Calvin's Institutes

Fools' Knowledge

Timothy Miller '22

The Knowledge of God

True knowledge is more cutting edge than artificial intelligence. It is of more value than Bitcoin; it is more precious than a powerful search engine. How then do we acquire true knowledge, and what obscures it? In Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin answers this question by showing that partial knowledge of God is found through studying ourselves and the natural world; conversely, true knowledge of God is obscured by human attempts to visibly represent God. True knowledge exists in a paradox; true knowledge is found in the foolishness of preaching Christ crucified.

Knowledge through Self-Study

Calvin is renowned for his persistent focus on God’s glory. Therefore, it may come as a surprise that he believes knowledge of God can be apprehended through studying ourselves.^[1] Calvin provides at least two reasons for this assertion. First, self-study reveals that humans are not self-subsistent. They rely on external forces for life and being. One who acknowledges this dependency will be led to God, the source of life. Second, self-study reveals human depravity. Calvin is confident that “our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us, that in the Lord, and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom...We are accordingly urged by our own evils things to consider the good things of God.”^[2] In other words, the man who looks inward will find pollution and thereby be compelled to raise his thoughts to the righteous God. In this way, studying oneself can lead to a fuller knowledge of God.

Knowledge through Observation

Calvin believes that knowledge of God can be grasped through close observation of the created world, since the invisible God was made visible in the “elegant structure of the world.”^[3] Whoever, opens their eyes and observes the natural world cannot help but behold God. For Calvin, this imbues value in a liberal arts education because those pursuing liberal studies “are assisted and enabled to obtain a deeper insight into the secret workings of divine wisdom.”^[4] Yet, he also believes the Lord has equipped the most “illiterate peasant”^[5] with the ability to understand the “divine skill”^[6] evident in the heavens. Furthermore, all men can recognize that the human body bears the marks of an ingenious Creator^[7] because every person is “a factory where innumerable operations of God are carried on.”^[8] Calvin’s logic on observational knowledge provides two important lessons for those of us studying the liberal arts at Sattler College. First, the liberal arts are a valuable way of acquiring knowledge of God. These studies are an opportunity to probe the divine wisdom of God. Second, we should encourage everyone to look for the “elegant structure” in the world, even those who do not have the opportunity for liberal studies. The created world can lead men to a knowledge of God, but Calvin also warns of the danger of the creation leading men to a distorted knowledge of God.

Knowledge Obscured Through Images

The knowledge of God can be obscured by the creations of human hands. Calvin points out that fallen humanity is prone to fashion God according to their own imagination. He believes the Scriptures must define our conception of God. As he writes, “This exclusive definition, which we uniformly meet with in Scripture, annihilates every deity which men frame for themselves of their own accord—God himself being the only fit witness to himself.”^[9] In other words, only God can define Himself. Based on his reading of Scripture,^[10] Calvin argues that once a visible form is ascribed to God it corrupts His glory with a lie because it is a detestable invention of man.^[11] Therefore, he rejects the Catholic argument “‘that images are the books of the unlearned.’”^[12] He even asserts that everything respecting God learned from images is false.^[13] Instead, a Christian teacher should “do nothing more than state verbatim what the prophets taught.”^[14] Consequently, true knowledge of God is received “by the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments.”^[15] As is evident from this quote, Calvin’s vision for worship was a direct repudiation of medieval Catholic piety. Yet, an important question lingers. Did Calvin’s definition of God align verbatim with the fullest revelation of God, the incarnate Word? The knowledge of God is most perfectly contained in the uncreated Son of God.

The Foolishness of the Cross

The writer of Proverbs believes that knowledge is more valuable than pure gold.^[16] Calvin believed that knowledge of ourselves and the created world were of great value, but they were not the purest gold. Calvin rightly discerned that the highest knowledge of God was received through a paradox. The foolish assertion of salvation through faith in a crucified God-man. Every time the good news of His story is preached, wise and fool alike have the opportunity to behold the wonder of the crucifixion with their own eyes. A thousand wooden crosses or ten thousand skillful paintings cannot communicate the knowledge of one faithful gospel proclamation.^[17]

References

^[1] John Calvin, Institutes Of The Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge, 44.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid, 59

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Ibid.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid, 60.

^[9] Ibid, 96.

^[10] Calvin supports this claim from the Law, Prophets, Psalms, and the Apostles, 96–98.

^[11] Ibid, 96, 99.

^[12] Ibid. 99.

^[13] Ibid.

^[14] Ibid, 100.

^[15] Ibid, 101.

^[16] Proverbs 8:10

^[17] Calvin, Institutes, 101.