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This year, 2009, marks the 500th
anniversary of John Calvin’s birthday.
Why should we take the time to remember someone of so many years
past? Simply because of how God used him to impact the Protestant
Reformation and to shape theology with his life, teachings,
writings, and emphasis on the sovereignty of God. His system of
theology set the course for Protestant thinking. God used John
Calvin in a most remarkable way and enabled him to clearly define
Christianity in its purest, most biblical and Protestant form.
When we
think of John Calvin, we usually do so in a manner that suggests a
person who was driven to write volumes of books, treatises, and
letters focused on theology and doctrine. Those who know Calvin
through his writings and teachings first think of his emphasis on
the sovereignty of God and God’s revelation in the Scriptures.
Those who are not that familiar with those resources often think
of him as the man who taught the “horrible decrees” connected with
predestination. They envision the thin man with a pointed face and
goatee who was sickly most of his life or the man who encouraged
burning at the stake those considered to be heretics.
In
discussions over the years with people regarding Calvin, I can
generally tell whether a person has actually read Calvin’s
writings or simply heard about him from other sources that may or
may not be sympathetic towards his teachings. For example, I was
recently interviewed by a high school student for a history
project because of my Presbyterian affiliation and age. Listening
to the young man, especially as we talked about Calvin, I could
tell he was getting a picture of Calvin from someone who had never
read
Calvin. I
had to tell him that he was being taught from a perspective
that
misunderstood what Calvin and Calvinism were all about.
Without
counting them all, I have more than ten biographies of John Calvin
and have been reading back through some of them for the past
several weeks. I was sparked to do this by a new biography by
Herman J. Selderhuis, John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life (IVP).
Though many of my following comments will reflect aspects of all
the biographies, much of Selderhuis’ work helped with this article
and is the biography I would recommend to you. You will find it
comprehensive, readable, and consistent with other biographies,
though written in a different style and format.
Most of
you know enough about Calvin to also discern the difference
between what people say Calvin said and what he actually said.
Calvin was a holistic thinker who understood the importance of
thinking God’s thoughts
after Him,
and the Scriptures were the spectacles through which he was
enabled to see God’s truth. It was his rule of faith and practice.
He wanted to know everything he could know about God; but as he
learned, he realized that God was incomprehensible and there were
things that he could not know. Hence, he concentrated on the
things that God showed him in the Scriptures. Knowing God is the
sovereign God, Calvin knew that through His general grace (common
grace) that all truth was God’s truth; and whether he found truth
in the special revelation of God’s Word or in the general grace
areas of life, truth was all about God.
However,
for our purpose here, we want to focus our thinking on John Calvin
as an educator. So much of our educational philosophy and
foundations can
be traced
back to him, whether we speak of education in the home, the
school, or the church. There is so much to be said, but I will of
necessity be selective.
While
Robert Raikes is called the father of the modern Sunday school, a
careful reading of Calvin’s life will reveal that three hundred
years prior to Raikes, Calvin had a Sunday afternoon school for
children and youth, primarily to teach them the catechism of the
Christian faith.
When
Calvin agreed to Guillaume Farel’s insistence that he come to
Geneva to teach and preach. Calvin agreed but to do it in the
following way. First, he
would
establish the Reformed faith among the people of Geneva to enable
them to be people of the Word. This of course required their being
able to read and then understand the Scriptures. Ronald Wallace
points out in his Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation that
“it is not surprising that when the citizens of Geneva accepted
the Reformed faith, they also at the same time agreed to make a
new start with the education of the young.” Calvin’s plans
included
schooling as his first priority. Wallace points out that in the
1540’s some of the greatest educational experts of the time were
at work in Geneva. (continued below)
 John
Calvin: A
Pilgrim’s Life,
Herman J. Selderhuis, IVP, 2009, 287 pages, $20.00, (#9449).
I would echo what Dr. Frank James III, formerly
with Reformed Theological Seminary, said about this book, “This is
simply one of the best biographies of Calvin I have seen.”
Since I have more than ten biographies on Calvin,
I wondered what another would offer. I was pleasantly pleased and
surprised, as indicated in the article, by Selderhuis’ writing
style and his grasp of Calvin’s heart and life. This would be a
good year to read this book as we remember the 500 th
anniversary of Calvin’s
birthday.
Acting on
his main concern of establishing the Word of God in the Reformed
sense, Calvin would always have as his priority catechizing the
youth. In 1537 Calvin wrote his first catechism,
Instruction in the Faith. This
way of
learning
using questions and answers was designed to teach the young the
Christian faith. He wrote, “The Church of God will never preserve
itself without Catechism.” “‘True Christianity’ should be taught
in ‘a certain written form.’ Such catechetical instruction would
promote unity, supply deficiencies even of some ‘pastors and
curates’ and help people not to be led astray by ‘presumptuous
persons.’” Not only did Calvin spend his Sunday afternoons
teaching children the catechism, he also had the council of Geneva
insist that parents assume a major responsibility in the
process. About four times a year, church leaders would meet with
children and their parents to evaluate and examine their progress
in the teaching. This is how Calvin’s catechism became a key
resource along with Scriptures.
Calvin was
desirous that covenant children be confirmed, generally around the
age of 12, and make a public profession of faith, which for him
was the door from baptism to the Lord’s Supper. When they could
recite the catechism from memory, it was generally accepted as a
public profession of faith; and they were admitted to the Lord’s
Table. Calvin’s catechism became extremely popular and was
translated into several different languages. It was a key
reference in the later writing of the
Heidelberg Catechism
and a good companion to his
Institutes.
Calvin
insisted that the Geneva Academy, which was his second priority to
teaching the children, was to have teachers of the highest
standard anywhere. The Geneva Academy opened with 600 students and
during its first year grew to more than 900. There were two
sections of the institution. Students first went to college with
seven grades where they learned to read French, Greek, and Latin.
This was called the s chola
privata.
Part two of the institution
was called schola publica. In
this second level students were taught to be exegetes of the
Bible, to learn the basics and be able to explain them. They
preached and were evaluated. On Saturdays, students focused on
practical theology led by ministers that Calvin and Theodore Beza
had discipled. The records show that students came to Geneva from
all over Europe. Working with Theodore Beza, the educational
institution became second to none.
Following
his constant reference to the church as the mother with God as the
Father, Calvin did not hesitate to refer to the church as
“l’escole de Dieu,” the school
of God. A mother gives birth, nourishes, and educates her
children, which according to Calvin is the role of the church.
Thorough knowledge of the Bible was essential, because only by
knowing the Bible was a believer able to know what God wanted and
how God must be worshiped. Calvin wrote that even up to the grave
God calls us to His school.
Calvin not only helped establish many
schools, he was clearly a promoter of Christian education, or
should I say education that is Christian through and through.
According to Selderhuis, another important influence Calvin had in
Geneva was to give children a significant place in the church.
Selderhuis points out that Calvin mobilized the children for
singing. With his emphasis on proper schooling, Calvin also
believed that the parents could learn from the children.
However,
Calvin did not see education as an end in itself. He believed that
he had a twofold mandate from God: to train men for the ministry
of the Word and to train men for the civil government. His Mondays
were spent discipling pastors. This practice allowed him to
impress upon clergy the importance of having a pastor’s heart and
scholar’s mind and the importance of developing the ability to
teach truth in a comprehensible way. Calvin was known for his
brevity. One biographer said this characteristic did not refer to
length of articles, sermons, or lectures, but to sentence
structure. Calvin was a writer-educator.
For
Calvin, the educational process required knowing something of the
humanities as well as the Word of God. As you read Calvin’s
writing, especially in
Institutes of the Christian Religion,
you quickly find him quoting people such as Plato and Aristotle.
"We have given the first
place to the doctrine in which our religion is contained, since
our salvation begins with it. But it must enter our heart and pass
into our daily living, and so transform us into itself that it may
not be unfruitful for us."
-John Calvin,
Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III
Whatever we know of Calvin, he was not only a
scholar but a real pastor. He was not only a preacher but a
teacher par excellence. He insisted that all clergy be learned men
with the ability to teach truth to the ordinary person
as
well as the highly educated.
I remember how impressed I was as a young
Christian when I worked al a summer camp whose seal was the
Calvinistic seal. The seal showed a heart held securely in a hand;
and the slogan was,
my heart I give thee promptly
and sincerely,
or another translation could be
willingly and honestly.
It is obvious from Calvin's leaching and life
example that the only successful teacher and educator is the one
who lives a life consistent with his teaching. Some of
Calvin's biographies
have been titled, The Genius
of Geneva, The Man God Mastered, Calvin the Contemporary Prophet,
and Selderhuis'
John Calvin: A Pilgrim s
life. He set a standard for us to be people of the Word with
an understanding of the world into which the Word of God has
penetrated. He set a standard for godly living by following the
Word of God. He challenged us to see God's hand in all things
working to accomplish His purpose and to know, whether we
understand or not, that God controls all things that come to pass.
He will complete the work He has begun in us; and yes, there will
be a final restoration of all things. It was Calvin's
understanding and insistence on the sovereignty of God over all
things that has given us a kingdom perspective. along with a world
and life view that enables us to see truth and reality as God
reveals it to us through His special and His common grace.
— Charles Dunahoo |
Second Quarter
2009 