Monday, February 22, 2016

                                     “Of What Good is Fallen Human Nature and Will?”


They are like a traveler passing through a field at night who in a momentary lighting flash sees far and wide, but the sight vanishes so swiftly that he is plunged again into the darkness of night before he can even take a step, let alone be directed on his way by its help”  Book 2 Chapter 2:18

Calvin writes in these opening chapters that the original sin of Adam ruined what God had made good.  He writes in (2-1:8) “Original sin, therefore, seems to be a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of our soul, which first makes us liable to God’s wrath, then also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls ‘works of the flesh’.”  We are tainted.  We are sinful.  Sin was not our intended nature, but it is our derangement.  We have degenerated from our original condition.  Thus our human ‘nature’ and ‘will’ must always be corrupt. (2-1:10) 

Calvin also concurs with Augustine in (2-2:8) that the only ‘Free Will’ that we have is ‘a will that is free from righteousness’.  Calvin did not care for the term ‘Free Will’ and hoped that it would disappear from the lexicon of the Church   Calvin mentions that ‘Predestination’ which will come later on.

Calvin also did not think humanity was capable of much intellect on Spiritual matters because of our fallen nature.  (2-2:18) “This spiritual insight consist chiefly in three things: 1. Knowing God; 2. Knowing his fatherly favor in our behalf, in which salvation consist; 3. Knowing how to frame our life according to the rule of his law.  In the first two points, and especially in the second, the greatest geniuses are blinder than mole” 

At this point I said loud, “Calvin, writer of a four volume set on theology, many have said,  What the hell do you know?’”  

16 comments:

  1. Calvin, I think in his distress over so many misguided leaders and their followers sent the pendulum swinging a little too much in some areas. And so, if the only good thing in us is God. Then how can we have a good thought or idea or intellect without God. Therefore, the Light of the Lord shines on.
    What I observe, is that many who do not profess the Lord as their savior, deem all of their successes as fortunate, as a lucky strike, or as just a really great idea they came up with. The way I see some of the wonderful things that have occurred (and I am thinking of one particular person), has been of the Lord's grace and timing, and through maybe my prayers for this person. It is for me, a little hard when my prayers are targeted for this person, and the Lord provides without there being revelation in this persons' mind or heart. My praises are said, but what I see is self-pride from this person..
    And so, I think, maybe Calvin might be having a similar experience, and is making it all to clear that the one who is creating the opportunities, is none other than the Lord. Calvin is saying, do not make it yours.
    Thanks so much for your post!

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  2. I was surprised how Lane rather glossed over the whole free will issue which comprises a great part of chapter 2. Calvin speaks of it extensively, even though he purports, as you say, to avoid the term.

    Free will is a touchy subject for me. I am inclined to give freedom of choice the benefit of the doubt. Yes, Augustine grants it in a limited way where grace is present, which seems like no freedom at all. And yet, I think Augustine has a point, in that, without the presence of the grace of God we will surely make the wrong choice, perhaps because we see it as the right choice. If it sounds as though I am stumbling around waiting for a lightning flash to illumine this scene, then it may be because I am.

    I can see the logic behind 2.3.5, as Lane puts it, "The fall leads to a necessity of sinning. Fallen humanity has lost not the will, but a good will." So we do have will, but only a will to evil.

    If you have a lightning bolt to illumine this further, would be glad to be struck by it.

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    1. Oddly, Lane has written extensively about this subject elsewhere: http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/vox/vol12/calvin_lane.pdf. I'm going to pick it up in the podcast.

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    2. I actually agree with Calvin here in principle if indeed we buy into divine providence, then our only real "choice" is the choice not to follow the preordained path for humanity which, by definition, is sin. I think part of the problem here is that as Americans we so value the idea "freedom" and individuality that we are greatly offended when, as it seems, Calvin would challenge it. Taken out of the modern, individualistic construct, however, I see this as quite hopeful in that by following and listening to God we can carry forth his preordained mission.

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  3. One of the questions I always return to concerning free will is that of what God needs or requires (two different things) out of a relationship with humanity. Christ crucified is an elaborate gesture to make for an unimportant relationship, so I have to believe that God must have deep feelings for us as creation goes. But, to make us strictly adoring in nature would leave no victor in our choosing to pursue that relationship with God from our side.

    But, as Shirley Guthrie might point out, I’m probably looking at the question from the wrong perspective. Guthrie’s line that I love so much is, “Predestination or human freedom? No. Predestination and therefore human freedom”. For Guthrie, free will means freedom in Christ from the trappings of humanity, not freedom from the direction of God. We are born with such limited choices already – the most freedom we can hope for is freedom through Christ to look towards the Kingdom.

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    1. YEs - I clearly need to read Shirley Guthrie! Do you have a suggestion?

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  4. So Calvin seems to really be pushing our buttons on this one. His position on human beings is so dark and negative. Even infants are condemned because of the sin of Adam. (Anyone who has held an infant is typically moved to tears at God’s goodness and love in the world! We certainly don’t think the baby’s “whole nature is a seed of sin; hence it can be only hateful and abhorrent to God.” (Institutes, p.251) Calvin drives home that we are depraved and corrupt in our very nature. We were not created by God like this, yet this is our condition because of “original sin”. The only goodness in this stance is that it points to our desperate need for a Savior. If we weren’t in such a state, why would Christ have to die on a cross for us? Now that Christ has redeemed us, we have hope for the “good” life after we die. In the meantime, we are reminded of our brokenness and our inability to live perfectly. Any good choice we make, we must acknowledge God and the Holy Spirit for interceding with an act of grace. Any bad choice we make, no surprise here…our nature leads us to those bad choices. However, even with a bad choice, we are not off the hook. Natural Law gives us a conscience that helps us to know and distinguish between good and bad. I wonder if Calvin’s message is meant to “strip us of all confidence in our own ability, deprive us of all occasion for boasting, and lead us to submission.” (Institutes, p. 242)

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  5. Tim I believe not one of us would choose God. It is the Holy Spirit’s work in drawing us near towards the relationship with God that even allows us to have the ability to choose that relationship in the first place. I believe that God works through all situations for the best. Scripture is full of stories where if certain situations hadn’t happen the way that they did then the whole outcome of the human race would have been different. For example, Esau and Jacob. How quickly do read over passages that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and we forget about Esau. It was out of the deception of Jacob that God called a people and ultimately salvation for all. There are certain situations that I feel when we look back on them we realize that God worked through them and if they hadn’t have happened this particular way then nothing that was good would have happen. There are times that out of evil the very best things happen.

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    1. I have done a whole series of sermons on Jacob and Esau and yes Esau was cheated out of what belonged to him. However Jacob’s journey is no picnic because of his sin. He never sees his mother again. When they do finally reunite, Esau has been blessed by God in many ways. When Israel returns from the bondage of Egypt they are refused by the Edomite’s (Esau’s descendants) to pass through their land. Herod was an Edomite and Christ received no pardon from him. God’s plan for our salvation and God’s justice is beyond our understanding.

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  6. Tim, I think I get where you are going, and thanks for your summary and opening the discussion. One does have to wonder how Calvin managed to harvest the lightening flash into four volumes of theology since we are so depraved (himself included) as to know nothing. In a strange way, I think Calvin might actually allow for that. I have noticed a pattern and someone else commented on this in an earlier post. Calvin spends a great deal of time beating us down, then throws a bone, then beats us back down, and so forth. Ultimately, I think he wants us to understand that we need to think thoroughly about what we say and do before saying and doing it. Then he wants us to understand that all the credit goes to God if it happens to be the right thing to say and do. I think Calvin did think thoroughly over everything he wrote and then gave all the credit to God. He would probably be willing to listen to anyone who did the same. As Claire pointed out, though, he was probably surrounded by people who didn't. My favorite bone for this section was, "we see implanted in human nature some sort of desire to search out the truth to which man would not at all aspire if he had not already savored it." (2.2.12)

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    1. There is no man more pathetic than one who curses the dead who cannot answer him back. I fight Calvin's shadow, but he always wins. When the dust settles, I find myself more enlightened than I was before.

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  7. Tim, this opens us wide into Calvin’s thinking. But also created man was given greater authority over all things but man lost all of the authority through sin. Therefore sin overcame man and man became a slave to sin. By sin man goes into bondage from righteousness. Calvin stresses that by the sin, one is in “calamity, poverty, nakedness, and disgrace” and that whoever has knowledge of sin, has advanced knowledge of himself.

    Calvin assures us that the self awareness is important for there are many scripture passages that bring the depravity to God, “All ye who thirst, come to the waters” (Isaiah 55: 1), and many more. These indicate that God wants those who receive blessings to first be aware of their poverty in sin.

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  8. Ben I know you have great insight many problems arise for me with Calvin. How can we know anything of the good of God in our fallen state. Without the regeneration of the Holy spirit first how can we be aware of any poverty of sin?

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    1. Calvin tries to address this based simply around the idea that we are created good by good by God and then by choice have fallen. He claims however that there is in "human nature," what was implanted at creation, a small piece of goodness in humanity. I think Calvin stumbles a little over his own logic here but if God has a direction for humanity - a predestined plan, then even a man who does not know God has an overall essence of God's ultimate direction for humanity.

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  9. "From this it follows that he is so banished from the Kingdom of God that all qualities belonging to the blessed life of the soul have been extinguished in him, until he recovers them through the grace of regeneration. Among these are faith, love of God, charity toward neighbor, zeal for holiness and for righteousness." (2.2.12, pg 270). This speaks to me so much of God's love. Man was banished from the garden to protect us. We are now incapable of "good will". God, who can ONLY do good, show Himself to us through creation and the Holy Spirit, always calling us back to the life we were meant to live, and to our need for a Savior.
    The discussion of Esau and Jacob reminded me of something that I read recently. Make of list of the all of the "worst" things that have happened to you. Then make a list of all the "best" things that have happened to you. Most of the time, you will find them on both lists. That is nothing but God's grace!

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