Calvin. History and Reception of a Reformation Week 2. Calvin's Thought Sequence 10. Spirituality Reformed Welcome to this sequence, in which we will be discussing spirituality in Calvin's thought. What is meant by "spirituality"? Among the countless definitions that have been given, I'd like to use the one provided by Andrew Louth: Spirituality is the vital relationship between mankind and God. In today's sequence, we will explore four elements of Calvin's spirituality. First, we'll see that his spirituality is not a material one; it can be described -- the phrase is rather clumsy, admittedly -- as a "spiritual" spirituality. Second, we'll discuss what it means for Calvin to always "seek out the profit." Then, we will talk about the importance of experience for Calvin, before discussing his conception of the Christian life. What does it mean to say a spirituality is not material? Calvin rejects and condemns any devotional practice aiming at something that can be touched or perceived through the senses. In 1543, Calvin published a scathing, sardonic text entitled "A Treatise on Relics" (this is the abbreviated title). In it, he sharply criticized the worship of relics, which, he argued, diverts attention away from the devotion due to God alone. Here is a quote from the very first page: "Now, the origin and root of this evil has been that, instead of discerning Jesus Christ in his Word,
his Sacraments and his Spiritual Graces, the world has, according to its custom, amused itself
with clothes, shirts and sheets," -- in other words, pieces of fabric --
"leaving thus the principal to follow the accessory." Calvin had similar criticism concerning the apostles: instead of following their examples, meditating on their lives, or trying to understand their writings (for instance, those
of St Paul), the world "directed all its attention to the preservation and admiration of their bones, shirts, sashes, caps and other similar rubbish." Calvin's treatise is quite caustic. Drawing up an inventory of the world's relics, he notes sarcastically that the remains of the actual cross, for instance, were so abundant in his time that they could
"make up a whole ship's cargo." Or that the thorns of Christ's crown could be used to create an entire hedge. Not to mention Jesus' foreskin, of which at least three were preserved, according to Calvin, in three different locations across Christendom. This, then, is the first aspect of Calvin's spirituality: it is always a spirituality wholly interior, based on the Word, and never turned towards external objects or things, or, for that matter, towards
things to be done. The second aspect of Calvin's spirituality is the search for profit. This sounds like the motto of a hardened capitalist, but let me reassure you: this is not the sense in which
Calvin uses the word "profit." Indeed, Calvin's "profit" is essentially and exclusively spiritual. For Calvin, reflecting upon God -- what we would nowadays call theology -- is in no way a speculative activity. Calvin was a great enemy of what he called "idle questions," such as are sometimes asked by theologians, which serve no real purpose. Here's an example of an "idle question" (an example Calvin borrowed from St Augustine): what was God doing before God created the world? Calvin liked Augustine's mocking, frivolous response: God was preparing hell for the curious, such as anyone foolish enough to ask such a question. Towards the beginning of the "Institutes," Calvin writes: "By knowledge of God, I understand that by which we not only conceive that there is some God,
but also apprehend what it is for our interest, and conducive to His glory, what, in short, is
befitting to know concerning Him." When Calvin talks about God, it is not with the aim of envisioning or describing God as such, (for instance, God as "power of the Spirit"), but rather to show what God is to us,
and the ways in which God can "nourish our consolation." In book 2 of the "Institutes," Calvin explains that to receive God's mercy -- God's clemency, God's grace -- means, first and foremost, to profit from it. He writes: "There are very many also who form such an idea of the divine mercy as yields them very little
comfort. For they are harassed by miserable anxiety while they doubt whether God will be
merciful to them. They think, indeed, that they are most fully persuaded of the divine mercy,
but they confine it within too narrow limits." "The idea they entertain is that this mercy is great and abundant, is shed upon many, is offered and ready to be bestowed upon all; but that it is uncertain whether it will reach to them individually, or
rather whether they can reach to it." "Thus their knowledge, stopping short, leaves them only mid-way." Thus to reflect on God's mercy without reflecting on what this mercy will actually mean for you, personally, is what Calvin calls "stopping short" -- a half-conception that will be of no
consolation. If one reflects on God in a purely intellectual, abstract way, no consolation -- no profit -- will come of it. Thus, for Calvin, faith is above all a question of trust (French: "confiance"). Faith implies a relationship: it is not in the signing of a form or confession of faith, but instead in the state of being in a relationship with God -- and thereby receiving profit. So that's the second crucial aspect of Calvin's spirituality as I see it: that we must always seek to understand the ways in which spirituality can be of profit to us. The third aspect is experience. Luther, already, had proclaimed "sola experientia facit theologum" -- "experience alone makes a theologian." In the "Institutes," Calvin declares that God gives Himself to us through experience. In a sermon on the book of Job, Calvin said: "He gives us experience of His goodness and His virtue" (in this context, virtue means power, strength). God "gives us experience" of His goodness; he allows us to directly experience it. What does this experience consist of? Here Calvin is very evasive. He says little about it; by his own account, Calvin did not like to speak about himself. We experience God's goodness; this experience engenders trust; this trust enables us to have courage. Thus the starting point of Calvin's spirituality is the experience of God. Fourth and last aspect: the Christian life. In 1545, Calvin published a short text under the title "A Most Excellent Treatise Concerning The Christian Life." In fact, it was a reprint of the conclusion of the 1541 French-language version of the "Institutes of the Christian Religion." The following passage would later be included in the 1559/1560 version of the "Institutes," this time not in the conclusion but in book 3: "The purpose of our regeneration is that we may perceive in our lives a melody and harmony between the righteousness of God and our obedience; and that thereby we ratify
the adoption in which God has accepted us as his Children." Melody and harmony... In Latin, the word used is not "melodia" but "symmetria," which English speakers translate as "harmony," and rightly so, because in 16th century French,
the word "melody" did not denote what modern-day musicologists would call a "melody,"
but rather the harmony among different sounds. Thus there must be harmony between the Word of God and the Christian life. "God adopts us as His children so that we may behave as such." We must take care not to reverse the causal relationship: it is not because we behave well that God adopts us as His children. On the contrary, adoption comes first; our behavior, second. To truly behave as children of God also means to follow the example of Christ in his relationships with others. Specifically, we are not alone -- man is not alone before God. "Just as our various members work in unison, so are we called to lend each other a helping hand and each carry a part of the burden." One last quote from Calvin, taken from a sermon on Deuteronomy 16: "We are encouraged, first of all, to realize that God has united us in a single body, not so that any
one part of the body may shirk its duty, saying 'let the others do the work,' but so that all may
contribute" -- meaning, work towards the common good -- "and so that whoever may possess additional means never cease communicating" -- i.e., being in a relationship -- "with his brethren, and lend a hand in carrying part of the burden." In other words, Calvin's spirituality is a spirituality that constitutes a foundation for responsible living in, or as, a society. This is something we will be exploring in more detail in the very next week of our course, which will focus mainly on Calvin's ethics. We've reached the end of today's sequence. Thank you for your attention.
