Understand my Madness...

If you haven't noticed, I'm a Calvin fan.

His Institutes - as a grace-filled antidote to secular philosophy, Nietzsche, and teenage idiocy, were a prime part of what convinced and convicted me of the need to follow Jesus. Suggested as a 'should read' by a friend, as an antidote to what I'd been reading, Calvin's Genevan genius caught me off guard. The picture of God that was painted utterly spellbound me - the respect he had for truth thrilled me.


Not long after I'd got halfway through the Institutes I had the good fortune to be in a place where God very directly engaged with me - I became a Christian.


Thats not what this post is about.


This post is about one of my theological heroes - and the subject of my Dissertation. John Calvin. Or, as he might be better known, "The Tyrant of Geneva/Mr Predestination/The Worst Man Ever/Tulip Farmer". Calvin does not have the best of reputations - even amongst the inheritors of his thought and theology. Thus, one of the aims in my Dissertation is to somewhat 'rehabilitate' Calvin. For my supervisor first of all, my family and friends second, and those who might be interested third. To do this, I've chosen to write about the extent to which the Sovereignty/Providence of God in Calvin's thought shapes his theological approach. Its a big question. And its a crucial question. It immediately lights the touchstone of a great many 'fun' theological debates. Scripture. God's nature. God's Sovereignty. Predestination. Determinism. Denominations. Standards of Truth. Scripture and/vs Tradition. Some of these I cover - others are left for a rainy day. Suffice to say, I'm loving it.


But why should we, and this author writes as an evangelical, bother with Calvin today? No less a contemporary theologian than Alister McGrath would offer the following comments; "Calvin speaks to us as one who shares evangelicalism’s emphasis upon the supreme authority of Scripture, yet who recognizes that the affirmation of this authority does not close down the questions of how it is to be interpreted". For a Church often shattered by disagreement yet convinced of the worth of Scripture, such a thinker is thus needed. Indeed, McGrath goes as far to say - and this blogger wholeheartedly agrees, that "a better understanding and appreciation of Calvin... could also lead to a theologically enriched and spiritually alert evangelicalism". This is something we want, I'd go so far as to say. 


The range of things I have read and am reading has been fun. I've read essays and books by people whose names I can't pronounce, people I know personally, people long dead, and from all over the world. I've especially enjoyed a few books - and want to draw your attention to them.


First up - and it would be remiss of me NOT to mention it - Calvin's 'little' book - "The Institutes of the Christian Religion". Intended to be a primer on the basics of the Christian faith, this is a (usually!) two volume book of theology, that is at once a great example of Systematic Theology and a brilliant piece of personal writing. It - in its final 1559 edition - represents the evolution of a brilliant thinker - the basics remain the same, but are tightened up, expanded, and the vision of God that Calvin explores is genuinely majestic. You can read it online for free at CCEL, though if you are a theology student I would thoroughly recommend getting your own copy. I use the Ford Lewis Battles Translation, edited  by John T. McNeil.


For help in grappling with this - and it provides a useful roadmap still, whilst I engage more academically and technically - I have come to love Anthony Lane's "A Reader's Guide to Calvin's Institutes". This slim volume, by a professor at the London School of Theology, and a world-class Calvin scholar, is brilliant. It simply provides an excellent and yet comprehensively simple introduction to what is going on in the Institutes - and where you might find certain doctrines and discussions. Grab it at Amazon here.

Finally - and in common with all books of John Piper, its free at Desiring God as a PDF - is the Bethlehem pastor's popular biography of John Calvin. Thrown into my reading list and occasionally quoted in the final draft largely because it demonstrates 'contemporary popular understanding of the subject', its been one of the more readable and enjoyable monographs. Being free, I'd recommend reading it. Big time.

I'm loving my Dissertation - and in between that, friends, and a holiday club at church, its been a busy week. I will EVENTUALLY get round to resuming normal blogging pace!


Thanks for reading.