Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)
2009 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK
“Calvin on the Proper Attitude Toward This Life and the Next” by Francois Wendel2“* there is only one reference to Chapter X. He discusses meditation on the future life at some length and then moves on to the chapter on prayer followed by a lengthy discussion of justification by faith. Wilhelm Niesel, in his standard work on Calvin’s theology,2s does little better. He makes two meaningless references to Chapter X and says nothing about the theme of the chapter. Yet, despite the brevity of this chapter, Calvin indicates immediately how important this subject is. For he points out that Scripture “duly informs us what is the right use of earthly benefits—a matter not to be neglected in the ordering of our life (Inst. III.10.1, emphasis mine). At the same time, he warns about the dangers in the approach he is taking. For one thing, we ought to use the “good things of this world in so far as they help rather than hinder our course.” He finds scriptural support for this in 1 Corinthians 7:30-31 where the apostle urges us “to use this world as if not using it” (Inst. III.10.1). Secondly, the reformer realizes that this is a “slippery topic” with “slopes on both sides into error.” The danger on the one side is intemperate use of God’s good gifts; on the other side an unduly strict and severe approach to eating and drinking that “fetters consciences more tightly than does the Word of the Lord” (Inst. III.10.1). So Calvin advises, in view of the danger of slipping down on either side of the slippery slope, “that we should try to plant our feet where we may safely stand” (Inst. III.10.1). This is where Christian freedom becomes important. It must “not be restrained by any limitation but be left to every man’s conscience to use as far as seems lawful to him.” Our consciences must not be bound by “precise legal formulas” but rather by the “general rules” of Scripture (Inst. III.101.). What is remarkable about Calvin’s approach to our use of this world’s goods, whether food or clothing or natural resources, is that he is not content simply to deal with earthly or daily necessities but with their enjoyment. There are, of course, what we call the necessities of life. Most people would settle for that but not Calvin. For if we are to live, he says, we “cannot avoid those things which seem to serve delight more than necessity” (Inst. III. 10.1).26 “Let this be our principle,” he says, “that the use of God’s gifts is not wrongly directed when it is referred to that end to which the Author himself created and destined them for us, since he created them for our good, not for 24 Calvin. Origins and Developments of His Religious Thought, 247. 25 The Theology of Calvin (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956). There is no reference at all in Paul Helm’s large book John Calvin’s Ideas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) to the Christian life, let alone the meditation on the future life and the proper use of the present life. T. H. L. Parker does much better in his brief introduction to Calvin’s theology in that he proceeds straight through the Institutes and allots two pages to this subject— Calvin. An Introduction to His Thought (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995), 93-5. Charles Partee, in his massive Theology of John Calvin (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008), devotes one page to “The Present Life,” 221-2. 26 The Lane-Osborne version reads, “We should not exclude many things which seem to have more to do with pleasure than necessity. We must find a happy medium, so that we use everything in the right way, with a clear conscience.” Si'irospalaki Hizdil 19
