Here's a funny picture of our dog. The kids said he is our mad professor. He is a lot of fun and a lot of work. You know, "Somebody take the dog out!"
Monday, January 26, 2009
Our dear friends
Last Sunday we had a delightful time with our dear friends the Anderson's. We even talked about the deism peppered throughout the American Revolution.
Building a tower
Here is my son Micah, proud of the tower he has built. Thankfully it was not a tower to reach into the heavens. Micah does not want to be like God. Though he is proud at times, he is glad the Lord Jesus loves him.
The school of religion.
In chapter 6 Calvin starts his discussion on Scripture. Here is a short summary.
1. Though nature displays the knowledge of God, mankind needs a better revelation to guide and teach those who would and will come to God. This revelation is contained in the Holy Scriptures.
2. Praise God for this special gift. He speaks of Himself in authoritative volume and precision by His own lips in Scripture.
3. The church needs to remember Calvin’s statement in connection with Scripture. "God, the Artificer of the universe, is made manifest to us in Scripture, and that what we ought to think of Him is set forth there” (Pg, 71).
4. If we leave the Word to relay upon our own minds or nature's lessons we will slip away and fall into a man centred religion.
Schleiermacher, even though he did much good to free Christianity from Enlightenment rationalism, made this mistake. The Enlightenment men said rationalism was the centre of knowledge; Schleiermacher posited that centre in feeling. Both positions were man centered and failed to give attention to God’s revelation in Jesus and Scripture.
To him feeling was the foundation for faith. Pure religion existed when a man felt his full dependence upon God. Consequently, theology and dogmatics in particular were mere expressions of that feeling. Scripture too was merely a description of human feelings of absolute dependence upon God.
5. We must be introduced into the presence of God by "the thread of the Word; so that it is better to limp along this path than to dash with all speed outside it" (Pg, 73).
6. Psalm 19:7-8 " The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."
7. Scripture is the primary and essential "school of God's children" (Pg, 73).
1. Though nature displays the knowledge of God, mankind needs a better revelation to guide and teach those who would and will come to God. This revelation is contained in the Holy Scriptures.
2. Praise God for this special gift. He speaks of Himself in authoritative volume and precision by His own lips in Scripture.
3. The church needs to remember Calvin’s statement in connection with Scripture. "God, the Artificer of the universe, is made manifest to us in Scripture, and that what we ought to think of Him is set forth there” (Pg, 71).
4. If we leave the Word to relay upon our own minds or nature's lessons we will slip away and fall into a man centred religion.
Schleiermacher, even though he did much good to free Christianity from Enlightenment rationalism, made this mistake. The Enlightenment men said rationalism was the centre of knowledge; Schleiermacher posited that centre in feeling. Both positions were man centered and failed to give attention to God’s revelation in Jesus and Scripture.
To him feeling was the foundation for faith. Pure religion existed when a man felt his full dependence upon God. Consequently, theology and dogmatics in particular were mere expressions of that feeling. Scripture too was merely a description of human feelings of absolute dependence upon God.
5. We must be introduced into the presence of God by "the thread of the Word; so that it is better to limp along this path than to dash with all speed outside it" (Pg, 73).
6. Psalm 19:7-8 " The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."
7. Scripture is the primary and essential "school of God's children" (Pg, 73).
What comes first? The order of revelation.
I was unable to blog last week, but I’m back on track.
My last post on John Calvin’s Institutes covered chapter 5. Before I go on to chapter 6 I would like to give a few comments on the subject and order of revelation.
Due to Calvin’s theology of man’s fall, the revelation of God in nature “burns in vain.” Here is Calvin, “It is therefore in vain that so many burning lamps shine for us in the workmanship of the universe to show forth the glory of its Author. Although they bathe us wholly in their radiance, yet they can of themselves in no way lead us into the right path. Surely, they strike some sparks, but before their fuller light shines forth these are smothered. For this reason, the apostle, in that very passage where he calls the worlds the images of things invisible, adds that through faith we understand that they have been fashioned by God’s word [Heb 11:3]” (Pg, 68).
Notice, only through faith can man see creation’s light. God, in other words, has to open our eyes. “We have not the eyes to see unless they be illumined by the inner revelation of God through faith” (P.68). Notice in the same paragraph that though nature “burns in vain;" nevertheless nature’s revelation does leave man without excuse.
Contrast Calvin here to the 18th century Enlightenment passion for reasonable religion, and you wish that guys like John Locke, H.S. Reimarus, or Joseph Butler, would have read Calvin, or if they did, realize there is more to man’s knowing than reason. Obviously, Calvin believed man cannot know God from reason alone; after all nature's "spark" are smothered by us. Obviously, he like Jean Jacques Rousseau and others like him in the counter-enlightenment movement of later time held that faith is an element of human knowledge. Faith does seek understanding.
But the question is which faith, and who’s faith? Is it faith in any divine being or power? Is that faith a work of man or a gift? Obviously, we, like Calvin are driven to the question of revelation. Which faith? It must be revealed. Who’s faith? If man can’t gain faith through nature, including reason, then it must be given by grace. No matter how you look at it, God’s revelation of himself is the cornerstone and fulcrum to man knowing God.
The leads to a further question, which revelation must come first, God’s revelation in Scripture or God’s revelation in the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. As I said in my last blog, Barth put the Incarnate Word first, and then the Scriptures. Calvin reversed the order. Barth, like Calvin said it cannot be nature because “it must be Christ that we must hear.” But both said this for somewhat different reasons. Calvin said man’s sin blinds him to natural theology. Barth it could be said maintained natural theology blinds men to Jesus. To look to nature is to look to man in his sin, and for Barth this was Nazism.
What will help in this question of the order of revelation? Here are some of my thoughts. God’s chosen means of revealing himself directly to man is not nature, but Jesus. God wants people to look at his Son and see nature (including man) through his eyes. He is the reason for the covenants, the promises, and even the Scriptures. After all only through faith in God as Creator and Redeemer are we renewed can we see nature in it’s proper light; hence Calvin’s call to faith in Jesus.
The Spirit is involved of course, and this is where the Scripture comes in. Calvin, known as the theologian of the Holy Spirit, clearly explains that the Spirit uses the Scripture to reveal Christ. Perhaps this, as well as the 16th century question of authority in the church, is why Calvin put the revelation of Scripture before the revelation of the Incarnate Word. But it is not long begfore Calvin fully focuses on God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Books 2,3, and 4 of his Institutes are actually an exercise in the proper use of Scripture, namely to give the knowledge of Jesus Christ the revelation of God. To Calvin Scripture is not God, but a finger that points to him. To Calvin Jesus is God, and the Spirit’s task through the Scriptures, as well as through preaching, church sacraments, and prayer is to bring us to God. God brings us to God. He comes to us in the Word Christ, in the Word of Scripture, which points to Christ, in the sacraments, preaching, prayer, and church where Christ is present and takes us by the shoulders, and turns us around to look at his Son. This is incidentally, why worship was so important to Calvin.
To conclude, we cannot know God in nature without his grace. We cannot know God unless he reveals himself to us. He has done this in Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. The church needs both! It’s true that the starting point is the revelation of Scripture, but its goal and glory is Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, it is equally true that the starting point is Jesus Christ. He became man and in him, we saw the revelation of the Father full of grace and truth. Scripture would be empty if the church did not start with Christ. Therefore, the staring point is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and he is the goal and glory of the Scriptures.
My last post on John Calvin’s Institutes covered chapter 5. Before I go on to chapter 6 I would like to give a few comments on the subject and order of revelation.
Due to Calvin’s theology of man’s fall, the revelation of God in nature “burns in vain.” Here is Calvin, “It is therefore in vain that so many burning lamps shine for us in the workmanship of the universe to show forth the glory of its Author. Although they bathe us wholly in their radiance, yet they can of themselves in no way lead us into the right path. Surely, they strike some sparks, but before their fuller light shines forth these are smothered. For this reason, the apostle, in that very passage where he calls the worlds the images of things invisible, adds that through faith we understand that they have been fashioned by God’s word [Heb 11:3]” (Pg, 68).
Notice, only through faith can man see creation’s light. God, in other words, has to open our eyes. “We have not the eyes to see unless they be illumined by the inner revelation of God through faith” (P.68). Notice in the same paragraph that though nature “burns in vain;" nevertheless nature’s revelation does leave man without excuse.
Contrast Calvin here to the 18th century Enlightenment passion for reasonable religion, and you wish that guys like John Locke, H.S. Reimarus, or Joseph Butler, would have read Calvin, or if they did, realize there is more to man’s knowing than reason. Obviously, Calvin believed man cannot know God from reason alone; after all nature's "spark" are smothered by us. Obviously, he like Jean Jacques Rousseau and others like him in the counter-enlightenment movement of later time held that faith is an element of human knowledge. Faith does seek understanding.
But the question is which faith, and who’s faith? Is it faith in any divine being or power? Is that faith a work of man or a gift? Obviously, we, like Calvin are driven to the question of revelation. Which faith? It must be revealed. Who’s faith? If man can’t gain faith through nature, including reason, then it must be given by grace. No matter how you look at it, God’s revelation of himself is the cornerstone and fulcrum to man knowing God.
The leads to a further question, which revelation must come first, God’s revelation in Scripture or God’s revelation in the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. As I said in my last blog, Barth put the Incarnate Word first, and then the Scriptures. Calvin reversed the order. Barth, like Calvin said it cannot be nature because “it must be Christ that we must hear.” But both said this for somewhat different reasons. Calvin said man’s sin blinds him to natural theology. Barth it could be said maintained natural theology blinds men to Jesus. To look to nature is to look to man in his sin, and for Barth this was Nazism.
What will help in this question of the order of revelation? Here are some of my thoughts. God’s chosen means of revealing himself directly to man is not nature, but Jesus. God wants people to look at his Son and see nature (including man) through his eyes. He is the reason for the covenants, the promises, and even the Scriptures. After all only through faith in God as Creator and Redeemer are we renewed can we see nature in it’s proper light; hence Calvin’s call to faith in Jesus.
The Spirit is involved of course, and this is where the Scripture comes in. Calvin, known as the theologian of the Holy Spirit, clearly explains that the Spirit uses the Scripture to reveal Christ. Perhaps this, as well as the 16th century question of authority in the church, is why Calvin put the revelation of Scripture before the revelation of the Incarnate Word. But it is not long begfore Calvin fully focuses on God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Books 2,3, and 4 of his Institutes are actually an exercise in the proper use of Scripture, namely to give the knowledge of Jesus Christ the revelation of God. To Calvin Scripture is not God, but a finger that points to him. To Calvin Jesus is God, and the Spirit’s task through the Scriptures, as well as through preaching, church sacraments, and prayer is to bring us to God. God brings us to God. He comes to us in the Word Christ, in the Word of Scripture, which points to Christ, in the sacraments, preaching, prayer, and church where Christ is present and takes us by the shoulders, and turns us around to look at his Son. This is incidentally, why worship was so important to Calvin.
To conclude, we cannot know God in nature without his grace. We cannot know God unless he reveals himself to us. He has done this in Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. The church needs both! It’s true that the starting point is the revelation of Scripture, but its goal and glory is Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, it is equally true that the starting point is Jesus Christ. He became man and in him, we saw the revelation of the Father full of grace and truth. Scripture would be empty if the church did not start with Christ. Therefore, the staring point is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and he is the goal and glory of the Scriptures.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Nature points us the right way, but we get it wrong
In Chapter 5 Calvin explains that creation reveals the knowledge of God. Of course for Calvin, as we have seen, man cannot read what creation reveals properly. He basis this on Romans 1. However, this natural theology deepens man’s guilt. Footnote 2 reads, “Calvin holds God’s purpose in all revelation to be blessedness (cf. I. x. 2), but because of human sin, the effect of this revelation in creation is to deepen man’s guilt” (Pg. 51). Calvin basis this on Romans 1 too.
Here is the summary of chapter 5.
1. The universe and its ongoing order speaks out the knowledge of God. (Rom 1:20-21; Psalm 19).
On page 62 Calvin gives the great goal of natural revelation. “It is for us to contemplate him in his works whereby he renders himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates himself.”
2. God is revealed in nature which strips man of all excuses. "Upon his individual works he has engraved unmistakable marks of His glory, so clear and so prominent that even unlettered and stupid folk cannot plead the excuse of ignorance (Ps 104:2-4; Ps 11:4; Heb 11:3; Ps 19)” (Pg. 52).
3. Due to human sin nature's revelation does not delight the unregenerate, but rather deepens and declares his guilt.
4. Nature talks to us, primarily about the wisdom of God and no where is this wisdom more prosperously displayed than in the being of man. Sadly however, though he is a "workshop graced with God's unnumbered works" (Pg. 53), sinful man denies and hates God.
5. Consequently, in this rebellion, this denial, or in what Calvin called “our stupidity" mankind grows “increasingly dull toward creation as revelation and these revelations then flow away without profiting us” (Pg. 63).
6. This “stupidity” is manifested by the myriad of people ascribing creation and the events of nature to fortune; or they delve into superstition and invent an immense crowd of idols; or the philosophers philosophize and end in error.
7. To persist in this error is to persist in pushing down the knowledge of God and substitute the true knowledge of God with man made opinions or feelings.
8. "To worship an unknown god (Acts 17:23) by chance is no light fault. Nevertheless, by Christ's own statement all who have not been taught from the law what god they ought to worship are guilty in this matter (Jn 4:22)" (Pg. 67).
9. Man, daily steals away the glory and praise God deserves when he holds down in unrighteousness, the truth God has displayed in nature. “Therefore we are justly denied every excuse when we stray off as wanderers and vagrants even though everything points out the right way” (Pg.69).
If we can’t see what creation actually shows we need God’s grace, God’s voice to come to us. That voice has come in the written and incarnate Word. Basically from chapter 6 to 15 Calvin deals with the revelation in Scripture. He deals with the incarnate word later. Interestingly, Karl Barth reverses this order in his Church Dogmatics.
Here is the summary of chapter 5.
1. The universe and its ongoing order speaks out the knowledge of God. (Rom 1:20-21; Psalm 19).
On page 62 Calvin gives the great goal of natural revelation. “It is for us to contemplate him in his works whereby he renders himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates himself.”
2. God is revealed in nature which strips man of all excuses. "Upon his individual works he has engraved unmistakable marks of His glory, so clear and so prominent that even unlettered and stupid folk cannot plead the excuse of ignorance (Ps 104:2-4; Ps 11:4; Heb 11:3; Ps 19)” (Pg. 52).
3. Due to human sin nature's revelation does not delight the unregenerate, but rather deepens and declares his guilt.
4. Nature talks to us, primarily about the wisdom of God and no where is this wisdom more prosperously displayed than in the being of man. Sadly however, though he is a "workshop graced with God's unnumbered works" (Pg. 53), sinful man denies and hates God.
5. Consequently, in this rebellion, this denial, or in what Calvin called “our stupidity" mankind grows “increasingly dull toward creation as revelation and these revelations then flow away without profiting us” (Pg. 63).
6. This “stupidity” is manifested by the myriad of people ascribing creation and the events of nature to fortune; or they delve into superstition and invent an immense crowd of idols; or the philosophers philosophize and end in error.
7. To persist in this error is to persist in pushing down the knowledge of God and substitute the true knowledge of God with man made opinions or feelings.
8. "To worship an unknown god (Acts 17:23) by chance is no light fault. Nevertheless, by Christ's own statement all who have not been taught from the law what god they ought to worship are guilty in this matter (Jn 4:22)" (Pg. 67).
9. Man, daily steals away the glory and praise God deserves when he holds down in unrighteousness, the truth God has displayed in nature. “Therefore we are justly denied every excuse when we stray off as wanderers and vagrants even though everything points out the right way” (Pg.69).
If we can’t see what creation actually shows we need God’s grace, God’s voice to come to us. That voice has come in the written and incarnate Word. Basically from chapter 6 to 15 Calvin deals with the revelation in Scripture. He deals with the incarnate word later. Interestingly, Karl Barth reverses this order in his Church Dogmatics.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Smothered by superstition, stubbornness, and hypocrisy.
In chapter 4 Calvin asserts that though the “seed of religion” is in all men, this seed does not ripen in men due to their fall into sin. The knowledge of God imprinted on men’s conscience is either “smothered or corrupted, partly by ignorance, partly by malice” (Pg. 47).
1. Calvin deals with superstition first. Those who are superstitious fancy themselves to truly seek God, nevertheless as Calvin says: "In seeking God, miserable men do not rise above themselves as they should, but measure him by the yardstick of their own carnal stupidity, and neglect sound investigation; thus out of curiosity they fly off into empty speculations" (Pg. 47).
I am reminded of Romans 1. By superstition the superstitious change the image of God revealed in creation. In this activity of seeking after God the superstitious are actually running away from the true God. (Rom 1:21-22)
2. Next he deals with those who “deliberately befuddle themselves” (Pg.48). To put it in modern language: those who refuse to believe there is a God. They are called, the new atheists. They flatly deny the existence of God, and call on others to do the same because in their opinion religion is dangerous to society. Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 say, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
3. Then there are those who, “Shut God up idle in heaven” (Pg.48); a good description of the deists who have been with us since the Enlightenment. They assert for their own self interest that, "There is nothing less in accord with God's nature than for him to cast off the government of the universe and abandon it to fortune, and to be blind to the wicked deeds of me, so that they may lust unpunished" (Pg. 48).
They other day I was reading William Stringfellow’s book, A Public and Private Faith. In it he described the religion of North American evangelicalism. His conclusion: For our own self-interest, we in the church have shut up God idle in heaven, so we can be busy with our own religion down here; a religion of individualism and self-preservation where Jesus is on the level of medicine rather than Lord. A religion of materialism where we get from Jesus what we want but will not give the world, the poor, the downtrodden, mercy and attention.
4. Calvin cites hypocrisy as a sin which smothers the knowledge of God in mankind. How does it come about? Men are forced to fear God because of God's judgment, providence and creation. They hate this fear because they know God is judge. They want to overthrow this judgement so they wage war against it. Understanding they cannot overthrow God or flee from his judgment, they conjure up a plan in which they can live with themselves and before this "mysterium tremendum.” They plan, perform a semblance of religion. Pretend to be friends with God. By being good they think they will be forgiven. This is their gospel. However, during this whole affair they pamper themselves with thoughts of self-righteousness and acts of lust.
1. Calvin deals with superstition first. Those who are superstitious fancy themselves to truly seek God, nevertheless as Calvin says: "In seeking God, miserable men do not rise above themselves as they should, but measure him by the yardstick of their own carnal stupidity, and neglect sound investigation; thus out of curiosity they fly off into empty speculations" (Pg. 47).
I am reminded of Romans 1. By superstition the superstitious change the image of God revealed in creation. In this activity of seeking after God the superstitious are actually running away from the true God. (Rom 1:21-22)
2. Next he deals with those who “deliberately befuddle themselves” (Pg.48). To put it in modern language: those who refuse to believe there is a God. They are called, the new atheists. They flatly deny the existence of God, and call on others to do the same because in their opinion religion is dangerous to society. Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 say, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
3. Then there are those who, “Shut God up idle in heaven” (Pg.48); a good description of the deists who have been with us since the Enlightenment. They assert for their own self interest that, "There is nothing less in accord with God's nature than for him to cast off the government of the universe and abandon it to fortune, and to be blind to the wicked deeds of me, so that they may lust unpunished" (Pg. 48).
They other day I was reading William Stringfellow’s book, A Public and Private Faith. In it he described the religion of North American evangelicalism. His conclusion: For our own self-interest, we in the church have shut up God idle in heaven, so we can be busy with our own religion down here; a religion of individualism and self-preservation where Jesus is on the level of medicine rather than Lord. A religion of materialism where we get from Jesus what we want but will not give the world, the poor, the downtrodden, mercy and attention.
4. Calvin cites hypocrisy as a sin which smothers the knowledge of God in mankind. How does it come about? Men are forced to fear God because of God's judgment, providence and creation. They hate this fear because they know God is judge. They want to overthrow this judgement so they wage war against it. Understanding they cannot overthrow God or flee from his judgment, they conjure up a plan in which they can live with themselves and before this "mysterium tremendum.” They plan, perform a semblance of religion. Pretend to be friends with God. By being good they think they will be forgiven. This is their gospel. However, during this whole affair they pamper themselves with thoughts of self-righteousness and acts of lust.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The knowledge of God implanted in man
We are in Chapter 3 today. It’s entitled; The Knowledge of God Has Been Naturally Implanted in the Minds of Men.
I read or heard someone say that the 21st century would be a “spiritual century,” meaning mankind, disillusioned with 20th century violence, would seek “gods” again. The fact is mankind has always sought gods in one form or another. The modern era, the space of history from the Enlightenment Age to the end of WWII was not a rejection of “gods” in favour of science and human reason but merely a joy ride with the new "gods" of science and reason.
Calvin’s third chapter reminds us again that man does have a “seed of religion” in him. Why? Because he was made in God’s image. Here are my summaries for this chapter.
1. There is a knowledge of God naturally implanted in creation and the human conscience. This natural knowledge is severely smothered due to sin. (see Book I, ch. IV). This leaves mankind without excuse. The "seed of religion" remains in God's creatures.
2. Calvin agrees with Cicero on this point..."No nation so barbarous, no people so savage, that they have not a deep seated conviction that there is a God" (Pg.44). The practice of religion of any sort has not come about willy-nilly. It is an expression of the natural knowledge of God imprinted upon the conscience.
3. But sadly! Fallen man hates this knowledge and attempts to erase it from his mind in various ways. As Calvin writes, "though the stupid hardness in their minds, which the impious eagerly conjure up to reject God, wastes away, yet the sense of divinity, which they greatly wished to have extinguished, thrives and presently grows" (Pg, 46).
4. What distinguishes man from brute beasts is their "reason" which tells them they are creatures and that there is a Creator. Even when they worship wood in rebellion against the true God, they do show the principle of accountability. It is the opposite with brute beasts; they live by the principle of instinct.
I read or heard someone say that the 21st century would be a “spiritual century,” meaning mankind, disillusioned with 20th century violence, would seek “gods” again. The fact is mankind has always sought gods in one form or another. The modern era, the space of history from the Enlightenment Age to the end of WWII was not a rejection of “gods” in favour of science and human reason but merely a joy ride with the new "gods" of science and reason.
Calvin’s third chapter reminds us again that man does have a “seed of religion” in him. Why? Because he was made in God’s image. Here are my summaries for this chapter.
1. There is a knowledge of God naturally implanted in creation and the human conscience. This natural knowledge is severely smothered due to sin. (see Book I, ch. IV). This leaves mankind without excuse. The "seed of religion" remains in God's creatures.
2. Calvin agrees with Cicero on this point..."No nation so barbarous, no people so savage, that they have not a deep seated conviction that there is a God" (Pg.44). The practice of religion of any sort has not come about willy-nilly. It is an expression of the natural knowledge of God imprinted upon the conscience.
3. But sadly! Fallen man hates this knowledge and attempts to erase it from his mind in various ways. As Calvin writes, "though the stupid hardness in their minds, which the impious eagerly conjure up to reject God, wastes away, yet the sense of divinity, which they greatly wished to have extinguished, thrives and presently grows" (Pg, 46).
4. What distinguishes man from brute beasts is their "reason" which tells them they are creatures and that there is a Creator. Even when they worship wood in rebellion against the true God, they do show the principle of accountability. It is the opposite with brute beasts; they live by the principle of instinct.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Don't let cultural engagment blind you
Carl Trueman has an excellent article on the current "culture" craze in the evangelical church. He poignantly makes us aware that the church's "cultural engagement" can blind us to how God actually wants to work through us in this world. We can so "engage culture" that we fail to give our world Jesus Christ's gospel. We can so "engage culture" that rather than confronting evil and sin, we get caught up in letting it go on.
Truman's article is here.
http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/why-are-there-never-enough-parking-spaces-at-the-prostate-clinic.php
Truman's article is here.
http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/why-are-there-never-enough-parking-spaces-at-the-prostate-clinic.php
How we know God.
Having finished the “Prefatory Address to King Francis,” we move into the Institutes itself. Book I, “The Knowledge of God the Creator” has eighteen chapters. It basically tells us who we must learn about first if we are to have a knowledge of God. The who is God himself.
Again my thoughts are given in point form. Today I cover pages 35 to 41. Remember I am using the McNeill, Battles edition.
1. True and firm wisdom consists of two parts. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.
2. Which one comes first? When we know God then we know ourselves. When we think about ourselves we will wonder about our creation and then our Creator. Calvin said, “In knowing God each of use also knows himself” (Pg. 36). But he also said, “No one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God” (Pg. 35).
So do we study anthropology and psychology, or theology first? Is natural theology able to begin to teach us first? What route does Calvin take? He begins with theology, the knowledge of God.
3. For Calvin natural theology cannot reveal God adequately due to the fall. Natural theology for Calvin is divided into two categories. Natural theology before the fall. Only, “If Adam had remained upright,” would nature have given us sound theology. Secondly, natural theology after the fall. This cannot give us sound theology. Consequently, our only hope is God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and his Word. Thank the Lord our hope is not empty. God has revealed himself, we can know him.
4. We cannot arrive at knowledge of ourselves or God unless God turns us to himself to bring us graciously to look and think upon him! Why? Our eyes and mind trick us when we contemplate ourselves first. We stand before a "trick mirror" as it were, which shapes us larger than what we really are, and then the god we conjure up is the kind of god we want to see. We think we are righteous, holy and good, and thus our god will be to our liking. We are inclined by the sinful nature to hypocrisy.
5. But if God, he will teach us about himself and ourselves. This is the beginning of a wonderful life!
6. We will see our sinfulness. Scripture informs us that men are stricken and overcome whenever they come into the presence of God. (Judg 13:22; Is 6:5; Ezek 2:1; 1:28; Judg 6:22-23; Job 38:1ff; Gen 18:27; 1 Kgs 19:13; Job 13:28; 7:5; Ps 22:6; Is 2:10, 19). “We infer from this, that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of His lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.” Pg, 39.
7. We will see God’s goodness and grace. Where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. This is the God who “sustains the universe by his boundless might, regulates it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, and especially rules mankind by his righteousness and judgement, bears with it in his mercy, watches over it by his protection.” (Pg. 40).
Again my thoughts are given in point form. Today I cover pages 35 to 41. Remember I am using the McNeill, Battles edition.
1. True and firm wisdom consists of two parts. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.
2. Which one comes first? When we know God then we know ourselves. When we think about ourselves we will wonder about our creation and then our Creator. Calvin said, “In knowing God each of use also knows himself” (Pg. 36). But he also said, “No one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God” (Pg. 35).
So do we study anthropology and psychology, or theology first? Is natural theology able to begin to teach us first? What route does Calvin take? He begins with theology, the knowledge of God.
3. For Calvin natural theology cannot reveal God adequately due to the fall. Natural theology for Calvin is divided into two categories. Natural theology before the fall. Only, “If Adam had remained upright,” would nature have given us sound theology. Secondly, natural theology after the fall. This cannot give us sound theology. Consequently, our only hope is God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and his Word. Thank the Lord our hope is not empty. God has revealed himself, we can know him.
4. We cannot arrive at knowledge of ourselves or God unless God turns us to himself to bring us graciously to look and think upon him! Why? Our eyes and mind trick us when we contemplate ourselves first. We stand before a "trick mirror" as it were, which shapes us larger than what we really are, and then the god we conjure up is the kind of god we want to see. We think we are righteous, holy and good, and thus our god will be to our liking. We are inclined by the sinful nature to hypocrisy.
5. But if God, he will teach us about himself and ourselves. This is the beginning of a wonderful life!
6. We will see our sinfulness. Scripture informs us that men are stricken and overcome whenever they come into the presence of God. (Judg 13:22; Is 6:5; Ezek 2:1; 1:28; Judg 6:22-23; Job 38:1ff; Gen 18:27; 1 Kgs 19:13; Job 13:28; 7:5; Ps 22:6; Is 2:10, 19). “We infer from this, that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of His lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.” Pg, 39.
7. We will see God’s goodness and grace. Where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. This is the God who “sustains the universe by his boundless might, regulates it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, and especially rules mankind by his righteousness and judgement, bears with it in his mercy, watches over it by his protection.” (Pg. 40).
Friday, January 9, 2009
The marks of the church and the devils ire.
Today I finish summarizing Calvin’s Preface to Francis.
1. The Roman Church levelled a "double-horned" argument against the Reformers view of the church. They said the Reformers did not recognize the visible church, by which they meant the visible Roman Catholic Church. Calvin responded to this by asserting the invisibility of the church.
2. This is not to say Calvin denied the visible church. He did not. He believed the visible church to be real even when corrupt. He uses the example of Elijah, Abraham, and other OT examples to show that though the church was very small and corrupt God still had his people. The Westminsiter Confession of Faith put it something like this, "At times the visible church is so corrupt that she can even look like a synagogue of Satan." He maintained the church of Christ would continue and was continuing in the Reformation Churches.
3. Why the Reformation Churches? Calvin and the Reformers believed the visible church of Jesus existed wherever the mark of the pure preaching of the Word and the faithful administration of the sacraments existed. These marks, not loyalty to the Roman Church hierarchy were the movements of a true church.
4. Calvin splendidly shows that whenever true Biblical preaching is done, the devil is aroused and the depraved nature in man is irritated. The prophets and apostles all received harsh treatment from wicked men. In contrast, Calvin wanted to point out, when the gospel is not preached the devil and sinful man sleep in comfort and consequently no tumult results.
5. He admonishes the King to "not at all be moved those vain accusations with which our adversaries are trying to inspire terror in you." He asks the King to read this Institute in a "Quiet, composed mood" in hopes of gaining his favour.
1. The Roman Church levelled a "double-horned" argument against the Reformers view of the church. They said the Reformers did not recognize the visible church, by which they meant the visible Roman Catholic Church. Calvin responded to this by asserting the invisibility of the church.
2. This is not to say Calvin denied the visible church. He did not. He believed the visible church to be real even when corrupt. He uses the example of Elijah, Abraham, and other OT examples to show that though the church was very small and corrupt God still had his people. The Westminsiter Confession of Faith put it something like this, "At times the visible church is so corrupt that she can even look like a synagogue of Satan." He maintained the church of Christ would continue and was continuing in the Reformation Churches.
3. Why the Reformation Churches? Calvin and the Reformers believed the visible church of Jesus existed wherever the mark of the pure preaching of the Word and the faithful administration of the sacraments existed. These marks, not loyalty to the Roman Church hierarchy were the movements of a true church.
4. Calvin splendidly shows that whenever true Biblical preaching is done, the devil is aroused and the depraved nature in man is irritated. The prophets and apostles all received harsh treatment from wicked men. In contrast, Calvin wanted to point out, when the gospel is not preached the devil and sinful man sleep in comfort and consequently no tumult results.
5. He admonishes the King to "not at all be moved those vain accusations with which our adversaries are trying to inspire terror in you." He asks the King to read this Institute in a "Quiet, composed mood" in hopes of gaining his favour.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Calvin up on charges
Calvin dedicated his preface to the Institutes to the French King, Francis. In it he defends the Reformation against Roman Catholic charges. I am reminded of Cardinal Henry C. Newman’s, Apologia Pro Vita Sua in which he defended Roman Catholicism and his move to that church against certain Anglican opponents. Comparing that work with Calvin's Preface is fascinating. By Newman's day the Roman Church had reformed too.
Below, in point form I have summarized the reading for today.
1. Calvin admonished the King to examine the persecution the Reformers had experienced at the hands of the Roman Church to determine if they were just. To close his ears or his mind to the situation would be to disregard the glory and truth of God.
2 The Roman Church brought Calvin up on three charges. a. The newness of the Reformed doctrines. b. The uncertainty of these doctrines. They had not been tried yet. c. There were no miracles to verify these new doctrines. Calvin refutes the charges, of course. He says the doctrines are not new, they are derived from Scripture. They are not uncertain, they are the doctrines of God. And as to miracles, Calvin does not permit a miracle to establish the truth of Scripture.
3. The Roman Church also accused the Reformers for opposing the church fathers. Calvin clearly asserts "we do not despise them; in fact , if it were to our present purpose, I could with no trouble at all prove that the greater part of what we are saying today meets their approval.”
Calvin then goes on to scathe his accusers for not listening to the Church Fathers. "But if our opponents want to preserve the limits set by the fathers according to their understanding of them, why do they themselves transgress them so wilfully as often as it suits them?” In an attempt to expose the pomp and misuse of wealth of the Roman Church, Calvin asserted that the same said Church closed their ears to the doctrine of the Church Fathers on giving. He wrote, “Why? (Why did they not follow the Fathers in this)…because their belly is their God, and their kitchen their religion; and they believe, that if these were away they would not only not be Christians, but not even men. For although some wallow in luxury, and others feed on slender crusts, still they all live by the same pot, which without that fuel might not only cool, but altogether freeze. He, accordingly, who is most anxious about his stomach, proves the fiercest champion of his faith. In short, the object on which all to a man are bent, is to keep their kingdom safe or their belly filled; not one gives even the smallest sign of sincere zeal.”
Seems to me Protestantism in the West needs to hear this criticism today. Our “kitchen” is not St. Peter’s in Rome, but materialsm. We have not learned to give to others either. We keep ourselves insulated from works of justice and mercy in suburbia.
4. The Roman Church also attacked the Reformers in saying they denied "customs" (traditions). Calvin's lets this accusation stand for he clearly asserts that no long-standing custom has authority in the Kingdom of God. "In the Kingdom of God His eternal truth must alone be listened to and observed".
Below, in point form I have summarized the reading for today.
1. Calvin admonished the King to examine the persecution the Reformers had experienced at the hands of the Roman Church to determine if they were just. To close his ears or his mind to the situation would be to disregard the glory and truth of God.
2 The Roman Church brought Calvin up on three charges. a. The newness of the Reformed doctrines. b. The uncertainty of these doctrines. They had not been tried yet. c. There were no miracles to verify these new doctrines. Calvin refutes the charges, of course. He says the doctrines are not new, they are derived from Scripture. They are not uncertain, they are the doctrines of God. And as to miracles, Calvin does not permit a miracle to establish the truth of Scripture.
3. The Roman Church also accused the Reformers for opposing the church fathers. Calvin clearly asserts "we do not despise them; in fact , if it were to our present purpose, I could with no trouble at all prove that the greater part of what we are saying today meets their approval.”
Calvin then goes on to scathe his accusers for not listening to the Church Fathers. "But if our opponents want to preserve the limits set by the fathers according to their understanding of them, why do they themselves transgress them so wilfully as often as it suits them?” In an attempt to expose the pomp and misuse of wealth of the Roman Church, Calvin asserted that the same said Church closed their ears to the doctrine of the Church Fathers on giving. He wrote, “Why? (Why did they not follow the Fathers in this)…because their belly is their God, and their kitchen their religion; and they believe, that if these were away they would not only not be Christians, but not even men. For although some wallow in luxury, and others feed on slender crusts, still they all live by the same pot, which without that fuel might not only cool, but altogether freeze. He, accordingly, who is most anxious about his stomach, proves the fiercest champion of his faith. In short, the object on which all to a man are bent, is to keep their kingdom safe or their belly filled; not one gives even the smallest sign of sincere zeal.”
Seems to me Protestantism in the West needs to hear this criticism today. Our “kitchen” is not St. Peter’s in Rome, but materialsm. We have not learned to give to others either. We keep ourselves insulated from works of justice and mercy in suburbia.
4. The Roman Church also attacked the Reformers in saying they denied "customs" (traditions). Calvin's lets this accusation stand for he clearly asserts that no long-standing custom has authority in the Kingdom of God. "In the Kingdom of God His eternal truth must alone be listened to and observed".
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
How to live in the already, but not yet.
Doug Wilson gave some clear headed wisdom on how we should look at our lives and the life of our world as we live in the "already but not yet" eschatology. It's so good I quote it in full here.
Thou Shalt Play With Cobras Topic: Violence and the Trinity
The Old Testament prophecies of the glories of the new covenant era teach us to look forward in faith to a stupendous pileup of grace at the culmination of human history. God's goodness to us has already been overwhelming, and much more is on the way.
But in order not to get tangled up in more confusions about the relationship between the Old Testament and New, we have to grasp three things about all this. First, we have to understand that the glory of the new covenant builds gradually and inexorably throughout the new covenant era. Second, we have to recognize that we do not know exactly when in the new covenant era we have been privileged to live. And third, we have to understand that this is promise, not law.
But before considering those things in turn, we should refresh ourselves (in both senses of that word) by looking at just a couple of the promises.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Is. 2:1-4).
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, Which shall stand for an ensign of the people; To it shall the Gentiles seek: And his rest shall be glorious" (Is. 11:6-10).
Just in passing, we know that these prophecies are about the new covenant era, and not, say, about life after the Second Coming, because the apostle Paul quotes this last section from Isaiah 11 in Romans, using it to justify his proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles two thousand years ago. So we know that all this glory is for us -- but how?
The Bible teaches in multiple places and ways that the kingdom of God arrives quietly, silently, unobtrusively. It does not arrive like the 82nd Airborne, wham. The rock grows to become a mountain that fills the earth (Dan. 2:35). The mustard seed grows from a tiny beginning into a great plant (Matt. 13:31). The yeast works its way through the entire loaf gradually, slowly, and how did that happen (Matt. 13:33)? Who saw that coming?
And this means that the kind of person who could tell a difference between the old covenant era and new covenant era by reading the newspapers in 50 B.C. and 50 A.D. respectively is the kind of person of faith who, like Abraham, could already see the city whose maker and builder is God. The progress of the gospel is such that there will come a time when everyone will be able to see it all with our eyes, and read in the newspapers about how West Point has been turned into a plowshare manufacturing factory. But before that happy day, there have been many periods of new covenant history, surrounded by smoke and ruin, when it was most necessary to cling to these promises by means of an Abrahamic faith. The kingdom of God comes in a slow build. The kingdom of God is a pot on the stove coming to a full boil, and each bubble is a century.
Why is this important? If it is not understood, then there will be a tendency to poke the eschaton in the ribs and tell it to get a move on, which relates to the second point. Suppose for example that God has determined that the new covenant era will last for 25,000 years. Now, for the next phase of our thought experiment, suppose that He has determined that the time will be 2,500 years. In the first scenario, we are still part of the early church -- living as we do in the first eight percent of the whole shebang. But if we are in the year of Lord 2009, and the whole thing will be over just 491 years from now, and it ain't gonna be that long, it makes more sense for us to put the shoulder down and push a good deal harder. But we do not and cannot know which one it is.
A woman in her ninth month having contractions should be at least thinking about how she is going to push. But if a woman starts doing that halfway through the first trimester, she is fixing no problems and creating many.
Those who would immanentize the eschaton in a comparable way will make us suckers for every other utopian scheme, and they will do to us what utopians, dreamers, and sectarians consistently do, which is to create bloodbaths. Pacifism is a sectarian way of overrealizing our eschatology. The pacifist tells the woman that "if you are pregnant, you should be pushing," and it hard to imagine a more pernicious approach. There will come a time when the need to push will become obvious and, past a certain point, inevitable and beyond debate. Which leads to the third point.
We understand that a promise is fulfilled when it fulfilled. We are not to look at promises that have not yet manifested themselvesin fulfillment, turn them into a law, and then try to make them true. The promise is that our children will one day play with cobras, and not that we are in sin if we don't send them out to play with snakes this afternoon. When will we do this? Gloriously, we will do it when it safe to do. When will the wolf and lamb lie down together? When they both want to, that's when. This is promise, not law.
One of our natural temptations is that of turning indicatives into imperatives. God tells us what He is going to do, and so then we try to figure out ways to do it for Him. Whenever we act like this, we consistently gum it up.
So when will we shut down West Point and Annapolis, and study war no more? When the promise is given into our hand. It will happen when the defenders of keeping the academies open are embarrassed by the fact that we haven't had a war for three hundred years, and the best argument for continuing is that of not wanting to abandon the honored and sacred tradition of the Army/Navy football game. Posted by Douglas Wilson
Thou Shalt Play With Cobras Topic: Violence and the Trinity
The Old Testament prophecies of the glories of the new covenant era teach us to look forward in faith to a stupendous pileup of grace at the culmination of human history. God's goodness to us has already been overwhelming, and much more is on the way.
But in order not to get tangled up in more confusions about the relationship between the Old Testament and New, we have to grasp three things about all this. First, we have to understand that the glory of the new covenant builds gradually and inexorably throughout the new covenant era. Second, we have to recognize that we do not know exactly when in the new covenant era we have been privileged to live. And third, we have to understand that this is promise, not law.
But before considering those things in turn, we should refresh ourselves (in both senses of that word) by looking at just a couple of the promises.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Is. 2:1-4).
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, Which shall stand for an ensign of the people; To it shall the Gentiles seek: And his rest shall be glorious" (Is. 11:6-10).
Just in passing, we know that these prophecies are about the new covenant era, and not, say, about life after the Second Coming, because the apostle Paul quotes this last section from Isaiah 11 in Romans, using it to justify his proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles two thousand years ago. So we know that all this glory is for us -- but how?
The Bible teaches in multiple places and ways that the kingdom of God arrives quietly, silently, unobtrusively. It does not arrive like the 82nd Airborne, wham. The rock grows to become a mountain that fills the earth (Dan. 2:35). The mustard seed grows from a tiny beginning into a great plant (Matt. 13:31). The yeast works its way through the entire loaf gradually, slowly, and how did that happen (Matt. 13:33)? Who saw that coming?
And this means that the kind of person who could tell a difference between the old covenant era and new covenant era by reading the newspapers in 50 B.C. and 50 A.D. respectively is the kind of person of faith who, like Abraham, could already see the city whose maker and builder is God. The progress of the gospel is such that there will come a time when everyone will be able to see it all with our eyes, and read in the newspapers about how West Point has been turned into a plowshare manufacturing factory. But before that happy day, there have been many periods of new covenant history, surrounded by smoke and ruin, when it was most necessary to cling to these promises by means of an Abrahamic faith. The kingdom of God comes in a slow build. The kingdom of God is a pot on the stove coming to a full boil, and each bubble is a century.
Why is this important? If it is not understood, then there will be a tendency to poke the eschaton in the ribs and tell it to get a move on, which relates to the second point. Suppose for example that God has determined that the new covenant era will last for 25,000 years. Now, for the next phase of our thought experiment, suppose that He has determined that the time will be 2,500 years. In the first scenario, we are still part of the early church -- living as we do in the first eight percent of the whole shebang. But if we are in the year of Lord 2009, and the whole thing will be over just 491 years from now, and it ain't gonna be that long, it makes more sense for us to put the shoulder down and push a good deal harder. But we do not and cannot know which one it is.
A woman in her ninth month having contractions should be at least thinking about how she is going to push. But if a woman starts doing that halfway through the first trimester, she is fixing no problems and creating many.
Those who would immanentize the eschaton in a comparable way will make us suckers for every other utopian scheme, and they will do to us what utopians, dreamers, and sectarians consistently do, which is to create bloodbaths. Pacifism is a sectarian way of overrealizing our eschatology. The pacifist tells the woman that "if you are pregnant, you should be pushing," and it hard to imagine a more pernicious approach. There will come a time when the need to push will become obvious and, past a certain point, inevitable and beyond debate. Which leads to the third point.
We understand that a promise is fulfilled when it fulfilled. We are not to look at promises that have not yet manifested themselvesin fulfillment, turn them into a law, and then try to make them true. The promise is that our children will one day play with cobras, and not that we are in sin if we don't send them out to play with snakes this afternoon. When will we do this? Gloriously, we will do it when it safe to do. When will the wolf and lamb lie down together? When they both want to, that's when. This is promise, not law.
One of our natural temptations is that of turning indicatives into imperatives. God tells us what He is going to do, and so then we try to figure out ways to do it for Him. Whenever we act like this, we consistently gum it up.
So when will we shut down West Point and Annapolis, and study war no more? When the promise is given into our hand. It will happen when the defenders of keeping the academies open are embarrassed by the fact that we haven't had a war for three hundred years, and the best argument for continuing is that of not wanting to abandon the honored and sacred tradition of the Army/Navy football game. Posted by Douglas Wilson
Starting on Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion.
2009 marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Like many, I am reading through his Institutes of the Christian Religion this year. From what I have seen looking through many blogs, Seminary websites, and sites dedicated to theology Calvin is going to get a lot of exposure this year; and that is a good thing. Say what you want about John Calvin, his commentaries, ecclesiastical writings, and magnum opus, the Institutes confess Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of sinners. John Calvin repeats the Scripture’s main message, namely that God has been true and faithful to his promise in the gospel. God so loved the world that any who believes in him will not perish but be forgiven and have eternal life; and through this love the Father has purposed to change the world. John Calvin points the church to this again and again.
As I read through the Institutes I plan to record some notes and often give quotes from Calvin to add to this internet evangelism effort. May it bring many the joy of Jesus Christ. The edition I am reading through is the McNeil and Battles edition, from the Library if Christian Classics.
Notes on the Prefatory Address to King Francis.
Calvin basically begins his address to Francis by talking about the analogy of faith in relation to the study of Scripture. The editors highlight William Bucanus’s definition which I find very helpful. Bucanus defines it as, “The constant and perpetual sense of Scripture expounded in the manifest places of Scripture and agreeable to the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the general sentences and axioms of every point of divinity.”
Speaking to France of the analogy of faith Calvin says, “Now, if our interpretation be measured by this rule of faith (meaning analogy of faith), victory is on our side. For what is mores consonant with faith than to recognize that we are naked of all virtue, in order to be clothed by God? That we are empty of all good, to be filled by him? That we are slaves of sin, to be freed by him? Blind, to be illumined by him? Lame, to be made straight by him? Weak, to be sustained by him? To take away from us all occasion for glorying that he alone may stand forth gloriously and we glory in him?” Pg, 13.
The bible in its totality gives these messages. And of course the ultimate revelation of God giving us freedom, righteousness, strength and so on is Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I read through the Institutes I plan to record some notes and often give quotes from Calvin to add to this internet evangelism effort. May it bring many the joy of Jesus Christ. The edition I am reading through is the McNeil and Battles edition, from the Library if Christian Classics.
Notes on the Prefatory Address to King Francis.
Calvin basically begins his address to Francis by talking about the analogy of faith in relation to the study of Scripture. The editors highlight William Bucanus’s definition which I find very helpful. Bucanus defines it as, “The constant and perpetual sense of Scripture expounded in the manifest places of Scripture and agreeable to the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the general sentences and axioms of every point of divinity.”
Speaking to France of the analogy of faith Calvin says, “Now, if our interpretation be measured by this rule of faith (meaning analogy of faith), victory is on our side. For what is mores consonant with faith than to recognize that we are naked of all virtue, in order to be clothed by God? That we are empty of all good, to be filled by him? That we are slaves of sin, to be freed by him? Blind, to be illumined by him? Lame, to be made straight by him? Weak, to be sustained by him? To take away from us all occasion for glorying that he alone may stand forth gloriously and we glory in him?” Pg, 13.
The bible in its totality gives these messages. And of course the ultimate revelation of God giving us freedom, righteousness, strength and so on is Jesus Christ our Lord.
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