Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)
2009 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK
I. John Hesselink Calvinism, not to mention Puritanism.37 Meditating on the future life does not mean lying around and dreaming about heaven. Calvin was too much of an activist to be able to do that. Calvin did indeed long to realize the joy of life with the risen and ascended Lord.38 That element is certainly there. However, the underlying motif is that of the future hope impinging on our present existence and making it meaningful and in difficult times tolerable. What is surprising is that in Calvin, despite a life of illness, conflict, frustration, and occasional defeats, there is a certain joie de viure (enjoyment of living) that transcends these difficulties. “It is downright dishonest to glory in dark austerity,”39 writes Calvin. Rather, “wherever God’s gifts appear, we ought to have our hearts filled with joy.”4° 37 * 39 37 On this issue see Marilynne Robinson’s chapter “Puritans and Prigs” in The Death of Adam. Essays on Modern Thought (Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998). 38 This is especially apparent in the way Calvin concludes his impromptu prayers at the end of his lectures on the prophets, e.g., “Until we attain to the enjoyment of that blessed inheritance which is laid up for us in heaven,” etc. For more examples see my Calvin’s First Catechism, 138-9. 39 Comm. James 3:17. Then he elaborates, “We are warned that there is no reason for our being so very woeful (morosos), except that we are too indulgent towards ourselves, and overlook our own faults,” A. W. Morrison translation adapted. 4° Comm. Lamentations 2:15.
