Book 4 - Chapter 8 (Parts 1-2)
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THE POWER OF THE CHURCH WITH RESPECT TO ARTICLES OF FAITH
Part 1
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In this chapter, Calvin deals with the question of who has the authority to set belief or doctrine for the church and how ought those beliefs and doctrines be set. He needs to do so because the Roman church and the Reformed churches hold different views. The Roman church favors tradition and the Reformed churches favor scripture.
Summary: Calvin begins this chapter by reminding his readers that the purpose of this section is to build up the church, and not simply pick quarrels with the Roman church. He then explains how the church can be built up. “Now the only way to build up the church is for ministers themselves to endeavor to preserve Christ’s authority for himself; this can only be secured if what he (Jesus) has received from the Father be left to him, namely that he (Jesus) alone is the schoolmaster of the church” (pg. 1150). In other words, the church should look to Christ alone for the foundational material upon which to build the church. The reason for so doing is that the church may be “…kept within limits and (not) drawn hither and thither according to men’s whims” (pg. 1150). Calvin then reminds his readers that “…whatever authority and dignity the Spirit in scripture accords to either priests or prophets, or apostles, or successors to apostles, it is wholly given not to men personally, but to the ministry to which they have been appointed” (pg. 1150). This is critical for Calvin because it forces Christians to focus on the message and not the messenger; on the Word and not on the witness. He offers the prophets and apostles as those who focused on the message. The prophets only proclaimed what they had received from God. The apostles only proclaimed what they had received from Jesus. And because Jesus only spoke what God commanded him to speak (John 7:16), he has become God’s “sole wisdom, light and truth” (pg. 1153). Thus, Christians are to listen to Jesus and Jesus alone in matters of doctrine. Christians can find what Jesus taught in the scriptures. “But where it pleased God to raise up a more visible form of the church, he will to have his Word set down and sealed in writing that priests might seek from it what to teach people and that every doctrine to be taught should conform to that rule…this means that they should teach nothing strange or foreign to that doctrine…” (pg. 1153). And because the scriptures are based on the Word delivered by the incarnate Christ (God’s Word made flesh) then, as the Apostle Paul declared, ”…God will not speak hereafter as he did before…through some and through others; nor will he add prophecies to prophecies, or revelations to revelations” (pg. 1154). What this means is that scripture, and the traditions based on scripture, should be the only guide for the church because there will be no new direct word from God. Calvin sums this up this way, “No other word is to be held as the Word of God and given place as such in the church than what is contained first in the Law and the Prophets, then in the writings of the apostles; and the only authorized way of teaching in the church is by the…Word” (pg. 1155). Reflections: The continuing struggle within any church is the issue of where do we look for truth? Do we look to an individual? Do we look to holy books? Do we look to traditions? Do we look to our feelings? As Presbyterians, we have a hierarchy for seeking truth. Scripture is first. Tradition is second. Community experience is third. Personal experience is fourth. While we believe that scripture is our primary source of truth, we also understand that all scripture is interpreted; meaning every human being reads scripture through their own lenses; thus, different people can find different things within scripture. This is the reason that tradition and experience are also important as we seek truth. Because, if we allow them to speak as we read scripture, they can open for us new and possibly better understandings of truth than we might have otherwise found. Questions:
Part 2
In this chapter, Calvin deals with the question of who has the authority to set belief or doctrine for the church and how ought those beliefs and doctrines be set. He needs to do so because the Roman church and the Reformed churches hold different views. The Roman church favors tradition and the Reformed churches favor scripture.
Summary: We pick up in this article where we left off in our last, with Calvin declaring that scripture is the sole guide for the church in determining truth. “Yet this I have said, is the difference between the apostles and their successors: the former were sure and genuine scribes of the Holy Spirit, and their writings are to be considered articles of God; but the sole office of others is to teach what is provided and sealed in the Holy Scriptures. We therefore teach that faithful ministers are not permitted to coin any new doctrine, but that they are simply to cleave to that doctrine to which God has subjected all men without exception” (pg. 1157). Calvin goes on to say that this rule, that the scriptures alone lead us to truth, applies to the church as well as to individuals. By this statement Calvin draws a clear line between the Roman church which is guided more by tradition, and the Reformed churches that are guided by scripture. Calvin next takes up the claim of the Roman church to being infallible in matters of doctrine; meaning the Roman church claims to be able to speak for God and to speak without error. Calvin’s first objection to this doctrine (aside from his earlier statements on the role of scripture) is that while the Roman church believes that it can “…coin dogma after their own whim, which in accordance with this rule they afterwards require to be subscribed to as articles of faith…” (pg. 1159) the fact is that the ability to interpret God’s word and commands was given to every Christian and not only to a select few. And “…the whole fellowship of believers, supplied with a manifold diversity of gifts, has…been endowed with a far fuller and richer treasure of heavenly wisdom than each one separately” (pg. 1160). Even so, Calvin argues, Christians ought to not wander beyond the scriptures because as people of limited spiritual insight they need its guidance and direction. Calvin’s second objection is that that church is composed of Spiritually gifted but imperfect people, thus there is no way for a church to be infallible. He writes that, “Indeed, God distributes the gifts of his Spirit to each of the members…so that the whole body may not lack anything essential. But the riches of the church are always far from the supreme perfection of which our adversaries boast” (pg. 1160). In other words, God insures that the church has what it needs to operate (to preach, teach and care), but at the same time, reminds the people within the church that they are still sinners in need of regular forgiveness. This should lead to humility and a wariness wherein the church ought to “distrust all the devisings of its own reason…(in order to)….not believe anything that is thrust in under the title of the Spirit apart from the gospel” (pg. 1163). To be clear, this does not mean for Calvin that the church cannot create doctrine. It only means that such doctrine (the Trinity for example) must be founded upon scripture. Reflections: One of the great sins of the church is that of believing it can speak inerrantly for God. This sin is not limited to the Roman church. Many churches over the centuries, and especially in the modern era, have made this claim. One either believes as they do or one is not a Christian. This can be alluring to people who seek certainty in times of anxiety. If we are unsure of the truth, it is nice to know that there is someone out there that can impart truth to us. Following Calvin’s lead, we as Presbyterians have made it clear that we do not know the full truth; that as sinful people we do the best we can, but that we will never know the full truth because of our human limitations. Questions:
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