Calvin on the Role of the Magistrate

This continues my series on John Calvin's political theology

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Calvin divided political order into the magistrate, who rules the people by law; the laws, by which the magistrate rules the people; and the people, ruled legally by the magistrate. When these three elements work together harmoniously, they would create a healthy civil society, where all people could flourish. This visible, peaceful civil society would be both an expression of Christian piety, and an analogical witness to the gospel’s invisible, internal peace and harmony.

Contra the Anabaptists, Calvin affirmed the legitimacy of political office, going as far as to call it ‘the highest gift of his beneficence to preserve the safety of men’. God providentially raises up civil rulers as his ministers, carrying out God’s judgements. God gives this authority to the magistrates, not to feed their own lusts, but to serve him, though serving the people and enhancing the common good. While rulers are primarily accountable to God, because God invests them with authority for the people’s sake, not for their own, they should also consider themselves accountable to the people.

Godly rulers use the law to establish true religion and care for the people. They exhibit modesty, both in the pomp of their office, and in the burdens they put on the people, including tax. They establish wholesome civil behaviour, through achieving the right balance in promulgating and enforcing the law, avoiding both severity and undue clemency. Tyrants, in contrast, contradict the rightful relationships of magistrates, laws and people. Instead of using the law to serve the people and advance God’s kingdom, tyrants serve themselves, break the law, oppress the people, and often explicitly oppose God.