Calvin's Institutes, Chapter Five

The Knowledge of God Conspicuous in the Creation, and Continual Government of the World

Section One

• The whole of the universe speaks to the existence and glory of God

Section Two

• Anyone with a liberal education can see even more clearly the proof of God through science and medicine

Section Three

• Man himself is quite an example of God’s power, wisdom, and goodness
• We know God is our creator because of the gifts He gives us—no one would follow God willingly if he did not know already the goodness of God’s love

Section Four

• Although our bodies and our talents are a testament to God, men become proud in themselves rather than worshipful of God
• They use their God-given abilities to suppress God; they use the excellence of creation as proof that it came to be through chance or nature

Section Five

• [Calvin assigns the functions of our brain, intellect, and memory to the soul, not the body. Was this common at the time?]
• The creation becomes, to many, either god or its own creator. Nature is a work of God, not god itself

Section Six

• The power of God in nature is visible to Christians and non-Christians; it is this power that leads us to other of God’s attributes, as only a self-existent and eternal being could cause the existence of all other things
• We can also see that God is good because of how He sustains and preserves His creation, and this ought to be enough to cause us to love Him

Section Seven

• God’s perfection is also evident in His other works (besides creation/nature)
• As He conducts the affairs of men, He dispenses justice and mercy perfectly
• Although evil may flourish, and good suffer, God will always dispense justice in His own good time
• When God punishes one sin, it is evidence that He hates all sin [How/Why?]

Section Eight

• What men call luck is actually the providence of God
• So many are blind to the wonders of God, but that does not mean that God does not show His power

Section Nine

• We don’t need complicated arguments to prove God; there is proof enough all around us

Section Ten

• From what we see of God now, we can assume that there is more to know of Him in the future (Heaven), because not all goodness is rewarded on this earth, and not all sin punished [I’m not sure this argument works. Maybe this is a random and arbitrary universe.]

Section Eleven

• Although the manifestations of God are obvious, people are so stupid that they don’t see them

Section Twelve

• Nearly everyone has substituted their own conception of God for the real God

Section Thirteen

• Man cannot invent correct religion
• God has to bear witness to His own truth, since who’s going to follow a religion because tradition says so?

Section Fourteen

• Creation shows the glory of God, but does not show us the path to Him
• We need faith through “internal revelation” [the Holy Spirit] to be able to see beyond creation – we cannot do it with our own intelligence
• Creation does not lead to faith, but does make us without excuse [cites Acts 17:27, but if creation tells us that God exists, but doesn’t impart knowledge of Christ, how can mere knowledge that there is a God make us without excuse for knowledge of Jesus? It’s possible that after we become aware of God, we should seek how best to know Him and through His word find Christ – but how do we be sure that we have the correct God (obviously the Holy Spirit, but what if we don’t have Him?)?]
• God bestows so many kindnesses upon us all, yet so many continue to live according to their own ways

Section Fifteen

• We cannot know God using our intellectual capabilities, but because the problem is within us, we cannot make excuses
• We cannot plead ignorance, despite our stupidity, because nature shouts of God
• Most people see nature but still don’t get it
• People see nature, get a vague idea of God, and go off to create idols

Quotes from the Chapter

“What shall we say but that man bears about with him a stamp of immortality which can never be effaced? But how is it possible for man to be divine, and yet not acknowledge his Creator? Shall we, by means of a power of judging implanted in our breast, distinguish between justice and injustice, and yet there be no judge in heaven? Shall some remains of intelligence continue with us in sleep, and yet no God keep watch in heaven? Shall we be deemed the inventors of so many arts and useful properties that God may be defrauded of his praise, though experience tells us plainly enough, that whatever we possess is dispensed to us in unequal measures by another hand?”

“Let each of us, therefore, in contemplating his own nature, remember that there is one God who governs all natures, and, in governing, wishes us to have respect to himself, to make him the object of our faith, worship, and adoration. Nothing, indeed, can be more preposterous than to enjoy those noble endowments which bespeak the divine presence within us, and to neglect him who, of his own good pleasure, bestows them upon us. In regard to his power, how glorious the manifestations by which he urges us to the contemplation of himself;”

“[…] how richly does he supply us with the means of contemplating his mercy when, as frequently happens, he continues to visit miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he subdues their depravity and woos them back with more than a parent’s fondness?”

“And here we must observe again that the knowledge of God which we are invited to cultivate is not that which, resting satisfied with empty speculation, only flutters in the brain, but a knowledge which will prove substantial and fruitful wherever it is duly perceived, and rooted in the heart. The Lord is manifested by his perfections. When we feel their power within us, and are conscious of their benefits, the knowledge must impress us much more vividly than if we merely imagined a God whose presence we never felt.

"It therefore becomes us also diligently to prosecute that investigation of God which so enraptures the soul […]”

Calvin's Institutes, Chapter Four

I suppose I should take a minute to say that these posts on John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion are intended to be an unbiased summary of what Calvin says, and not a wholesale endorsement of his theology, philosophy, worldview, or thought processes. Calvin's work is quite dense, and his vocabulary is impressive, and he often refers to previous chapters in a sort of shorthand, as if the reader is supposed to remember all of his arguments as well as he does. I started writing bulleted summaries so that I did not have to do as much rereading, then decided to share these summaries, in case anyone else out there ever started Calvin and got bogged down in his style. I do, however, sometimes provide my own commentary in bracketed italics, particularly if I think Calvin is wrong or if he is making too many assumptions. For example, in the early chapters, I'm noticing that Calvin had no conception of life outside a society where more or less everybody was Catholic or Protestant (aka some kind of Christian), and it shows in his arguments concerning what "everybody" knows about the existence of God.

Anyway, on to the summary:

Section One

• Although everyone has some innate grasp of religion, few cherish this knowledge, and fewer still mature in it
• There is no true godliness anywhere in the world; everyone is degenerate
• Vanity and pride lead men into superstitious belief, as well as into perceiving God by their own ideas of what He is like
• When they worship God according to the dictates of their own hearts rather than according to His standards, their worship has no value in God's sight

Section Two

• Those who become hardened against God often forget Him entirely
• They believe in a God who exists, but who is powerless to act in the world, for punishment or for good gifts

Section Three

• They say that it is enough to have some sort of religion, ignoring God’s will in matters of worship and belief
• God cannot be changed to fit the whims of each individual; to attempt to do so is to mock Him
• Those who seek to worship God according to their own standards are actually worshipping themselves—they would not even attempt such a thing if they had not already redefined God according to their whims
• At that point, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in one God or many; false worship is false worship, idolatry is idolatry

Section Four

• When they do think of God, it is because of fear of punishment, not because of reverence
• They turn to meaningless religious rituals as a means to propitiate God
• They do end up seeking God when tough times come, but laugh at Him in the good times

Calvin's Institutes, Chapter Three

The Knowledge of God Naturally Implanted in the Human Mind

Section One

- Everyone is endowed by God with the idea that there is a God and He is his [man's] maker [This explains false religions, but not atheism]

Section Two

- While there are certainly false religions and practices intended to give power over many to a devious few, the idea of religion was created because there is a God, not because of crafty men

- False beliefs "work" because people already believe there is a God and they are looking for Him

There are atheists, but even they feel that there actually is a God [Calvin does not explain how he knows this of every atheist--he says it's because atheists are fearful, whatever that means]

Section Three

- "All men of sound judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of deity is indelibly engraved on the human heart." [I happen to agree that if one honestly examines the evidence, one will conclude that there is a supreme being of some sort. But there's no reason to be so uppity about it.]

- Our whole purpose in life is to know God, so those who don't know God don't fulfill their purpose on earth

Calvin's Institutes, Chapter Two

What It Is to Know God---Tendency of This Knowledge

Section One

- Knowledge of God = not just knowledge that there is a God, but what we can know of (concerning) God

- Does not mean knowledge of God as Redeemer through Christ, but knowledge of God as Adam knew Him before the fall

- Without Christ, man sees only God as Creator

- All goodness comes from God, so we must ask all things from Him and give thanks for what we have

- Piety = reverence and love for God inspired by knowledge of His goodness

- People will not willingly follow God until they realize that they owe everything to Him

Section Two

- It is in our best interest to know what sort of person God is and what makes Him happy

- Because of knowledge of God, we should learn reverence and fear, ask every good thing from Him, and ascribe all to Him
It is not clear whether Calvin means that we should ascribe all good things to God, or all things period

- Knowledge of God must lead to the idea that because He made us, He is our authority by the laws of creation, and by the same laws our lives are His and He should be central to all that we do
cf. C. S. Lewis, Perelandra: "'I am His beast, and all His biddings are joys.'"

- It is our depravity that keeps us from perfectly following God once we understand the goodness of His nature

- The pious person has no idols, nor does he give God any false attributes. He diligently avoids leaving the path of God. He trusts God implicitly in all situations. He fears God as Judge, loves God as Father, and honors and obeys God as Master

Quotes from the Chapter

"... your life is sadly corrupted, if it is not framed in obedience to him..."

Calvin's Institutes, Chapter One

I don't have any commentary on the first chapter of the Institutes, so I'll just share my chapter summary.

The Knowledge of God and of Ourselves Mutually Connected---Nature of the Connection

Section One
Human wisdom is made up of knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves. The two knowledges are connected, and so it is hard to tell which comes first. Knowledge of our own pitiful existence, as well as knowledge of the good in the world, directs us to God. People tend not to seek God while they are content, but once they know their true (sinful) nature, they will seek God.

Section Two
In order to truly know themselves, people must first know God. We think we aren't really that bad, simply because those around us are more or less equally bad, until we contemplate how good God is.

Section Three
Because of this tendency to think of ourselves as less bad than we really are, people in the Bible became fearful when they were in the presence of God because they realized for the first time the extent of their sin.

Quotes from this Chapter:

Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us that in the Lord, and none but he, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves.

Calvin's Institutes, Prefatory Address

Introduction

I have decided to read Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. Because it is so long and so varied in content (Calvin is setting forth systematically his theological beliefs on everything), I've decided to write a bit of commentary on each chapter, or possibly two related chapters together, rather than write a book review a year or more from now when I've finished the book.

In my edition of Institutes, the first chapter is the address Calvin wrote to Francis I of France to explain what Calvin and his followers believed. Calvin believed that if the king had correct information, he would stop the persecution of French Protestants. I'm not sure how much Calvin's writings helped the plight of the persecuted, but his short book grew over the years and the revisions into one of the foremost works of early Protestant theology and the originator of Reformed theology.

On the Dangers of Majority Rule

To make every thing yield to custom would be to do the greatest injustice. Were the judgments of mankind correct, custom would be regulated by the good. But it is often far otherwise in point of fact; for, whatever the many are seen to do, forthwith obtains the force of custom. But human affairs have scarcely ever been so happily constituted as that the better course pleased the greater number. Hence the private vices of the multitude have generally resulted in public error, or rather that common consent in vice which these worthy men would have to be law. (Institutes xxviii)

When I read this section of the address, I though Calvin's arguments sounded like something I'd read before. After a bit of thought, and the help of Google, I came up with this:

Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that [...] the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority. (129-130)

Any guesses as to the source? Yep, good old James Madison, writing in Federalist #10. Calvin and Madison both understood that humans by nature seek out others of similar opinion on a given subject and that groups of likeminded individuals often seek to force their likemindedness on everybody else, even at the expense of truth or justice (or possibly the American way :)). They differ on the particulars of their respective arguments, though. In Institutes, Calvin addresses the danger of letting human custom rather than God dictate religious belief and practice. Madison, in Federalist #10, addresses the dangers of factionalism in a small, democratic country.

Interestingly, the two men also differ on the solution to the problem. Madison argues that even religious beliefs will not prevent power from going to people's heads, and so the people of New York need to ratify the Constitution. No ulterior motive in castigating majority rule here, folks! Still, I agree with Madison that even committed Christians can be corrupted by power, particularly since majority peer pressure is so strong. (Federalist 133)

Calvin, on the other hand, argues that by turning to the Word of God and by standing up for what it says, the worst of majority rule may be averted. He says that a true belief in God does influence how those in the majority lead others. (Institutes xxviii)

Works Cited:
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.

Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist: The Famous Papers on the Principles of American Government. Edited by Benjamin F. Wright. New York: MetroBooks, 2002.