The perspective of the essential sinfulness of manCalvin explains man's innate sinfulness (Institutes, Book II, Chapter I) as follows: Therefore, since through man's fault a curse has extended above and below, over all the regions of the world, there is nothing unreasonable in its extending to all his offspringThis is the hereditary corruption to which early Christian writers gave the name of Original Sin, meaning by the term the depravation of a nature formerly good and pureit was clearly proved from Scripture that the sin of the first man passed to all his posterityThe orthodox, therefore, and more especially Augustine, laboured to show that we are not corrupted by acquired wickedness, but bring an innate corruption from the very womb. It was the greatest impudence to deny this.(Calvin 1964:214)In addition, Calvin says (Institutes,
this, the worth of the Christian individual is being brought to the fore and evidently promoted. Already during the late Middle Ages individuals became aware of themselves as people in their own right, as opposed to the group and the community. Calvin highlights the subjective dimension of salvation and the human existential tension experienced in the encounter with God in Jesus Christ, in faith (see Calvin's reference to Christ in John 3:16; 5:24 and 6:35): He who believes in him is said to have passed from death unto life He, I say, was our witness, that all by whom he is received in faith will be regarded by our heavenly Father as sons.(Calvin 1964:245)Relation, interaction and tension are herewith experienced in the individual's existential encounter in faith, which ultimately leads to the transformation of existence into a new life of being children of God. The sometimes harsh and rigid portrayal of what Calvin's doctrine of election supposedly said, comes into question when Calvin himself explains this doctrine in relation to the human existential experience of faith, as well as in relationtoJesus Christ (Institutes, Book III, Chapter XXIV, 5 & 6), as an election in Christ and in faith: Hence, those whom God has adopted as sons, he is said to have elected, not in themselves, but in Christ Jesus (Eph. I. 4); Christ, then, is the mirror in which we ought, and in which, without deception, we may contemplate our election. For since it is into his body that the Father has decreed to ingraft those whom from eternity he wished to be hisif we are in communion with Christ, we have proof sufficiently clear and strong that we are written in the Book of Life. We are said to be clothed with him, to be one with him, that we may live, because he himself lives. The doctrine is often repeated, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".(Calvin 1964:244245)Through the challenge of faith in Reformation thinking and theology, the question about salvation became an existential and personal question of the individual, and a personal responsibility that the individual had to respond to, much more than in the Middle Ages. The challenge of faith is naturally then also part of the missionary situation and the personal challenge in that situation. Rightly Bosch adds to this: This emphasis would never again disappear; in a thousand different forms believers would insist on the personal and subjective experience of a new birth by the Holy Spirit, as well as on the responsibility of the individual over [and] against the group.(Bosch 2004:242)In opposition to Rome, the Reformation preached that God alone, through grace and in Christ, brought salvation to man lost in sin. This did not prevent man from personally and existentially experiencing the gift of faith in his or her life, and necessitated the act of faith, for love of God and all other human beings.For Calvin, the act of faith is also to be understood as being
part of man's sanctification. Niesel emphasises that for Calvin 'justification and sanctification, are never dissociated from each other' (Niesel 1980:137). For Calvin, justification and sanctification form a living unity in Christ, and if we attempt to separate justification from the act of faith in sanctification, we are in fact seeking to break up the unity of the one Christ (Niesel 1980:137, 138). Through sanctification, in the act of faith, the subjective dimension of salvation becomes clearer.In the Institutes of Calvin the act of faith, as consequence of the gift of faith, clearly stands in relation to the kingdom of God and the reign of God in this world. It is important, when thinking in terms of mission, to note how Calvin explains the kingdom of God and the reign of God in terms of all minds and hearts and also the whole world and increasing numbers in the Third Book, Chapter XX (referring to prayer): I now briefly repeat that God reigns.Thus this kingdom consists of two parts: the first is, when God by the agency of his Spirit corrects all the depraved lusts of the flesh and the second, when he brings all our thoughts into obedience to his authority. This petition, therefore, is duly presented only by those who begin with themselves; in other words, who pray that they may be purified from all the corruptions which disturb the tranquillity and impair the purity of God's kingdom. Then as the word of God is like his royal sceptre, we are here enjoined to pray that he would subdue all minds and hearts to voluntary obedience. God, therefore, sets up his kingdom, by humbling the world, though in different ways, taming the wantonness of some, and breaking the ungovernable pride of others. We should desirethat God may gather churches to himself from all quarters of the world, may extend and increase their numbers, enrich them with his gifts....(Calvin 1964:189)The priesthood of all believersEmphasising the personal involvement and responsibility of the believer inevitably leads to the concept of the 'priesthood of all believers' (Bosch 2004:242). In Reformation thinking every Christian has a calling and a responsibility to serve God, to be actively involved in God's kingdom in this world. The Reformation breaks with the concept of ordinary believers as not really good enough to serve in the church's ministry in this world. Calvin teaches (Third Book, Chapter X) that every individual Christian, in whatever profession or trade he or she might stand, has a calling and a duty to serve God: Every man's mode of life, therefore, is a kind of station assigned to him by the Lord So necessary is this distinction, that all our actions are thereby estimated in his sight, and often in a very different way from that in which human reason or philosophy would estimate them. it is enough to know that in everything the call of the Lord is the foundation and beginning of right action.(Calvin 1964:34, 35)Every individual is called upon to serve Christ in the ministry of his church in this world. With this
kind of theological basis the Christian individual is by implication already committed to the missionary task of the church, in whatever occupation and situation the individual might find himself or herself.The centrality of the Scriptures and the Word as final authorityIn his Institutes (Book IV, Chapter VIII) Calvin stresses that the church is bound by Scripture and obeys Christ as the only teacher of the church, and the Holy Spirit guides in all truth: The Church (is) astricted to the written Word of God. Christ (is) the only teacher of the Church. From his lips ministers must derive whatever they teach for the salvation of others .Nothing can be lawfully taught in the Church, that is not contained in the writings of the Prophets and the Apostles, as dictated by the Spirit of Christ.(Calvin 1964:389) And because from ignorance they were unable to comprehend the things which they had heard and learned from the lips of their Master, the Spirit of truth is promised to guide them unto all truth (John xiv. 26; xvi. 13). The restriction should be carefully attended to. The office which he assigns to the Holy Spirit is to bring to remembrance what his own lips had previously taught.(Calvin 1964:394)When referring to Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians, Calvin emphasises (Institutes, Book IV, Chapter X): The constitutions which they call ecclesiastical, and by which the Pope, with his adherents, burdens the Church, we hold to be pernicious and impious. (Calvin 1964:419)In the beginning of the second chapter, he says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, and from this he concludes that believers should beware of being led away from the flock of Christ by vain philosophy, according to the constitutions of men (Col. ii. 10).The centrality of the Scriptures was an important feature in Reformation theology, and this brought an end to Rome's ruling that in all matters of faith the popes and councils of the church had the final say (cf. Lohse 1985:1222). The centrality of the Scriptures led to a change in the liturgical centre of many churches; the altar was replaced by the pulpit in the central position. It should, however, be emphasised that the Reformers never taught biblical inerrancy, because the focus was actually on something greater than the Scriptures: God's Word, the Word that became man, Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. This means that the Bible is the Word of God in its relation to Jesus Christ, and through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Verbal inspiration was something that came later, during the post-Reformation.In his Commentary on Hebrews, when Calvin explains Chapter 1:13 (God has spoken to us through his Son), we find an example of his teaching that God's revelation is a revelation in Jesus Christ; God is revealed to us in no other way than in Christ.(Calvin 1963:8)In maintaining the divinity of Christ, Calvin refers to the author of Hebrews as: attributing to Christ what belongs to God alone, and at the same time distinguishing two separate persons in the Father and
In this sense John Calvin made an enormous contribution towards spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to many countries.Calvin contributed in a worthy way to make Geneva a safe haven for great numbers of fugitives who fled from the fierce religious persecution elsewhere in Europe, especially from France (cf. Hughes 1973:43, 44). Calvin had a natural missionary spirit and a true ecumenical vision which distinguished him in later times. For many fugitives, Calvin changed Geneva in a positive way, i.e., from a place of refuge to a school of opportunity. He gave refugees the best possible theological training and sent them across Europe to countries such as Scotland, England, Italy and France, well-equipped and motivated to take on the responsibility for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in need and ignorance and darkness, as it were, to 'teach others the truth that set them free' (Hughes 1973:45). The Scottish Reformer, John Knox, who himself once found a safe haven and theological training in Geneva, said that John Calvin's Geneva was 'the most perfect school of Christ which has been seen on earth since the days of the apostles' (Hughes 1973:44). Philip E Hughes adds: 'Geneva became a dynamic centre or nucleus from which the vital missionary energy it generated radiated out into the world beyond' (Hughes 1973:45).Calvin's commentariesAmazing insights of Calvin's missionary vision are there to be discovered, by making a study of Calvin's vast contribution of Bible commentaries. A few examples can be pointed out: With unambiguous clarity Calvin expresses enthusiasm for the spreading of the Gospel in his Dedication to Edward VI, King of England, in his Commentary on Isaiah: But when, in the brightness of his Gospel, Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, arose, all that had been so eloquently described by the revelations of the prophet was far exceeded by the event. Within a short time the knowledge of the true God was spread almost throughout the whole world. Pure religion, which formerly lay despised in Judea, as in a dark corner, was circulated through all nations and provinces, and began to be honoured in such a manner, that innumerable tongues, in harmony of faith, called on God.(Calvin 1948c:xxi, xxii) Contrary to the assumption that Calvin and the Reformers restricted the Lord's missionary command to the original apostles, Calvin, in referring specifically to Matthew 28:19 and 14 and now no longer with the qualification of 'almost throughout the whole world', but with a definite 'all nations' and 'in every part of the world', as future goal says (in his Commentary on a Harmony of Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke [Third Volume]): Teach all nations. Here Christ, by removing the distinction, makes the Gentiles equal to the Jews, and admits both indiscriminately to a participation in the covenant but now, the wall of partition having been broken down, (Eph.h ii.14) the Lord commands the ministers of the gospel to go to a distance, in order to spread the doctrine of salvation in every part of the world Thus was fulfilled that prediction of Isaiah, (xlix.6) and others of