John Calvin: The Human Lightning Rod

Ok, I get it.  John Calvin is not hip these days.  No surprise - he is (and has been for more than four centuries) the whipping boy of those who valiantly maintain and defend, to borrow a phrase from Hitler and Nietzsche, the triumph of the will (I know, that was below the belt!).   Ahhh, so here we are again with the tricky and perennial predestination vs. freewill debate.  This is what characterizes (and perhaps demonizes) Calvin the most - his staunch defense of God's gracious sovereignty over all things.  However, there's more, much more, to Calvin than what the supralapsarians and infrasupras attribute him!  He was a darn good theologian and philosopher who should be, nay demands to be, read in our times of bubblegum pop feel-good self-realization psychology pabulum that parades itself as theology or "Christian living" as it's now apparently categorized in Christian bookstores.  When I was stateside last December I visited two Christian bookstores in order to pick up a copy of Calvin's Institutes.  To my (non)surprise this tome was nowhere to be found.  Thank God for His gracious provision of Al Gore's internet and especially for wonderful sites like the Christian Classics Ethereal Library where one can download many of the weighty Christian classics (including Jacob Arminius' tantalizing and well-written Works - which are an equally amazing read and should be taken up after surviving the Institutes).  Now the works of these guys are at our fingertips and free of charge - hallelujah!

So, for those of good courage, let us take up Calvin's hefty tome and, once digested, let's tackle Jakob Arminius.  Perhaps to clear our palate in between, we could plunge into the refreshing tales of George MacDonald...?         

Comments

[Ben]

Yep, Calvin was the man. His commentaries are still the standard that liberal and reformed theologians reference.

I haven't read Institutes yet, but now that I can get it for free...

[Greg]

The only downside, and this is something we can all agree on, is the length of the book. It would be a consuming read if it was only 100 pages instead of its actual 1,100 because of both its scope and depth. That being said, a good overview of the work is to read Calvin's "100 Aphorisms" given at the end of the book:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.vii.i.html

I especially like #50:
"The sum of the Christian life is denial of ourselves."

[Steve K.]

Greg,

I have to take issue ;-) "John Calvin is not hip these days"? You must not be familiar with the Reformed resurgence in the U.S., led by folks like John Piper and John MacArthur and even Mark Driscoll.

I'm half-joking, because I'm pretty sure you're keen to all that. I just thought it was funny to read "John Calvin is not hip these days." In certain circles, there seems to be nothing more hip!

I, on the other hand, am not Reformed, and my preferred variant of the Christian faith, the Emergent stream, seems to be the preferred "whipping boy" of the New Reformed. I appreciate what one Reformed Baptist pastor wrote recently:
http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/a-reformed-baptist-pastor-talks-about-the-writings-of-the-emergent-church

To quote Rodney King: Can't we all just get along? ;-)

Shalom,
Steve K.

[Greg]

Yes Steve (and how in the world did I miss that fact that you live in Charlotte?! I hail from Concord, NC),
there are indeed lots of Calvinist meanies running around like they own God and, in His name, commit lots of the 21st Century equivalent of burning-at-the-stake against the current crop of those they deem as Servetus types (word to the wise: don't accept invitations from Calvinists like he did!).

You are absolutely correct that the true current "whipping boy" of Protestantism is the Emerging Church and, yes, the Reformed camp has leveled numerous volleys its way. Like you I do not call myself "Reformed" other than to say I am a "reformed agnostic" - and as such I introduced myself once to a stodgy group of Calvinist classical educators who were checking up on my "Reformed" credentials. I admit that while I am keen on John Calvin I am, at the same time, often terrified of his latter-day followers.

[Reed]

So what is the schedule for this endeavor? Or is anyone actually going to read it?