by Adam Linton » March 27th, 2009, 4:47 pm
This may be more than you want or need, Bluegoat, but here goes:
For Calvin, authority always resides in and comes from God. He does not deny either civil or ecclesiastical authority (rather affirming both), but asserts that theirs is derivative, contingent, provisional. The authority of church and state must both be permeable to correction and reform.
In terms of Calvin's view of Scripture, first of all read the Institutes, Book I, chapters VI and VII. Calvin never suggests that Scripture is to be read in a vacuum, unmindful of church history. What he does affirm is that Scripture, as God's Word, has an enduring, unique, decisive quality as his Word to his people--never to be merely absorbed into general church experience or reduced to merely one element among many. The position of Scripture, therefore, while not isolated, is nevertheless privileged. The Scriptures, as such, can no more "derive" their authority from the church anymore than God derives his authority from the church. Calvin never denies the ecclesial role in interpretation and application of the Scriptures. He places a high premium on doing these both well. These tasks, however, are to be governed by the priority of their task. So, he insists that Scripture really be allowed to critique the church--and that the church can't be healthy without this critique.
I wouldn't suggest Chesterton as a good source for an inital take on Calvin anymore than I would suggest a brilliant, popular Protestant apologist for an inital take on the Council of Trent!
Here are a few (well, maybe not exactly a few) suggestions for study:
Paul Helm, Calvin: A Guide for the Perplexed, perhaps, as an initial, quick resource.
And for more involved efforts, here's a list of solid resources:
William Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait
Paul Helm, John Calvin's Ideas
Alister McGrath, A Life of John Calvin: A Study in the Shaping of Western Culture
Charles Partee, The Theology of John Calvin
Ronald Wallace, Calvin's Doctrine of Word and Sacrament
And additionally, an indespensable--as far as I am concerned--for serious Reformation studies, is Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation.
Last edited by
Adam Linton on March 29th, 2009, 8:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
we have not loosely through silence permitted things to pass away as in a dream