Calvin's political theology

Political theology is the art of analysing human government – the state, the polis – through the lens of theology. It asks: what does God say about ordered human community in this world? How, according to God, may we create societies which maximise human flourishing? Evangelical political theology finds the answers through a Christ-centred understanding of the Bible.

I just handed in an essay on John Calvin's political theology, in his context in 16th century Geneva. Here's some of my thoughts.

John Calvin was never a ‘politician’ in the sense of holding public office. In Geneva, he was officially Lecturer in Holy Scripture, and for his whole life he saw himself as a pastor-teacher of God’s flock. His personal impact upon Geneva, and perhaps on the whole Protestant movement, was due mainly to his preaching. Calvin preached several times a week. His preaching was clear, simple, and rhetorically powerfully. Through it, he shaped the minds of the Genovese population and their leaders.

However, Calvin saw politics as a necessary aspect of godliness. Consistent with the medieval church, other magisterial reformers, and indeed most of history, he saw an ‘indissoluble link between religious faith and public order’. The ‘secular’ state was not a ‘faith-free zone’ – this is a modern, post-Enlightenment innovation. For Calvin, both church and state had been established by God, as distinct but coordinated jurisdictions, which serve God by establishing true piety. Even pagan philosophers founded their political philosophy upon theology and piety.

Calvin’s desire for a Godly, republican commonwealth stems from at least four sources: old testament Israel’s polity; classical Greco-Roman polity; existing European republicanism; and the medieval Catholic tradition of conciliar governance. He was trained as a lawyer, a training which included philosophy and theology as well as legal studies. Civil government was a major theme in his 1532 Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia. He sometimes preached in light of political incidents, eg: on November 4 and 11, 1545, Calvin preached on Psalms 115 and 124 in light of a military incident involving the Schmalkaldic League and a German Roman-Catholic duke. He wrote letters to politicians all across Europe, and dedicated commentaries to Protestant rulers: his commentary on the Epistles to Edward VI of England; his commentary on Isaiah to Elizabeth I; and his commentary on Hebrews to Sigismund, king of Poland.