A Year with the Institutes, Day 8

". . . [the pious] mind restrains itself from sinning, not out of dread of punishment alone; but because it loves and reveres God as Father, it worships and adores him as Lord. Even if there were no hell, it would still shudder at offending him alone." (1.2.2)

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A Year with the Institutes, Day 7

"Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." (Book 1, chapter 1, paragraph 1, sentence 1)

There it is, the very beginning of Calvin's treatise. McNeil's footnote on the sentence says this:

This statement, thrice revised, stands at the beginning of every edition of the Institutes . . . These decisive words set the limits of Calvin's theology and condition every subsequent statement.

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Back to School

As the teenagers in my congregation slump back to school tomorrow for the spring semester, I am preparing to undertake an academic venture of my own--of sorts. Yesterday I enrolled in "Corparatized: An Alternative to Corporatism and Beyond," a six week course being taught online by Douglas Rushkoff through the Maybe Logic Academy. Basically the class is a chance to read his forthcoming book and discuss it with him.

Look for updates here.

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A Year with the Institutes, Day 3

Calvin summarizes the charges leveled against him:

"They call it 'new' and 'of recent birth.' They reproach it as 'doubtful and uncertain.' They ask what miracles have confirmed it. They inquire whether it is right for it to prevail against the agreement of so many holy fathers and against most ancient custom." (p.15)

So the theologian must show that his work is not novel, that it is air-tight certain, and that it does not fly in the face of ancient authority and custom. Novelty, ambiguity, and incredulity toward authority are things postmoderns are much more comfortable with than were those scholars and churchmen at the beginning of the modern age.

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A Year with the Institutes, Day 2

Calvin defending the "doctrine" contained in the Institutes, for which he has been accused of subversion, to King Francis I of France:

"It is as if this doctrine looked to no other end than to wrest scepters from the hands of kings, to cast down all courts and judgments, to subvert all orders and civil governments, to disrupt the peace and quiet of the people, to abolish all laws, to scatter all lordships and possessions--in short, to turn everything upside down!" (p. 10)

Note: this is Christendom, the assumed marriage of Christian faith and doctrine with the governmental, civil, and legal order.

"It will then be for you, most serene King, not to close your ears or your mind to such just defense, especially when a very great question is at stake: how God's glory may be kept safe on earth, how God's truth may retain its place of honor, how Christ's Kingdom may be kept in good repair among us." (p.11)

"Kept safe," "retain its place of honor," "kept in good repair": all questions of maintenance that ruled the day for Calvin, other Reformers, and their Catholic opponents. Man, that's hard to relate to today.

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New Year's Resolution

I bought my 2009 planner on the last day of the year.

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A Year with the Institutes, Day 1

Here we go: more Calvin, less blogger.

All quotations taken from John T. McNeil's translation of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.

"God has filled my mind with zeal to spread his kingdom and to further the public good." p. 4

The legacy of Christendom: the kingdom of God and the public good are one and the same. Yet here is the seed of an important element of a Reformed understanding of vocation, that the public is the field of its application, not strictly the church.

"I can at least promise that it [that is, The Institutes] can be a key to open a way for all children of God into a good and right understanding of Holy Scripture." p. 7

At the core, The Institutes are a Bible study tool.

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