I'm playing along and listening to the podcasts. I know. I'm a religious geek.
After the first few, I'm struck by what a drama queen Calvin is. It reminds me of reading Paul. His rhetoric is injected with dramatic opposites... either you're this... or you're that. It's just not the way I see the world. I remember having the same reaction when I read the Institutes in seminary. It's just a rhetorical world that replete with polarities and dichotomies. It's not the world that I know. Opposites and dichotomies are mostly part of the rhetorical world, not the real world. The real world is full of continuums and inseparable mixtures.
Another observation about Calvin came to mind as I listened on a run this morning (after I got over thinking "brrrrrr"). A colleague of mine said that Calvin sees the world like a 23 year-old sees the world. It sounds like he's still trying to make up his mind about what's right and what he's supposed to be doing, so he tries to boost up his self-confidence by making it seem like he's really sure of himself. He sounds really sure of himself the way a 23 year-old does. He sounds sure of himself--probably masking the fact that he's not really all that sure of himself. Calvin wrote the first edition when he was 26.
If you're reading or listening to Calvin, let me know. If you want to confirm that I'm a geek for reading Calvin, let me know.
First, I have to laugh, because I thought I was crazy. I kept saying to myself, isnt his name John? I thought I had been lied to for a second. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOn to a serious note, I could not listen to the whole Podcast. I started Section 1.7.1-3 on Christian Religion, and got 1 minute in and stopped it. His opinion is so unflinching, so unforgiving. It is great to have such conviction, BUT to call anyone who does not belive the scriptures floated down on a cloud from heaven intact-"devoid of common sense" is ridiculous. That is a fact we must deal with-the fact that men wrote the bible, not God. I do not feel I am "mocking the Holy spirit" by seeing that. Just as God allowed man the free will to choose incorrectly thereby destroying Gods perfect Eden---it stands to reason God would also allow man to write the bible freely, which means all of the personal predjudices of the authors had to creep in a little. For John Calvin not to realize that, does speak to his naive heart.
Oh and yes you are a geek, but so am I
Quite honestly, reading Calvin, (which I had not done before) reminded me of watching the first five minutes of a Shakespeare play - I don't understand a word I'm hearing, until suddenly, I catch up with the language and the meaning. So, to speed up the process, I read the commentaries first, which I found enlightening and interesting, tying Calvin's relevance into the current day.
ReplyDeleteTHEN I went back to Calvin to pick up on his presentation. I don't know that he would be considered anymore emphatic or dogmatic than other scholars of his time - it would seem that the format would encourage an all or nothing kind of presentation - as if taking a side in a debate and selling it to make a point. All in all I found the reading fascinating, and plan to return to the site during the year. Good way to clear the cobwebs out during the winter months.
Quite honestly, reading Calvin, (which I had not done before) reminded me of watching the first five minutes of a Shakespeare play - I don't understand a word I'm hearing, until suddenly, I catch up with the language and the meaning. So, to speed up the process, I read the commentaries first, which I found enlightening and interesting, tying Calvin's relevance into the current day.
ReplyDeleteTHEN I went back to Calvin to pick up on his presentation. I don't know that he would be considered anymore emphatic or dogmatic than other scholars of his time - it would seem that the format would encourage an all or nothing kind of presentation - as if taking a side in a debate and selling it to make a point. All in all I found the reading fascinating, and plan to return to the site during the year. Good way to clear the cobwebs out during the winter months.