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| The Big Story of Scripture (Pic: Christianity Today) |
In this short letter,
Calvin provides a very brief summary of his general position concerning the
doctrine of redemption. A fuller treatment may be found in his famous book Institutes of the Christian Religion,
book 2, chapters 1-17. The style used by Calvin in his brief “letter of advice”
(consilium) is much lighter and
simpler than that adopted in the
Institutes, making this extract unusually easy to follow and understand.
“The first man (Adam) of all was created
by God with an immortal soul and a mortal body. God adorned him with his
own likeness, so that he was free from any evil, and he commanded him to enjoy
all that was in his pleasant garden, with the exception of the tree (of knowledge
of good and evil) in which all life was hidden. He was so concerned that he
should keep his hand away from this tree that he told him that he would die
when he first touched its fruit. However, he did touch it. As a result, he died and was no longer like God. This
was the primary origin of death. That this is true is proved by the following
words: “As often as you eat of it, you will die”…
Man was therefore driven into exile, along with his descendants,
in order that, having lost “the horn of plenty,” he should be miserable and
experience all kinds of work and every ill, seeking food, sweating and
suffering cold, often hungry, often thirsty, always wretched. Finally, God took
pity upon this unfortunate and thoroughly unhappy man. Although the sentence which he passed upon him was correct, he
nevertheless gave his only and much-loved Son as a sacrificial victim for such
sins. By reason of this amazing and unexpected mercy, God commended his own
love towards us more greatly than if he had rescinded this sentence. Therefore Christ,
the Son of God, was both conceived through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin. He was finally raised up on the cross, and through his
own death delivered the human race from eternal death.” (Bracket mine).
So you want to be a Calvinist? Please reread what John
Calvin himself wrote.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
References:
1) Consilium de peccato et redemptione; in Corpus Reformatorum, vol.10, part 1, ed. G. Baum, E. Cunitz, and E.
Reuss (Braunschweig: Schwetcshke, 1871), pp. 156-157.
2) The Christian Theology Reader edited by Alister E. McGrath (Oxford:
Blackwell), pg. 186-187
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