Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)

2009 / 2. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Sawyer Frank: Kálvin transzformációs nézete. Some Aspect of John Calvin's Trnsformational views

Kálvin transzformációs nézete

could include our own habits of life and the environment).

However, just as Calvin is often considered one of the first theologians to speak clearly in favour of business life, so he is also remembered for stating that setting up public banks will lead to institutionalization of usury. Calvin envisioned business loans among family, friends and neighbours. Many of these in predominantly rural settings might indeed be a form of trading produce and skills with less direct use of money. But Calvin and the Protestant movement also encouraged the rise of trades and trading, if done in a fair way. Calvin and the first pastors who worked with him and continued working in Geneva during the decades after his death, continued to reject the idea of a public bank. Calvin had said that those who live off of money alone without doing any work, were stealing from others. Ever since Aristotle it had been said that it was unnatural for money to produce more money. But Calvin clearly said that if we don’t lock our money in a box but use it wisely, it can of course produce more - for that is what economics, trading and production is all about. Yet Calvin was quite concerned about the worldly temptation to seek easy and illicit gain, and he saw this as a danger for banks and businesses as well as for persons individually. In our time we do not need to look far to find corporate greed and misuse of funds. Neither do we need to look far to find interest charged to the poor and the impoverished countries, who are debt peons all their lives in circumstances that are often inhuman.

Conclusion

Having seen some of the factors in Calvin’s social ethos, we may be encouraged to learn to approach issues of society and justice in a hopeful way. We do not look to Calvin for detailed answers today, but we do look to him among others for a transforming perspective. When we are tempted to uncritically accept the spirit of our times, we may learn from Calvin to listen to the word of God in a new way. When we are tempted to put our trust in some ideological answer, which today also includes technology, we may learn from Calvin to consider the limits of our abilities to do good and avoid evil. And also, surprisingly it may seem, we may learn from Calvin to see that Christians have sometimes been “worse than pagans”. This means that we will always need to keep a self-critical eye on Christian movements, endeavours and organizations.

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