Tuesday, April 12, 2016

27-The Authority of Church


We may need a little expectation management this week for Calvin’s work on the Authority of Church (especially if we want Calvin to speak as vivid as some of the previous subjects).  The bottom-line is that Calvin favors Church authority as long as Scripture supports the decisions that are being made.  Calvin has high regard for a few of the early church councils that were convened.  He also has low regard for a few of them that he names and proclaims that Jesus did not preside.  We can look at authority in a couple of different ways.  Local authorities may include building inspectors, law enforcement, and even fire fighters.  Lane asks the question:  What sort of Authority does the church have?

Calvin explains the answer in several ways.  He explains that authority can be found in individual bishops and in councils (provincial or general) of the church.  Calvin further breaks it down into doctrine, jurisdiction, and making laws.  He concedes that spiritual power is proper to the church.  Readers are alerted to a few warnings and then he makes a wonderful statement (what could be a relevant today as when it was written):  The power of the church is therefore to be not grudgingly manifested but yet to be kept within definite limits, that it may not be drawn hither and thither according to men’s whim (Institutes, 4.8.1).  If the churches look to the teaching as Jesus (the head teacher), the teachings will be sound.  If we look to the early church authority of Moses, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, even they were limited to speak the words that God gave them.  If we look to the apostles, we will see the same restriction.  Section five begins by telling us the principles of the past(this is really timeless), that servants should only teach what is learned through God.  God is revealed through Jesus Christ and the mysteries, signs, and teaching are to be learned through him  The Word indeed became flesh to reveal even more.  Calvin then points to the example of the Apostles.  They taught only what was revealed to them and held Jesus as their teacher.  Calvin gives sound words to the church universal, he uses the words of Paul:  Faith comes from what is heard, but what is heard comes from God’s Word (Rom. 10:17p.) (Institutes, 4.8.9).

Calvin is relatively calm when he discussed the councils (although he does have some colorful explanations of pastors).  There are early councils that Calvin embraces and reverence as holy such as Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus 1, and Chalcedon (Institutes, 4, 9.8).  There are others that he does not support.  Calvin tells us that not all pastors are teaching the word of God.   The biggest weakness of any council is the people who don’t seek the Word of God.  Calvin’s realizes it was a council of the church that decided to hand over Jesus. 

Does Calvin inspire you to be a part of a council of the church?  I think that Calvin seems almost reserved when he writes (compared to things like sin and human condition).  I think his reverence for councils is inspiring.

14 comments:

  1. Jerry, great post! I like to think that the reason Presbyterians have so many committees is because Calvin would have approved :) Seriously, though, I think Calvin was absolutely in support of councils if they ALWAYS based their decisions on the foundation of the Word (4.8.9) I thought another great point that Calvin stated briefly, but seems to be so important today, was in the first section (4.8.1). Calvin says that the power of the church, including the work of councils, should always be for the upbuilding of the church and never for the destruction. Never should we forget that we are servants of both God and each other. I should like to serve on any council where those rules prevail.

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    1. I was refreshed when I read that Calvin reinforced that the church was to uplift. Sometimes I think we get a little too legalistic.

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  2. Jerry excellent summary of Calvin's view on authority. To answer your question, I would like to serve on a governing body as long as scriptural teachings and Christ are the central points from which we learn. As I was reading these sections of Calvin, I was thinking "What would Calvin say regarding biblical interpretation?" How would that influence his use of scripture when it comes to authority? Does scriptural interpretation even impact Calvin's understanding of authority?

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    1. Richard, I too was concerned how Calvin instructs from scripture from his own point of view. For example when he writes that when Jesus told the Apostles in John that 'what you bind on earth will be bound and what you loosen on earth will be loosened", (Most commonly understood as the power of the Church to hold sinners accountable or to assure them of pardon.) Calvin says that was only for those gathered and not for all time. And Calvin knows this how? Because he says so?

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    2. I think we would have to take another class if we wanted all that Calvin would say about interpretation. I did receive a new to me "Calvin Commentary". The Calvin commentaries even many Scripture references and parallels in the back.

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    3. I can't disagree with you Tim. I wonder if Calvin mentioned the gathered because of his target audience. It would be an interesting discussion.

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    4. Calvin, Luther and other reformers believed that with the help of the Holy Spirit, they had the correct understanding of scripture. This is in part why the Evangelical and Reformed traditions could not ultimately agree on how scripture should be understood.

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  3. Thank you for your summary of this portion of Calvin's work.

    From this section of the Institutes, my mind was struck by the imperative of speaking with the authority and dignity of the Spirit.. and that the power is wholly given not to men(humanity) personally, but to the ministry they have been appointed- to the Word.
    During a ministry meeting, I was asked about the authority I held, I quickly stated, without thinking, that I had no authority. There was a silence in the group. Since this meeting, I have been reflecting and praying on the subject of authority. My thought had been that the authority comes not from me, which is what prompted my answer, but from Calvin, it is clear that there is authority in ministry... And from my time in CPE, I was reminded as an intern chaplain that I must take authority. And so, with your question of Council-Membership, I become hesitant. Is my hesitancy due to the reverence I hold for such leadership, which we also see in Calvin's reflections of what it means to be in leadership.
    Part of my feeling is there should be a certain amount of hesitancy and of reverence in leadership, in the authority we take and minister with. To be hesitant, is to take heed, and speak not from ourselves, but from the Word. After considering my thoughts of the authority I carry or .. do not carry, I am leaning on Calvin a bit, with the position of service from 4.3.3, with God's preference to use individuals as instruments. In this way I see myself more as a conduit of what the Spirit of God, of what Scripture shares with me in the ministry of the Church. Back, now around to your question :) To be a part of a Council, for me would require a strong element of the Lord's pressing me to do this, this is not something I feel led to do at this time.
    Thank you for bringing all of this to mind ..

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    1. You take an awesome and real approach to leadership and authority. These things are to be taken too lightly. I once told a person that I did not want to be a part of a committee because God had not called me. The response was that the person asking was a messenger. I smiled when we first read about intermediateries (yes, I do serve on that committee).

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  4. Nice Summary Jerry. The structure of the Presbyterian church, I think, is pretty much one council laid upon another. At the lowest level we have the congregation itself which meets at least annually in a congregational meeting. Then there is Session, then Presbytery, then the Synod and then the General assembly. Christ is head of the church. I would say merely by being a member of the church we are a member of a council. So, yes, I am comfortable being a member of a council on just about any level.

    No doubt councils make mistakes, but I think they tend to be less arbitrary than episcopal structures. As for authority of such structures I think that can be easily found in such places as Matt 9:28 when Christ tells the Apostles they will Judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

    I found an interesting exhortation on the subject of authority on a Canadian website written by Kyle Pope in 2006. http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-matthew-21-23.htm . He cites Matthew 21:23; Mark 11:28 & Luke 20:2.

    I think it may ask more questions than it answers. Nevertheless, it does give some direction to those seeking to understand the issue. Personally, I think much authority is implied in that famous passage at the end of Matthew (28:19), where Jesus tells his disciples to go out and make disciples of all nations.

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    1. I count always count on your for a well thought out reply. It never occurred to me that a congregation may be considered a council. We certainly have annual meeting of members, so I could see the connection. Thank you.

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  5. Great summary, Jerry. Yes I would serve on a council. I have had a very positive experience attending Session meetings for the past 5 years with our Senior Pastor and other staff. He is intentional about us “being the church” before we “do the business” of the church. We break bread together, pray and share for an hour each month before we go to our business meeting. During our meal from 6-7, we have Small Group discussions from questions that are usually attached to a book we are reading as a Session. The tricky part of this section for me is that the Word of God can be interpreted differently, by different readers. So even if authority belongs to Christ through his Word, it still isn’t black and white. I guess that’s where the grace and patience comes in.

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  6. I feel that we need to put people in positions of leadership that fit their interests and skill set. I find too often times church's are scrambling for last minute volunteers so they just get the first warm body that says Yes. This does a disservice to both the person and the team. Then some people stay on teams way to long. It doesn't matter if they roll off session or not, they still have the "elder" voice and people roll over to their every wish or desire. The church needs to get better at training and equipping the right people for service. Then the trickle down effect is that more people would want to lead, and feel used in a positive way.

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    1. Jeff,
      I agree with you here. The advantage to being the priesthood of all believers is that we are empowered to read and interpret the Bible. We are also called as part of the body of Christ to be active in councils and church bodies. This is so empowering. Yet, we are entering an age where, as you noted, we are willing to fill a council with any warm body. It is almost as if people are not empowered with the spirit and are seeking an easier faith (and perhaps) where they are told what to do. They don't want to be part of the team, they don't want to listen for the Holy Spirit, they don't want to work as part of the body of the church. I think this filters out into society as a whole. It seems that fewer people are really educating themselves on their political choices. Many of my students were more concerned about an "A" than actually learning anything.

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