Critique of Calvin's Institutes - Chapter 5 - Part One

Chapter 5 has fifteen points . We will see five points at a time. This is part one , points 1 - 5.

In the first five  points , Calvin imports his earlier error that a sense of God has been implanted in the minds of every human being. This aspect of Calvin's thought is not biblical .

Second mistake which can be noticed is that Calvin extrapolates Paul's message in Athens to mean what he thinks.
"Paul, accordingly, after reminding the Athenians that they “might feel after God and find him,” immediately adds, that “he is not far from every one of us,” (Acts 17:27); every man having within himself undoubted evidence of the heavenly grace by which he lives, and moves, and has his being. But if, in order to apprehend God, it is unnecessary to go farther than ourselves, what excuse can there be for the sloth of any man who will not take the trouble of descending into himself that he may find Him? "

Calvin's interpretation of  “he is not far from every one of us,” (Acts 17:27), as meaning ,"it is unnecessary to go father than ourselves to apprehend God" is totally erroneous. Acts 17:27 does not mean God can be known within ourselves. It means God is nearer to us and can be known by the seeker who seeks him with all his heart soul , mind and strength. Calvin goes on to accuse man for not going within himself to know God. This is not Christian teaching , it is hindu teaching and we should avoid this error of Calvin.

Pearls :
" In attestation of his wondrous wisdom, both the heavens and the earth present us with innumerable proofs not only those more recondite proofs which astronomy, medicine, and all the natural sciences, are designed to illustrate, but proofs which force themselves on the notice of the most illiterate peasant, who cannot open his eyes without beholding them. It is true, indeed, that those who are more or less intimately acquainted with those liberal studies are thereby assisted and enabled to obtain a deeper insight into the secret workings of divine wisdom. No man, however, though he be ignorant of these, is 52incapacitated for discerning such proofs of creative wisdom as may well cause him to break forth in admiration of the Creator. To investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies, to determine their positions, measure their distances, and ascertain their properties, demands skill, and a more careful examination; and where these are so employed, as the Providence of God is thereby more fully unfolded, so it is reasonable to suppose that the mind takes a loftier flight, and obtains brighter views of his glory.⁵⁷ Still, none who have the use of their eyes can be ignorant of the divine skill manifested so conspicuously in the endless variety, yet distinct and well ordered array, of the heavenly host; and, therefore, it is plain that the Lord has furnished every man with abundant proofs of his wisdom. The same is true in regard to the structure of the human frame. To determine the connection of its parts, its symmetry and beauty, with the skill of a Galen (Lib. De Usu Partium), requires singular acuteness; and yet all men acknowledge that the human body bears on its face such proofs of ingenious contrivance as are sufficient to proclaim the admirable wisdom of its Maker." - Calvin
 Astronomy to microbiology , all the sciences give evidence that a creator God exists and is worthy of our appreciation through worship.

" But herein appears the shameful ingratitude of men. Though they have in their own persons a factory where innumerable operations of God are carried on, and a magazine stored with treasures of inestimable value—instead of bursting forth in his praise, as they are bound to do, they, on the contrary, are the more inflated and swelled with pride. They feel how wonderfully God is working in them, and their own experience tells them of the vast variety of gifts which they owe to his liberality. Whether they will or not, they cannot but know that these are proofs of his Godhead, and yet they inwardly suppress them. They have no occasion to go farther than themselves, provided they do not, by appropriating as their own that which has been given them from heaven, put out the light intended to exhibit God clearly to their minds" - Calvin

He rightly charges man with ingratitude and pride , with attempted suppression of the light given to them so that they can know their Creator , who is forever praised ! Amen!

This pearl can be used in apologetic arguments to prove the existence of a creator God .
This pearl can be used in indict man for failing to worship his creator and wallowing in his pride , calling such souls to repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their blatant sin.

Christian Retaliation - The double victory

 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? - Jesus

Matthew 5 : 44 - 46



'To our most bitter opponents we say: “We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. Throw us in jail, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.”' — Dr.Martin Luther King


"So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."
Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies..............................
............It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum.." - Dr.Martin Luther King

Critique of Calvin's Institutes - Chapter 4

  "Hence, they do not conceive of him in the character in which he is manifested, but imagine him to be whatever their own rashness has devised. This abyss standing open, they cannot move one footstep without rushing headlong to destruction. With such an idea of God, nothing which they may attempt to offer in the way of worship or obedience can have any value in his sight, because it is not him they worship, but, instead of him, the dream and figment of their own heart. This corrupt procedure is admirably described by Paul, when he says, that “thinking to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:22). He had previously said that “they became vain in their imaginations,” but lest any should suppose them blameless, he afterwards adds that they were deservedly blinded, because, not contented with sober inquiry, because, arrogating to themselves more than they have any title to 47do, they of their own accord court darkness, nay, bewitch themselves with perverse, empty show. Hence it is that their folly, the result not only of vain curiosity, but of licentious desire and overweening confidence in the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, cannot be excused." - John Calvin 

This argument is good for most parts but in the end , he expounds on Romans 1:22 and says that  "overweening confidence in the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, cannot be excused "
Scripture is so lucid . Romans 1
¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.




2."Nay, we have still stronger evidence of the proposition for which I now contend—viz. that a sense of Deity is naturally engraven on the human heart, in the fact, that the very reprobate are forced to acknowledge it. When at their ease, they can jest about God, and talk pertly and loquaciously in disparagement of his power; but should despair, from any cause, overtake them, it will stimulate them to seek him, and dictate ejaculatory prayers, proving that they were not entirely ignorant of God, but had perversely suppressed feelings which ought to have been earlier manifested."  
                                                                                                      - John Calvin


Inspite of no biblical teachings , passages backing his position , Calvin feels that he has "still stronger evidence " from what the reprobate do.
His assumption about the reprobate that they ejaculate prayers in times of trouble is nothing more that what it is , assumption.
To say that assumption is still stronger evidence to prove his false premise that a sense of deity is naturally engraven on human heart is to prove stronger evidence that he is wrong and wanting in true evidence.

Inspite of it being a unbiblical argument , Calvin continues to claim that he has stronger evidence.

His attack on false religion and atheism is not bad. Here are some good points we can learn :
1.. It makes little difference, at least in this respect, whether you hold the existence of one God, or a plurality of gods, since, in both cases alike, by departing from the true God, you have nothing left but an execrable idol. It remains, therefore, to conclude with Lactantius (Instit. Div. lib 1:2, 6), “No religion is genuine that is not in accordance with truth.”
Good explanation which fits both Hinduism and Islam .

2.As a just punishment of the wicked, after they have closed their own eyes, God makes their hearts dull and heavy, and hence, seeing, they see not. David, indeed, is the best interpreter of his own meaning, when he says elsewhere, the wicked has “no fear of God before his eyes,” (Psalm 36:1); and, again, “He has said in his heart, God has forgotten; he hideth his face; he will never see it.” Thus although they are forced to acknowledge that there is some God, they, however, rob him of his glory by denying his power. For, as Paul declares, “If we believe not, he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself,” (2 Tim. 2:13); so those who feign to themselves a dead and dumb idol, are truly said to deny God.

Critique of Calvin's Institutes - Chapter 3

1. No Scriptural references - not even one.

2. Quotes Plato and Gryllus - So this chapter contains platonic ideas which are being taught as Christianity.

3. "That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead, the memory of which he constantly renews and occasionally enlarges, that all to a man being aware that there is a God, and that he is their Maker, may be condemned by their own conscience when they neither worship him nor consecrate their lives to his service." - Where is the biblical support for such an idea? Calvin does not provide any scriptural support.

^"20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1 : 20 , 21.

The Apostle Paul differs says that , people have revelation of God , his eternal power and divine nature , from what has been made or created. They are without excuse for having such clear revelation and not responding in worship and thanksgiving. 

The whole chapter has no biblical basis . These are at best Calvin's own ideas from sources other than the bible.

So the biblical teaching isNOT that man has by instinct some sense of deity . This idea of Calvin finds support only in greek philosophers and not in bible. The biblical idea is that creation shows forth  the creator. 

4. Pearl : " I readily acknowledge, that designing men have introduced a vast number of fictions into religion, with the view of inspiring the populace with reverence or striking them with terror, and thereby rendering them more obsequious; but they never could have succeeded in this, had the minds of men not been previously imbued with that uniform belief in God, from which, as from its seed, the religious propensity springs"
 This answer of Calvin to the idea that all religions are product of human cunning and for acquisition and maintenance of  political power is  correct. But this does not prove that God has planted in every human a sense of God  , the denial of which leads judgement.
   People have sense of God from nature and created order and macheavillians use it to their own ends.

Critique of Calvin's institutes - Chapter 2

1. There are no scripture references whatsoever.

2.Pearl : "My meaning is: we must be persuaded not only that as he once formed the world, so he sustains it by his boundless power, governs it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, in particular, rules the human race with justice and Judgment, bears with them in mercy, shields them by his protection; but also that not a particle of light, or wisdom, or justice, or power, or rectitude, or genuine truth, will anywhere be found, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause; in this way we must learn to expect and ask all things from him, and thankfully ascribe to him whatever we receive. For this sense of the divine perfections is the proper master to teach us piety, out of which religion springs. By piety I mean that union of reverence and love to God which the knowledge of his benefits inspires. For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that nought is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience; nay, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity." - John Calvin

Problem with the pearl : To help you understand better ,let me help you understand the context In this chapter Calvin says that there is two-fold manifestation of God as first creator and then as redeemer. Then he says he talks is in this chapter talking about only the primitive knowledge of God as creator which can be derived from creation. Aftere that he goes on to attack the wrong view of God , a deistic God as thought of by Epicureus. He never mentions Christ here in defending the right idea of God as opposed to that Epicureus.  Epicureus says God just created , Calvin says, "no, he is in complete control running it and is the source of all goodness and perfections."
          Men respond to God he says with the right piety just by knowing that God is the one who is taking care of them and who is blessing them just with all the worldly needs , without any pointer  to  Christ or salvation. That men can have piety just by knowing God as father and provider. This distinction is very important in calvinistic thought , because , though cares enough to give everything to everybody under the sun , he does not love them all the same way to give Christ to all of them. Christ , according to Calvinism is not given to all of world . God loves the world only so much to bless them with earthly things but not eternal things. What sort of love is this , which is being ascribed to God? He is just the contrary of what Calvin is actually saying. He  gave his son for the world and he cares for them so much so that he does not want any one to perish but commands everyone everywhere to repent and he is patiently waiting because he wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.





3.Pearl : "For, first of all, the pious mind does not devise for itself any kind of God, but looks alone to the one true God; nor does it feign for him any character it pleases, but is contented to have him in the character in which he manifests himself always guarding, with the utmost diligences against transgressing his will, and wandering, with daring presumptions from the right path. He by whom God is thus known perceiving how he governs all things, confides in him as his guardian and protector, and casts himself entirely upon his faithfulness,—perceiving him to be the source of every blessing, if he is in any strait or feels any want, he instantly recurs to his protection and trusts to his aid,—persuaded that he is good and merciful, he reclines upon him with sure confidence, and doubts not that, in the divine clemency, a remedy will be provided for his every time of need,—acknowledging him as his Father and his Lord he considers himself  bound to have respect to his authority in all things, to reverence his majesty aim at the advancement of his glory, and obey his commands,—regarding him as a just judge, armed with severity to punish crimes, he keeps the Judgment-seat always in his view. Standing in awe of it, he curbs himself, and fears to provoke his anger............Besides, it is not the mere fear of punishment that restrains him from sin. Loving and revering God as his father, honouring and obeying him as his master, although there were no hell, he would revolt at the very idea of offending him."- John Calvin

Problem with the pearl: Wonderful thoughts about what true piety is . What he declares about the characteristics of true piety are excellent . But his description that true piety can be produced just by apprehending God as the provider of earthly needs and happiness and by apprehending his character , without even hinting about Christ who is the manifestation of God to men is deplorable. Though he says he will deal with Christ as the redeemer in later chapters , it is awful to leave out Christ and the Holy Spirit , the knowledge of whom and the operation of whom are very important for developing true piety.

These I see as a very big shortcoming of this chapter. There are fine things to learn though about the fear of God and the characteristics of true piety , which I request you to look into the pearls and learn , leaving out the trash herein.

"Eat the meat , spit the bone" -  Proverb

Critique of Calvin's Institutes - Chapter 1

The first line of the first chapter of the institutes reads
"Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. " 

Is this the biblical view of wisdom? Does the bible say that Wisdom includes also knowledge of the self ? For as far as i know , the new testament is very clear , "But unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 1 corinthians 1:24 So from a biblical point of view , true and solid wisdom is through knowledge of Christ alone i.e , through whom God is made manifest. "No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father's side, has revealed him".John 1:18

 

  Even other religions and people from other religions have a deep realization of their sinfulness. apokam, papa kanmokam, papathma papa sambhava;
thrahimam pundarikaksha sarva papa hari hare…
which means, I am born in sin, doer of sin, and a sinful self; I am the worst of all sinners, Lord
save me from all sins. Why sin is a hurdle? Because, it is an offense against God or society (Rig
Veda 7.86.3). Sin is something done against brother, friend, neighbor or stranger (5.85.7,8).
Even sleep does not remove evil doings (7.86.2-7). Even though I am in the midst of waters,
I am thirsty forever. Be kind and grant me rest (7.89.4). 

Atharva Veda (6.45.1a) says: “O, sin in my mind why do you give me evil counsel? Get away, I do not desire you”. 

Sin has many names in Sanskrit Scriptures namely pap (sin), aagg (fire), dushkrit (evil deeds), thamas(darkness), prakrit (inborn nature), asathya (untruth), nirdaya (lack of compassion), krodha(anger), mada (pride), lobha (greed), dvesha (hatred), trishna (craving) etc.

The Bruhat Aranyaka Upanishad(4.3. says, that the Jeeva (soul) acquires evil, right at thebirth. Rog Sog Dhuk Paritab Bhandan Vyasnanicha, Aatma aparatha Vrukshanam phalarh edhanidehinam (Mithralab 42), which means, what are the fruits of this sinful tree which is our body? Sickness,sorrow, pain, bondage and many other kinds of sins. No man is free from this bondage of sin. Gita confirms that all created beings on earth are under the bondage of sin and death(Gita 3:27,18:40).

 
In the Bhagavat Gita, the disciple Arjun asks his Guru Krishna:
Atha kena prayukto yam papam carati purusha anichanapi varsaneya baladiva niyojitha
What is that, O scion of the varsni race; how does a man is prompted and forced to live a sinful
life even against his will? Krishna answers him saying:
Kama esa krodha esa rajoguna samudhbhavah maha sanao maha papma vidhi enam iha
vairinam. It is the insatiable lust and anger born of rajoguna prompting man to great sin. Know
this to be the enemy of spiritual life (B. Gita 3:36,37).

The point is man knows he is sinner as romans 2 declares through conscience. That is my point.

 

 To say that man can only know his true nature when he comes to know God is neither scriptural nor in accordance with the common experience of mankind .

 

To know you are sinful , you just need to be true to your conscience and that is why even people who never saw or heard of Christ were able to have a very complete realization of their sinfulness nature.

 

 The bible says "Christ the wisdom of God" 1Cor 1. "God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ" Colossians 2:3 . "All" the treasures of wisdom and understanding are hidden by God in Christ. Why do you want to include knowledge of self additionally if every aspect of wisdom is covered in Christ. Here too "Christ alone" , "Sola Cristos".

Critique of John Calvin's Institutes of Christian religion - Intro

I am currently studying Institutes of Christian religion by John Calvin. I am also part of the group on facebook studying the same. John Calvin is held in awe by all the calvinist. He was a reformer and was the head of protestant city of geneva. He is also called the Protestant Pope for his authoritarian reign over the city of geneva. Most of the Protestants of our day will not want to live there because of the severe lack of freedom of worship and lifestyle. Right to dissent was not tolerated well. We will leave the judgement of the man to God and try to learn from what he has written in his most famous book.
 Many people overawed by Calvin , are unable to approach him critically. This is true especially of the Calvinists who bear his name. But I have no such bias . I am willing to study him , compare his ideas with that of the scripture and then write my critique.
I ll write a critique of it as I read it chapter by chapter , highlighting both the pearls and the trash , the grain and the chaff in it. As read the first few chapters I saw his work punctuated with errors here and there. I also read truth expounded clearly and concisely.
This exercise I believe this will make you and me more discerning in an age of emotional attachments to  bible teachers , theologians and thus to their teachings without comparing them with the word of God.

I pray that God will grant you grace to read this without developing animosity against me even as I point out the errors in the Institutes of Calvin.

My aim in this is to help build up the Church , to help the believers be lovers of truth and discerners of errors. My aim is to point to Christ , in whom as Paul says "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom " , who is "the way , the truth and the life" . I point to Christ because that's whom the Holy Spirit will also point to.
May God bless you as you read this.