Complete of Franklin Ferreira’s interview with Igreja Magazine, published in February/March 2009, on the occasion of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Joo Calvin’s birth.
How to place Calvin in the history of Christianity?As a reformer of faith, how do you synthesize your role?
- Calvin is considered one of the most important theologians in the history of Christianity; only three other men had a similar impact: Augustine.
- Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther; but in terms of genius.
- Depth.
- Scale.
- The two most influential figures in Church history.
- The long history is undoubtedly Augustine and Calvin; theological formulations of both were far-reaching.
- With implications for all areas of thought.
- Beyond the influence of a particular Christian denomination.
- Just as Catholics and evangelicals are indebted to Augustine.
- Calvin’s influence extends to episcopals.
- Presbyterians.
- Congregationalists.
- Baptists.
- And.
- More recently.
- Pentecostals and charismatics!Moreover.
- When Calvin appeared on the European stage.
- The reform movement was divided and under intense pressure from Catholicism and before his death.
- The evangelical faith.
- It solidified and became an international movement.
- Coming.
- From Switzerland.
- France.
- Northern Italy.
- Central Germany.
- Holland.
- England.
- S cotland.
- Spain.
- Hungary.
- Poland and even Brazil.
- Where it sent the first missionaries to reach America in 1555.
Calvin was a giant for several reasons: for his emphasis on the authority and priority of Scripture (Scriptura alone), the solidification of the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation, his concern for the structure of the visible Church, characterized by the preaching of the Word and the correct administration of the sacraments, for the transformation that took place in Geneva, which became the model of Christian republic for all of Europe. It includes biblical commentary on most of the New Testament and much of the Old Testament, thousands of sermons, controversial treatises, liturgical and catechetical letters and writings. But his great work was the Institution of Christian Religion (or Institutes), which would be “a key paving the way for all of God’s children in a good and correct understanding of Sacred Scriptures. “This work is so important that it was recently published by UNESP, in an excellent translation. In short, Calvin’s importance is so great for the Christian faith and for the West that it is recognized even in secular circles.
Why has the doctrine of predestination become so strong in its theology?
In fact, a popular caricature of the Genevan reformer has been created, as if his only contribution to Christian thought had been to systematize the doctrine of predestination. This is far from the truth. Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Thomas à Kempis, before Calvin, wrote on this subject. Augustine bequeathed to Christendom a series of treatises that refute the Pelagian heresy, in which this subject is masterfully developed and detailed. Luther wrote a huge and virtually irrefutable treatise on this doctrine (On the Captive Will), even before Calvin. It is almost disappointing to read about predestination in Calvin’s writings, because there is no originality in what he recorded about predestination. For example, in high schools, the debate on predestination takes up little space. It is not in the section where the providence of God is commonly discussed in systematic theology books, but it is at the end of the debate on the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. In fact, these are the last four chapters of this section (21-24). The only chapter on prayer (20) in this same section is longer than these four chapters put together! And the surprising thing is that the center of this doctrine is devotion and pastoral; there is no hint of speculation about it. In the comments, for example, Calvin addresses the issue when the biblical text requires it, as in his comments on the epistles of Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians. As some scholars have suggested, it seems to me that the central theme of Calvin’s theology is the mystical union of the faithful with Christ.
What was Joel Calvin like as a citizen?
At first, Calvin was a French citizen residing in the city of Geneva. This is important to underline, because it allows you to put the reformer in context. Is he supposed to be some kind of dictator from Geneva? another gross recurring cartoon. Not being a citizen of Geneva, he had no influence on decisions relating to the civil order of the city, nor the right to vote on political or ecclesiastical decisions in the municipal council. All his influence was eminently spiritual, especially through his preaching and writing. And this influence has spread to all areas of the city. For example, Geneva became the first place in Europe to have special laws prohibiting: throwing feces, urine and garbage on the streets; light a fire or use a stove in a room without a fireplace; have a house with balconies or stairs without these having protective bars; allow midwives to lie in beds with newborns (the law was intended to protect the baby from contamination); renting a house without the knowledge of the police; be a merchant, charge beyond the authorized price or steal by weight and also (and this has been extended to producers), stock up on goods to make them short on the market and thus make them more expensive.
What don’t people know about Calvin?
Perhaps the greatest difficulty in approaching Calvino is the lack of empathy between reader and writer. Unlike most of the earlier writers, such as Augustine and Luther, to put it in two examples, the French reformer speaks very little of himself. Even reconstructing Calvin’s conversion is difficult. He dedicates a maximum of two lines to the subject, in his commentary on the book of Psalms. Calvin’s focus, as a preacher and writer, is the biblical text. What should a virtue be? emphasis on scripture? it becomes an obstacle for most readers. So the image that remains of Calvin is that he was a cold person, who wrote about predestination and ruled Geneva with an iron fist. Only, as mentioned above, this cartoon is far from reality. His letters are a clear example of Calvin’s modest, direct and distant character. And also the loyalty he has towards his wide circle of friends. He wrote letters to fellow reformers (Farel, Viret, Melanchthon, Bullinger), kings and princes (Edward VI and Lady Jane Gray, of England, Sigismund Augustus, of Poland, Duke René de Ferrara and Admiral de Coligny, of France), Iglesias persecuted and imprisoned Christian women, pastors, Christian booksellers and martyrs awaiting sentence. For example, the letter he wrote to a group of prisoners in Lyons in 1553 is a strong and moving testimony to the pastoral interests of the Geneva reformer.
How did Calvinism influence social structures?
Few formulations of Western thought have had as much impact on our culture as the writings of Calvin, set up in a virtual struggle to bring all of existence under the command of God revealed in Scripture. For example, the idea of a republican and representative government, where there is alternation of power and where the people are bound by a pact, was introduced into Western culture through Calvin. All the writers who have dealt with the social pact have written on the basis of their political perceptions. Theodore Beza, George Buchanan, Johannes Althusius, Samuel Rutherford? all depended on the writings of the French reformer. And it should be noted that these Christian writers were at the forefront of political debates in the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, the idea of checks and balances was already debated in the United States in the mid-18th century by John Witherspoon, which had a profound influence on James Madison, the author of that country’s constitution. The idea of the district vote (one of the pillars of the most developed countries of the Western world) also depends in part on the ideas of Calvin. The first defense of press freedom and the first deposition of a tyrant king, including his execution for high treason, took place in England in the seventeenth century, in circles strongly influenced by the French thinker. The American Revolution, which peaked in 1776, from which arose the oldest and longest-lasting democracy in the West, was also the result of the influence of Calvin’s thought. All the chaplains of the Continental Army were Presbyterian, 2/3 of the soldiers were Presbyterian. It is said that King George III of England, at the height of the rebellion in the thirteen colonies, called him? This little Presbyterian rebellion? and then he said “those damn Presbyterians are behind it, they always challenge the monarchy, no matter where they come from. ” The communist dictatorship in Romania fell in 1989, largely due to the preaching of retired pastor László T? Kés to your community of Timi? Oara. That is, in countries influenced by Calvinist thought, dictators will not emerge, not even in the political sphere, much less in the ecclesiastical one. This is history. We can also mention that to some extent the Protestant work ethic, with an emphasis on vocation, frugality, discipline, sanctity of work, and an emphasis on secular studies, is also a legacy of the great reformer.
What is your church going to do this year to honor Calvin?
Now I work at Editora Fiel, which has more than 40 years of history in Brazil, we understand that the best way to honor the great reformer is to publish his works in the country, in addition to UNESP, the publishing house Cultura Crist has launched two exquisite editions of the Institutes (1541 and 1559). Thus, in collaboration with the Reverando Valter Graciano Martins, Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPB), we are republishing some comments that had been published before, and throughout this year we will be launching comments and treaties that are not yet published in Portuguese. The Baptist Church of which I am a member is also planning a meeting in August to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of this important French thinker, but in the end, we will pay tribute not to the French reformer, but to Jesus Christ, Calvin’s teacher.
Thank you for being published on Let’s Go to the Gospel.