as i study the institutes of the christian religion, i have come across a wealth of knowledge. i could write about the first ten chapters for the next year i suppose and not run out of things to say. instead of doing that, i have decided to just give a quick thought that is sparked in my reading.
right now i am in the 13th chapter of the first book, knowledge of God. the Trinity.
Calvin brings up a good point about using extra biblical words to explain God and scripture. it's totally fine! well, he does not use those words...but, in so many words that's what he says. there is nothing wrong with using words that do not appear in the bible just so long as the truth they convey is there. we can no deny that there is a Father, Son, and Spirit. but we need words that can qualify these truths for us. so, feel free to explain things in your own words.
just but be sure your clearing up a truth that really is there.
Showing posts with label john calvin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john calvin. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
institutes of the christian religion
so, i had mentioned that i was going to write about the study i am doing on the institutes of the Christian religion by John Calvin. I think that i will pick a small portion of the institutes and then comment on it. that should suffice to give a small peek into what a massive wealth of knowledge of Scripture Calvin possessed.
book one, chapter one, section two
Without Knowledge Of God There Is No Knowledge Of Self;
"On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a
true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face
of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.
For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and
upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear
evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity.
Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and
not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application
of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all
naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness
is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And
since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted
with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the
confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree
less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to
which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an
object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly
white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger
illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the
powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the
ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we
think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but
when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which
did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and
confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our
acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when
applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual
qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite
pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address
ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than
demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and
reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of
that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard,
we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its
false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest
iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom
will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance
of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable
impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most
perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity."
so in other words, we are self deceiving, self righteous sinners who do not know what is good until we look to God. i love how he talks about the eye that looks on black, when it sees a brown or dirty white it thinks it to be pure white even though it's far from it. so when we look at man our entire lives, a person who has some moral standards tends to look like that pure white. in reality they are nothing more then brown. we need to look to God to see the real white. is this not what we hear over and over again on the streets, "oh yes i'm a good person" "i'm not really any worse then anyone else" or "compared to some people i am really good". well there it is, compared to people a lot of others are good, but compared to God there are none righteous no not one!
book one, chapter one, section two
Without Knowledge Of God There Is No Knowledge Of Self;
"On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a
true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face
of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.
For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and
upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear
evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity.
Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and
not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application
of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all
naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness
is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And
since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted
with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the
confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree
less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to
which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an
object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly
white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger
illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the
powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the
ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we
think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but
when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which
did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and
confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our
acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when
applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual
qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite
pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address
ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than
demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and
reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of
that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard,
we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its
false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest
iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom
will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance
of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable
impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most
perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity."
so in other words, we are self deceiving, self righteous sinners who do not know what is good until we look to God. i love how he talks about the eye that looks on black, when it sees a brown or dirty white it thinks it to be pure white even though it's far from it. so when we look at man our entire lives, a person who has some moral standards tends to look like that pure white. in reality they are nothing more then brown. we need to look to God to see the real white. is this not what we hear over and over again on the streets, "oh yes i'm a good person" "i'm not really any worse then anyone else" or "compared to some people i am really good". well there it is, compared to people a lot of others are good, but compared to God there are none righteous no not one!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Calvinist's are so negitive...
on ask Pastor John today a guy wrote in and asked why Calvinists are so negative. are they? here is what i think is going on, the arminian tends to think about God as all Loving. it seems to come out in every debate i have ever heard. that unless there is a free will choice then God is not loving. i have heard them say things like this, "imagine you come home to your wife and bring a beautiful bunch of flowers, now if she has to force you to buy those flowers she will not feel loved. its only when she knows you bought them of your own free will that she knows you love her." and i have heard this, "imagine you and your wife are on an island your entire life, now until you get off the island and have other choices of women, your wife will never know if you truly love her." now, i could go on for hours about whats wrong with those two analogy's, but this is not what i am getting at though so ill try and stick to it. the problem is this, Arminian theology paints a loving God who would not break this so call "love code" thing that they use to debate with. if thats how they see God then how do you think they see a group of people who say God is not that way, not good i'm sure. so i think we need to try and keep that in mind when we talk and debate with Arminian's. that way we can be loving to!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Institutes of the Christian Religon
i have wanted to read Calvin's Institutes for some time now. well, i finally bought a two volume set tonight. i have read only two pages so far so i do not have much to write about but i wanted to do a small introduction.
The book was written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with some knowledge of the Christian Faith, he ended up addressing it to the King of france as a kind of Christain apoligetic. First published in 1536 Calvin was just 27 years old, and save for a few revisions it remains pretty much the way he first penned it to this day. after reading just a taste of he work in the institutes i can see why it has rfemained one of the staples of the Christian faith. Calvin's writing is very deep and thoughtful, but not to hard to grasp. so far i have found it more reader friendly then Jonathan Edwards Religious Affections, but time will tell. i will post more about the theology of the Institutes as i get into them. so till then...ttfn
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