1997 Issue 4 - John Calvin: Theologian of the Burning Heart Part 3 - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1997 Issue 4 - John Calvin: Theologian of the Burning Heart Part 3 - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Ca,vin's abiding desire

for

true and lasting unity

in

the Church of Christ

Anyone

who

sees

in

CaIvln

the author of a

modem centrifugal

tendencies

in church

life

shows

that

he

has not read a

single line of him. "

- Wilhelni Niesel

No one who has

He

proceeds to shew

more fully in how complete

a manner Christians ought to

be united. The union ought

to be such that we shall form

one body nd

one soul

These words denote the

whole man. We ought to be

united,

not

in part only, but

in body and soul.

He

supports this by a powerful

argument, as ye have been

c lled in

one

hope o your

calling "We are called to

divided, how earnestly

should

we

cultivate brotherly

kindness How should we

dread every kind

of

animosity,

i we

duly

reflected that all who

separate us from brethren,

estrange us

from

the .

kingdom of God And yet,

strangely enough, while we

forget

the

duties which

brethren

owe

to each other,

we go

on

boasting that

we

are the sons

of

God. Let us

ever seriously

studied Calvin's

doctrine of the

Church can accuse

'JJolm QIalvin: Theologian of

the Burning Heart

learn from Paul, that

none

are

at

all fit for

that

inheritance who

are

not one

body and

one spirit."

him

of

being

schismatic. He

passio lately worked

for the unity

of

the Church

throughout the entirety of his

life. In 1544, Calvin wrote

to the Emperor Charles V on

"The Necessity

of

Reforming the Church." In

that wonderful defense

of

the

Reformation, Calvin wrote,

In like manner, the unity

of

the ChUrch, such as Paul

describes it, we protest we

hold sacred, and we

denounce anathema against

all

who

in

any way violate

it." In his commentary on

Ephesians 6:4, Calvin

reveals the duty

of

ecclesiastical unity.

nc\,.

CI is

Strew:I

one inheritance and one life;

and hence it follows, that we

cannot obtain etemallife

without living in mutual

harmony in this world. One

Divine invitation being

addressed to all, they ought

to be united in the same

profession of faith, and to

render every kind of

assistance to each other. Oh,

were this thought deeply

impressed upon our minds,

that

we

are subject to a law

which no more permits the

children of God to differ

among themselves than the

kingdom of heaven to be

Calvin goes

on

to

reveal the ouly

biblical basis of true

unity in the Church of Christ.

Let it, therefore, be a fixed

point, that a holy unity exists

amongst us, when,

consenting in pure doctrine,

we are united

in Christ

alone." Truth, conformity to

the Scriptures, is the

apostolic foundation

of

ecclesiastical unity. After

quoting Ephesians 4:12-15,

he wrote,

"Could he more plainly

comprise the whole unity

of

the Church

in

a holy

agreement in true doctrine,

than when he calls us back to

Christ and to faith, which is

May, 1997 TIlE O ~ S E L of Chalcedon

11


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included in

the

knowledge

of

case, true unity and biblical

him,

and

to obedience to the doctrine m nd te a

truth? Nor is any lengthened separation. Calvin,firmly

demonstration of this needed believed that truth must

by those who believe the come before

artificial

unity.

Church to

be

that sheepfold

n

the

Institutes,

he wrote,

of

which

Christ alone is the

Now let

them go and

Shepherd,

and

where his shout that we who have

voice

only

is heard, and withdrawn from their church

distinguished from the voice are heretics, since the sole

of

strangers. cause of our separation is

Calvin wanted nothing ' that they could in no way

more

than

for

God's

people bear the pure profession

of

to

be

the

unified body that truth. I forbear to mention

Christ

died

to make her.

He

that they have expelled us

called upon the Chllrch to

with

anathemas and curses -

live

together as brothers and more than sufficient reason

sisters,

to

serve one another, . to absolve us, unless they

and to

seek

those things that wish to condemn the apostles

make

for

unity and peace. also as schismatics, whose

The

above quotation case was like our own.

demonstrates that such a Christ, I say, forewarned his

unity

can

only exist when apostles that they would be

men

submit

to

the truths

of

cast out of synagogues for '

Scripture. This explains why his name's sake [John 16:2].

Calvin, a lover

of

unity .

Now

those synagogues

of

among professing brothers, which

he

speaks were then

could never tolerate a union considered lawful churches.

with

the

Roman Catholic Since, therefore, it is clear

Church.

The

light of the that we have been

cast

out,

gospel

had

been and we are ready to show

extinguished

in

that that this happened for

communion. It kept up the Christ's sake, surely the case

name

of

Church,

but

in its ought to be investigated

doctrine, ceremonies, and before any decision is made

form,

it

had so degenerated about us, one way

or

the

from a true Church that other. But I willingly grant

God's

people

had

the duty to them this pomt,

i

they so

separate from her. n such a desire. For it

is

enough for

12 I THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon May, 1997

me that it behooved

us

to

withdraw

from

them that we

might

come to

Christ.

{IV:2:8}

We have already

referenced Calvin's letter to

the Roman Catholic Sadolet.

This letter was a brilliant,

warmhearted defense

of

the

Protestant cause and saved

the Genevan church from

Sadolet's intrigues.

n

that

. letter, Calvin discusses the

relationship between biblical

truth and ecclesiastical unity.

Because

of

modem

misunderstandings

of

this

relationship, I will quote him

at length.

s

you read

portions

of

Calvin's letter,

remember that he is

respondingto Sadolet's

charge that the Reformation

leaders and doctrines are

destructive

of

the unity of

the Church.

But here we are met by

what you say, when

in

order

to palliate matters, you

allege that though your

, manners should e irregular,

that is no reason why

we

should make a schism

in

the

holy Church. t is scarcely

.possible that the minds

of

the

coIIiIIibil people should

not

be greatly alienated from you

by the many examples

of

cruelty, avarice,


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intemperance, arrogance, What has he to do with that

and recalls

them

to their

insolence, lust, and all sorts contumacious and rude

posts. For thus, 0 Lord,

of wickedness, which are

humility, which, despising

were all thy servants

openly manifested by men of

the majesty of God, only

dispersed, so that they c01lld

your order, but none of those

looks up with reverence to ,

not, by any possibility, hear

things would have driven us

men? Have done with empty

the command, but had

to the attempt which we

names of virtue, employed

almost

fOJ:gotten

their leader,

made under a much stronger merely as cloaks for vice, and their service, and their

necessity. That necessity

and

let

us exhibit the thing

military

oath.

In

order to

was, that the light of divine

itself in its true colours.

bring them together when

truth had been extinguished,

Ours be the humility, which,

thus scattered, I raised not a

the word of God buried, the

beginning with the lowest,

foreign standard, but that

virtue of Christ left in

and paying respect to each in

noble banner

of

thine whom

profound oblivion, and the

his degree, yields the highest we must follow,

i we would

pastoral office subverted.

honour and respect to the

be classed among thy people.

Meanwhile, impiety so

Church, in subordination,

stalked abroad, that almost however, to Christ the

But the most serious

no doctrine of religion was

Church's head; ours the

charge of all is, that we have

pure from admixture, no

, obedience, which, while it

ceremony free from error, no

disposes us to listen to our

attempted to dismember the

part, however minute, of

elders and superiors, tests all

Spouse of Christ. Were that

divine worship untarnished

obedience by the word of

true, both you and the whole

by superstition. Do those

God; in fine, ours the

world

might

well regard us

who contend against such

Church, whose supreme care

as desperate.

But

I will not

evils declare war against the

t

is humbly and religiously

admit the charge, uuless you

Church, and not rather assist to venerate the word

of

God, can make out tli at the Spouse

her in her extreme distress?

and submit to its authority.

of Christ is dismembered by

And yet you would take

those who desire to present

credit for your obedience and

her as a chaste virgin to

humility in refraining,

As to the charge of Christ,-who are animated by

through veneration for the

forsaking the Church, which a degree

of

holy zeal to

Church, from applying your

they were wont to bring preserve her spotless for

hand to the removal of these

against me, there is nothing Christ,-who seeing her

abominations. What has a

of which my conscience polluted by base seducers,

Christian man to do with that accuses me, unless, indeed, recall her to conjugal

prevaricating obedience,

he is to be considered a fidelity,- who unhesitatingly

which, while the word of deserter, who, seeing the

wage war against

all

the

God is licentiously

soldiers routed and scattered, adulterers

whom

'they detect

contemned, yields its

and abandoning the ranks,

laying snares for her chastity.

homage to human vanity?

raises the leader's standard, And what but this have we

May,

1997

TIlE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon i 13


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done? Had not your faction

of a.Church attempted, nay,

violated her chastity, by

strange doctrines? Had she

not been viole.ndy prostituted

by your numberless

superstitious? Had she not

been defiled by that vilest

species of adultery, the

worship of images? And

because, forsooth, we did not

suffer you so

to

insult the

sacred chamber of Christ, we

are said to have lacerated his

Spouse

ButI

tell

you

that

that laceration, of which you

falsely accuse us, is

witueSsed not obscurely

among yourselves;-a

laceration not only of the

Church, but of Christ

himself, who is there beheld

miserably mangled. How

can the'Church adhere to the '

Spouse, which she has him

not in safety? For where is

the safety of Christ, while

the glory of his justice, and

holiness, and wisdom is

transferred elsewhere?

"But

it

seems, before

we

kindled strife,

ll

was

tranquillity and peace True

among pastors, and also

among the common people,

stupor and sloth had caused,

that there were almost no

controversies respecting

religion. But in the schools,

how lustily did sophists

brawl? Youcannot,

therefore, take credit for a

tranquil kingdom; when

there was tranquillity for no

other reason than because

Christ was silent. I adlnit,

that,

on

the revival of the

gospel, great disputes arose,

where

ll was

quietuess

before. But that is unjustly

imputed to our Reformers,

who, during the whole

course

of

our proceedings,

desired nothing more than

,that religion being revived, ,

the Churches, which discord

hadscattered'and'dispersed,

might be gathered together

into true

unity.

And not to

go backupoiJ. old

transactions, what sacrifices

did they, on a late occasion,

decline to make, merely that

,they might procure peace to

the Churches? But

ll

their

efforts are rendered vain by

your opposition. For, while

they desire peace, that along

with it the kingdom of Christ

may flourish, and you, on the

other hand, think that all

which is gained to Christ is

lost to you, it is not strange

that you strenuously resist.

And you have arts by which

you can in one day overturn

ll

that they accomplish for

the glory of Christ in many

104 t

THE COUNSEL

ofChalcedon

May, 199'7

months. I

will

not

overwhelm you with words,

because ()ne word will make

the matter clear. Our

Reformers ()ffered to render

an

account of their doctrine.

f

overcome

in

argument,

they decline not to submit.

To

wh()m,

then, is it owing

that the

Church

enjoys not

perfect peace, and the light

of truth?

Go now, 1 lld

charge us as seditious, in not

permitting the Church to be

quiet

The

Lord grant, Sadolet,

that you and

all

your party

may at length perceive; that

the only true bond of

Ecclesiastical unity would

exist i f Christ the Lord, who

hath reconciled us

t()

God the

Father, were to gather us out

of our present dispersion into

the fellowship of his body,

that so, through his one Word

and Spirit, we might join

together with one heart and

one

soul."

t

hence appears that

Calvin demonstrated a wise

balance between

commitment

to

truth and

passion for unity. Calvin

yeamed for the day in which

the schisms which then

s h t t e r ~ d ~ Church's unity

would be happily and


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biblically resolved. But a

God-honoring unity cannot

be achieved by silencing the

voice

of truth. Nevertheless,

sacraments, that wherever

they perceive these things

to

be, there they may consider

the church to exist.

we must use wisdom. Whenever, therefore, it

Passion for the truth does not happens, by the Lord's

others the path by which

they might glorify God and

enjoy him forever. His

commitment to the truth

made

him

an approachable,

tender pastor, who loved the

Church of Christ, led many

to true godliness, and

protected her from many

enemies and false friends. It

was this same love for God's

Word and zeal

to

see all men

walking in its light that made

permit

us

to separate from

churches who proclaim the

truths of God's Word, have a

form of godly discipline, and

administer the sacraments.

In

Calvin's theology,

disagreement Ver

theological minutiae is

permission, that the church is

administered by pastors,

whatever kind of persons

they be, if we see there the

marks of the church, it will

e

better not

to

break the

unity.

never a sufficient cause

to separate from

brothers in Christ.

In

our day, we see this in

issues like exclusive

psalm singing and

theonomy. Calvin

condemned such

actions as truly divisive

Passion for the

truth

does

not

permit us

to

separate

from churches who proclaim

the

truths of

God's Word

Calvin an

uncompromising

promoter of true and

lasting unity

in

the

Body of Christ. In the

final analysis, the

doctrinal fidelity and

inflexibility that

Calvin, the

have a form of godly

.discipline, and

administer the

saCramen1s. "

in the Church. In his letter

to

the Genevan Church upon

his expUlsion from the city,

he wrote:

In this matter I quite

agree with Capito. This, in

brief, was the sum of our

discussion: that among

Christians there ougbt to be

so great a dislike of schism,

as that they may always

avoid it so far as lies in their

power. That there ought to

prevail among them such a

reverence for the ministry of

the word and of the

Lessons for the

Reformation, and

Reformed denominations are

Reformed Churches on the most frequently criticized for

Eve of

the

21st Century today, is the only legitimate

It is my prayer that this

brief sketch of one portion of

Calvin's life has thoroughly

refuted the many prejudices

that continue to surround the

Reformation and Calvin's

place in it. Doctrinal

earnestness did not make

Calvin unloving or

impractical. It humbled him

before God, made him a

lover of men, and

invigorated him

to

show

source for true godliness,

pastoral love, and

ecclesiastical unity.

As we approach the 21st

century,

we

must not

contemplate abandoning our

glorious heritage for a

moment

I t

is true that

men

are vociferously calling for

ecclesiastical unity

in

our

day, claiming that allegiance

to

old creeds and confessions

is anathema to unity. I

May,

1997

THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon 15


6/6

would remind the reader,

however, that with respect

to

Rome, her

old

heresies have

not died,

i n c ~

Vatican II,

she has

drifted

further away

fromthe gospel than shewas

in Calvin's day. Though a

terrible perversion of the .

gospel, Anninianism reigns

i l l many-churches and has ' '

lulled them into 'a false sense '

of

then-standing in

Christ. Reformation

churches will gladly

cooperate and even

unite

ith

other

communions proVided

this one foundation be

agreed upon by all

parties. The only basis

for unity lies in full .

agreement with God's truth.

As the creeds and .

confessions

of

the Protestant

Reformation remmn the most

accurate statement

of

the

system oftnttl l iii God's

perfect Word,

to

abandon

them is to dishonor Christ

and any foundation for true

unity.

Sadly, the Reformation is

often the source of our

history lessons and .

theological disputes'rather

than the work of our

reformed congregations. A

large percentage of our

churches remirin in

theological infancy and

practical error. They

do

not

demonstrate knowledge of

and fidelity to our stated

standards and catechisms,

pastoral warmth, and unity

that a love for God's truth

must always produce. It is a

time for God's reformed

people to become serious

about continuing the great

task ofreforrning Christ's

Church, a work commanded

by Christ in Scripture,

warmly pursued in Calvin's

day, and absolutely

necessary for the future of

Christendom. May Calvin's

impassioned defense before

Emperor Charles V inspired

this generation

to

lay aside

comprottrise, narrowness,

and ignorance, and pursue

the goals of Reformation set

forth in God's inspired Word,

... we will never

repent of

having begun, and of

having proceeded

thus

far.

The

Holy Spiri t is a faithful

16 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 1997

and

unerring witness to

our

doctrine. We know,

l '

say, that it is,

he

eternal

truth

of God that we

preacb. e are, indeed;

desirous, as we ought to be,

that our

ministry inay

prove salutary to

the

world; but to give

it

tbis

effect belongs to God, not

to us.

If

to punish partly

the ingratitude,

and

partly

the

stubbornness

o

those

to'whom we desire to

do good, success

must

prove desperate and

all things go to worse,

I will say what it befits

a Christian man to

say, and

what

all who

are

true to this holy

profession wiiI subscribe:

ewill die, but in

death

even

be

conquerors, not

only because'

through

it we

sball have a sure passage to

a better life, but because

we know that our blood

will be

as

seed to propagate

the Divine true which men

now despise.

-John

Calvin

Documents

1997 Issue 4 - John Calvin: Theologian of the Burning Heart Part 3 - Counsel of Chalcedon