Calvin believed in
church
unity – based on shared faith
By John H.
Adams
The Layman
Online
Friday,
November 21, 2003
Some of the
discussions during the deliberations by the Theological Task Force on
Peace, Unity and Purity have sounded as if they came directly from John
Calvin – to a point.
For Calvin, the Church was established by God through election.
It could not fail. It could not be destroyed. Leaving the church was not
an option for Christians – even when the Church did not measure up
to Biblical standards.
"No crime can be imagined more atrocious than that of
sacrilegiously and perfidiously violating the sacred marriage which the
only begotten Son of God has condescended to contract with us,"
Calvin said in The Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Calvin believed in the unassailable unity of the Church – even if
the Church was blemished. Likewise, some of the Theological Task Force's
theological leaders have declared that the church is inviolably united
despite its theological diversity. They echo Calvin's sentiments: Schism
is an atrocious crime.
But had not Calvin himself – along with Martin Luther, John Knox
and other Reformers – left the "church" of Rome? Was he,
therefore, as Rome declared, a schismatic? Was he contradicting his own
doctrine?
Not at all, at least in Calvin's understanding of what Scripture said.
Only selective reading of Calvin's doctrine of the Church would allow
the conclusion that unity within an institution was the same as being
united in Christ in the Church.
Calvin was insistent that there were two standards – faithful
preaching and the right administration of the sacraments. In both cases,
he wrote, there were undoubtedly "errors to which such pardon is
due."
But he was unwilling to concede that the Church should allow errors
that refute the "fundamental doctrine of religion" and "those
articles of religion in which all believers should agree."
When faithful preaching and the right administration of the sacraments
were compromised, the church no longer existed, he said. Thus, Calvin
distinguished between the "true" church and the "false"
church. And neither, he said, could be judged by the character of the
people in the pews and pulpits – the "invisible" church –
but they could be judged by their commitment to the Word of God.
"Wherever we see the word of God sincerely preached and heard,
wherever we see the sacraments administered according to the institution
of Christ, there we cannot have any doubt that the Church of God has
some existence," Calvin said.
However, as "soon as falsehood has forced its way into the citadel
of religion, as soon as the sum of necessary doctrine is inverted, and
the use of the sacraments is destroyed, the death of the Church
undoubtedly ensues, just as the life of man is destroyed when his throat
is pierced, or his vitals mortally wounded," Calvin added. "This
is clearly evinced by the words of Paul when he says, that the Church is
'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief cornerstone.'"
Book Four of The Institutes of Christian Religion lays out in
detail what Calvin believed constituted a "true" church. Here
are some excerpts:
From chapter 1
For if they are truly persuaded that God is the common Father of them
all, and Christ their common head, they cannot but be united together in
brotherly love, and mutually impart their blessings to each other. Then
it is of the highest importance for us to know what benefit thence
redounds to us. For when we believe the Church, it is in order that we
may be firmly persuaded that we are its members. In this way our
salvation rests on a foundation so firm and sure, that though the whole
fabric of the world were to give way, it could not be destroyed. First,
it stands with the election of God, and cannot change or fail, any more
than his eternal providence. Next, it is in a manner united with the
stability of Christ, who will no more allow his faithful followers to be
dissevered from him, than he would allow his own members to be torn to
pieces. We may add, that so long as we continue in the bosom of the
Church, we are sure that the truth will remain with us.
*** But in order to embrace the unity of the Church in
this manner, it is not necessary, as I have observed, to see it with our
eyes, or feel it with our hands. Nay, rather from its being placed in
faith, we are reminded that our thoughts are to dwell upon it, as much
when it escapes our perception as when it openly appears. Nor is our
faith the worse for apprehending what is unknown, since we are not
enjoined here to distinguish between the elect and the reprobate (this
belongs not to us, but to God only), but to feel firmly assured in our
minds, that all those who, by the mercy of God the Father, through the
efficacy of the Holy Spirit, have become partakers with Christ, are set
apart as the proper and peculiar possession of God, and that as we are
of the number, we are also partakers of this great grace.
*** But as it is now our purpose to discourse of the
visible Church, let us learn, from her single title of Mother, how
useful, nay, how necessary the knowledge of her is, since there is no
other means of entering into life unless she conceive us in the womb and
give us birth, unless she nourish us at her breasts, and, in short, keep
us under her charge and government, until, divested of mortal flesh, we
become like the angels.
*** Moreover, beyond the pale of the Church no
forgiveness of sins, no salvation, can be hoped for … We see that
God, who might perfect his people in a moment, chooses not to bring them
to manhood in any other way than by the education of the Church. We see
the mode of doing it expressed; the preaching of celestial doctrine is
committed to pastors. We see that all without exception are brought into
the same order, that they may with meek and docile spirit allow
themselves to be governed by teachers appointed for this purpose. Isaiah
had long before given this as the characteristic of the kingdom of
Christ, "My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put
in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of
thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from
henceforth and for ever." Hence it follows, that all who reject the
spiritual food of the soul divinely offered to them by the hands of the
Church, deserve to perish of hunger and famine. God inspires us with
faith, but it is by the instrumentality of his gospel, as Paul reminds
us, "Faith cometh by hearing"
*** For, on the one hand, he by an admirable test
proves our obedience when we listen to his ministers just as we would to
himself; while, on the other hand, he consults our weakness in being
pleased to address us after the manner of men by means of interpreters,
that he may thus allure us to himself, instead of driving us away by his
thunder. How well this familiar mode of teaching is suited to us all the
godly are aware, from the dread with which the divine majesty justly
inspires them.
*** The more detestable are the apostates who delight
in producing schisms in churches, just as if they wished to drive the
sheep from the fold, and throw them into the jaws of wolves. Let us
hold, agreeably to the passage we quoted from Paul, that the Church can
only be edified by external preaching, and that there is no other bond
by which the saints can be kept together than by uniting with one
consent to observe the order which God has appointed in his Church for
learning and making progress.
*** Herein is the unity of the faith happily realized,
when all, from the highest to the lowest, aspire to the head. All the
temples which the Gentiles built to God with a different intention were
a mere profanation of his worship – a profanation into which the
Jews also fell, though not with equal grossness. With this Stephen
upbraids them in the words of Isaiah when he says, "Howbeit the
Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the Prophet,
Heaven is my throne." For God only consecrates temples to their
legitimate use by his word. And when we rashly attempt anything without
his order, immediately setting out from a bad principle, we introduce
adventitious fictions, by which evil is propagated without measure.
***
The judgment which ought to be formed
concerning the visible Church which comes under our observation, must, I
think, be sufficiently clear from what has been said. I have observed
that the Scriptures speak of the Church in two ways. Sometimes when they
speak of the Church they mean the Church as it really is before God-the
Church into which none are admitted but those who by the gift of
adoption are sons of God, and by the sanctification of the Spirit true
members of Christ. In this case it not only comprehends the saints who
dwell on the earth, but all the elect who have existed from the
beginning of the world. Often, too, by the name of Church is designated
the whole body of mankind scattered throughout the world, who profess to
worship one God and Christ, who by baptism are initiated into the faith;
by partaking of the Lord's Supper profess unity in true doctrine and
charity, agree in holding the word of the Lord, and observe the ministry
which Christ has appointed for the preaching of it. In this Church there
is a very large mixture of hypocrites, who have nothing of Christ but
the name and outward appearance: of ambitious, avaricious, envious,
evil-speaking men, some also of impurer lives, who are tolerated for a
time, either because their guilt cannot be legally established, or
because due strictness of discipline is not always observed. Hence, as
it is necessary to believe the invisible Church, which is manifest to
the eye of God only, so we are also enjoined to regard this Church which
is so called with reference to man, and to cultivate its communion.
*** Of those again who openly bear his badge, his eyes
alone see who of them are unfeignedly holy, and will persevere even to
the end, which alone is the completion of salvation. On the other hand,
foreseeing that it was in some degree expedient for us to know who are
to be regarded by us as his sons, he has in this matter accommodated
himself to our capacity. But as here full certainty was not necessary,
he has in its place substituted the judgment of charity, by which we
acknowledge all as members of the Church who by confession of faith,
regularity of conduct, and participation in the sacraments, unite with
us in acknowledging the same God and Christ. The knowledge of his body,
inasmuch as he knew it to be more necessary for our salvation, he has
made known to us by surer marks.
*** Wherever we see the word of God sincerely preached
and heard, wherever we see the sacraments administered according to the
institution of Christ, there we cannot have any doubt that the Church of
God has some existence, since his promise cannot fail, "Where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
*** We have said that the symbols by which the Church
is discerned are the preaching of the word and the observance of the
sacraments, for these cannot anywhere exist without producing fruit and
prospering by the blessing of God. I say not that wherever the word is
preached fruit immediately appears; but that in every place where it is
received, and has a fixed abode, it uniformly displays its efficacy. Be
this as it may, when the preaching of the gospel is reverently heard,
and the sacraments are not neglected, there for the time the face of the
Church appears without deception or ambiguity and no man may with
impunity spurn her authority, or reject her admonitions, or resist her
counsels, or make sport of her censures, far less revolt from her, and
violate her unity.
*** Paul intimates, that to prevent the truth from
perishing in the world, the Church is its faithful guardian, because God
has been pleased to preserve the pure preaching of his word by her
instrumentality, and to exhibit himself to us as a parent while he feeds
us with spiritual nourishment, and provides whatever is conducive to our
salvation.
***
Wherefore let these marks be carefully
impressed upon our minds, and let us estimate them as in the sight of
the Lord. There is nothing on which Satan is more intent than to destroy
and efface one or both of them – at one time to delete and abolish
these marks, and thereby destroy the true and genuine distinction of the
Church; at another, to bring them into contempt, and so hurry us into
open revolt from the Church.
*** When we say that the pure ministry of the word and
pure celebration of the sacraments is a fit pledge and earnest, so that
we may safely recognize a church in every society in which both exist,
our meaning is, that we are never to discard it so long as these remain,
though it may otherwise teem with numerous faults. Nay, even in the
administration of word and sacraments defects may creep in which ought
not to alienate us from its communion. For all the heads of true
doctrine are not in the same position. Some are so necessary to be
known, that all must hold them to be fixed and undoubted as the proper
essentials of religion: for instance, that God is one, that Christ is
God, and the Son of God, that our salvation depends on the mercy of God,
and the like. Others, again, which are the subject of controversy among
the churches, do not destroy the unity of the faith; for why should it
be regarded as a ground of dissension between churches, if one, without
any spirit of contention or perverseness in dogmatizing, hold that the
soul on quitting the body flies to heaven, and another, without
venturing to speak positively as to the abode, holds it for certain that
it lives with the Lord?
*** If the Lord declares that the Church will labour
under the defect of being burdened with a multitude of wicked until the
day of judgment, it is in vain to look for a church altogether free from
blemish.
*** Among the Corinthians it was not a few that erred,
but almost the whole body had become tainted; there was not one species
of sin merely, but a multitude, and those not trivial errors, but some
of them execrable crimes. There was not only corruption in manners, but
also in doctrine. What course was taken by the holy apostle, in other
words, by the organ of the heavenly Spirit, by whose testimony the
Church stands and falls? Does he seek separation from them? Does he
discard them from the kingdom of Christ? Does he strike them with the
thunder of a final anathema? He not only does none of these things, but
he acknowledges and heralds them as a Church of Christ, and a society of
saints.
*** If the Church remains among the Corinthians, where
envyings, divisions, and contentions rage; where quarrels, lawsuits, and
avarice prevail; where a crime, which even the Gentiles would execrate,
is openly approved; where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have
honored as a father, is petulantly assailed; where some hold the
resurrection of the dead in derision, though with it the whole gospel
must fall; where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not
to charity; where many things are done neither decently nor in order. If
there the Church still remains, simply because the ministration of word
and sacrament is not rejected, who will presume to deny the title of
church to those to whom a tenth part of these crimes cannot be imputed?
How, I ask, would those who act so morosely against present churches
have acted to the Galatians, who had done all but abandon the gospel,
and yet among them the same apostle found churches?
*** But although the Church fail in her duty, it does
not therefore follow that every private individual is to decide the
question of separation for himself. I deny not that it is the duty of a
pious man to withdraw from all private intercourse with the wicked, and
not entangle himself with them by any voluntary tie; but it is one thing
to shun the society of the wicked, and another to renounce the communion
of the Church through hatred of them.
*** Since they also argue that there is good reason
for the Church being called holy, it is necessary to consider what the
holiness is in which it excels, lest by refusing to acknowledge any
church, save one that is completely perfect, we leave no church at all.
It is true, indeed, as Paul says, that Christ "loved the church,
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but
that it should be holy and without blemish." Nevertheless, it is
true, that the Lord is daily smoothing its wrinkles, and wiping away its
spots. Hence it follows, that its holiness is not yet perfect. Such,
then, is the holiness of the Church: it makes daily progress, but is not
yet perfect; it daily advances, but as yet has not reached the goal, as
will elsewhere be more fully explained. Therefore, when the Prophets
foretell, "Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no
strangers pass through her any more;" – "It shall be
called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it,"
let us not understand it as if no blemish remained in the members of the
Church: but only that with there whole heart they aspire after holiness
and perfect purity: and hence, that purity which they have not yet fully
attained is, by the kindness of God, attributed to them. And though the
indications of such a kind of holiness existing among men are too rare,
we must understand, that at no period since the world began has the Lord
been without his Church, nor ever shall be till the final consummation
of all things
*** Religion was partly despised, partly adulterated,
while in regard to morals, we everywhere meet with accounts of theft,
robbery, perfidy, murder, and similar crimes. The prophets, however, did
not therefore either form new churches for themselves, or erect new
altars on which they might have separate sacrifices, but whatever their
countrymen might be, reflecting that the Lord had deposited his word
with them, and instituted the ceremonies by which he was then
worshipped, they stretched out pure hands to him, though amid the
company of the ungodly. Certainly, had they thought that they thereby
contracted any pollution, they would have died a hundred deaths sooner
than suffered themselves to be dragged thither.
*** I say, however, that the Church must first be
built; not that there can be any church without forgiveness of sins, but
because the Lord has not promised his mercy save in the communion of
saints. Therefore, our first entrance into the Church and the kingdom of
God is by forgiveness of sins, without which we have no covenant nor
union with God.
*** What shall we say to the fact, that occasionally
whole churches have been implicated in the grossest sins, and yet Paul,
instead of giving them over to destruction, rather mercifully extricated
them? The defection of the Galatians was no trivial fault; the
Corinthians were still less excusable, the iniquities prevailing among
them being more numerous and not less heinous, yet neither are excluded
from the mercy of the Lord. Nay, the very persons who had sinned above
others in uncleanness and fornication are expressly invited to
repentance.
From chapter 2
But as soon as falsehood has forced its way into the citadel of
religion, as soon as the sum of necessary doctrine is inverted, and the
use of the sacraments is destroyed, the death of the Church undoubtedly
ensues, just as the life of man is destroyed when his throat is pierced,
or his vitals mortally wounded. This is clearly evinced by the words of
Paul when he says, that the Church is "built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone."
*** If the Church is founded on the doctrine of the
apostles and prophets, by which believers are enjoined to place their
salvation in Christ alone, then if that doctrine is destroyed, how can
the Church continue to stand? The Church must necessarily fall whenever
that sum of religion which alone can sustain it has given way.
*** The communion. of the Church was not instituted to
be a chain to bind us in idolatry, impiety, ignorance of God, and other
kinds of evil, but rather to retain us in the fear of God and obedience
of the truth.
*** Wherefore, we need no other argument to refute
them than that with which Jeremiah opposed the foolish confidence of the
Jewsm – namely, "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The
temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are
these." The Lord recognizes nothing as his own, save when his word
is heard and religiously observed.
*** But the thing to be observed is, that this union
of charity so depends on unity of faith, as to have in it its beginning,
its end, in fine, its only rule. Let us therefore remember, that
whenever ecclesiastical unity is commended to us, the thing required is,
that while our minds consent in Christ, our wills also be united
together by mutual goodwill in Christ.
*** Let them now go and clamour against us as heretics
for having withdrawn from their Church, since the only cause of our
estrangement is, that they cannot tolerate a pure profession of the
truth. I say nothing of their having expelled us by anathemas and
curses. The fact is more than sufficient to excuse us, unless they would
also make schismatics of the apostles, with whom we have a common cause.
Christ, I say, forewarned his apostles, "they shall put you out of
the synagogues"
*** So long as the Jews and Israelites persisted in
the laws of the covenant, a true Church existed among them; in other
words, they by the kindness of God obtained the benefits of a Church.
True doctrine was contained in the law, and the ministry of it was
committed to the prophets and priests. They were initiated in religion
by the sign of circumcision, and by the other sacraments trained and
confirmed in the faith. There can be no doubt that the titles with which
the Lord honoured his Church were applicable to their society. After
they forsook the law of the Lord, and degenerated into idolatry and
superstition, they partly lost the privilege. For who can presume to
deny the title of the Church to those with whom the Lord deposited the
preaching of his word and the observance of his mysteries?
*** But in these men, I mean the Papists, where is the
resemblance? Scarcely can we hold any meeting with them without
polluting ourselves with open idolatry.
*** That we may not be imposed upon by the name of
Church, every congregation which claims the name must be brought to that
test as to a Lydian stone. If it holds the order instituted by the Lord
in word and sacraments there will be no deception; we may safely pay it
the honour due to a church: on the other hand, if it exhibit itself
without word and sacraments, we must in this case be no less careful to
avoid the imposture than we were to shun pride and presumption in the
other.
*** What shall we say to the fact, that occasionally
whole churches have been implicated in the grossest sins, and yet Paul,
instead of giving them over to destruction, rather mercifully extricated
them? The defection of the Galatians was no trivial fault; the
Corinthians were still less excusable, the iniquities prevailing among
them being more numerous and not less heinous, yet neither are excluded
from the mercy of the Lord. Nay, the very persons who had sinned above
others in uncleanness and fornication are expressly invited to
repentance.
*** But the thing to be observed is, that this union
of charity so depends on unity of faith, as to have in it its beginning,
its end, in fine, its only rule. Let us therefore remember, that
whenever ecclesiastical unity is commended to us, the thing required is,
that while our minds consent in Christ, our wills also be united
together by mutual good-will in Christ. Accordingly Paul, when he
exhorts us to it, takes for his fundamental principle that there is "one
God, one faith, one baptism." Nay, when he tells us to be "of
one accord, of one mind," he immediately adds, "Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; intimating, that where the
word of the Lord is not, it is not a union of believers, but a faction
of the ungodly.
*** Let them now go and clamour against us as heretics
for having withdrawn from their Church, since the only cause of our
estrangement is, that they cannot tolerate a pure profession of the
truth.
*** … to me it is enough that we behoved to
withdraw from them in order to draw near to Christ.
*** We hold, therefore, that the communion of the
Church ought not to be carried so far by the godly as to lay them under
a necessity of following it when it has degenerated to profane and
polluted rites. |
