Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)

2009 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK

“Calvin on the Proper Attitude Toward This Life and the Next”

I.6.2; I.14.20). For “the glory of God shines out in the enticing beauty of the earth, which is evidence of His Fatherly love.”34

The young Calvin, as well as the more mature Calvin, could get rhapsodic in expressing his appreciation for the beauties of nature. About a year after his conversion to Protestantism in his “Preface to Olivetan’s New Testament,” he reflects on the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 1:20: “In all places and in all things ... the sovereign Lord “has in all parts of the world, in heaven and on earth, written and as it were engraved the glory of his power, goodness, wisdom and eternity.” Thus far only a paraphrase of the Apostle’s words, but then Calvin adds these lovely lines, “For the little birds that sing, sing of God, the beasts clamor for him; the elements dread him; the mountains echo him, the fountains and flowing waters cast their glances at him, and the grass and flowers laugh before him.”35 Here Calvin is obviously no longer thinking only of Romans 1:20 but also of those psalms in which the psalmist refers to the praises of the Creator by the whole created order. One illustration should suffice: Psalm 104 speaks of the greatness of God in relation to his creation and refers to God as “clothed with splendor and majesty; covering yourself with light as with a garment” (vss. 1 and 2). This moves Calvin to comment,

Those who try to see God in his naked majesty are certainly very foolish.

In order to enjoy the sight of him we must cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the world (pulcherimam mundi fabricam) in which he wishes to be seen by us, and not be too curious and rash in searching into his secret essence.36

Calvin obviously is in awe of the universe and would have us enjoy it in all of its beauty and majesty. Such testimonies abound but I will close with only one more, this one from the Institutes (I.5.2): “Wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory. You cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe, in its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness (ui immensa fulgoris).

V. Conclusion

A careful reading of these two brief chapters in the Institutes reveals that they are more than an incidental interlude in Calvin’s theology. Here we have an eschatological outlook that at times is surprisingly modern and an aesthetic sensitivity that undercuts the all too common image of a dour and grim 34 35

34 Comm. Isaiah 6:4-5, Haroutunian translation in Calvin: Commentaries, translated and edited by Joseph Haroutunian in collaboration with Louise Pettibone Smith (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1958), 124.

35 A translation of this “Preface” is found in Calvin: Commentaries, 59-60.

36 Comm. Psalm 104:1-2, James Anderson translation adapted. Calvin does not object, however, to the study of astronomy which “not only gives great pleasure but is also extremely useful. No one can deny that it admirably reveals the wisdom of God,” Comm. Genesis 1:16. Cf. Institutes 1.5.2. Cf. further, A. Mitchell Hunter, The Teaching of Calvin, Chapter XV, “Attitude to Art, Music and Science” (London: James Clarke, revised edition 1950).

Sárospalaki Hi/,ijók 23