I Read John Calvin and You Should Too
By Andrew Goins
Watauga County
This year, I read all of John Calvin’s “Institutes for the Christian Religion” and I think you should read it too. I am not going to lie to you; it’s not for the faint of heart. It is written by a serious theologian who writes serious theology. But, that is what we need, isn’t it? Someone precise and technical yet poetical and understandable. That is John Calvin.
First, let us address the elephant in the room. John Calvin has a reputation and it is not a pleasant one. Here is how I pictured him: he is a man who sits in his ivory tower reading Leviticus all day, which traces a faint, permanent scowl across his face. He comes down to preach every once in a while. When he does, he can only talk about the gospel which, for him, is predestination. He only drinks water and eats bland food because he doesn’t want to be tempted to enjoy anything but God—but he also enjoys occasionally condemning and burning heretics like Michael Severetus. In his spare time, he tries to determine who God has predestined for heaven and hell. His criteria are simple: those who dance, drink, smoke, and laugh, God has elected for hell; those who buy into predestination, God has elected for heaven.
I hope my hyperbole has served its purpose. John Calvin is not associated with lightheartedness, joy, and delight. If you conceive of John Calvin like I did, you will be baffled after reading him. Here are some things that I learned after I read his Institutes for Christian Religion: he writes beautifully and understandably; he delights in creation as the theater of God’s glory; he is a proponent of God’s grace; predestination occupies only a small portion of his writing; he has a sensitive heart; he has a profound relationship with God; he did not want to burn Michael Severetus.
You will probably disagree with him on some issues (I know I did). He will probably say something that rubs you the wrong way. He will use idioms and catchphrases that have been dead for centuries. He will dissect and reprove technical aspects of medieval scholastic theology that will bore you. Nevertheless, don’t be fooled into believing that Calvin wrote these books to engage academia or trained theologians. Calvin wrote these books for butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. Like any book, it is a conversation between John Calvin and God. My theological reflection has become more mature and sharp with John Calvin; these “conversations” have organically transformed into prayer. If you choose to read his Institutes, I think you will have a similar experience if you really engage with the text.
Alas, I will stop speaking for Calvin and let him speak for himself, when he writes on page 4, “It has been my purpose in this labor to prepare and instruct candidates in sacred theology for the reading of the divine Word, so that they may be able to…advance in it without stumbling.” His purpose is to help people who read the bible read the bible better. He is trying to help you, dear bible readers, be able to make sense of the parts in light of the whole and make sense of the whole in light of its parts. If you want to read the bible more carefully, read the Institutes.
Dear pastor, farmer, mechanic, or businessman, you don’t have to agree with everything that Calvin writes. In fact, I hope you don’t, but I hope you tell me, or Calvin, why you don’t. I am recommending these books to you, not to convert you to Calvinism, but to help you grow in prayer, theological reflection, and precise bible reading.
P.S. If you do read it, be sure to buy the one translated by Ford Lewis Battles.
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Andrew Goins is on staff for a campus ministry at Appalachian State University called Ratio Christi. He also works as a youth leader and worship leader at Arbor Dale Presbyterian Church in Banner Elk.
Andrew is committed to simply and thoroughly loving his wife Bethany, growing in his bible nerdiness, delighting in good books (theology, poetry, and select fiction), music, photography, creation, and in gathering people together for bible studies, a shared meal, or making music.
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