Institutes – part 8

(By: Chad Bennett)

It has been some time since I last wrote on the Institutes of Christian Religion. The last article can be found here. In continuing this study Calvin focuses the fifth chapter of his book on God the creator. In doing so he spends much time on a subject upon which we have already touched, general revelation. I give you a couple of quotes from the first section of chapter 5 with the hope that it will whet your appetite for future discussion on the God’s self-revelation in His creation.

Beyond the sense of divinity which is given to all people Calvin explains that God “daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the universe. As a consequence, men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see Him… He shows His glory to us, whenever and wherever we cast our gaze” (52).

“The reason why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews elegantly calls the universe the appearance of things invisible (Hebrews 11:3) is that skillful ordering of the universe is for a sort of mirror in which we can contemplate God, who is otherwise invisible” (52-53).

Let us who have the written Word not forget the mercy of God that He reveals Himself to all men whenever and wherever they cast their gaze and reveals much that was otherwise invisible.

Institutes – part 7

(By: Chad Bennett)

Karl Marx saw religion as an opiate for the masses given by the ruling class to suppress the lower classes and keep them in line. The idea of religion being the invention of a few people who did not believe in God to suppress the many is not new nor was Marx its founder. Calvin dealt with the same arguments in his day and before him some Greek philosophers had proposed the same idea. It must first be admitted that many people have and do misuse religion as a way to control others. Any student of history could come up with many examples to demonstrate the point. This is altogether sad and a far cry from the true Christianity of the Scriptures. Calvin answers arguments like Marx’s by explaining that godlessness is impossible. As the previous article on the Institutes explained that all men believe in a god so here Calvin continues that thought. Those people who have introduced religion to others cannot themselves be atheists for all men believe in god. Calvin states, “Men of sound judgment will always be sure that a sense of divinity which can never be effaced is engraved upon men’s minds” (45). There are many people in the world who constantly strive to live ungodly lives, pursuing whatever sin next approaches their thoughts and blaspheming God openly, yet Calvin perceives that the sense of divinity inwardly confronts theses people. He explains that “the stupid hardness in their minds, which the impious eagerly conjure up to reject God, wastes away, yet the sense of divinity, which they greatly wished to have extinguished, thrives and presently burgeons” (46).

If we accept this, as I believe we should, then our perception of the world around must be affected by this truth. In particular this should impact our view of the ungodly and especially self-proclaimed atheists. We must perceive that the underlying issue is not an issue of understanding, but rather of the heart. Overly technical arguments and fancy apologetic gimmicks may impress some, but they do little to nothing for the heart. The sense of divinity implanted in the hearts of all men cries out that there is a god. We must cry out who this God is, that they may know Him and pray that by God’s grace their hearts will be changed.

Institutes – part 6
(By: Chad Bennett)

As a Bible teacher in a Christian school, I asked my middle schoolers a question recently and received a unanimous answer. I asked if all people know that there is a god. My entire class agreed that not everyone knows that God exists. Chapter 3 of Calvin’s first book is entitled “The Knowledge of God Has Been Naturally Implanted in the Minds of Men.” Calvin states “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy…God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty” (43). What Calvin holds as beyond controversy in his day seems to be flatly denied in our day. So, on what basis does Calvin come to this conclusion? There are number of sources that make this “beyond controversy.”

Biblically, there are a number of scriptures that express God having revealed himself to all creation in a general way through what he has created. The most comprehensive of these texts is Romans 1:18ff “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” This idea is echoed in Psalm 19:1-4 “1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” The created world screams to all men that there is a creator. This is true generally day by day, but all of us have likely experienced this in some tangible way at different points in our life. I can think of a number of times in my own life: looking down on the earth from a plane, seeing the Grand Canyon, looking through a high powered telescope, and white water rafting to name a few.

In addition to the Biblical witness, culturally anthropologists and missionary consistently find, in even the most remote areas, tribes that worship some god. This is consistent with the idea of receiving the general revelation that God exists without receiving the special revelation of who God is. Calvin even finds additional evidence intrinsic in idol worship. Humans do not naturally humble themselves to place other creatures over them. “Since, then, he prefers to worship wood and stone rather than to be thought of as having no God, clearly this is a most vivid expression of a divine being” (44).

(By: Chad Bennett)

Calvin’s Institutes – Part 3
In my previous post on the Institutes I discussed the necessity of contemplating God’s perfections if we are to rightly understand ourselves. While this kind of contemplation is effectual in humbling man and bringing us to a more accurate view of nature there is yet a greater and more effectual revelation of God in the scripture. Calvin explains that Christians in the Bible were commonly “stricken and overcome” with “dread and wonder…whenever they felt the presence of God. Thus it comes about that we see men who in his absence normally remained firm and constant, but who, when he manifests his glory, are so shaken and struck dumb as to be laid low by the dread of death—are in fact overwhelmed by it and almost annihilated. As a consequence, we must infer that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty” (38-39).

A few examples should suffice to make this point adequately clear. In Isaiah 6:1-5 we read of Isaiah’s encounter with God:
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 And I said: Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!
Isaiah’s response to encountering the thrice holy God is to realize that he is undone, literally vaporized or unmade before God. In comparison to God’s holiness he realizes that he is a sinner who lives in the midst of sinners. Even the seraphim who are without sin must veil their faces before God, how much more so sinful man. We see yet another example in the life of Job who questions God in light of his experiences. In chapters 38-41 God answers Job with a series of questions concerning His glory in comparison to Job’s finiteness.
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job seems pretty bold at first but when God appears in his majesty he quickly perceives that he is but dust and ashes before God. David Brainerd, while not seeing God, nonetheless beheld his majesty. For some extended time after that he feared the ground would open and swallow him because of his sin before such a holy God.

If this all sounds foreign to us I would speculate it is because we have yet to behold the majesty of God. One day all people will be brought to a proper understanding of humanity when we all behold the majesty of the Lord. May this drive us all the more to be men and women who strive to behold His majesty now.