John Calvin's Knowledge Of God

For John Calvin, the knowledge of God and of ourselves is intertwined. When we think of God, not only do we meditate upon his greatness, but we also turn to our sinfulness. In our sinfulness, it compels us to turn to Him with confession, repentance, and grace. It’s this dynamic of the knowledge of God and of ourselves that sets the tone for Calvin’s theology.

In the beginning of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin starts off with his theology of the knowledge of God:

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves…In the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he ‘lives and moves’ [Acts 17:28].” (1.1.1)

For Calvin, we cannot meditate upon the greatness of God and his benevolence toward us without scrutinizing our own sinfulness. True knowledge of ourselves leads us not merely to turn to ourselves but “arouses us to seek God” (1.1.1.).

On Sunday, January 09^th, I listened to an on-line lecture instructed by Dr. Christopher Morse, a professor of Theology and Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. He lectured on Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. He said,

“It’s only from the standpoint of the positive, in Calvin’s understanding, we can confess the negative. It’s only from the positive standpoint of being brought home, that we can face how far from home our lives have truly been…Negativity is only recognizable from the standpoint of how good and God’s benevolence are toward us. In other words, only from the standpoint of grace, we can confess sin. Thus, for Calvin, to refer back to the positive is to reflect the negative.”

I think this is an insight to understand Calvin’s theology. Paul would agree with it. “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty” (Rom. 3:23-24).

In light of it, that is why the goal of Calvin’s theology is to promote true piety/godliness. It is relational knowledge, not theoretical knowledge even though Calvin’s knowledge of the knowledge of God is very rational. In his prefatory address to King Francis I of France, Calvin wrote down the purpose of writing the Institutes of the Christian Religion, “My purpose was solely to transmit certain rudiments by which those who are touched with any zeal for religion might be shaped to true godliness” [Edited by John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), Book I, p. 9.].

As Joel R. Beeke comments, “For Calvin, theological understanding and practical piety, truth, and usefulness are inseparable. Theology first of all deals with knowledge—knowledge of God and of ourselves—but there is no true knowledge where there is no true piety” [“Calvin on Piety” in The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin. Edited by Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004), p. 125.]. Calvin’s concept of knowledge of God is practical knowledge. It not only affects our heads, but also our hearts and hands. I believe when Calvin wrote the Institutes, he was definitely thinking of the people of the congregation. In Latin word Institutio means instruction in or principles of the Christian religion.

Calvin wrote the first edition of the Institutes in 1536 when he was twenty-six years old. Then he was stopped at Geneva and called to be a pastor even thought he wanted to be a scholar at the time.  In 1538, he was not welcome by the city and the church of Geneva. He was sent into exile and went to Strasbourg. He was downcast, and yet he was released, for he could continue to pursue his scholastic dream instead of doing the work of ministry.  Nevertheless, by God’s providence and intervention, he was called to be a pastor of a group of French refugees who went to the city of Strasbourg due to a political upheaval around the same time. As a French, Calvin became the pastor of a congregation of French refugees. The exile ministered to exiles.

He revised his Institutes there in 1539 [The fifth as well as the last revision was in 1559.] Calvin wanted to promote true godliness in the lives of the exiles as he himself sought for true piety as an exilic pastor. The Institutes was written for God’s glory as well as for congregants’ spirituality. Calvin was a theologian as well as a pastor. As a pastor-theologian, his theology was born out of a particular context. He developed his theology of the knowledge of God because of his increasing knowledge of the congregation. His knowledge of the congregation deepened his understanding of God.