When War seems unjust

 In March 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. This involved loss of life and home for many as huge numbers of people were displaced.

In the Institutes Book 4, 20,11 Calvin poses the following question about one nation making war with another:

For if power has been given to them to preserve the tranquillity of their dominion, to restrain the seditious stirrings of restless men, to help those forcibly oppressed, to punish evil deeds can they use it more opportunely than to check the fury of one who disturbs both the repose of private individuals and the common tranquillity of all who raises seditious tumults and by whom violent oppressions and vile misdeeds are perpetrated?

The problem for the international community would seem to be that the invader in the case of the Ukrainian War: Russia is the nation that is intent on oppression and actions that are evil.

It is necessary to realise the context in which Calvin is composing this text. It occurs at the end of the Institutes. Earlier Calvin has indicated that we should follow the scriptural injunction to submit the earthly authority (Romans 13:1) unless the ruler is ungodly where we should follow our consciences Acts 5:29. He develops his arguments largely with the premise that the rulers or princes are aware of the ultimate sovereignty of God. In the case of the regime in Russia this would appear not to be the case.

For Calvin the state authority, if it recognises and acknowledges God must therefore be able to punish individuals who commit misdeeds and defend “by war the dominions entrusted to their safekeeping”. He says that “the holy Spirit declares such wars to be lawful by many testimonies of scripture”. This is a direct reaction to the pacifism of the Anabaptists who did not allow for rulers to defend their people.

The Russian Orthodox church would appear to support the invasion of Ukraine. By no means can the invasion be seen as a legitimate defence of the Russian nation. A viable route to a clear conscience for Russian Orthodox Christians would seem to be by taking the actions described in Acts 5:29, but that will be costly for their jobs families and well being. The choices for us may not be as physically stark, but come around day by day, especially as the UK government seems to have abandoned any moral or ethical stance in many areas.

How long does healing take?

 John Calvin preached in St Peter’s Cathedral in Geneva at the time of the continental Reformation. His works were often hostile towards the practices used in the Roman Church, often described as “Popery”. The Cathedral in Geneva was founded in the twelfth century and probably had its last Catholic Mass in the year 1535. Geneva forced out its last resident Catholic Bishop in 1533. The city became the Rome of strict reformed protestantism and welcomed people like John Knox, the later founder of the Church of Scotland.

What ideas can twenty first century Christians glean about John Calvin’s approach to church unity? What did he see as the obstacles as he reformed the Church in Geneva? Calvin defined a sacrament as “a testimony of divine grace towards us, confirmed by an outer sign” (Institutes 4, 15, 1). He opposed the “papists for they do not make a distinction as they ought to do between the thing and the sign” (Commentary on First Peter, p118). He was strongly opposed to any type of adoration of the sacraments saying “What is their pretext for the boast that they worship Christ in the bread when they have no promise of any such thing? They consecrate the host as they call it to carry it about in procession to display it in solemn spectacle that it may be seen worshipped and called upon” (Institutes 4,17, 36-37)

Calvin ruled out any practice that supported transubstantiation, a doctrine still supported by the Roman Catholic Church today. His teaching on the sacrament supported the idea that it was the consumption of the bread and wine in faith that transformed them into the body and blood of Christ.

He taught that “the Lord’s kindness wherewith he has bestowed this sacred food upon us also teach and form us to receive it with faith and thankfulness of heart” (Institutes4, 17, 43).

For Calvin the celebration of the Mass in his own city of Geneva would have been shocking. Yet in 2022 it has taken place. Even so the unity of protestant denominations with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ seems far away. Just how long will it take for healing of Christ’s Church to honour Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 that all believers may be “one, even as Thou Father art in me and I in Thee that they may be in us”. How was far is church unity? How long does healing take?

What is the purpose of the Church?

 As the Covid-19 pandemic effects have begun to assuage, at least in England, questions have been raised about its effect on the Church and in particular the Church of England (which is established in England). What is the Church of England for? This question may be relevant to all churches seeking to draw people to know and love Jesus Christ. What did John Calvin believe was the ultimate goal of the Church in his generation?

Calvin’s Church was an ideal as well as an institution. The ideal was a hidden body of saints, chosen by God, known only to Him. This could not be achieved here on earth but through the careful preaching of the Word of God and correct administration of the sacraments then the visible church here on earth would resemble something of the invisible church. The latter is known solely to God Himself.

Calvin devoted an entire book of the Institutes to the visible Church, here on earth. This was motivated by the impact of Anabaptist anarchists on the church and society of the time. His view was in many ways similar to the one Luther had established in the Augsburg confession of 1530. A great deal of the book focusses on the manner of self examination the visible church should undertake in order to keep itself as close to the invisible church as possible.

The institution of the church was necessary because “in our ignorance and laziness we need outward assistance to establish and advance our faith and advance towards its goal and God has added assistance for our weakness. In order that the preaching of the Gospel might flourish he deposited this treasure in the Church. He instituted pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11) through whose lips He might teach His own.” (Institutes 4:10:1). The people in the church are “not only the saints living presently here on earth but all the elect from the beginning of the world”. Calvin recognises that the church here on earth does not comprise necessarily the same people who may be in God’s Church. In the visible church on earth “are mingled many hypocrites who have nothing of Christ but the name and the outward appearance” (Institutes 4:1:8-9).

Whilst recognising that there will be people who are members of the elect who are not in the Church fellowship here on earth, Calvin indicates that the presence at public worship is “required so we may mutually stimulate one another”. This premise is true today: issues of faith still have the power to unite and to divide the Church on earth. Which issues are the most pressing for God’s visible Church in the twenty first century? And within the Church of England? Are they different?

What restrictions should be placed on the movement and meetings of citizens?

A recent stabbing of a Member of Parliament whilst conducting a surgery for constituents has highlighted the need for security for those who service in public office. Yet if security is tightened then freedom of access to those who hold public office by others has to be curtailed.

How highly do we we regard those who hold public office such as Members of Parliament, Judges, Magistrates and the Clergy? Can John Calvin, the sixteenth century Protestant Reformer give us any hints as to how we should regard those in public office?

He believes that a “system compounded of aristocracy and democracy far excels all others” and “man’s weakness” causes “it to be safer for a number of men to exercise government so that each one can help, teach and admonish the other” (Institutes 4, 20,8). We might question how our Parliamentary Democracy achieves this end but the idea of it is that it should. Hence Members of Parliament should be able to be approached by the citizens they serve. If we consider the state authorities then Calvin believes that it is God who puts them in place, even those who do not honour Him. Thus a “Magistrate cannot be resisted without God being resisted at the same time” (Institutes 4, 20, 23-25).

If citizens deliberately go against the state authorities that are established by God then God will act against them. “Those who rule for public benefit are true patterns and evidence of His beneficience and those who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by Him to punish the wickedness of the people” (Institutes 4, 20, 23-25). This would seem to be harsh teaching, but it does come with a warning to those do not govern according to God’s will and “dishonestly betray the freedom of the people” will meet with rebuke for the correction of “unbridled despotism is the Lord’s to avenge” (Institutes 4, 20,31).

How do you balance your views of the exercise of public office with a desire to expose those who are violating their God given right to rule? Does recognition of the power of God to forgive those who seek Him mean you can rest these earthly concerns with God alone?

Should we commemorate the European Reformation?

 In 2017 the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge commissioned some sculptures to mark the five hundredth anniversary of the display of Luther’s ninety five Theses. They also invited individuals to compose theses that were germane to the times in which we live and chose ninety five of these for publication. The Romanian sculptor Liviu Mocan created the sculptures on five themes:

The Book that reads you (inspired by sola scriptura), The Lamb of God (sola gratia), The Anchor cast up to heaven (sola fide), The Ladder of the World (solus Christus) and The Trumpet of the Universe (soli Deo gloria). These are based on the convictions that helped to define and shape the European Reformation.

Having displayed these sculptures in Cambridge for a lengthy time period the Jubilee Centre began to seek places that would be interested in taking one (or more ) of the sculptures for their own use.

An Evangelical Church in Cambridge, Christ Church is going to install The Anchor cast up to heaven in the hope that it will stimulate conversations about whom we rely on in times of crisis whilst St Botolph’s is aiming to procure The Lamb of God as a focus for reflection and prayer. An American Christian University, Wheaton College has bought The Trumpet in the Universe to place in the foyer of their centre for music and the arts. Two sculptures have yet to find a permanent location: The Book that reads you and The Ladder of the World.

In recent times following the “Black lives matter” campaign and the removal of a statue of Edward Coulson from a site in Bristol, (because of his perceived involvement in the slave trade), the use of statues and sculptures to commemorate people or events has attracted controversy. During the European Reformation, some of the protestant reformers were critical of installations of this kind. John Calvin wrote about the “papists” saying “The pictures or statues that they dedicate to the saints- what are they but examples of the most depraved lust and obscenity?” (Institutes I, 11,7). The European Reformation caused much bloodshed and there were both Protestant Martyrs (such as Latimer and Ridley) and Roman Catholic Martyrs (such as Thomas More) as examples from the English Reformation only. Given this bloodshed, the question of whether it is appropriate to commemorate people or events or the principles that led to the loss of human life and devaluation of human dignity has become pertinent to our time.

Would you be willing to buy or display one of the two remaining LiviuMocan sculptures from the Jubilee Centre?

How does interpretation of holy texts affect Theology and the Church?

 Calvin regarded the Bible as the text that was central to his thought- it contained the Word of God dictated to mortals by the Holy Spirit. But in Calvin’s eyes there was nothing magical about the texts he was aware that copyists were fallible and he regarded a knowledge of the original languages as essential to its exposition and explanation. He put the techniques he had learned with Seneca’s work, into practice with the holy scriptures. He was unsurprised therefore when there were inconsistencies in the Bible. The interpretation of the Bible was via the Holy Spirit acting through the conscience of human beings and it did not come automatically to every person. Do we read critically any piece of text we receive? How much damage is caused in our society by uncritical acceptance of news stories and rumours propagated by social media? For you is there such a thing as an inspired text? And if it is inspired then who is the mind behind it?

Calvin believed that God’s word was made law in the Old Testament, regarding the Ten Commandments as a basic text binding on all Christian believers. He also integrated the idea that the covenant was made by God with Abraham, then to the Patriarchs and David and so through Christ to all Christians because the covenant was a set of promises between God and His people.

In the New Testament God provided His Son as the great mediator of the covenant who would help God’s sinful people fulfil their calling as God’s chosen ones. The death and resurrection of Christ followed by His return at the day of judgment would enable humans to be reconciled to God. Until that day Christ was present in the Church and in the Lord’s supper (often known as the Holy Communion).

Calvin’s system of understanding the scriptures allowed him to be critical of those who did not rate God’s word highly. He wrote “For they mock the Holy Spirit when they ask: Who can convince us that these writings come from God?” (Institutes I, vii,1). Are there many people around today who would speak in a similar way? Would you be one of them?

What is the value of a human being? Calvin’s picture

 As thoughts turn to the vaccination program nations are offering to help assist with the management of the Covid-19 pandemic many people have wondered who should get priority vaccination? Governments have generated lists of the first few categories of people who may be invited to receive the vaccine. Often it has been the old and most vulnerable who have been the first in the queue. But some have asked why this should be the case. The lives of the old and vulnerable may have been fully lived and so is there a reason to prolong them? The question pivots around what is the value we place on the life of any one individual? This question is also at the heart of whether countries should admit any foreign nationals fleeing their own repressive governments or whether only such people who have a profession that will be benefit the nation who is receiving them. What is the value we place on one human life?

Calvin’s view of human worth focussed solely on the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ to any one individual as he says “salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s mercy” (Institutes 3:21:7) and this is “freely given mercy without regard to human worth” (Institutes 3:21:7). So does it matter whether a person is an eighty year old former casual labourer who has rarely worked sufficiently to pay any taxes or a high powered business executive, surely that should not matter in the queue for a vaccine or entry to a foreign country for sanctuary? Does age and whether the potential of a person has been already realised or if the life is almost complete? Calvin would say not, it just depends on their acceptance of God’s mercy in Christ.

Calvin cites other distractions that distort human worth over God’s grace as “monstrosities” set up “in place of God” (Institutes 1:11:7). The initial comment of Calvin at the start of the Institutes sums up human aspiration “All our wisdom in so far as it is held to be true and perfect consists of two things, namely a right knowledge of God and of ourselves” (Institutes 1:1:1). Without this knowledge human value of age or financial status or health is worth nothing. Should this be something we apply to the vaccine priority debate?

How has Calvin been interpreted and adapted through the centuries?

 

This blog will chart the use of Calvin’s doctrine and teaching on predestination from its beginning in the Institutes through to its application at the time when Methodism was developing its distinctiveness apart from the Church of England. Calvin mentions predestination in several places in the Institutes as he explores and deepens his understanding of the subject, in Book 3 chapter 21 section 5 he writes “No one dares simply deny predestination by which God adopts some to hope of life and sentences others to eternal death” and a little later in the same section “We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he determined with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather eternal life is foreordained for some eternal damnation for others.” Calvin always emphasises that it belongs to God’s power “to rule and direct everything by His hand” (Institutes 2, 27, 1).

This power is manifest within human beings such that “the covenant of life is not preached equally among all men and amongst those to whom it is preached it does not gain the same acceptance either constantly or in equal degree. In this diversity the wonderful depth of God’s judgment is made known to us” (Institutes 3, 21,1). The decision rests with God and God alone. Some will be predestined to life, others will not, it is not the decision of humans but God.

One of the first objectors to Calvin’s doctrine was Bolsec who argued the doctrine made God the author of evil, made God a tyrant, man a puppet of God and rendered human beings able to earn salvation from God leading to a Pelagian Church, focussed on works. Calvin refuted Bolsec and after this Bolsec was expelled from Geneva in 1551. Bolsec’s behaviour may have caused interest from the Church and State authorities in Geneva aside from his doctrinal deviations (his sexual preferences and activities had become notorious). But the question remained for the Church, could individuals who were part of the reprobate improve their situation by performing good works. Calvin’s teaching insisted that only God knows the destiny of human beings, (following St. Augustine), who is elected to new life in Christ and who is not elected, (reprobated), is known to God only.

The Church of England, when it was formed, followed the idea that some are elected to life and no-one knows the will of God with regard to the rest, detailed and upheld in the thirty nine articles (article 17). This is single predestination. Other denominations became concerned with the identity of the reprobate and followed the idea that some were chosen for life, others condemned and part of the reprobate. This attracted the term “double predestination.”

Centuries later the dispute that split John Wesley and George Whitfield was centred on predestination. The argument revolved around the extent to which an individual was chosen by God for eternal salvation or eternal damnation. Did God choose people for salvation or damnation from the start of their lives or did they have the free will to respond to God? Whitfield held the first view, Wesley upheld the second. This leads to a further question that is key to the matter: if God chooses the people He wishes to save (the elect) than did Christ die only for them or for all humanity? If Christ died only for the elect then they may not need to lead a holy life, some might contend, leading others to make the allegation of antinomianism (becoming lawless). Whitfield went to North America where he pursued preaching double predestination whilst Wesley began to develop the doctrines and ecclesiology that would shape Methodism and turn to a view that God would save all people (a position already elaborated by the theologian Jacob Arminius (1560-1609)).

Even today predestination is a subject that exercises many people and if applied to the Covid-19 situation raises deep questions, are some predestined to get the virus? What is the status of those who remain clear in God’s sight?

Is Covid-19 the judgement of God? What is Calvin’s view of judgement?

 

Is Covid-19 the judgement of God? What is Calvin’s view of judgement?

Some people would suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic is God’s judgement on the sins and transgressions of our society. A highly materialistic, self seeking and narcissistic world that abuses the created order leading to climate change and pollution with excess plastics. For Calvin the only judgement is that of rejecting God and His Son Jesus Christ “for a heavier judgement remains upon the wicked because they reject the testimony of God’s love”(Institutes Book III, 14:2). Calvin appears to believe that if human beings think that they can know God’s will for us, how we are predestined, then it is not possible for us to have access to this information. This renders any speculation about our destiny futile. If someone tries to find out “what decision has been made concerning himself at God’s judgement seat” then that person is cast into “the depths of a bottomless whirlpool”; tangled in “innumerable and inextricable snares and “buried in an abyss of sightless darkness” (Institutes Book III, 14:4).

For Calvin, the only route into God’s presence is through Christ “the sinner received into Communion with Christ is reconciled to God by His grace, while cleansed by Christ’s blood he obtains forgiveness of sins and clothed with Christ’s righteousness just as if it were his own, he stands free from care before the heavenly judgement seat” (Institutes Book II, 27:8). Is this the route you would take or would you rather plot your own course?

Servetus ? Different views?

Ferdinand (king of Aragon from 1479) and Isabella (queen of Castile from 1474) were married in 1469 thus uniting the thrones of Aragon and Castile.  This united kingdom, coupled with money from gold imported from America and the renaissance flowering of culture in Europe caused Spain to enter a glorious age with many developments in the arts and science.  Into this time frame Michael Servetus was born in 1511. He suggested the theory that blood circulated around the body, a novel concept at that time, yet he also attacked conventional notions of the Trinity.  For these he was condemned by the Sorbonne and forbidden to teach in Paris.  Some chapters of his Systematic Theology book “The Restoration of Christianity” were sent to Calvin for comments.  Calvin was opposed to them and so alerted the Inquisition.  Servetus was prosecuted by the church in Geneva for blasphemy.  This carried a sentence of death.  The government of Geneva accepted the Church decision and Servetus was burned in 1553.

About Servetus, Calvin wrote to his colleague Guillame Farel: He [Servetus] should ask pardon of God whom he has so basely blasphemed in his attempt to efface the three persons in the one essence saying that those who recognise a real distinction in the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit create a three headed hound of hell.

In Spain, Servetus was a ground breaking scientist.  In Geneva  he was a heretic.  The same person was viewed in different ways. How many people do you know in our twenty first century society who can be viewed in such polarised ways?

June and July 2020 COVID-19 – Do we obey our secular rulers? What does Calvin say?

As restrictions on our movements due to the COVID 19 pandemic are relaxed, how seriously do we need to take the advice offered by our Government?  Calvin devoted the whole of Book four, chapter 20 of the Institutes to the relationship of the Christian believer with the state authority. Luther had published work on this question, but no-one knows if Calvin ever read this.

Before we consider the contents of Book Four, Chapter 20 (the final chapter of the Institutes, entitled Civil Government) we must acknowledge that the Dedication of the 1559 version of the Institutes was to the secular King, Francis I.  In this Calvin assures the monarch of the political dutifulness of his protestant subjects. Is this then developed in the thirty two sections of Book Four, Chapter 20?

At the end of Book Four Chapter 20, the exhortation is that we must “obey God rather than men”  a reference to Acts 5:29 (when Peter and the Apostles appeared before the Council after their imprisonment).  Yet throughout the preceding chapters Calvin exhorts obedience to the secular authorities, for example in Book Four, Chapter 20, section 31:

But we must in the meantime be very careful not to despise or violate the authority of the magistrates, full of venerable majesty which God has established by the weightiest decrees even though it may reside with the most unworthy men who may defile it as much as they can with their own wickedness.

How can we comment on our own situation based on Calvin’s approach?  Calvin is known as a second generation Christian Reformer, working several years after Luther and the initial split of Protestantism from the Church of Rome.  By this time Protestantism was dividing into denominations (such as the Anabaptist rule in Munster from 1533-1535) and Catholicism was redefining itself through the Council of Trent in 1563.  Calvin may have seen the Christian religion as needing protection from radical Protestantism and from supporters of the Papacy.  He may have been of the view that the early Reformers such as Luther had given up too much to secular authority and so wanted a balance of church rule by clergy, with lay people policing the activities of the clergy.

Calvin assumed firstly that the Church was vigorous and independent of the state.  In the twenty first Century in England could it be that the Church of England is not in this place, being the Established Church of the nation?  Secondly he assumed that the secular power (mediated through the magistrates) was godly.  Are our politicians godly?  We can only wonder……………….

April and May 2020 COVID-19 How can Calvin help?

Human beings now face a new threat, the COVID-19 Pandemic.  We wonder where God can be in the midst of human suffering across all age groups, races and genders.  Many may seek comfort in words from the Bible such as St. Paul writing in Romans 8:38-39.  Calvin refers to these verses repeatedly in Book III of the Institutes including chapter 14 “The way in which we receive the grace of Christ”.  He maintains that the godly are always victors over such trials with the reason from Romans 8:37 “on account of Him who loved us” (God).  In book 3:24 and section 6 Calvin reminds us that we can know that “our election is irrevocable and lasting” thus confirming the words of St. Paul that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).  Is this something you can claim for yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic?

9. The transmission of the law is to be trusted

“Certain rascals bawl out in corners in order to display the keenness of their wit in assailing God’s truth”.  Calvin is critical of those who do not trust the Old Testament law and doubt the existence of Moses.  He does not appreciate those who doubt Moses but have no problem with Aristotle or Cicero.  In our time many will regard politicians as speaking the entire truth, revealed in social media or believe what they read on the Internet verbatim without applying any criticism or critical thought.  The quality of the words we read in the Bible is their enduring nature – they have sustained Christian believers for centuries, often when those people are facing persecution and extreme trial.  What would you trust the most- the Word of God articulated in the Bible or your nest Twitter Feed?

8. God has confirmed the prophetic words

Calvin uses several of the Old Testament prophetic books to illustrate his belief that God confirms the words of the prophets with later actions in history.  Can you believe that this is still true today?  The answer depends on whether we can work out who are the prophets who disclose God’s purposes today?  How do the prophets of today come?  Could it be with unusual dress, living habits or arcane language?  Do they incite others to take action? If so then what is that action and would we support it?  Prophecy is not fortune telling.  It is the forth telling and expression of God’s will.  Who would you regard as a prophet of the twenty first century?

7. Prophecies that are fulfilled contrary to all human expectation

Calvin uses the primacy of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and the Kingship of David as examples of prophecy indicating events that would not be according to what human beings might expect. Somehow in our world today we have been persuaded that Presidents and Prime Ministers will originate from certain classes and professional backgrounds.  The idea that a King might have begun his working life a s a herdsman feels alien to the ways of our world.  Yet this is the enduring power of the living God to which Calvin draws our attention and defends.  Where do we see that paradox, the inversion of our human aspiration?  When we see it do we attribute it to God’s power?

6. Moses’ Miracles are incontestable

Can you believe that the miracles performed by Moses are the actions of the living God? Or are you tempted to see them as some sort of primitive magic arts? Calvin believed that those who did see them in this way had been deceived by evil “the father of lies”. He also suggests that through these miracles God taught and guided the Israelite nation that unbelief would not work.  So the miraculous manna from heaven comes with a warning not to take too much (Exodus 16:19-20) thus guiding the people away from a path of greed.  Some would not accept this guidance and rose up against God.  According to Calvin this does not impair the quality of the miracle, it highlights the “pride and insolence” of the people.  Do you think that God can teach and guide you through miracles today?  Are you too proud to accept God’s guidance?

5. Miracles strengthen the authority of God’s messengers

How would you define a miracle?  Have you seen one in your life time? Or do miracles take place at all now that we have science and technology?

Calvin outlines many miracles that took place when Moses was the leader of the fledgling nation of Israel – such as Moses being taken into a cloud and being without fellowship for forty days (Exodus 24:18). Calvin insists that the works of God through miracles strengthen the authority of God’s messengers.  Would you rate more highly those who perform miracles?  In some traditions it is necessary to perform a miracle to be declared a saint.  How would you rate the miracles of Jesus? Would it matter whether it was a healing miracle or a feeding one?

4. The truthfulness of scripture shown by Moses’ example

In our celebrity culture personalities are elevated beyond reasonable expectation of fallen humanity: they become almost like gods to their followers.  Then when their sinfulness becomes known the media pounce and they are publicly pilloried.  Calvin gives the example of Moses who was unafraid to speak of the sinfulness of his own family mentioning the iniquity of Simeon and Levi and the grumbling of his brother Aaron.  Yet Calvin remains convinced that Moses was like an angel and thus testifies to the truth of scripture.  Who do you know who points to the grace of God working tin the lives of frail human beings yet is unafraid of admitting their sinfulness and need of the Holy Spirit?

Feb-March 2019 3. The great antiquity of scripture

How many old texts do you know? And just how old?  May be you are familiar with Shakespeare’s plays or Pilgrim’s Progress, or possibly with Aristotle or Plato.  In your eyes does a recent writer have books that you would regard as old and dated: Carol Ann Duffy or Ian Hislop –do they stand the test of time?  What weight in all this would you put upon scripture? Does age invest it with knowledge and status in your view?  Calvin would argue that it does alongside its nature as the inspired Word of God, distilled through fallible human writers.  How can this view assist us in a world where the written word in a book is often disregarded in preference for tweets and anything electronic.  Are these not ephemeral pieces of social media? Can we use them to illustrate what a rich treasure we have in the corpus of scripture?

A New Year Book Review January 2019 Love Intimacy and Power

Love Intimacy and Power

Marriage and Patriarchy in Scotland 1650-1850

Katie Barclay Manchester University Press 2011

In a blog Post that focusses on the works of John Calvin (1509 – 1564) then why include a review of a book that details patterns of marriage in a different period and country from those where his life’s work predominated?  John Calvin influenced the Protestant Reformation in cities and countries far beyond Geneva, the city with which his name is most frequently associated.  This is true of Scotland where the Reformation beginning in 1560 and the influence of John Knox (1513- 1572) is extensive.

With the Scottish Reformation came more formal schooling and increased literacy among the population.  Her Calvin’s desire for human beings to be able to read and comprehend Scripture for themselves is worked out.  Calvin’s influence on the governance and authority of the local Church, the Kirk is also prevalent.  In this book Katie Barclay explores the approach to marriage over two centuries through correspondences between couples linked with data on the number of marriages, the age of the partners and developments in other countries affected by the Protestant Reformation such as England Wales and the Scandinavian countries.  Aspects of duty and obedience on the parts of husband and wife are considered at the beginning of the period under study followed by how these changed a the Enlightenment began with its greater emphasis on individual satisfaction rather than family commitments.

The text is derived from a PhD thesis and is adequately referenced for further study should the reader wish to undertake it.  As a stepping stone to considering the broader implications of John Calvin’s work in a country in which he did not reside it as is a worthy read.

Love, Intimacy and Power

Marriage and Patriarchy in Scotland 1650-1850

Katie Barclay Manchester University Press 2011

In a Blog Post that focusses on the works of John Calvin (1509 – 1564) then why include a review of a book that details patterns of marriage in a different period and country from those where his life’s work predominated?  John Calvin influenced the Protestant Reformation in cities and countries far beyond Geneva, the city with which his name is most frequently associated.  This is true of Scotland where the Reformation began in 1560 and the influence of John Knox (1513- 1572) is extensive.

With the Scottish Reformation came more formal schooling and increased literacy among the population.  Here Calvin’s desire for human beings to be able to read and comprehend Scripture for themselves is worked out.  Calvin’s influence on the governance and authority of the local Church, the Kirk is also prevalent.  In this book Katie Barclay explores the approach to marriage over two centuries through correspondences between couples linked with data on the number of marriages, the age of the partners and developments in other countries affected by the Protestant Reformation such as England Wales and the Scandinavian countries.  Aspects of duty and obedience on the parts of husband and wife are considered at the beginning of the period under study followed by how these changed as the Enlightenment began with its greater emphasis on individual satisfaction rather than family commitments.

The text is derived from a PhD thesis and is adequately referenced for further study should the reader wish to undertake it.  As a stepping stone to considering the broader implications of John Calvin’s work in a country in which he did not reside it as is a worthy read.