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Transcript
1 The Importance of Calvin’s doctrine of knowledge By Bambi Francisco For the class on Reformation Church History Prof. Trueman 1 2 Knowledge or wisdom for Calvin was based on knowledge of self, and knowledge of God. “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God,” says Calvin. Because Calvin chose the word knowledge in his title, “The Knowledge of God the Creator,” rather than “belief” or “existence” of God, underscores the centrality of God’s revelatory wisdom and man’s awareness of self in both the structure and content of Calvin’s theology. [Pg. 35 Calvin Institutes Vol. XX Book I.i. to III.XIX] Calvin does concede that it is hard to discern which knowledge precedes the other, or gives birth to the other. In many ways, both require simultaneous attention in order to attain clear understanding of self and God, and ultimately true wisdom. Initially, it would appear that Calvin makes a case early on in the Institutes that knowledge of man’s self comes before knowing God. He supports this in two ways – through man’s discovery of his wickedness or through man’s discovery of his endowments. In the former case, Calvin states firmly that man must first be appalled by himself, and, by his unhappiness, in order to attain some knowledge of God. It is the ”miserable ruin” we find ourselves in, this awareness of ourselves as morally bankrupt and helpless, that compels us to look upward. [Institutes pg. 36] Calvin emphatically says that it is only through exploration and examination of our own hearts and depraved mind that we can then recognize the light of wisdom and sound virtue as coming from someone other than ourselves. “We cannot seriously aspire to Him before we begin to become more displeased with ourselves,” he says. [Institutes Pg. 37] To this end, it does appear that Calvin is suggesting that man reaches some level of awareness about himself before he seeks God. On the other hand, man is often led to seek God when excogitating on his above- 2 3 average abilities, or perhaps string of good fortune. Man cannot comprehend his endowments without “immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God,” Calvin asserts. “Clearly, the mighty gifts, which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God.” [Institutes Pg. 35] The latter case may be “clear” in the 1500’s, when a state of consciousness in which man contemplated a higher order was far more pervasive in the culture than it is 500 years later. It may be more difficult in the more modern times when indifference is a popularly-held view, and, new information encourages men to believe in their abilities to provide answers, which, in effect, extends knowledge. Importantly, the modern man is predisposed to accepting the realities of both good and evil as the true order, and, are therefore less inclined to believe in a perfect world, much less a divine being that is perfect. Though Calvin does not explicitly address indifference in man, he knows all too well the effects of myopia. So, long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are pleased with are our own righteousness, wisdom and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and “fancy ourselves all but demigods,” he says with a hint of admonition. [Institutes Pg. 38] There is, therefore, no knowledge of God for those content with themselves. For what man would not remain as he is, Calvin asks, as long as he ignores his miseries and remains numb to himself. Indeed, many men accept the status quo because they accept life’s vicissitudes and attribute them to certain phenomenon he doesn’t understand nor needs to. To be sure, man cannot have complete knowledge of himself until he sees the 3 4 face of God. Calvin states this explicitly when he says, “the second part of wisdom consists in knowledge of ourselves.” The first part of wisdom, therefore, is knowledge of God. Without the knowledge of God, men, confident in their understanding of morality, take it upon themselves to pursue the honorable. [Institutes Pg. 243]. Yet a closer inspection of self in comparison to a standard of divine judgment would leave men in a state of humbleness. This is to say that man is never sufficiently touched by the awareness of his state until he has investigated his life in accordance to God’s majesty. [Institutes Pg. 244] All this said, a tertiary knowledge or blind acceptance of God would not compel man to look upon God in such a way that profoundly changes his view of himself. The word omnipotent was created by man to describe what he is not, but it goes without saying that man isn’t necessarily humbled or depressed when he realizes he not only lacks omniscience, but that the gulf between his knowledge and all-knowing is infinity. It is quite apparent, therefore, that in order for man to know God, he must fear, revere and trust God. “Piety is requisite for the knowledge of God,” Calvin declares. This piety comes with the realization that God is his creator. When man accepts that he is God’s “handiwork” and “made over and bound to his command by the right of creation,” then it should logically follow that man would have reverence for his creator and fear the consequences of not adhering God’s enjoinments. It would follow that man’s life is “wickedly corrupt” if his will is not disposed to God’s service. Of course, man must also believe that God is the fountainhead of all good. [Institutes Pg. 42] 4 5 In recognizing that there are men who choose to ignore the existence of God because they cannot conceive of God, Calvin maintains that man has an underlying sense of divinity, even as he attempts to cast away all knowledge of God and corrupt the worship of him. “Nature, itself permits no one to forget,” says Calvin, “although many strive with every nerve to this end.” [Institutes Pg. 46] If all men are born with a knowledge of God, it is clear that those who do not direct every thought and action in their lives to knowing him “degenerate from the law of their creation.” God’s kingdom and original sin Calvin helps us to appreciate the requirements for knowing self and God: In order to know God, man must have piety; In order to know self, man must essentially examine himself in accordance with a divine standard. At the heart of this knowledge, Calvin implicitly alludes to requisite belief in another world, namely God’s perfect kingdom, which is the standard our world fails to measure up to. Calvin asserts, therefore, that knowledge of self lies first in considering what we were given at creation. Without this view, then men would not even entertain original sin or a fallen nature. For original sin presupposes that man fell from a state of integrity at creation. “For we cannot think upon either our first condition [original nobility] or to what purpose we were formed without being prompted to mediate upon immortality, and to yearn after the Kingdom of God,” says Calvin. For what is the origin; what is creation’s end? It is that which we have been completely estranged, and that which we must endeavor to recover. [Institutes Pg. 244] This raises the issue of sin carrying down from one man. For if man has free 5 6 will, why is sin attached to him at birth? This is a view held today, as it was then. Pelagius, a British monk who countered Augustine’s of man’s inborn depravity, asserted that Adam sinned only to his own loss without harming his posterity. [Institutes Pg. 247] The Pelagian assertion is that man has natural moral abilities. [Documents of the Chrisitan Church. H. Bettensosn, Pg. 74-78]. This is surely “profane fiction,” Calvin avers, as he points to clear testimony by Paul in Romans 5:19 that all were lost through one man. Calvin also reminds us that in the Old Testament Psalms, David also confesses to have been “begotten in iniquities, ad conceived by his mother in sin.” [Institutes Pg. 247] It is with regard to Adam’s sin where Calvin illustrates how sin is being in contempt of knowledge, in so much that knowledge is truth. It is being afforded the choice between obedience to God’s word, because it is true, and disobedience, in order to find an alternative truth. Adam’s faith in God’s word is tested in order for him to prove to God that he as “willingly under God’s command.” [Institutes Pg. 245] Here is an example of the first man’s revolt from God’s authority, because he was “contemptuous of truth,” and turned to falsehood. “Surely, once man holds God’s Word in contempt, we shake off all reverence for him.” Without reverence, there is impiety, which Calvin considers the most detestable of all sins. Anyone who would therefore find inborn sin as unjust, or incomprehensible, does not understand the graveness of Adam’s sin and the magnitude of disrespect he showed his creator. As Calvin professes, it is highly reasonable to God’s thundering punitive action. “To have been made in the likeness of God seemed a small matter to a son of earth unless he also attained equality with God -- a monstrous wickedness!” 6 7 Calvin exclaims. If apostasy by which man withdraws from the authority of his Maker is a foul and detestable offence, “it is vain to extenuate Adam’s sin.” [Institutes Pg.245] What, therefore is at sin’s root? Calvin would surmise that it is unfaithfulness. But like a weed sin proliferates, practically crowding any virtue within man with ambition, pride, and ungratefulness. Adam’s unfaithfulness led to these plagues because he sought more than was granted him. And therefore it can also be observed, as it was by Augustine, that pride was the beginning of all evils. “For ambition had not raised man higher than was meet and right, he could have remained in his original state.” [Institutes Pg. 245] Let us then suppose that it is agreed that men are sinful. Many unbelievers would ask: How does he have free will? After all, man does have natural abilities to choose between right and wrong. But Calvin simply draws a distinction between the desiring or discernment of good and the will to act on it. In order to act on it without impulse, man must deliberate on it – a capacity that distinguishes man from animals. Only when man acts on it or chooses to follow what is good, he then has free will. For why does man so often choose not to follow what he knows is right? It must be that his will chooses to do what is wrong. Therefore, does he have free will? Or, is his will enslaved to something else? Before delving into this position, let us first consider that man had this freedom to choose. Calvin ridicules these men of this position by asking what kind of noble position is this to take – to not be forced to sin, yet to be such a willing slave to it? If man has free choice, why does he choose to sin, if he were not free from the bondage 7 8 of sin? It must be then that free will has been so enslaved that it can have no power for righteousness. Without the power to control the will to do good, the will cannot be free. Choice belongs to the sphere of the will rather than the understanding. [II. ii. 4] “To begin with, philosophers teach that all things seek good through a natural instinct,” but let us not suppose that this doctrine has anything to do with the human will, Calvin explains. Making the point emphatically, Calvin says that the natural instinct that treats the “good” and the “acceptable” alike has nothing to do with free will, says Calvin. [Institutes Pg. 286] Free will is only active when the reason considers alternative possibilities [Aquinas, Summa Theol] By this they mean that the object of the appetite must be amenable to choice, and deliberation must go before to open the way of choice. The natural desire of men to do good is similar to animals, for animals too desire their well-being. “But man does not pursue with reason and pursue with zeal what is truly good for himself according to the excellence of his immortal nature; nor does he use his reason in deliberation to bend his mind to it.” [Institutes Pg. 286] Therefore whether man is impelled to seek after good by impulse has no bearing upon the freedom of the will. This instead is required: that he discerns good by right reason. That knowing it he chooses it and follows it. To sum up, much as man desires to follow what is good, still he does not follow it. The desire for well-being natural to men no more proves freedom of the will than the tendency of metals and stones toward perfection of their essence proves it in them. [Institutes Pg. 287] 8 9 Yet there will always exist men who accept that they are masters of their fate, and in command of their wits, capable of turning on and off his ability to do good or evil. “Man’s disposition voluntarily so inclines to falsehood that he more quickly derives error from one word than truth from a wordy discourse.” [Institutes Pg. 264] And this inclination to falsehood can only be reversed through God’s redeeming grace. It is that grace that frees our will. “What God’s grace has not freed will not be free.” It is, God’s grace that frees man’s will in order to do what is just, and be less inclined to do what is evil. [Institutes Pg. 264] Calvin is building upon the Augustinian position that free will is a faculty of reason and the will to choose good with the assistance of grace, evil when grace is absent. [Institutes Pg. 261] How is it then that God’s claims and promises rest on man’s faith? It would be inconsistent with the accepted premise that God’s truth cannot depend or rely on man’s idea of truth, his fallible judgment, or his incorrigible will to go against God’s will. Yet this seeming inconsistency underscores Calvin’s contention that God’s grace corrects in God’s elect “the inbred unbelief” of man’s nature. This is how faith on the part of man can be reconciled with man’s inclination to go against God’s will. It is God’s grace that is the remedy for man’s imperfection. [Calvin’s Commentary on Romans] Man’s responsibility There will always be men who choose to accept their circumstances, and proceed through life with a carefree attitude. But man should not be idle, he should be compelled to know himself. The value of knowing thy self is espoused and encouraged in Proverbs and by the ancient philosophers. The inscription “Know 9 10 Thyself” is on the temple at Delphi, and is part of the text for a lesson taught by Socrates in Xenophon’s Memorabilita IV. To this end, Calvin views not knowing all that pertains to human life as “disgraceful” and ignorance of ourselves as “detestable.” Therefore when making decisions in necessary matters, we “miserably deceives and even blind ourselves.” [Institutes Pg. 241] Yet there are men who do seek to examine themselves and reach levels of awareness outside of God. This is observed by Calvin in his analysis of the philosophers, who mistakenly “propose the goal of recognizing his own worth and excellence,” while man knows himself. This leads man to contemplate nothing but what swells him with empty assurance and puffs him up with pride. [Gen. 1:27] This is because this approach, while building self confidence, puts that self confidence in man and not in God, his creator. As Calvin observes, philosophers never sensed the assurance of God’s benevolence toward us, without which man’s understanding can only be filled with boundless confusion. But let us consider the gifts endowed by some, such as these philosophers, and lacking in others. Even this reality is a testament of God’s glory. Upon examining the thoughts of philosophers and theologians, Calvin determines that it is agreed that “reason is proper to our nature; it distinguishes us from brute beasts.” [Institutes Pg. 276] It is obvious that there are some who are less endowed with faculties to be virtuous or brave. Why is this so? The inequality of men’s gifts is to show men that God’s grace is at work. For isn’t it so that if God did not spare us, man – because of his sinful nature – would be subjected to his own foolish decisions and thinking. Therefore, those who are born with greater gifts – superior judgment, and a readier 10 11 wit, a keenness to excel – owe their gifts to God’s grace, says Calvin. If one person is to show more excellence, it is to show God’s grace, says Calvin. “Special grace is a special endowment of capacity, virtue, or heroism by which a man is fitted to serve the divine purpose in this world, while himself may remain in the common state of human depravity.” [Cf. II. Iii. 4] This view is also taught elsewhere, such as in Homer’s Odyssey, where it is said that men are to excel in natural ability not only as Jupiter has bestowed it upon each, but as he leads them day by day. It is also the case that a man may be ingenious one day and struck dumb the next, as a testament to God’s hand at work. “He takes understanding away from the prudent [cf. Job 12:20] and makes them wander in trackless wastes.” [Job 12:24; cf. Ps. 107:40] So incomprehensible are God’s mysteries, such as taking away understanding from the prudent, or God’s wrath over man even though through man’s unrighteousness God is glorified, that Calvin reminds us that “if we desire to become capable of understanding them, we must especially labor to become freed from our own reason and to give up to ourselves, and unreservedly to submit to his word.” [Commentary on Romans] Man’s knowledge of God is God’s own work The faculty to understand God is not a common endowment of nature. Only a person who is by the Holy Spirit knows God. Only a person whose mind is illumined by God can become spiritually wise. The apostle Paul also says that “no can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” In John 3, we read these words: “No one can receive anything except what is given him from above.” [Institutes Pg. 278] Even 11 12 Moses, in his reproach to the Israelites for their forgetfulness and irreverence says that no one can become wise in God’s mysteries except by his gift. In Deut., he says: “Your eyes saw those signs and great wonders; but the Lord has not give you a heart to understand, or ears to hears, or eyes to see.” [Institutes Pg. 279] All these verses underscore that man, left to his own reasoning, can never achieve true knowledge of God or have the wisdom to even conceive God and what is God’s. This position has to accept the belief that man has been corrupted by sin. By his very nature, man is in a state of sin. This does not flow that God implanted sin from the beginning. Rather that sin is an adventitious quality that comes upon man. It is natural, however, because it is not by man’s accord or bad conduct. [Institutes Pg. 254] If we hold true to this position, then nothing can be credited to man, how much more the knowledge of God. 12 13 13