Reconsidering John Calvin places Calvin in conversation with theologians such as Pascal, Kierkegaard, Ezra the Scribe, Julian of Norwich, and Karl Barth, and attends to themes in Calvin s theology which are often overlooked. Zachman draws out Calvin s use of astronomy and his great concern to see ourselves in comparison to the immensity of the universe, acknowledging in wonder and awe our nothingness before God. Throughout, Zachman presents a Calvin who seeks a route out of self-deception to self- knowledge, though Kierkegaard shows that it is love, and not judgment, that most deeply reveals us to ourselves. The book discusses Calvin s understanding of the election of the Jews, and their relationship to God, and further reconsiders Calvin s understanding of judgment, and how the call to love our neighbor is undermined by the formation of alliances. randall c. zachman is Professor of Reformation Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Image and Word in the Theology of John Calvin (2007), John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian (2006), and The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin (2005). He is also the editor of John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, Then and Now (2008) and, with Howard P. Louthan, of Conciliation and Confession: The Struggle for Unity in the Age of Reform, 1415 1648 (2004).
current issues in theology General Editor: Iain Torrance Princeton Theological Seminary Editorial Advisory Board: David Ford University of Cambridge Bryan Spinks Yale University Kathryn Tanner University of Chicago John Webster University of Aberdeen There is a need among upper-undergraduate and graduate students of theology, as well as among Christian teachers and church professionals, for a series of short, focused studies of particular key topics in theology written by prominent theologians. Current Issues in Theology meets this need. The books in the series are designed to provide a state-of-the-art statement on the topic in question, engaging with contemporary thinking as well as providing original insights. The aim is to publish books which stand between the static monograph genre and the more immediate statement of a journal article, by authors who are questioning existing paradigms or rethinking perspectives. Other titles in the series: Holy Scripture John Webster The Just War Revisited Oliver O Donovan Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? Nancey Murphy Christ and Horrors Marilyn McCord Adams Divinity and Humanity Oliver D. Crisp The Eucharist and Ecumenism George Hunsinger Christ the Key Kathryn Tanner Theology without Metaphysics Kevin W. Hector
Reconsidering John Calvin
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: /9781107015753 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Zachman, Randall C., 1953 Reconsidering John Calvin /. p. cm. (Current issues in theology) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-01575-3 isbn 978-1-107-60177-2 (pbk.) 1. Calvin, Jean, 1509 1564. I. Title. bx9418.z34 2012 230.42 dc23 2011038184 isbn 978-1-107-01575-3 Hardback isbn 978-1-107-60177-2 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Anne Gaylord Morley Zachman and John Wesley Zachman
Contents List of abbreviations page viii Introduction 1 1 The beauty and terror of the universe: John Calvin and Blaise Pascal 6 2 The bond and critique of all social union: John Calvin and Søren Kierkegaard on the image of God 35 3 The one elect people of God: John Calvin and Karl Barth on the Jews 62 4 The restoration of Israel by gospel and law: Calvin and Ezra the Scribe 91 5 The comfort and the challenge of love: John Calvin and Søren Kierkegaard 120 6 Hoping for all others, fearing for myself: John Calvin and Julian of Norwich 152 Conclusion 179 Index 206 vii
Abbreviations CD Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, ed. G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance (London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2009). CNTC Calvin s New Testament Commentaries, ed. David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959 72). CO Ioannis Calvini opera quae supersunt omnia, ed. Wilhelm Baum, Edward Cunitz, and Eduard Reuss (Brunswick: A. Schwetschke and Son (M. Bruhn), 1863 1900). CTS The Commentaries of John Calvin on the Old Testament (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1843 48). LCC Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960). OE Ioannis Calvini Opera Omnia, Series II, Opera Exegetica Veteris et Novi Testamenti (Geneva: Libraire Droz, 1992 ). OS Ioannis Calvini opera selecta, ed. Peter Barth, Wilhelm Niesel, and Dora Scheuner (Munich: Chr. Kaiser, 1926 52). viii