Rehabilitation

So long as the Reformation was synonymous with a renewed vision for union with Christ, Rome could not sever the Reformers from the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church of which Christ is its head.

The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, by Matthew Barrett

Exiled from Geneva, Calvin’s reputation was at a low.  He was perceived to be divisive, stirring up schism within the Protestant church.  This played into the hands of Roman opponents, of course.  Calvin had to consider: was this the type of career he wished to pursue? 

In 1538, while in Basel then Strasbourg, he would write letter after letter to other Reformers, attempting to resurrect his reputation and clarify his intentions back in Geneva.  By this time, Farel left Calvin, and Bucer believed this was for the best.  Calvin should not team up with Farel going forward.  As long as Farel did not follow, Bucer invited Calvin to Strasbourg.

It was in Strasbourg – or more specifically, due to the care shown by Bucer – that Calvin would slowly rehabilitate his reputation.  Starting in the fall of 1538, Calvin began to preach to the other French protestant refugees in the city.  He would grow, under the guidance of Bucer and other experienced churchmen.  These mentors would soon enough become friends.

Yet none of them was as important as Bucer.  The man became Calvin’s spiritual father.

Despite Calvin’s previous failings, Bucer loved him like a son.

Calvin would also grow toward more ecumenism with fellow Protestants.  He did not have a positive impression of the Germans, but this would change when he spent time with Melanchthon.  Melanchthon had a cooperative disposition, and this was encouraging to Calvin.

Strasbourg, and Bucer in particular, had resurrected Calvin after a humiliating and possibly career-ending exile.

He was repositioned, thrust onto an international stage, giving him the opportunity to regain respect.  Bucer would teach him how to survive the fires of ministry without losing his cool or integrity. 

Calvin’s Institutes: a project with which he would be involved the rest of his life.  The first edition was published in 1536.  While positively received, it lacked development of several doctrines that would come to be seen as essential within the Reformed tradition, such as predestination and excommunication.

He would publish a second edition in 1539.  By this time, he learned a great deal from Melancthon’s example in the latter’s Loci Communes (“Common Places”).  Here, Calvin would address the apostle Paul’s treatment of sin, justification, the righteousness of Christ, the Holy Spirit, predestination, and the church. 

Where the earlier edition was geared toward the Christian, the 1539 edition was more intellectual and geared toward students.  Here he also wrote about baptism and covenant theology (as this would later be labeled).  Yet, his full definition of faith was still not settled by this time, and continued to evolve. 

Many editions would follow.  The 1543 edition would address the charge of schism, and offered a notable advance toward a Reformed ecclesiology as well.  The final Latin edition came out in 1559. 

Reformation-minded pastors received the Institutes with enthusiasm – it gave Reformed churches hope, demonstrating Reformation theology from Scripture.  With each edition, he found a growing readership.  In 1541, France prohibited citizens from reading or owning the Institutes.

Conclusion

The first edition of the Institutes included a prefatory address to Francis, the king of France.  The evangelicals were under attack, and they need an advocate and theological lawyer.  For this task, Calvin was well-suited.  Calvin wrote against the charge of novelty – that his was some new sect:

In the eyes of the king the French evangelicals were no different from Anabaptist schismatics and sectarians pedaling new ideas.

It was a charge that distressed Calvin.  The evangelicals were not set against the catholic fathers; besides contradicting Scripture, this was a most damning charge.  Calvin would write:

“If the contest were to be determined by patristic authority, the tide of victory – to put it very mildly – would turn to our side.”

It was the Roman Church that was guilty of perverting the patristic witness.  Calvin would outline a dozen then-current practices and doctrines that would demonstrate just such violation.  He would cite Chrysostom, Cyprian, Tertullian, and Augustine, among others. 

Further, the evangelicals were charged with lacking institutional credibility.  They had no pontiff, no apostolic see, no institution for ordination, etc.  Calvin would reply that Christ’s Church should be marked only by two things: the pure preaching of God’s Word, and the lawful administration of the sacraments.