Calvin's war on the Catholic Church

Almost 500 years ago John Calvin led the most cataclysmic revolution in the history of Christendom. Could it be that the organisation which today most closely reflects Calvin's vision is the church he sought to destroy?

If so, who would be more shocked? Sixteenth century Roman Catholics or Calvin himself?

John Calvin was born in July 1509, 500 years ago this month. He abandoned the Catholic Church in his teens and fought it for the rest of his 54 years. He provided most of the theological fuel for the fires of the Protestant Reformation sparked earlier by Martin Luther.

In at least eight important respects the Catholic Church today manifests the French theologian’s teaching as emphatically as - if not more than - the Protestant churches founded on his precepts.

The Vatican’s strict moral teaching would cause John Calvin’s usually stern visage to radiate with joy. Calvin compiled long lists of forbidden behaviour, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, drinking and gambling.

Calvin affirmed support for refugees and other disadvantaged groups. He would heartily endorse the work of Catholic agencies assisting the poor.

Calvin resoundingly supported excommunicating heretics. Even death sentences he defended as necessary to honour God. He insisted that “we spare not kin, nor blood of any, and forget all humanity when the matter is to combat for His glory”.

He would be aghast at the wishy-washy Uniting Church in Australia - an amalgam of the Calvinist Presbyterian and Methodist churches - for its appalling tolerance of sacrilege in the name of inclusivism and diversity. The Vatican’s inquisition, now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, would warm his heart.

In these three areas - strict morality, aiding the poor and official exclusions - there was probably never much conflict between Calvin and the Catholic heirarchy.

But in five other areas it can be argued that the Vatican has come around to Calvin's position.

Central to his theology were beliefs that God is alive and active in history, that sinful humanity is in need of redemption and that this is found through repentance and faith in God’s son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, this theology dates back to Augustine. But the church in the 1500s had moved well away from proclaiming this. It had drifted towards salvation via rituals, pilgrimages, relics and cash payments.

Today, no denomination defends the fundamentals of Calvin’s theology of salvation more energetically than the Catholics.

Calvin was profoundly committed to scholarship. He believed faith was sustained by diligent Bible study, using the best research tools available. He studied Hebrew, Latin and Greek at an early age and wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible. The Catholic Church encourages scholarship today.

Calvin established schools for children throughout Geneva, where he lived for most of his adult life. He made Bible study a central subject and attendance compulsory. Some claim Calvin’s catechism for children is his greatest work. He would admire the Catholic education network worldwide.

Calvin was among the first theologians to admit that while Scripture is reliable on matters of faith, it may not be so on science. “He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere,” he wrote.

Perhaps his greatest reform was to separate church and state. The Protestant revolution was certainly about theology. But it was also about democracy. The invitation to Calvin to teach at Geneva in 1536 was motivated largely by the fledgling Protestant community's desire to replace the Catholic prince-bishop with an elected council, as had happened elsewhere in Europe.

Most Catholics today accept Calvin’s view that the civil and church authorities should be separate, but that civil power should be exercised according to godly values.

If it can be argued that Calvin won these battles, it is clear he has lost some as well.

He disapproved of drinking, dancing and musical instruments and sought to abolish taverns, theatres, holidays and celebrations. Only a tiny religious fringe practices such puritanism today.

Calvin’s doctrine of predestination has been highly contentious for 500 years. “Some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that His name may be glorified in their destruction,” he proclaimed in his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion. Few today, even in Calvinist churches, accept this dogma in its entirety.

In other areas, the tussle over Calvin’s ideas continues.

Calvin was critical of ceremonies and sacraments which he believed hindered rather than encouraged reverence. He claimed Scripture allows just two sacraments - baptism and communion.

The roles of ministers of the church he drew from the New Testament. Here he found pastors, teachers, elders and deacons. But not priests, bishops or popes. Celibacy, he believed, had basis in neither Scripture nor reason.

All ministers were to be popularly appointed - elders by the lay city council and deacons by the congregation. He rejected papal primacy and infallibility. To him, the Church was the body of believers who placed Christ at its head. So, by definition, the Catholic Church could not be the universal Christian Church.

The Bible was the only source of God’s truth. (He argued passionately for this using the authority of the early church fathers.)

These remain under discussion within the Catholic community and beyond. Will Calvin eventually win these arguments too? Perhaps in another 500 years.