Calvin Study: Week 1

            In the first five chapters of Calvin’s Institutes, the doctrine commonly called “general revelation” or “natural theology” is explored. Throughout, Calvin continually argues for the goodness of God and pounds home man’s desperate attempts to ignore Him. In the end, we only see man destroying himself at every turn, whereas God is constantly merciful.

            Calvin asserts that all the knowledge we have is merely knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves. Yet, these two things are inextricably related. Men have the incredible gift of being made in God’s image, and thus can see God’s attributes in themselves. Even if they are fallen, the attributes of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness are evident to them. The image of God in man is one chief way that men can know God. Therefore, man must acquire knowledge of himself in order to have an inkling of who God is. Here, the complication arises. Man must also have knowledge of God to understand himself. This is because without seeing God’s perfection, men cannot see their own shortcomings. Without being aware of God’s spotless moral character, men think of themselves as upright. Therefore, for man to approach understanding his heart, he must understand himself in light of who God is.

            Calvin places a large emphasis on seeing God’s greatness and responding in love. He says that in order for men to love God, they must see Him as worth seeking. Of course, Calvin expands this to say that He is worth seeking. Continually, Calvin calls us to see God’s majesty and bow down. He points to God’s providential ordering of the universe, His salvation of the righteous, and His judgment on the wicked. These are all things we can see that should produce in us a response of gratefulness and adoration. True knowledge of God is a cycle of recognizing who God is and then responding in obedience. Because the heart that knows who God is submits to His authority and renders the allegiance it knows it owes. Therefore, obedience, or as Calvin says, piety, is bound up with knowledge of God. This is clear from Scripture when Solomon says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

            Calvin then goes on to build a case against men. He is much like an Old Testament prophet in that he proceeds to pile up evidence against men that they have not rendered the fealty to God as they ought, despite all God’s goodness and evidence. Every man is implanted with an awareness of the divine. We can see this by the religious nature of man since the very beginning. Down the ages, men have groped in the dark for meaning, and usually this meaning was counterfeited in the form of some false god. Religion was not a clever invention of men; rather, its psychological power comes from man’s innate awareness and need of God. In all these attempts to flee from God, we see even further evidence of man’s knowledge of God. Only insane men flee from something that they do not actually believe exists.

            Men who say they are seeking God are not actually seeking God. They are simply seeking to fill the hole that God is meant to fill in their souls. They are empty and they know it. There are many who claim they genuinely want to know the truth, but they don’t. Their blindness is a mixture of ignorance and vanity, but the end result is that they will never accept God. They want their cake (spiritual wholeness) and to eat it too (not obey God’s laws). They do not seek God as He has revealed Himself. He has been clear about Himself and how He wants to be worshipped, but they ignore these precepts and devise their own rites.

            So, man is without excuse. God’s name is written in the heavens. God showers good gifts on men. Man himself is one of the loftiest proofs of Jehovah’s wisdom, and, yet, He will never accept God’s lordship over him. God’s greatness is displayed in His sovereign reign over His creation. Again, this ought to draw us to the Lord. But it only leads men to shut their eyes tighter. Calvin pronounces a final verdict: general revelation cannot lead a fallen man to God. It simply can’t.

            God is so clear to men, but we will not listen. We will not heed His voice. We have crowned ourselves lord of all and we will hear no opposition. Praise Jehovah that He sent His Son and His Spirit to work salvation on our behalf and give us new life. Now we see His handiwork in all its glory. Our praise is weak and imperfect, but that praise springs from hearts that have beheld the majesty of God and have fallen deeply in love. 

By: Matthew Stanley