Calvin's Geneva: Church & World in Ordered Tasks

1) The terms of the question

The political conception of J. Calvin has been subjected to a wide range of interpretations so that a " communis opinio" appears nowadays very difficult to be reached. Particularly the contribution of Calvin's theology to the birth of democracy and liberty has been until now one of the most debated and discussed. It is well known that the most famous and influential version of the thesis associating Protestantism and Progress was offered by G. W. F. Hegel, who in his " Philosophy of History" ( trans. J Sibree, New York, 1956, p.417 and p. 444) pointed out that in Germany the eclaircissement was conducted in the interest of Theology, in France it immediately took up a position of hostility to the church. This was possible in part because the protestant world itself..... advanced so far in thought as to realize the absolute culmination of self consciousness. This is the essence of the Reformation: Man is in his very nature destined to be free.

The idea of a kinship between Protestantism and political and social progress has became a common place among liberal Protestants. The boldest and most prolific representative of the above point of view was no doubt Emil Doumergue who in his Jean Calvin: Les hommes et les choses de son temps ( 7 vols, Lausanne, 1899-1927, p 212) , argued straightforwardly that Calvin deserved the title of founder of the modern world.

The idea of some inner connections between Protestantism and some aspects of modernity was taken up by Max Weber ( see The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) according to whom the Calvin's conception of vocation would constitute the basis of the modern capitalism.

After the Great War the tide of Protestant opinion turned against the fathering of modernity on the Reformation. The most eminent among these thinkers was Karl Barth whose "dialectical Theology" or "Theology of crisis" emphasized the infinite distance between a radically transcendent God and sinful man, in effect constituting a repudiation of the link between Protestantism and modernity. Among the other representatives of the above trend it needs to quote Marc Edward Cheneviere who in his La pensee politique de Calvin (Paris, 1937) insisted that there is no spiritual kinship between the Reformation and modern democracy , not to mention W. Allen who in his A History of Political Thought in the 16th Century ( New York, 1928) has observed that if the essence of Protestantism was a claim to liberty for the individual " then " certainly Calvin was not a Protestant".

In the heap of these different interpretations the reconstruction of the historical truth can appear to be problematic even because Calvin didn't write an extended formal treatise on government We find the most systematic treatise on this topic on the 4^ book of the Institutions of Christian Religion. A preliminary observation springs up immediately about Calvin's view of government : the brevity of his treatments. It appears almost to be an afterthought. A glance at the title "The External Means or Aids by which God invites us into the Society of Christ and holds us therein" can give the impression that Church and State will be given balanced treatments. On the contrary the Church received 93 percent of the attention, the State only 7 percent So it appears" prima facie" that Calvin was not much interested in the State. He was chiefly a theologian devoted to reform the church and his utterances on the political questions were only incidental and at any rate always closely connected with his theological basis.

In fact the Calvin's deepest concern was neither the world nor its history, neither the worldly orders nor the social life, neither the formation of economy , nor conduct of life. His main concern was only God, God's word, God's authority, God's truth, God's Gospel. In the light of the above situation that often has been misunderstood, it seems unavoidable to draw the only possible conclusion: it means we cannot understand the Calvin's political perspective without taking in account his theological background.

2)The theological leitmotif of Calvin's Theology:"Soli Deo Honor et Gloria"

But which was the leitmotif of Calvin's theology? Calvin scholarship possesses an abundance of studies which have proceeded to identify it in his doctrine :

of Predestination ( see Schweitzer," Die protestantische Central Dogmen", pp. 1-18 and L. Boetner, "the Reformed Doctrine of Predestination", Grand Rapids, 1968);

of Knowledge of God (see Dowey, "Knowledge of God in Calvin's Theology", pp. 41-49);

of Church ( see Milner, " Calvin's Doctrine of the Church", pp.1-5).

Generally among the above one the most diffuse answers has been the second; it means the doctrine of predestination. As a matter of fact a more careful analysis of the coordinates of Calvin's theology permits to single out another conclusion, that moreover some years ago H Troelsch singled out in his "The social teaching of the Christian Churches" (New York:Macmillan , 1931, p.583):

To Calvin the chief point is not the self centered personal salvation of the creature, and the universality of the divine Will of Love, but it is the Glory of God, which is equally exalted in the holy activity of the elect and in the futile rage of the reprobate

In our opinion the Troelsch's analysis hits the mark! In fact the common denominator of Calvin's writings was that one to teach that God's glory extended beyond the fate of the individual soul and encompassed the whole of creation, as he emphatically pointed out, by stating

For our salvation was a matter of concern to God in such a way that, not forgetful of Himself. He kept His glory primarily in view, and therefore, created the whole world for this end, that it may be a theatre of His Glory" In latin the phrase sounds "Totum mundum hoc fine condidisse, ut gloriae suae theatrum foret" (Consensus Genevensis C.O. 8:294)

This preoccupation directed at any rate to safeguard Glory and Honour of God was the constant factor and unifying element of Calvin's theology. The evidences confirming the above point of view are innumerable. In the Geneva's Catechism, one of the first documents , we find this meaningful statement to the question What is the chief end of human life? the answer sounds unequivocal:

We are all created to this end that we may know the majesty of our Creator; and having come to know it,