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123 - Calvin: Commentaries
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Calvin: Commentaries
Newly Translated and Edited by Joseph Haroutunian and L. P. Smith
414 pp. Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1958. $5.00.
This volume, number twenty-three in the "Library of Christian Classics," contains
unsigned introductory essays and fresh translations of the autobiographical sketch
from the dedication of the Commentary on the Psalms, Calvin's Preface to Olivetan's
New Testament, the dedicatory epistle from the Commentary on Romans, and selections
from many of in's commentaries. The major part of the book is taken up with exegetical
material.
The selections from the commentaries comprise nine chapters of the me and are
organized under the following heads: the Bible, the knowledge of God, the persons
and work of our Lord, Christian life, faith, providence, election and predestination,
ethics and the common life, and the Church. Haroutunian states that he had no
single principle of selection, but then mentions that he took what he liked
(cf. p. 14). This reviewer cannot help but wonder why he did not follow the
structure of the Institutes; for then he would have followed the structure
which Calvin himself considered important. In this case, there would have been
selections illustrating Calvin's sacramental teaching. It is most unfortunate
that there is nothing in this book on the Sacraments.
What has been selected, however, gives a clear indication of the power, depth,
and understanding of Calvin as an interpreter of Scripture. His humanistic training,
his extensive knowledge of patristic and medieval thought, his classical education,
and his own insights, are evident throughout the book. The commentaries are
the work of a real scholar: they are erudite but at the same time lucid.
The commentaries complement the Institutes. Many of the controversaries
which have racked and sometimes splintered the Reformed Churches could have been
avoided if the commentaries had been studied as assiduously as the Institutes.
The student who knows only the Insti-
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tutes does not have a complete picture of the theology of the French reformer.
Questions such as inspiration, natural theology, and predestination are dealt
with in another way in the exegetical works of Calvin, This is not to say
that there is any contradiction between the Institutes and the commentaries.
They must be taken together, however, to get a clear understanding of Calvin's
theology.
Furthermore, the commentaries complement the picture of the personality of Calvin.
Leaving on one side the misrepresentations which are rampant in the writings of
anti-Calvinists, it must be admitted that the reformer has not fared too well
at the hands of his friends. He is usually portrayed as a cold, legalistic lawyer
turned theologian. The commentaries, however, paint the picture of a pastor; of
a cleric concerned width the spiritual well-being of his people; of a teacher
striving to build up a congregation grounded on the will of God as revealed in
the Christ. But there is something else-a quality often denied in Calvin, namely,
humor. Haroutunian, whose studies in Calvin make him an authority, write thus:
"He can also make his point clear by an occasional flash of humor: 'The uproar
made by a fallen leaf,' the suggestion that he might wear a military uniform to
class, the comment on bracelets and nose rings or the asses' ears. Calvin was
never boisterous, but he certainly had wit and could be witty-a good but rare
quality in a commentator!" (p. 20). And, surely, the reformer's students at least
must have smiled on hearing his say: "When we say Christ is in heaven, we must
not imagine that He is somewhere among the cosmic spheres, counting the stars!"
And what can be said of Calvin's supposed austerity in the light of this statement:
"Although food is a proper provision for our bodily need, yet the legitimate use
of it goes beyond mere sustenance. For good flavors were not added to food value
without a purpose, but because our Heavenly Father wishes to give us pleasure
with the delicacies which he provides" (p. 349). Calvin was no Puritan in the
modern understanding of that term.
The translation is an outstanding piece of work. It reads smoothly, and contains
many modern phrases which convey Calvin's thought. There is nothing archaic about
this sentence, for example: "The servants of God should learn to measure their
own strength; when they greedily take on too many jobs, they may well crack up"
(p. 390). There is, however, one unfortunate mistranslation. ". . . nos ecclesiam.
credere . ." has been turned into ". . . we believe in the Church . . ." (p. 363).
Calvin, who took such great pains to distinguish between "believing the Church",
and "believing in the Church," and who affirmed that the particle in was
interpolated without any probable reason (cf. Institutes, IV. 1, ii), should
not be made to contradict himself in his commentaries. He does not,
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125 - Calvin: Commentaries |
of course. In both instances, in the Institutes and in Isaiah 54, he has
ecclesiam credere," not "in ecclesiam credere."
The selections from Calvin's writings are preceded by a General Introduction which
contains four scholarly essays on "Calvin as a Biblical Commentator." For students
of Calvin this introduction will be a source of much valuable information: some
of it is rather technical; all of it is useful. An exception must be taken, however,
to this statement: "The Commentaries were translated into English soon after they
were published the second half of the sixteenth century" (p. 15). Many of them
were, but a good number of them were not put into English until the middle the
nineteenth century (cf. the British Museum Catalogue). It also must be mentioned
that the use of the term "passage" in the footnotes on pp. 63 and 71 is ambiguous.
The title page of the book is misleading. The general reader would expect the
volume to contain Calvin's commentaries, since the title page reads Calvin:
Commentaries. The book contains selections from many Calvin's
commentaries. The title on the spine of this volume is even more curious. It is
"Calvin: Commentaries and Letters." But there only one letter in the whole book.
spite of these criticisms, which had to be made, this is an excellent piece of
scholarship. The purpose of the editors as set forth on p. 15 has been fulfilled:
"Our primary interest in preparing this volume has been to present Calvin as a
Biblical commentator with the hope that many will be induced to turn to the Commentaries
themselves in search of the light Calvin throws on the meaning of Scripture."
The editors hope will also be brought to fruition by those who study this book.
Walter G. Hards
Cathedral Church of the Incarnation
Baltimore, Maryland