Sárospataki Füzetek 13. (2009)
2009 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - I. John Hesselink: Kálvin a jelen és az eljövendő élethez való helyes viszonyulásról
The Gifts of Prophecy... which in the French speaking congregation may have been la prophétie, was not transferred to the Bible studies held in Geneva. 3. Geneva on 1 Corinthians 14 When Vergerio made the connection between the Bible studies in Geneva and the passage on prophecy from 1 Corinthians 14, he must have had some knowledge of this institution as it was established in Zurich through Buliinger or in Strasbourg. Did the Genevan ministers also refer to this passage as the origin of their Bible studies? That remains to be seen since the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques do not mention 1 Corinthians 14 or reflect its wording. I know of only one instance in the ‘Registers of the Company of Pastors’ in which an allusion to 1 Corinthians 14:29-32 was made: in the case of censure against Philippe d’Ecclesia, one of the Genevan ministers. In 1549 a dossier on D’Ecclesia was opened. He was reprimanded for having raised unedifying issues and senseless questions. A file of such lapses had been kept and D’Ecclesia was confronted with it. The Regisfres tell us that his colleagues decided ‘that he should be warned not to speak at the Bible studies at all, neither after the one who had expounded, nor when his own turn came round to expound, until the next day of censures.’ In a marginal note the minister who acted as secretary of the Company of Pastors, added: ‘The ground [for this] was cited to him from St. Paul: that he who brings nothing of edification ought to keep silent in the church.’16 This note clarifies that the ministers indeed saw a connection with the Pauline prescriptions regarding prophecy. Still, it considers only the negative part, that is, the imposition of silence. A positive application of 1 Corinthians 14 with regard to the congrégation is missing. What then was Calvin’s understanding of prophecy as one of the New Testament gifts of the Spirit to the Church? As moderator of the Company of Pastors he presided over the congrégations. With regard to the foundation of the Bible study meetings it is necessary to include the Reformed view of the gift of tongues. Both the Zurich and Genevan theologians saw the Pentecost miracle of Acts 2 as the gift of communicating the Gospel in foreign languages.‘7 This was applied to the situation of the Church in the 16th century and the knowledge of the newly discovered biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek. In his commentary of 1546 Calvin explained 1 Corinthians 14: 29-32 without any reference to the Bible studies in Geneva. However, he did apply some features of the text to the situation of the church. On verse 27 he remarks that ‘the Church can do without tongues and suffer no inconvenience, except where they are helpful for prophesying, as for example Hebrew and Greek are today.’ On verse 29 Calvin said, commenting on the limitation of the number of people prophesying: ‘In the discourse, the interpreter took the place of the prophet, and so that was the chief way, and the more frequent 16 RCP I: 47. 17 Leonard Sweetman, ‘The Gifts of the Spirit: A Study of Calvin’s Comments on 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11,’ in David E. Holwerda ed., Exploring the Heritage of John Calvin (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), 291-297 (273-303). Sárospataki Füzeid 45
