conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

calvin and barth

I have been tippy-toeing through my final paper of late. I need to finish. I am struggling to get the pieces together for the initial draft. The pieces are there, but the struggle continues nonetheless.

So, I openend up Barth's exploration into John Calvin's theology and the chapter on "the order of the church" is thrilling. Really! This is how I know I am a church nerd.

Barth has an interesting read of Calvin. I am perhaps too charitable, but he reads Calvin to be quite harsh.

The question of frequent administration, however, was not Calvin's main concern. The "principal order" that ought to be introduced was as follows. The institution of the Lord's Supper had its aim the uniting of the members of Christ to their Head and their uniting among themselves as one body and spirit. [Here is where Barth reads harshness into Calvin or I read his humanism into him.] But thsi union must not be stained or besmirched by the participation of those whose evil lives declare that they do not belong to Jesus.

Barth reminds us of Calvin's interpretation of 1 Cor. 11:17-34 and Matthew 18:15-18. And, as much as I cannot believe I am saying this, Barth is missing out on something improtant about Calvin. He is not allowing Calvin to rest in the midst of his humanist roots.

I'll write about that next time.

Posted by tripp at July 22, 2004 03:39 PM