Calvin on Joy

One of my great intellectual and theological heroes, as regular readers and friends will know, is John Calvin. Calvin, for his various faults, is often seen or remembered as a dour, unforgiving and cold thinker, obsessed with Doctrine and lacking in valid Christian joy and happiness. This is due in part to the unfortunate (and often poorly-reported) affair with Servetus, but more to do with a weak general perception of Calvin in particular and Protestants/Reformers/Christians generally. Whilst reading Tim Keller's new book on Work (review forthcoming), I was struck by his usage of a Calvin quote on joy, and decided to read around Keller's selection, and I found the quote I share below.

Joy is at the heart of the Christian faith - not a vacuous happiness or an unthinking bliss, but rather a blend of joys. There is the joy of relationship with the Triune God - echoing the Joy that Father, Son and Spirit enjoy eternally. There is the Joy of salvation and sanctification - knowing the love and power of the Son's sacrifice and Resurrection. There is the Joy of purpose - becoming part of God's family, playing our part in his story of Joyous redemption and holy transformation. There is the Joy of worship, true God-glorifying Worship, in the Spirit and in truth, a foretaste of the future joy of heaven and a reminder that God is with us now. Indeed, Joy is biblically identified as one of the fruits of the Spirit.

It is that kind of Christianity, with Joy flowing through it, that Calvin and the Reformers brought back to the Church. But Calvin, with his big picture of God, and his huge understanding of the grand story of Scripture, goes bigger than that. For Calvin, God's intent for our joy - echoing his own Joy and Glory - is to be seen throughout nature and creation;

"The natural qualities of things themselves demonstrate to what end, and how far, they may be lawfully enjoyed. Has the Lord adorned flowers with all the beauty which spontaneously presents itself to the eye, and the sweet odour which delights the sense of smell, and shall it be unlawful for us to enjoy that beauty and this odour? Why? Has he not so distinguished colours as to make some more agreeable than others? Has he not given qualities to gold and and silver, ivory and marble, thereby rendering them precious above other metals or stones? In short, has he not given many things a value without having any necessary use?"

Calvin's point is clearly that there is more to created and extant things than mere utility. It is the great lie of consumer culture that things have no value, or are only for our consumption. The Christian story gives meaning to things, and validates and celebrates the Joy that can fill our senses. Calvin pre-empts this error well'

"Have done, then, with that inhuman philosophy which, in allowing us no use of the creatures but for necessity,  not only maliciously deprives us of the lawful fruit of the divine beneficence, but cannot be realised without depriving man of all his senses, and reducing him to a block."

Calvin goes on to warn us of the dangers of seeking too much Joy, in the sense that he writes of "the lusts of the flesh, which, if not kept in order, break through all bounds, and are, as I have said, advocated by those who, under pretence of liberty, allow themselves every sort of license". Joy lies in reality, in God-ordained goodness, even in the everyday. Running through every seam of the Christian story is Joy, true and revealed Joy, the kind of Joy that Calvin knew, and that Jesus invites us to step into.