1994 Issue 1 - Book Review: Calvin's Preaching by T.H.L. Parker - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 1 - Book Review: Calvin's Preaching by T.H.L. Parker - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/9

I have appreciated T.H.L. Parker

since the late 1960's when I read two

ofhis books, Calvin's

Sermons on Isaiah

53 and

Calvin s Doctrine

o

il Knowledge

o

God.

In reading these books, and

now in reading his newest book,

Calvin s Preaching, several things have

impressed me about Parker: (1).

His

thorough knowledge of

Calvin's

ministry and theology; (2). His love

for Christ and the Word of

God;

(3).

His boldness in rebuking clitics of the

Word of God; and (4). His desire that

his readers understand him

and that they apply thenuth

delivery and context. The best way to

present the powerful content of Parker's

book is to give you his outline of his

study of Calvin's preaching, and then

to fill in

the outlines with some oflucid

quotes by Calvin and Parker. I make

no apology for giving you so many

Calvin quotes, because I want you to

see the God-centered theological

richness, as well as the literary beauty,

of

Calvin's wliting, with the prayer

that you will be persuaded to read as

much

ofJohn Calvin as you can.

in his books to their lives.

ook Review

memory'). Therefore, SCripture has

no other claim to full authority with

believers than their conviction that

it

has flowed from heaven. It is as if the

actual tones

of

God's voice were heard

in it. (pg. 1-3)

There is only one who can prove

that God is the author

of

Scripture,

and

that is God Himself: 'I reply that

the witness

of

the Sphit transcends all

reasoning. For even as God alone is

sufficient witness to Himself in His

Word, so also that

Word

will not find

belief in the heans of men

before it is sealed by the

inward witness

of

the Spirit.

It is therefore necessary that

the same Spirit

who

spoke

As

a

member

of

the

Church of England he is

not afraid to cliticize her

and

to

call

her

to

repentance. Speaking of he

disastrous doctlinal

and

moral

failure of that

denomination, Parker

wlites, What wonder that

a Church which picks

and

chooses what it wants out

eal\7in :)

reaching

by the mouth of he Prophets

shall penetrate

into

our

heans to convince

us

that

what had been

divinely

commanded

had

been

faithfully declared.' (Lvii. 4)

(pg.4)

by T.H.L. Parker, 1992, Westminsterl John

Knox

Press, Kentucky, 202 pages)

The

Pulpit as the

Throne

of God

Review

by

Joe Morecraft;

11

God has no commerce

with men

apart from

Scripture. (pg. 4)

f

the

Bible

should become

confused in its theology,

flabby in its morals, and with little to

state but the worldly obvious---the

day after worldly liberals have stated it

more convincingly? (pg. x). This gives

you the flavor

of

Parker's attitude

revealed in his book This subject of

preaching is not academic

to

him. His

studyisnotanotherinelevant historical

study. Parker wants things to change;

and he wants John Calvin's preaching

to bethemodel forthatchange, because

he wants the Church to experience

again the transforming power of the

Word of God.

Calvin sPreaching was a particular

encouragement to me. I underlined

sentence after sentence, and have gone

back time and again to nourish my

soul on these highlights of the book

Parker not only analyzes the message

Calvin preached, he also analyzes his

motive, goal, preparation, method,

THE THEOLOGICAL IMPULSION

THE

DIVINE MESSAGE

Sunday after Sunday, day after

day Calvin climbed

up

the steps into

the pulpit. There he patiently led his

congregation verse by verse through

book after book

of

the

Bible.

t is our

task .to ask what impelled him to

preach and to preach as he did. -

Why this verse by verse exposition?

--- The impulsion,

or

compulsion, to

preach

was theological . Calvin

preached because he believed. He

preached in the way he did because he

believed what he did. It is that this

single-minded concentration

on

the

Holy Scliptures could come only from

a panicular view of the Bible. --- It is

in

the SCliptures alone that the Lord

has been pleased to

give a pelmanent

form to his

truth

(literally, to

consecrate His

tluth

to a perpetual

It

is quite

true that

SClipture can be a dead letter, giving

no

life. But this is when

it

is separated

from Christ

and

His grace.

Thenit

will

merely meet the eyes as printed words,

the ears as spoken words, without its

message penetrating to brainandheart.

If

however, the message

of

Scripture

is implinted in the

hean

by the Holy

Spirit and so reveals Christ, then it is

the word of life, convening the soul.

(pg.5)

'''The autholity of the Church

is

therefore not unbounded but subject

to the Word of God and so to say is

enclosed within it.' (N.vii.4) (pg. 5-6)

..the Teacherof he Old Testament

Church is the same Christ as the

Teacher of he New Testament Church,

that the Patriarchs, Law-givers, and

Prophets were illumined and inspired

by the same Holy Spirit as were the

Apostles. (pg.

7

January/February 1994 THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon ;. 25


2/9

THE PASTORAL INTENTION

T h ~ two forces, the theological

impulsion

and

the pastoral impulsion,

are

so

n t w i n e d that it is impossible to

separate

them

without

destroying'

both

." (pg. 8)

"This high view o preaching did

not

meet

with

universal approval either

outside Geneva or within. Some, he

now

says, have wanted the Law cast

out of the Church and be

no

more

named. 'There were some disgusting

scoundrels whoa little while back

disgorged their it s fulfilled

and

that

in

all the taverns I had to resistihem.

very vehemently in my preaching): so

that these rascals made

up

a common

slogan in theirc-"synagogues" --their

taverns: No more Law or

Prophets

for

us ' (CO 54.283)" (pg. 9). Things

haven't changed

much

have they? .

"' . .ifwe want to show

our

faith and

obedience to God, the Law and the

Prophets should rule over us and we

should

make them OUT rule

and

know

that

it

(that is, the teaching ofthe Law

and

the Prophets)

isa pennanent

and

immortal truth, not decaying, not

variable. God did not deliver a

temporary teaching to serve a particular

age;

he

intended

it

to have its force

today, and would rather the world

perished

and

heaven andeanh lay

in

ruins than that the authority of either

the

Law or the Prophets should be

abolished.' (CO 54 .284)" (pg. 10)

"The faithful

pastor

must

use

vehemence

and

vlvacfte, "to give vigor

and power to the Word of God. --

What is this the way to teach?

Ho

we

Want to be

wonby

sweetness.

You

do?

Then

go

and

teach God his lessons --

Ho we want to be taught in another

style. Well then, go to the devil's

school he

will

flatter

you

enough---and

destroy you.'

(CO

54.291)" (pg. 14)

"".righteousness of life must

accompany right thinking. To be

good theologians

we must

lead a holy

life. The Word of God is not to teach

us (0 prattle, not to make

us

eloquent

and subtle and I know

not

what. It is

. to reform our life, so that

it

is known

that we desire to serve God, to give

ourselves entirely to him and to

conform ourselves to his good will.'

(CO 54.292)" (pg, 15)

SCRIPTURE AND

SERMON

"... Calvin

considered

that the

preacher's primarytaskwas to expound

Holy Scripture,which is, so to say,the

voice of God Himself." (pg. 17)

In bringing out Calvin's

understanding of

the sacramental

relation of

Scripture

and

sermon,

Parker contrasts Calvin's view with

that of

other later

Reformed

theologians,

such

as Bullinger and

Hooker, before he discusses "Calvin's

clear-cut and well thought through

view of the relationship between

Scripture and the preaching of the

Church." (pg.22). He begins his

discussion

of Calvin's

. view by .

reminding his.

e ~ e r s of

"Calvin's

insistence that the preacheristo invent

nothing of his own

but

declare only

what has been revealed and recorded

in

Holy Scripture." (pg. 22)

"The all-important factor is

not

whether the preacher has received the

message directly from its giver or

received it atsecondhand,butwhether

the message which reaches the

reclpientshallbe the message originally

given. In other words, God revealed

the ttuthaboutHimselfandthus about

men

and his world to

cenain

prophets

in

the Old Testament, to apostles

in

the New, This was the prinlary giving

of

the message; the prophets and the

apostles were thus in the position of

being

immediate reCipients, a

possibility that ceased with the

'sealing-up' of he New Testament. In

future there

could be only the

secondary

recipients, those who

received frotn the first reCipients, But

what if the message was understood

26 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon annary/Febmary 1994

and faithfully handed on? Does

it

cease to be the message because it is at

second hand?

"For the general word 'message'

which we have been using throughout,

substitute 'Word of God', or 'Gospel',

or

(its

in

the Pastoral Episdes) 'sound

doarine.

' It is hard to see

how

any

of

these terms has to change its character

orlose part ofits strength by the fact of

repetition, so long

as

the repetition is

faithful td the anginal.

"This is

not

to elevate preaching to

an

equality with Scripture. Scripture

is definitive and sovereign; preaching

must

be

derivative and subordinate.

Obviously Scripture does not have to

conform to preaching; preachingmust

conform to Scripture. It is the humble

positionofpreachingas derivative and

subordinate that is precisely its glory.

"According to Calvin, then,

preaching so to say 'borrows' its status

of Word of God' from Scripture. It is

theWord of Godinasmuchas

it

delivers

the Bl'biicalmessage, which is God's

message or Word. But God's Word'

means, for Calvin, that whichisspoken

by

God;

not

simply

in

its first giving

but

in

its every repetition. It does not

somehow

become

weakened by

repetition so

as

to become less and less

God's Word." (pg. 23-23)

"And when somethingis putbefore

us, we have always to ask ourselves

whether

it

is God who has spoken

or

not' esc 89-90), In this last clause

Calvin is not telling

the

people that

theymustremind themselves that God

has spoken in Scripture,but that, while

listening to a sermon, they

must

ask

themselves whether they are listening

to God or a man, If the teaching is

faithful to Scripture, then it is God

who is speaking, and that precisely

because His teaching remains His

teaching irrespective of the purveyor

ofthe

teaching." (pg. 24)

In his sermon XXII on I Timothy

3:2 Calvinsays: "For St. Paul does

not


3/9

mean

that one should

just

make a has ordained them as instrumentsand fonner case, the final sentences here

parade here orthat a manshould show that He employs them in Hisservice in use the language

of

revelation

and of

offso that everyone applauds him and such a way that they do nothing by the activity of the Spirit. What is daily

says, 'Oh well-spoken Oh what a their own power; it is the Master who preached in Geneva, Calvin is saying,

breadthofleamingl Oh what a subtle leads them. --- is that Godis gradous, that

esus

Christ

mind ' All that is beside the pOint... "ltissaidthattheministersaresent has made the satisfaction for our sin.

When a man has climbed up intO the to enlighten the blind, to deliver the Butwhen this message is preached, its

pulpit, is

it

so that

he

maybe seen fmm captives, to forgive sins, to conven reality is present and (how could it

afar,

and

that he may be preeminent? heans. What these are things which therefore be otherwise?) effective. It

Not at all. It

is

that God may speak to belong

to

God alone.... For there is was not simply declared that God is a

us by the mouth of a man." (CO nothing more properly His own than gracious God; in His Word God was

53.266) to

pardon sins;

He

also reselves to being gracious to St Pierre and

La

Calvinfrequentlyused two Himself the convening

of

the heart. Madeleine

and

St Gervais

in

may

1555.

images

to

make this point

r .

The reality was present,

more clearly: "the school of however, not thmugh vivid

God" and "the ambassador

of The pulpit is the

imagination

or

the power

of

God". language,

but

by the working

First, regarding "the school throne of 60d, from of the Holy Spilit. -- The

of

God." "Whydowecometo message

of scripture, and

the sermon? ... It is that God

where

l e

wills to

hence the message of the

may govern us and that

we

~

Church

in

so far as t is a

may have our Lord Jesus g o ~ e r n

1

T ~ o u ~ " faithful handing on of what

Christ as sovereign Teacher." ' v y Y , has been once delivered, is

(Dt. 1:17.

CO.25.647) (pg. God's declaration of His will

26)

The pUlpit is 'the

thmne of

God,

from where He wills to govern our

souls.' (CO

53 .520) --

The school is

God teaching in Holy Scripture; the

preacher delivers to his congregation

what he has been taught. -- God

presides; the pulpit is His throne, He is

in the midst,

as

if visible, face to

face;

the Church is joined to Him. In other

words, granted the distinction of

primary andsecondary which must be

maintained between Scli ptu re and

preaching, the same message is

powerful and effective in the one as in

the other." (pg. 27

Second, regarding "ambassadorsof

Christ." "When a man is the envoy of

his prince and has complete authority

to do what

is

committed to his charge,

he will so to say borrow the prince's

name. He will say, We are doing this;

we instruct;

we

have commanded;

we

want that done. Now, when he speaks

like this; he is not intending to take

anything from his master. o

it

is with

God's servants. They know that God

Now, nevenheless it is the case that He

impansall these qualifications to those

whom

He

appoints to conveyHisWord

and

declares

to

them that He does not

separateHimselffrom them, but rather

shows that

He

uses them

as

His hands

and His instruments.'

(CO 26.66-67)

(pg.27-28)

"Thus the minister who faithfully

hands on what he has received from

those who were taught directly by God

is God's ambassador. No doubt an

ambassadorbecause hehasbeencalled

by God

and

commissioned by God for

this work, but also (and this is the

point here) because his message

is

the

message given byGod,it is the will and

mind

of

the Sender. Thepreacherisan

ambassador by vinue ofhis message."

(pg.29)

"It has become quite clear that with

'the school of God' we are not to think

of preaching as a purely educative

exercise,

and

with 'ambassadors for

Christ' we are not to consider only a

repetition of instructions. As in the

and thus possesses the power

ofGod's activity, which is the power

of

God Himself. The

Word of

God is

never to be separated from the Spirit."

(pg. 29)

"'It is as if he (Paul) were saying, If

anyone thinks that when the

Word of

Godis preached the air is being beaten

with an emptysound,

heis qUite

wrong.

It is a living reality and full

of

a

hidden

energy which leaves no pan of a man

untouched.

CO 55.50) Our

immediateinterest in thispassage fTOm

Calvin) is not in the twofold action

of

the Word of God in condemning

and

saving, but only with the efficacy

and

validity of the

Word of

God. But it is

clear that Calvin

is

using the term, 'the

Word ' to refer primarily to any

preaching, granted, of course, that it is

in accord with Holy Sclipture. Thus

the proclamation of God's Word by

way of exposition

and

contemporalY

application is itself God's

Word

in a

. twofold sense: first, because the same

message that was revealed . to the

Biblical writers is delivered by the

]anuary/February

1994 t

TH

COUNSEL

of

ChaIcedon 27


4/9

preaching Church,

and

that message is

God's message or Word; secondly,

because the same Spirit of Cod who

gave the message continues to ensure

that that message shall accomplish in

any generarion what He had originally

intendedin

giving it. (pg. 30-31)

The message

of

the

Gospel is the

living Word coming unto His own;

preaching

is

God calling and

summoning men.

All

that we have

heard

in

this chapter must be regarded

in

this

active

and

forceful way: God

speaks,

God

teaches; God governs;

Christ comes to His people; Christ

offers Himself; the Church preachesin

obedience to the commission and

command; the preacher delivers the

message from his prince; men submit

andbelieve, ortheyreject the light and

remain in darkness. Whatever the

terminology used , whatever the

imagery,all isascene of divine activity,

and of

human

activity drawn into the

divine. Certainly

not

a feverish or a

disordered activity; on the contrary, it

appears with a certain steadiness and

orderliness; but activity nevertheless,

God's activity of redeeming the world,

of fonning the Body of Christ, of

restoring all things. (pg. 31-32)

THE

WORD

IN ACTION

THE PREACHER

.. the preacher is the servant of

that

message. As preacher he is

committed completely

to

the Bible

.

(pg.35)

'We must before everything else

guard our tongue so that

it speaks

nothing but what is printed

in our

heart.' (CO 35.43-44) (pg. 37)

The preacher, then, is to receive

'without exception

everything

containedin Holy Scripture,' even what

his reason tells

him to

reject. (pg. 38)

Since preaching is to be exposition

of Holy Scripture, it must follow that

the preacher should know the

Bible

well. (pg. 38)

The knowledge of the

Bible, so

necessaryin a preacher, is not a purely

intellectual knowledge;

it

is,

as

Calvin

was never tired ofsaying, 'a knowledge

of the heart.' The preacher studies the

Bible because

he

loves the

Bible,

and

he

loves the Bible because he studies

the Bible. (pg. 39)

The qualificatiOns of a preacher,

according to Calvin, arise out of this

single-minded, single-hearted

adherence to Scripture. The first is

humility, and that

in

wo senses. Faith,

or trust in

Scripture

implies

submission. As we have seen, it

involves subjecting the reason even

to

anything that

seems

irrational, And

what is submitted to inwardly

is

also

treated as sovereign

in

the pulpit. -

For Calvin the message of Scripture is

sovereign, sovereign

over

the

congregation and sovereign over the

preacher. His humility is shown by

His submitting to this authority.

The second qualification is the

outward

practice

of

the

inward

submission. Thepreachermusthimself

be. obedient to the teaching which

he

is

urging on the congregation. s Calvin

put

it in a very lively

way

; 'It would be

better fot him to break his neck going

up into the pulpit if he does not take

pains to be the first to follow God.'

(CO 26.304)

Thirdly, the preacher needs

courage---not coura

ge

to believe

but

courage to proclaim the truth, however,

unpalatable, and

to

rebuke where

rebukes are necessary. It is inevitable

that he will arouse opposition: 'They

that intend to serve God faithfully and

to proclaim His Word will never lack

enemies to

make

war against

them

.

.Insomuch that the Inan who

serves God in bearing His Word

faithfully will never have peace nor

go

without stings and unmolested, nor be

without many

enemies.' (Sermon

CXClV; Dt. 33

:

ll;

CO 29.154)

Authority, the fourth of the

28 THE COUNSEL

of

Cha1cedon January/Febmary 1994

qualifications, belongs strtctly to the

message and

notto

the preacher. Any

human authority he may possess

(seniorit

y,

learning, managerial

expertence, etc

.)

is very different from

the authority which Calvin

has in

mind.

--- For

Calvin

the authortty lies outside

the person of the preacher and resides

so1elyin the message that he proclaims,

assuming that this is the message of

Scripture. But the message of Scripture

is God's own revelation of His will.

Therefore, not only is the message

handed on by the preacher the Word

of God, but it possesses the authortty

of the Word of God and thus the

authority of God Himself. We shall

never understand Calvin

as

preacher

or the reform which

he

sought to

carry

through in Geneva unless we take this

qUite

stupendous claim

as it

stands.

'So the teaching which is put

forward

in

the name of God ought

to

be

as

authoritative

asif

all the angels of

heaven

de

scended to us, as i f God

Himselfwere

manifesting His majesty

before our eyes .

..

.' (CO 25.113-714)

(pg.39-41)

In his Sermon I on Timothy 1:2

Calvin

says:

It is certain that if

we

come to church we shall not hear only

a mortal man speaking but

we

shall

feel

(even by His secret power) that

God is speaking

to our

souls, that He

is

the teacher. He so touches us that

the human voice enters into us and so

profits us that

we

are refreshed and

nourished by it. (CO 54.ll) (pg.42)

'1ust as

Christ is

present at

the

(Lord's) Supper spiritually, that is,

by the working of

the

Spirit, so He is

present

in

the

preaching

spiritually-by the

working of

the

Spirit. - This is why Calvin calls the

pulpit the throne of God: voila the

pulpit, which is the throne of God,

from which

He

wills to

govern.

our

souls.'

(CO

53.520) (pg. 42) Calvin

even

goes

so far as to say that me pUlpit

is God's 'seat of justice, Le ., the

judgment seat or trtbunal of God,


5/9

where the Church confesses its guilt

and runs

to

the mercy of God as its

only refuge.

To

ascribe such absolute authority

to

preaching is clearly extremely

dangerous. The opportunities for

mischievous and arrogant misuses are

endless. (pg. 43). However there are

two major counterweights which put

the preacher firmly

in

his place

as

a

mere messenger. The one is that he is

to put forward nothing but what God

has declared in Holy Scripture; the

other that

he

is an envoy and

efficacious, knowing

h ~ t

it is in order

that God may be the better honored

among us.' (CO 26.226) 'It is God

who grants us the grace that we should

be taught. And why is this? ... .it is in

order that our life may be reformed.'

CO

26.241) 'We who are ordained to

preach the Gospel ought

to

know that

God honored us when He willed that

from

our mouth

the testimony of

salvation should be given to men, that

we

should be witnesses of His truth,

that

we

should present salvation

to

...

the members of the congregation

fmm the other half. (pg. 48) Anyone

who has regularly preached over many

years

but

then has been a member of a

congregation for some time, would (if

he had strong views on preaching) be

hard

put

to

it

to decide which was the

more demanding, preaching well or

listening properly. (pg. 48)

Calvin certainly expected the

congregation

to

be active

in

the

business of the Church's preaching.

For preaching is a corporate action of

not the sovereign.

So

we

find

r--------------------

that the absolute authority is

~ n y o n e who ha6 regularly preached

alwaysascribedtothemessage.

over manyyear6

but

then

ha6 been a

The bearer of the message is

himself

humbled by its member ofa congregation for

6 me

thewhole Church;

it

s a specific

act of he worshipping Church.

In the same way, therefore, as

each Christian participates

in

the activity which is the Lord's

Supper, taking

and

eating the

Bread, 'receiving

and

drinking

the Wine, so also in the audible

Sacrament,

which

is

the

sermon,

he

actively hears

and

takes into Himself the Word of

God. It is true thatthe preacher

authority. (pg. 43)

time, would (if he

had 6trong

view6

Nevertheless, a

proper on preaching) be hard

put to it to

humility before

God and

modesty concerning himself

decide whi h wa6 more demanding,

and his capabilities are not to preaching well or 1i6tening properly.

hinder the preacher from the

bold assertion of the authority

of the message he has to deliver.

Indeed,

it

is a dereliction of his duty

i

he does not claim that authority. (pg.

44)

The preacher's immediate aim is

that the message of the (Sclipture)

passage

he

is expounding shall be

understood and accepted as truth by

the congregation. To know how to

t ~ c h

entails also a sympathy, even

in

a profound sense, a love

for

those

being taught. The bully orthesneaking

flatterer or

the

careless take-it

or-leave-it type of preacher are all in

their different ways out of their proper

element in the pulpit. (pg. 45)

No sermon can be without motive.

-- But it is possible to preach without

a purpose. -- What does the preacher

enter the pUlpit to do? What do the

people come

to

listen

to

the sermon

for?

(Calvin answers these questions

in a variety of ways) 'Then let us make

the doctrine preached to us every day

those who were formerly damned and

lost.'

CO

53.67) From these

quotations we gather three or four

aims

in

preaching---to honor God, to

refmm lives, to witness to tru th and to

witness

to

salvation

or

present

salvation. -- The preacher's purpose is

directed first of all towards God. He

preaches

in

order that God may be

glolified. The very act of declaring the

Gospel is a praising and exalting of

God

in

His mighty acts. Every

preaching of God's Word is aTe Deum

Laudamus.... --- 'And then, when a

man will be a preacher, it is not just a

question of making a selmon,

but

in

general and in particular it is necessalY

for him to know that it is to proclaim

the Word of God

in

orderto

EDIFY,

so

that the Word may be profitable.'

CO

53.236) (pg. 45-47

THE CONGREGATION

The preacher is only the half of he

Church's activity of proclamation.

gives

and the

congregation

receives; but the reception is not

passive,

but an

active participation, a

listening that is an act of faith. -- 'we

ought to come to God's school with

burning desire.''' (pg. 48-49)

The principal thing is that the

congregation shall have a clear idea of

what Christian

preaching is

and

therefore of what

is

happening

in

the

sermon. -- They should consider that

in

the sermon God rules His Church

by declaring His will,

that]

esus Christ

Himself teaches

them

as the good

Shepherd calling His flock.

When Christians know what

preaching is, they also know what

their attitude to

it

must be. Their

representative and leader, the preacher,

has been the first to submit completely

and unconditionally

to

the message of

Holy Scripture. They can do no less

when that message is passed on to

them.

(pg. 49)

..

the

congregation is

to

be

JanuarylFebruary

994

THE OUNSEL of balcedon

29


6/9

ompletelysubmissive to the message

from God, good: pupils at the feet of

their 'sovereign Teacher,' Jesus Christ.

-- Consequently, the submission to

God's message is the work of grace, not

of nature . Alld as the work of grace, it

needs to be prayed fot and striven

after---striven after i i the sense of

mottifying our rebelliousness against

God's

Word.

-- 'SoJeiV make progress

in

he school of God; for scarcely

onein

a hundred will renounce the fierceness

of his spirit and submit quietly to

God .. But if we desire to be the living

planting of God, let us take pains to

submit our minds in humilityandallow

ourselves as His lambs to be ruled by

our Shepherd: (CO 55.394)" (pg.

50-51)

The

congregation "no less

than

the

preacher , have a duty to see to it,

so

far

as they can, that the message of the

Bible shall alone be heard

in

their

pulpit ... " (pg. 51)

"The task of the congregation, as

Calvin pottrays it, is a continuous

lifelong battle agai'nst

their own

rebelliousness, apathy, and arrogance

in

favoref God's teaching

and

call. The

members of the congregation,

no

less

than the preacher,

need

continually to

pray, 'Corne, Holy Spirit '" (pg.53)

AN

ACCOUNT OF CALVIN S PREACHlNG

THE EARLY PREACHING

In this section 3. Parker draws his

conclusions

and

applicatiOns from

Calvin's actual preaching, and his

intimate knowledge of that preaching

which

took place between 1549

and

Calvin s

death in 1564 .

PREACHlNG

IN GENEVA

In

October

1549

CalVin

began

preaching every day

qf

the week, as well

as on Sunday. Each ofhis sermons was

about one hour

long.

"Calvin for his

patt did notspare himself

a,t

all, working

far beyond

what

his powers and regard

for

his

healthcouldstand. He preached

commonly

every day for one week

in

two. Every week he lectured three

times

in

theology. (In fact, the lecturing.

was also normally

in

alternate weeks,

when

he

was not preaching.) He was at

the Consistory on the appointed day

and

made all the remonstrances. Every

Friday at the Bible Study ..what he

.

added

.. wasalmostalecture. Henever

failed

in

visiting the .sick,

in

private

wamingand

counsel,

and

the rest of the

number1e.ss matters arising out of the

ordinary exercise of his ministry.

Besides these ordinary casks (in Geneva),

he hadgreatcare for believers

in

France,

both in teaching them

and

exhoning

and counseling them and consoling

them by etters ..,

and

also in nterceding

for them ...

Yet

all that did not prevent

him ftomgoing ortworkingat is special

study and composing many splendid

and very useful books.' (CO 21.66)."

These wordswere written by Colladon,

who lived

in

Geneva durirtg Calvin's

ministry there. (pg. 62-63)

"Apatt from these, (Le., occasional

sermonson various topicS), hissermons

were continuousexpositions. He began

at chapter one and continued with one

or a few or many verses for each sermon

until

he

had

got to the end of that book.

Then the next day or the next Sunday

he

statted another book." (pg. 63)

"Colladon gave a moving account of

his (Calvin's)

last

few determined weeks

of pastoral activity: 'Finally, his gout

began, to abate somewhat, and then he

forced himself to go out sometimes to

be

entettained among his friends, but

chiefli to lecture a.ndeven to preach,

having himself

carned

to church

in

a

cMir. He also presented some children

for baprismwhen asked. Even about

mid-Janilary he

led

the study of the

beginning of the Prophet Isaiah in the

Congregation at the request of the other

ministers .. Thus he continuedto do all

he

could

of his public office, always

dragging his poor body along, until the

beginning of February 1564. For on

Wednesday, February 2, he made his

last sermonon the Book of the

King;;

and at 2 6;c ock in the afternoon his last

lecture in the school, that is, on Ezekiel.

30

THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon January/February 1994

Alld on the Sunday, February 6, his last

sermon on the Harmony of the three

Gospels. Thereafter he never went up

into the pulpit: (CO 2l.';)6)" (pg. 64)

THE TRANSMISSION OF THE SERMONS

This chapter contains interestingahd

surprisinghistorical information aboUt

the publishing

and

translating

of

Calvin's sermons during his lifetime

and after his death.

One

of themenwho actedas Calvin's

stenographer while he was preaching

was Denis Raguenier.

He used

a

private

system of shonhand that he evolved

and perfected. Raguen

.ier's

achievement will appear all the more

remarkable if we bear

in

mind the

conditionsunderwhichheworked. He

had

to

record about six thousand words

in

an hour, often at the break of day,

whatever the temperature

in

an

unheated church, whatever the light,

usinga quilland ink (penclls nothaving

until 1564),andtokeep thls

up

morning

after morning." (pg: 66)

FROM EXEGESIS TO APPLICATION

THE EXPOSITORY METHOD

"ExpOsitory preaching consists

in

the explanation and application of a

passage

of Sc.ripture. Without

explanation t is

not

expository; without

application it is not preachlng." (pg.

79)

In the foutth and fifth centuries

expository preaching developed into

the expounding of whole books of the

Bible, passage by paSsage. "Thus

Chrysostom preached through most of

the 'books of the New Testament

and

his younger contemporary Augustine

expounded the Psalms and the

Founh

Gospel. ---

When

Calvin, therefore,

embarked on this course (followingthe

practice n Strasbourg

and

Zurich) he

waS

taking up the tradition of the later

Fathers and of the medieval theological

training. Almost all Calvin's ,recorded

sermonsare connected serieS on bookS

of the Bible

....

he preached on a New

Testament book

on

Sunday mornings


7/9

and

afternoons

.. and on an Old

Testamentbookonweekdaymomings.

(pg.80)

.....

when

preaching

on

the Old

Testament Calvin translated his text

direct from the Hebrew. From this it

may be deduced that on the New

Testament he preached fromthe original

Greek. -- He had, then, a Hebrew Old

Testament or Greek New Testament

before him and preached without any

notes ..because he knew he could trust

his memory. He did, however, regard

preparation as necessary: 'if

I

should

climb up into the pulpit without having

deigned

to

look at a bookand frivolously

imagine

Ah well

when I get there God

will give me enough to talk about, and

I

do

not condescend

to

read, or to think

about wbat

I

ought to declare,

and

I

come here without carefully pondering

how I must apply the Holy SCripture to

the edification ofthe people---well, then

I should be a cocksure charlatan and

God would put me to confusion in

my

audaciousness.' (CO 26.473-474).

(pg.

81

Thus, clause by clause, verse by

verse, the congregation was led through

the epistle or the prophecy or the

narrative, --- The multifarious strands

of the Biblical message

run

through

Calvin's sermons in all their rich

profusion. (pg. 90)

THE MESSAGE OF

SCRlPTURE

The teaching of the sermons is

eschatological, not in the sense that at

certain points, depending on the text,

heaven and etemallife are mentioned,

but in that everything is viewed

in

the

light of the eternal inheritance. (pg.

100)

Earlier

we

spoke of the expository

preacher as a chameleon, taking his

color from that of the passage on

which

he

was

alighted. (pg. 103)

"'So then,as we have seen previously,

if we want Godto bless us we must keep

ourselves in the simplicity ofHis Word,

attempt nothing whatever, not walk

one step forward without His approval

and not swerve either to the right or to

the left.' (CO 26.64) (pg. 105)

THE STIMULI OF EXHORT TION

Calvin speaks of'''instructionon the

framing of one's life.' Teaching by

itself, or mere pointing out the way, is

insufficient. The

re

are needed also 'the

stimuli, or goads, of exhonations and

reproofs.'

CO

52.384) (pg. 114)

'It is not enough to preach what is

good and useful. For if men were

well-disposed and received what God

set before them, and were so teachable

that they could put their minds and

hearts into line with it, to subject

themselves to what isgood, it would be

enough to have said, This is what God

declares to us. But since men are

malicious, are ungrateful, are perverse,

ask only for lies in place of the truth,

readily go

astray, and after they have

known God tum again and distance

themselves from him---for this reason

it is necessary for us to be heldas it were

forcibly, and for God, having faithfully

taught us, to exhort us

to

persist in

obedience to His Word. --- ...ifwe are

reproved, even forcibly,

and (the

preacher) uses reproofs which are harsh

to us, let us know that it is for our

profit.' (CO 53.332) (pg. 115)

Therefore the people had to be

urged to accept what was said. They

had

to

be spoken

to bluntly

and

forcefully. They had

to

be told when

they were going wrong, or not being

ready to go right. The prince s

ambassador, he says, will not speak

harshly as a ptivate person; but when

he has to deliver his message, 'hespeaks

in a way that shows that he is not

pretending. -- Now, when God sends

us

and

puts His Word in our mouths,

have we to

go

(into the pulpit) with

such silly simpleness that it makes men

despise Godandmock theWordwhich

we carry? Not at all; not at all.' (CO

53.21-22) (pg. 115)

There was ..always one man in

the congregation

at

whomhe directed

his sermons. And that was himself.

--- Anindication ofltiS own involvement

appea

rs

in the almost universal use of

'we' and 'us' and the rare address 'you.

The message

and

its application are

directed at preacher and congregation

alike. (pg. 116)

The text will detelmine the precise

direction of the exhortation. (pg. 117)

"There is no threshing himself into a

fever of impatience or frustration, no

holier-than-thou rebuking of

the

people, no begging them

in

terms of

hyperbole to give some physical sign

that the message has been accepted

(Ii/Ie altar calls .

It

is simply one man,

conscious of his sins, aware how little

progress he makes

and how

hard it is

to

be a doer of the Word, sympathetically

passing

on to

his people (whom

he

knows

to

have the samesort of problems

as himseiD what God has said to them

and to him." (pg.

119)

Nevertheless,wemust certainlynot

give the impression that butter would

not melt

in

his (Calvin's) mouth. There

are some things that rouse his anger.

Oneis injustice,

and

especiallyinjustice

under the cloak of legality. Another is

deliberate and flagrant opposition to

the Gospel by those who

had

sworn to

uphold it. The Romanists receivegentlet

treatment than the opponents on the

Genevan Councils

in the bad

years.

And he can get very angry indeed

in

the

sermons of 1554-1555. (pg.

119)

Sunday morning,]anuary

27,

1555

Calvin warned his congregation about

responsible voting. We have need

today of thisadmonition; forthe election

approaches of those that are

to be

established in the government of this

Republic. Now, I ask you, how are they

behaving in the election?

For

I

need

not

wait till next Sunday to say something

which is only too plain.

When

it is a

question of electing and chOOSing the

magistrates, they ought to be here to

call on the name of God, that He would

preside at the Council

and

that He

would give them a spirit of prudence

and light. But where w

ill

they be? In

JanuarylFebruary 1994 ;.

THE

COUNSEL of Chalcedon

,: 31


8/9

the taverns,

or

at play. And those who

have a vote are the least frequenters of

sermons. (Things have not changed much

since

1555.) It is true that one willhardly

see them coming any more to church

on

other days. Nevertheless, they will

be the first to present themselves at the

General Council and want to have the

strongest voice . .Yet it is there that they

will throw off all restraint, and there

will be even greater disorder.

On

such

a day one will see them come with a

rascally impudence and they will be

in

groups,

as

if they wanted to make

their presence felt. And where have

they come from? From an

alehouse--Instead ofwanting to be here

to call upon the name of God and to

lookinto themselves. Now, come We

have today to elect men who will rule in

God's name. (CO 53.452) --- .. .it will

provoke God's wrath f heseat of ustice

is polluted

y

men being put therewho

have neitherzeal

nor

affection to honor

and serve Him.' (CO 53.475-76)" (pg.

122-23)

This is

not

the only time Calvin

dealt with political subjects

in

his

sennons. On several occasionshewould

direct his sermons to or about the city

council of Geneva. Hewouldcomment

on

the battles between Geneva and

Bern,

Switzerland. The threat of the Turks

and

their alliance with Europeanpowe

rs

are dealt with

in

at least four sennons.

Along with bad politicians, Calvin

would

also set

hi

s Sights

on

the

academics, (Schoolmen), who blurred

the plain Gospelwith their philosophy,

and, of course, on the Roman Catholic

priesthood.

FORM

AND STYLE

m

PAffiRN

OF

SERMONS

" ..clarity, force and persuaSiveness

are the three necessaty ingredients in

preaching like Calvin's." (pg. 131)

"The form of this preaching

is

determined

by

the movement of the

text. The preacher does not so much

move forward from point to point as be

borne onwards by the movement ofhis

author's thought. Even so, this is not a

simple, uncomplicated stepping from

clause to clause; for within each clause

there

is

movement and

counter-movement of one sort or

another. The sennons are like rivers,

moving strongly in one direction, alive

with eddies and crosscurrents, now

thundering in cataracts, now a caim

mirror of the banks and sky; but never

still, never stagnant.

"Calvin's intention .. was toexpound

each passage. Usually this entailed the

continuous exposition of sentence by

sentence, sometimesofclause

by

claus

e.

After a brief preface to remind the

congregation of what the previous

passage had said, and thus to set the

present verses within their context, he

would embark on the exposition of the

sentences, usually rendering them in a

slightly different (sometimes very

different) fonn from the head text; this

partly because he was translating

32

f

TH COUNSEL

o

Chalcedon January/February 1994

Non-Profit Org.

U.

S.

Postage

PAID

BULK RATE

Permit No. 1553

Greenville, SC

29602

directly

as

he went along, partly for the

sake of clarification by paraphrasing.

The exposition will consist where

necessary of simple exegesis and the

unraveling ofdifficulties ...;after this he

will apply the place to 'our' use so that

'we' may profit from it

and

be 'edified.

(pg. 132-33)

TIlE

FAM

ILIAR

STYLE

"The word that Calvin used to

describe what he regarded as the most

suitable style for the preacher is

familiere, (which

is

French for "a

familiar style ). (pg. 138). Calvin

writes,

"'WealwaystrytornakeScripture

familiere, (i.e., familiar).' He plainly

meant more than that he wanted the

people to become familiar withthe

Bible

in the sense of knowing their Bibles.

Pamiliere might be better rendered by

the word, PERSONAL, used in the

Calvln 6 Preachlne

cOl1cluded 011 paee 4


9/9

serving

the Lordin

the ordinary practice

of

their professional careers (Genesis

9:

l-6and

Corinthians10:31). Second,

they must

evangelize the

earth

and

Christianize all its

nations,

as

commanded

by God

the Son,

and

get

them

to obey

aU

things whatsoever

He

has

ever

commanded

from

Genesis

through Revelation (Matthew

28: 19

and Mark

16: 15).

Andthird, theymust

promote the coming of the

kingdom

in

all its many facets with an their might

through

the power of God the

Spirit, as

all history further unfolds toward its

divinely

predestinated

consummation

(Luke

11:2 and

Revelation

14:

13).

While doingallthisbetween Christ's

first and

second comings, believe that

Christiansare to see the

hand

ofGod

in

aU

things,

and

to

thank Him

for His

blessed

providence

even

in their

adversities

and their

ordinary day-to

day

drcumstances. As the

Heidelberg

Catechism

(Q.l

and

Lord's Day 10)

states; "my only comfort in

life

and

death

is

that I

am

not my own but belong

with

body

and soul

to

my faithful SaviourJesus

Christ,

Whoso

preserves

me thatwithout

the

will

ofmy heavenly

Father,

not ahair

can

fall from

my ~ a d

yea, that all

things

must

be

subservient

to

my

salvation

"

This blessed providence

is "the

almighty

and

everywhere

present power

of God,

wheteby

as it were

by

His

handHeupholds

and governs

heaven

and earth and all his

creatures, so that herbs

and

grass, rain

and

drought, fruitful

and

barren

years,

meatanddrink,

health

and

sickness,

riches

aildpoverty,

yea,

and all things, come lOt

by

chance, but

by

His

Fatherly

hand".

And

the

intensely practical result

of

believing all this, is

that

I learn

how

to

"be patient in adversity, thankful in

prosperity, and that inall

things which

may hereafter befall us,

we

place our

firm trust

in

our faithful

God and

Father, thcu nothing shall separate

us

from

His love, since all

creatures

are so

in

His

hand, that without His

will they canna t so much as move '

This, then,

is my

God-given faith,

dear

reader

May

the Lord Himself

grant

by His

great grace

that it

may

also become yours too f.l

Calvln 5 Preaohlng,

oOl1oluded

from p ge 8

colloquial modem sense---to make the

message of Scripture a personal matter,

not

just

a collection of historical ideas,

'so that we know

that it is GOD who is

speaking

to

US.' Nevertheless, he

is

cenainly thinking of

familiere

in terms

of language; for a little later he (Calvin)

censures ambitious preachers who

'babblein refmedlanguage,' (CO

53.19).

To make theScripturalmessagefamiliere

Calvin used a familiar, homely sryle of

preaching. The familiariry of speech

is

made possible and also heightened by

his

preaching

extemporarily." (pg.

139-40)

"He (Calvin) is so intent on making

himself understood that now

and

then

he will

think

it necessary to explain a

simple word which is nevenheless

ambiguous from similarity of sound

with a quite different word. --

In

general the vocabulary is simple. The

theological language might puzzle most

modem

Protestantcongregations in this

country, but that is because they are

largely ignorant of the Bible. Calvin's

terminology in this respect hardly moves

outside the Bible. -- Theological words

from outside the Bible are 9nly the

more

common ones---

Trinity,

sacrament, and the like. -- The same

simpHcity is

seen

in the sentence

structure." (pg.

141-42)

In Calvin's "familiar style" of

preaching there is "the frequent use of

question and

answer

in

imaginary

conversations with disputants. There

are numerous rhetorical questions.

(Sometimes) hewill pile question upon

question. -- Rather more common in

the sermons

is

objection

and

reply. -

Dialogue, often racy,

is

also much in

evidence. Calvin has a liking for direct

speech. Instead of paraphrasing his

24

THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon JanuarylFebruary

1994

text (as he also does frequently) with

some formula

as

'it

is as if

he were

saying .. he

will

often put it into direct

speech: 'It is, then, just as if God said:

Thou didst have not hope of leaving

this slavery

.

. But this also often

appears

in

the form ofimaginary attacks

from opponents, which are usually

prefixed with the angry interjection,

'Ho?' --- Mr. Miles has shown

how

these conversarions

can

be developed

into a fragment of drama, with Calvin

himself prOviding the asides for the

sake of the congregation's under

standing:

(pg.

145)

"The ready use of proverbs and

similes and homely expressions gives

the impression

of

a man

of

homespun

speech,

at

ease with the common

man.

...all Calvin's images are simple

and

easily

understood. E Mulhaupt

categorizes them as military, judicial,

natural, animal, anisan

and

academic.

...

but the chief thing to notice about

them is their simplicity

and

familiariry.

The same may be said of his use of

homely, everyday expressions, the sort

of thing that was the verbal currency of

ordinary folk until radio

and

television

enfeebled our language

0).

(pg.

148)

"Calvin's style as

extemporary

preacher is markedly different from

that which we find

in

his

French

writings . .There he displays the virtues

that make him one of the great French

mastersandamolder of modem French.

Buthere,

in

the sermons, he deliberately

adapts his style to the grasp of the

comlnon people in his congregation.

To

use a

tenn

that he frequently employs

of biblical writers, he 'accommodates'

himself to the ignorance of the people.

The most marked change is that the

conciseness

on

which

he

so prided

himself has to give place to diffuseness

and

repetition. -- There

is

still the

simpliciry and the clarity, the wit and

the force, the passion

and

the high

seriousness." (pg.

149)

MayAlmighty God raise up an army

of preachers [ike

john

Calvin today f.l

Documents

1994 Issue 1 - Book Review: Calvin's Preaching by T.H.L. Parker - Counsel of Chalcedon