A very rough guide to Calvin's theology: Resurrection

The location of the Reformer's treatment of the resurrection within the structure of the Institutes is important. The chapter on the resurrection is found at the end of Book III, which constitutes a massive exposition of, "The mode of obtaining the grace of Christ. The benefits it confers and the effects resulting from it." According to Calvin, the resurrection hope is the grand fulfilment of salvation in Christ. The goal of God's redemptive work is that the elect are conformed to the image of the risen, glorified Jesus. In placing his treatment of the resurrection at this point in the Institutes, Calvin emphasises that the resurrection of the body is the crowning benefit that believers will receive from the grace of Christ. This is "the prize of our high calling" (III:25:1.)

For Calvin, the resurrection of the body is a deeply practical doctrine. The Lord Jesus has conquered death. Even now, believers sit with him in the heavenly places. In the midst of life's trials and difficulties, we are to attend to the great Christian hope that, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory."(Colossians 3:4). This hope will steel us to stand firm in the faith, steadfast to the end. We are raise our eyes from the passing things of this life and to fix them on the risen Christ. Reflection on the resurrection hope is absolutely vital for growth in godliness,

"Wherefore, he alone has made solid progress in the gospel who has acquired the habit of meditating continually on a blessed resurrection." (III:25:1).

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body

For ease of reference, here are links to the seven part series on Calvin and the resurrection of the body:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Unknown to the Philosophers

Part 3: Christ as the model and dynamic of the resurrection

Part 4: The historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection

Part 5: The nature of the resurrection body

Part 6: The intermediate state

Part 7: The resurrection of the wicked & concluding reflections

Whole series: John Calvin and the resurrection of the body

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (7)

The Resurrection of the Wicked & Concluding Reflections

This series on John Calvin and the resurrection of the body has been on hold since about this time last year, so I thought that it was about time to wrap things up. (All quotes from The Institutes of the Christian Religion Book III:XXV - see here).

The Resurrection of the wicked

Following the emphasis of Scripture itself, Calvin gives greatest attention to the resurrection of the believer. But he does not neglect to say something on the resurrection of the wicked. He addresses the question, "How can the resurrection, which is a special benefit of Christ, be common to the ungodly, who are lying under the curse of God?" (III:XXV:9). In Adam all died. Does the promise of resurrection mean that all will be indiscriminately raised to life? Calvin regards such a universalistic option as "incongruous". He draws attention to the witness of Scripture on this matter. Christ will divide the sheep from the goats, Matthew 25:32. God in his common grace showers his blessings upon the righteous and wicked alike in this life. But this does not mean that they will share the same eternal destiny. The Reformer alludes to Paul's reaching in Romans 1:18-21, to argue that the wicked will be rendered all the more inexcusable and receive greater damnation for stubbornly refusing to acknowledge God's goodness.

Calvin dismisses annihilationism - the idea that the wicked will snuffed out of existence at death. He anticipates the argument of Jonathan Edwards, that sin against the infinite majesty of God deserves and infinite and unending punishment,

"It ought not to seem in any respect more absurd that there is to be an adventitious resurrection of the ungodly which will drag them against their will before the tribunal of Christ, whom they now refuse to receive as their master and teacher. To be consumed by death would be a light punishment were they not, in order to the punishment of their rebellion, to be sisted before the Judge whom they have provoked to a vengeance without measure and without end." (III:XXV:9).

In the light of prominent Evangelicals such as John Stott and Philip Edgecumbe Huges flirting with annihilationism in the latter part of the 20th century, Calvin's words should be carefully weighed. The wicked sin in the body and they will suffer eternal, conscious punishment in their resurrected bodies. The Reformer dwells on the nature of that punishment,

"Moreover, as language cannot describe the severity of the divine vengeance on the reprobate, their pains and torments are figured to us by corporeal things, such as darkness, wailing and gnashing of teeth, inextinguishable fire, the ever-gnawing worm (Matthew 8:12, 22:13; Mark 9:43, Isaiah 66:24)." (III:XXV:12).

Is there a more than a figurative dimension to the "corporeal" or bodily aspect of the Bible's teaching? The wicked will be raised up bodily to suffer eternal punishment. This is too awful to contemplate. But it is part of the witness of Scripture which cannot be rejected simply because it we find it emotionally disturbing. We should be disturbed! Consideration of these things should make us ponder the terrible consequences of being alienated from God, both for ourselves and for others. Calvin conjures a terrible picture of the whole creation acting as an instrument of judgement upon the ungodly, "Next, all the creatures are the instruments of his judgment, so that those to whom the Lord will thus publicly manifest his anger will feel that heaven, and earth, and sea, all beings, animate and inanimate, are, as it were, inflamed with dire indignation against them, and armed for their destruction." (III:XXV:12). This is no mere linguistic extravagance, but a true prelude to the day of judgement. Calvin concludes with a thundering exhortation,

"Hence unhappy consciences find no rest, but are vexed and driven about by a dire whirlwind, feeling as if torn by an angry God, pierced through with deadly darts, terrified by his thunderbolts and crushed by the weight of his hand; so that it were easier to plunge into abysses and whirlpools than endure these terrors for a moment. How fearful, then, must it be to be thus beset throughout eternity! On this subject there is a memorable passage in the ninetieth Psalm: Although God by a mere look scatters all mortals, and brings them to nought, yet as his worshippers are more timid in this world, he urges them the more, that he may stimulate then, while burdened with the cross to press onward until he himself shall be all in all." (III:XXV:12).

Calvin certainly does not shy away from setting before us the biblical teaching on the resurrection of the wicked in all its sombre reality. But he does not make this the main point of his consideration of the resurrection of the body, "But although we are to hold, as already observed and as is contained in the celebrated confession of Paul to Felix, “That there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust,” (Acts 24:15); yet Scripture more frequently sets forth the resurrection as intended, along with celestial glory, for the children of God only: because, properly speaking, Christ comes not for the destruction, but for the salvation of the world: and, therefore, in the [Apostle's] Creed the life of blessedness only is mentioned." (III:XXV:9).

Concluding reflections

Over the course of this series we have considered the various features of Calvin's highly compressed and yet comprehensive teaching on the resurrection of the body as set out in the Institutes. There can be no doubt that the Reformer grasped the importance of the resurrection hope for the Christian faith. The believer's resurrection is rooted in his union with Christ. He provides the model and dynamic of his people's resurrection glory. We shall be raised like Christ by Christ. Reformed systematic theology has not always given the attention it should to the resurrection of Christ. In terms of the loci of systematics, it is usually the case that Christ's atonement is discussed, followed by consideration of the application of redemption. It is as if we could be saved by a dead Jesus. Richard Gaffin has done sterling work to redress the balance in a more biblical direction, especially in his Resurrection and Redemption, P&R, 1987, where he says, "Justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification all have a common redemptive-historical, resurrection-qualified origin and complexion. Further, as with Christ, so with believers, these are not distinct acts but different facets of a single act, in the case of the latter, the act of being raised with Christ, that is, being united to Christ as resurrected." (p. 136).

We have a lot to learn then, from Calvin's rich and helpful teaching on this subject. But beyond giving us some valuable theological insights, John Calvin directs us to the believer's ultimate hope - that we shall share in the glory of the risen Lord,

"Peter declares that the purpose for which believers are called is, that they may be “partakers of the divine nature,” (2 Peter 1:4). How so? Because “he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe,” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). If our Lord will share his glory, power, and righteousness, with the elect, nay, will give himself to be enjoyed by them; and what is better still, will, in a manner, become one with them, let us remember that every kind of happiness is herein included. But when we have made great progress in thus meditating, let us understand that if the conceptions of our minds be contrasted with the sublimity of the mystery, we are still halting at the very entrance." (III:XXV:10).

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (6)

The Intermediate State

Calvin devoted a lot of time to thinking about the soul and its properties. His first major piece of writing was Psycopannychia - on the immortality of the soul. But when he gave his attention to eschatology in the Institutes, (Book III, Chapter XXV), he kept his interest in the soul within bounds, devoting greater attention to the resurrection of the body. This is not to say that he failed to reflect on what will happen to the soul of the believer between death and the resurrection. (All quotes from III:XXV:6)

1. The Intermediate State

Calvin was concerned to address the idea that on death, the whole man perishes. In that case, the soul as well as the body would only rise again at the resurrection. The Reformer was not exactly keen on this proposal, which he described as, "a wicked curiosity". For Calvin, this was to "convert a spirit formed after the image of God, into an evanescent breath, which animates the body only during this fading life, and to reduce the temple of the Holy Spirit to nothing". In Calvin's construction, the soul is no mere life force. It is, "that part of ourselves in which the divinity is most Refulgent and the marks of immortality conspicuous." Its is the soul that distinguishes human beings from the lower animals.

Calvin quotes a number of Scriptures to show that the soul lives on after the death of the body,

"Thus Peter, in reference to his approaching death, says, “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle,” (2 Pet. 1:14). Paul, again, speaking of believers, after saying, “If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,” adds, “Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord,” (2 Cor. 5:1, 6). Did not the soul survive the body, how could it be present with the Lord on being separated from the body?"

He also appeals to the communion of the saints and the promise of Christ to the dying thief,

But an Apostle removes all doubt when he says that we go “to the spirits of just men made perfect,” (Heb. 12:23); by these words meaning, that we are associated with the holy patriarchs, who, even when dead, cultivate the same piety, so that we cannot be the members of Christ unless we unite with them. And did not the soul, when unclothed from the body, retain its essence, and be capable of beatific glory, our Savior would not have said to the thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise,” (Luke 23:43).

But Calvin does not wish to speculate about the intermediate state,

"Moreover, to pry curiously into their intermediate state is neither lawful nor expedient. Many greatly torment themselves with discussing what place they occupy, and whether or not they already enjoy celestial glory. It is foolish and rash to inquire into hidden things, farther than God permits us to know. Scripture, after telling that Christ is present with them, and receives them into paradise (John 12:32), and that they are comforted, while the souls of the reprobate suffer the torments which they have merited goes no farther. What teacher or doctor will reveal to us what God has concealed?"

It is "futile and inept" to inqure concerning the abode of the departed spirits of the godly as the dimension of the soul is not the same as the body. Calvin is admirably restrained in his account of the final state. He does not attempt to pry into that which is not revealed in Scripture. What we do know is that after death, the soul of the believer will live in the presence of Christ. Where the Reformer may be criticized is in his insistence that the human soul as distinct from the body is God's image bearer. Scripture simply does not recognise such a dichotomy. The image does not belong to one component of man's makeup. We are told that man as a complete psychosomatic unity was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). The soul and body are separable at death. But it is sin that caused this tragic anomaly. Also, as pointed out in a previous post in this series, in biblical terminology, the word "immortal" is never attributed to the human soul alone. When used of human beings, it always refers to the final, resurrected state (1 Corinthians 15:53&54). But we can agree with Calvin, that what Scripture says about the intermediate state is not given to foster unhealthy speculation. These things have been revealed to sustain believers in the face of death,

"Trusting to these clear proofs, let us doubt not, after the example of our Savior, to commend our spirits to God when we come to die, or after the example of Stephen, to commit ourselves to the protection of Christ, who, with good reason, is called “The Shepherd and Bishop” of our souls (Acts 7:59; 1 Pet. 2:25)."

2. The Final State

Despite his strong, almost Platonic emphasis on the "immortality of the soul", Calvin realised that the final state of the elect will not be disembodied bliss. He points us beyond death to the final resurrection hope that will be ushered in when Christ returns,

"Still, since Scripture uniformly enjoins us to look with expectation to the advent of Christ, and delays the crown of glory till that period, let us be contented with the limits divinely prescribed to us—viz. that the souls of the righteous, after their warfare is ended, obtain blessed rest where in joy they wait for the fruition of promised glory, and that thus the final result is suspended till Christ the Redeemer appear".

In popular evangelical eschatology, it is often the case that the intermediate state is given greater attention than the final resurrection state. Just look at a standard hymn book and you will probably find many more hymns on going to heaven after death than on resurrection glory. But the intermediate state is just that; intermediate. It is not final or ultimate. Calvin's eschatology, as it unfolds in the Institutes helps us to redress the balance. He rightly focused almost all his attention on the resurrection of the body. In doing so, Calvin captured the overwhelming emphasis of Scripture. Yes, Christians will go to heaven when they die, but after death, we shall be raised immortal and made like our glorious, risen Lord Jesus.

The Westminster Larger Catechism gives a helpful summary of the biblical teaching,

Question 86: What is the communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death?

Answer: The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their souls. Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

In the next post in this series, we will look at what Calvin has to say on the resurrection of the wicked.

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (5)

The nature of the resurrection body

1. The God who raises the dead

For Calvin, there are two basic grounds for believing in the resurrection of the body: the historical resurrection of Christ and the power of God. (Institutes III:XXV:3). In Part 3, we looked at Calvin's teaching on Christ as the model and dynamic of the resurrection. See Part 4 for Calvin on the historicity of the empty tomb. Now we turn to what Calvin had to say on resurrection and the power of God and the nature of the resurrection body.

"We have said that in proving the resurrection our thoughts must be directed to the immense power of God." (III:XXV:4, and so for all quotes in this section). Interestingly, the first instance that Calvin gives of God's power to raise the dead is attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He quotes Paul's words about Jesus that he, "shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working of that mighty power whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Philippians 3:21).

The resurrection of the body is not something that happens within the normal natural order. It is "an inestimable miracle, which by its magnitude absorbs our senses." There are analogies of the resurrection in nature. Paul makes the comparison with a "dead" seed that when sown in the ground produces a living crop (1 Corinthians 15:36). If we were attentive enough to see them, the wonders of the created order make belief in the resurrection of the body seem less unlikely. But they are not sufficient in themselves to convince us that our dead bodies will rise again, "let us remember that none is truly persuaded of the future resurrection save he who, carried away with admiration, gives God the glory."

Calvin cites several Old Testament texts that demonstrate the conviction that God raises the dead: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, ye who dwell in the dust" (Isaiah 26:19). In God's hands are "the issues from death" (Psalm 73:20). The famous text in Job 19:25-27 is quoted as an example of the afflicted man's trust in the resurrection power of God. Calvin alludes to Ezekiel 37, which promises national restoration for the Jews using the metaphor of resurrection. He comments, "Though under that figure [of the enfleshment of the dry bones] he encourages the people to hope for return, yet the ground of hope is taken from the resurrection, as it is the special type of all deliverances which believers experience in the world."

In the New Testament, the Reformer refers us to the words of Jesus who said, "marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth" (John 5:28 & 29). We are encouraged amid all our conflicts and trials to "exult after" the example of Paul's resurrection hope that Jesus shall "come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe" (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

So, although belief in the resurrection is not inherently unlikely given the wonders of creation, this hope is based on the power of God revealed in the Gospel. Natural theology has its limits.

2. This mortal shall put on immortality

Calvin addresses "the monstrous error of those who imagine that the soul, instead of resuming the body with which it is now clothed, will obtain a new and different body." (III:XXV:7, and so for all quotes in this section unless otherwise stated). He especially had the Manichees in his sights. They held that it is impossible that impure flesh should rise again. Calvin objected that the soul is also tainted by impurity, but this does not exclude it from the hope of heavenly life. The Manichees were dualists. They held to the "delirious dream" that the flesh is naturally impure, having been created by the devil. Calvin however saw that God created human beings with bodies as well as souls (see Part 2). For all his belief in the total depravity of fallen humanity, the reformer taught that human beings are redeemable,

"I only maintain, that nothing in us at present, which is unworthy of heaven, is any obstacle to the resurrection".

This is how Calvin responds to the idea that the resurrection body will be different from the present body:

First, Calvin argues that salvation includes the body. That is why believers are exhorted to purify themselves from "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Corinthians 7:1). According to Paul, the life of Jesus is manifest in our body. The body as well as the soul is subject to the sanctifying work of God (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Calvin comments,

"He says 'body' as well as 'spirit and soul', and no wonder; for it were most absurd that bodies which God has dedicated to himself as temples should fall into corruption without hope of resurrection. What? are they not also the members of Christ?"

These apostolic injunctions to a holy life in the body stand against Manichean flesh/spirit dualism. The body as well as the soul of the believer is united to Christ. The complete human being is saved by grace.

Second, the idea that we are given new bodies at the resurrection is contradicted by Scripture. Calvin appeals to Paul's teaching that "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53). This suggests that our present bodies will put on incorruption and immortality. Calvin asks, "If God formed new bodies, where would be this change of quality?" In addition, according to the Scriptures, we have sinned in the body and we must give an account of ourselves to God in the body. This would be a fiction if new bodies were given at the resurrection.

Third, if entirely new bodies were given, this would undermine the believer's conformity to Christ's own resurrection. For Calvin with his strong grasp of the central importance of union with Christ, this is inconceivable,

"if we are to receive new bodies, where will the conformity to the Head and the members? Christ rose again. Was it by forming a new body? Nay, he had foretold, "Destroy this body and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19) The mortal body which he had formerly carried he again received; for it would not have availed us much if a new body had been substituted, and that which had been offered in expiatory sacrifice been destroyed. We must, therefore, attend to that connection which the Apostle celebrates, that we rise because Christ rose (1 Corinthians 15:12); nothing being less probable than that the flesh in which we bear about the dying of Christ, shall have no share in the resurrection of Christ".

Fourth, believers suffer for Christ in the body. It is unthinkable that their bodies which are united to Christ should miss out on the glories of everlasting life, "As it is true, 'That we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God,' (Acts 14:22); so it were unreasonable that this entrance should be denied to the bodies which God exercises under the banner of the cross and adorns with the palm of victory." (III:XXV:8 and for quote below).

Finally, Calvin returns to the power of God. We should not baulk at the hope of the resurrection of the dead because all things are possible with the Lord,

"The corruptible body, therefore, in order that we may be raised, will not perish or vanish away, but, divested of corruption, will be clothed with incorruption. Since God has all the elements at his disposal, no difficulty can prevent him from commanding the earth, the fire, and the water, to give up what they seem to have destroyed".

3. The redemption of the body

Calvin has made some helpful points here. God does not abandon what he has made. He saves us from sin without destroying what we are. Our bodies are not inherently evil. God is able to rescue the body as well as the soul from sin and its devastating effects. Our lowly, fallen, mortal bodies will be raised up and transformed into the image of Christ's glorious resurrection body. In the light of this resurrection hope, we are to devote the whole of our being to holiness in the Lord. Unlike Manichean dualism, the Bible's resurrection hope is fundamentally life affirming. We do not long to be rid of the flesh, but to have our bodies renewed perfected in Christ-like splendour.

In the next post in this series, I hope to look at Calvin on the intermediate state.

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (4)

The historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection

This series began before the summer holidays. I hope to complete it over the next few weeks. In many modern treatments of the resurrection of Christ, the historicity of the resurrection event is what dominates the writer's concerns. This is understandable in the light of modern day sceptical thought and the impact of Liberal theology. (See The Meaning of Jesus by N.T. Wright & Marcus Borg, 1999, SPCK, Part IV, for a dialogue between liberal and conservative scholarship on the historicity of Jesus' bodily resurrection). Calvin however, was pre-modern and his priorities were not necessarily the same as ours. His main aim was to unpack the meaning and significance of the resurrection of Christ, not to defend its historical basis. But this does not mean that the Reformer was uninterested in historical issues. He was aware of "scoffers" who derided the Bible's resurrection accounts. Calvin wanted to show that Scripture acts as a strong and coherent witness to the resurrection. His primary goal seems to have been confirming the faith of believers rather than refuting the sceptics as an end in itself. (All quotes are from Institutes III:XXV:3).

"But least any question should be raised as to the resurrection of Christ on which ours is founded, we see how often and in what various ways he has borne testimony to it. Scoffing men will deride the narrative which is given by the Evangelist as a childish fable. For what importance will they attach to a message which timid women bring, and the disciples, almost dead with fear, afterwards confirm?"

Calvin explores several lines of evidence:

1. The testimony of Christ's followers

Why, asks Calvin, did not the risen Jesus appear publicly in the temple, or show himself to Pilate? The Lord seems to have used weak and infirm people as witnesses to the resurrection. But Calvin can see the "admirable providence of God" in all this. The women hurried to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning only to see that it was empty and to hear the angels tell them that Jesus had arisen from the dead. The apostles were not gullible fools who immediately believed the women's testimony. They took a lot of convincing that Jesus was alive. "How can we question the veracity of those who regarded what the women told them as a fable, until they saw the reality?"

2. The testimony of Pilate and the guards

The Governor may not have seen the risen Jesus, but he was given sufficient evidence that Jesus was alive. He posted a guard at Jesus' tomb, but his body went missing. The guards were bribed to spread a report that Jesus' disciples had stolen his body. But this is hardly credible. Are we to suppose that the disciples had the weapons, training and courage to mount an attack upon the guards and steal the body of Jesus? If this is what happened, why did not the soldiers call for help from the citizens of Jerusalem and apprehend the body-snatching disciples? Pilate knew what had really happened. In his desperate attempt at a cover-up, he unwittingly "put his signet to the resurrection of Christ, and the guards who were placed at the sepulchre by their silence and falsehood also became heralds of his resurrection." Even those who had no vested interest in proclaiming Jesus' resurrection bear witness to the fact.

3. The testimony of angels

This line of evidence will not convince the hardened sceptic, but Calvin was writing to confirm the faith of Christians who believed in the existence of angelic beings. Referring to the men in shining garments at Jesus empty tomb, Calvin writes, "Their celestial splendour plainly shows that they were not men but angels." The angels said to the women, "He is not here, but is risen." (Luke 24:6). Heaven-sent supernatural beings bore witness to Jesus' resurrection.

4. The resurrection appearances

Calvin writes, "Afterwards if any doubt still remained, Christ himself removed it." The apostles saw him frequently. They handled him and touched him. Their initial unbelief (eg. Thomas?) "is of no little avail in confirming our faith". In addition to appearing to them, the risen Christ spoke to the apostles concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of God and ascended to heaven before their eyes. But the apostles were not the only ones to whom Jesus appeared. Calvin appeals to Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that the risen Jesus was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once. This is an impressive array of witnesses to the event of Jesus' bodily resurrection.

5. The sending of the Holy Spirit

By this Jesus gave "a proof not only of life but also the promise of supreme power, as he foretold, 'It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you' (John 16:7). The fulfillment of this promise on the day of Pentecost serves as evidence that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead (cf Acts 2:32 & 33).

6. Appearances to Paul and Stephen

Even after his ascension, Jesus appeared to these two men. "Paul was not thrown down on the way by the power of a dead man, but felt that he whom he was opposing was possessed of sovereign authority. To Stephen he appeared for another purpose - viz. that he might overcome the fear of death by the certainty of life".

All these lines of evidence taken together are sufficient to convince people that Jesus rose from the dead. "To refuse assent to these numerous authentic proofs is not diffidence, but depraved and therefore infatuated obstinacy." The problem with rejection of the bodily resurrection of Jesus is not the lack of reliable evidence, but sinful unbelief.

While Calvin believed that people are convinced of the truth of Scripture (including the claims that Christ rose from the dead) primarily by the witness of the Spirit. This does not mean that he was unwilling to appeal to historical evidence to defend the reality of Jesus' bodily resurrection. This combination of the Spirit's witness to Scripture and appeal to historical proofs can be found in the Bible itself. In Luke's account, the disciples see the empty tomb and hear the women's eyewitness testimony to Jesus resurrection appearance. But what convinced them that Jesus rose from the dead was his own appearance to them personally. Luke notes that Jesus ate before them, demonstrating that he was no "ghost", but a real, embodied man. In addition to this, the Lord "opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45). It was only then that the disciples grasped the real significance of the resurrection event. Here is the combination of historical evidence, Scriptural testimony and the witness of the Spirit. Evidentialists who simply rest their case on the historical evidence need to take into account the necessity of the Spirit's witness to convince sinners that Jesus truly rose from the dead. Presuppositionalists should not baulk at presenting the historical evidence that Scripture gives for Jesus' resurrection. Of course, Calvin was not writing to address these concerns, but his method of reasoning has something to say to both evidentialist and presuppositionalist schools of thought. In his article on Presuppositional apologetics in New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, (IVP, 2006) John Frame argues that even presuppositionalists have to answer objections. Simply calling for faith in the resurrection of Jesus "because the Bible says so", without presenting the historical evidences for the resurrection is an inadequate apologetic strategy.

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (3)

Christ as the model and dynamic of the resurrection

As I mentioned in the previous post in this series, Calvin gives two main "proofs" for belief in the resurrection of the body - the example of Christ and the power of God. It is in this context (Institutes Book III:XXV) that we have Calvin's most sustained reflection on the resurrection of Christ in relation to the resurrection of the believer. But I also want to draw upon what Calvin says about the resurrection of Christ elsewhere in the Institutes (II:XVI:13 & 14).

1. The theological significance of Jesus' resurrection

According to Calvin, "Paul justly contends, that if Christ rise not the whole gospel is delusive and vain (1 Corinthians 15:13-17)" (III:XXV:3). He spells out just why this is in his earlier discussion of the resurrection of Christ. This is set in a chapter on the redeeming work of Christ. After focusing on on the atonement Calvin says, "Next follows the resurrection of the dead, without which all that has hitherto been said would be defective." (II:XVI:13). He makes it clear that we are not saved by the death of Christ alone. His resurrection from the dead is essential for our salvation,

"Hence, although in his death we have an effectual completion of salvation, because by it we are reconciled to God, satisfaction is given to his justice, the curse removed and the penalty paid; still it is not by his death, but by his resurrection that we are said to be begotten again to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3); because, as he, by rising again became victorious over death, so the victory of our faith consists only in his resurrection." (II:XVI:13).

It is also by Christ's resurrection from the dead that we are justified. Calvin quotes from Romans 4:25, "Who [Christ] was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification" and comments,

"By his death sin was taken away, by his resurrection righteousness was renewed and restored. For how could he by dying have freed us from death, if he had yielded to its power? How could he have obtained the victory for us, if he had fallen in the contest? Our salvation may thus be divided between the death and resurrection of Christ: by the former, sin was abolished and death annihilated; by the latter, righteousness was restored and life revived, the power and efficacy of the former [the cross] being still bestowed upon us by the latter [the resurrection]." (II:XVI:13).

This inseparable link between the death and resurrection of Christ enables Calvin to say,

"Let us remember, therefore, that when death only is mentioned [in Scripture], everything peculiar to the resurrection is at the same time included, and that there is a like synechdote in the term resurrection, as often as it is used apart from death, everything peculiar to death also being included." (II:XVI:3).

In this same section, Calvin quotes from Romans 6:4 and Colossians 3:1 to show that believers are able to mortify the flesh and set their minds on heavenly things only because they have been united to the risen Christ.

In addition, the Reformer notes that the resurrection of Christ disclosed his divine identity,

"Paul accordingly affirms, that he was declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection (Romans 1:4), because he then fully displayed that heavenly power which is both a bright mirror and of his divinity , and a sure support of our faith; as he also elsewhere teaches, that 'though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of God' (2 Corinthians 13:4)." (II:XVI:13).

Reformed scholars such as Richard Gaffin have given fresh attention to salvific value of Christ's resurrection. Gaffin writes,

"We have found that the resurrection is Christ is the pivotal factor in the whole of the apostle's soteriological teaching. Not only is the resurrection (as it is constitutive of the ascension and heavenly session) the climax of the redemptive history of Christ; it is also that from which the individual believer's experience of redemption derives in its specific and distinguishing character and in all aspects of its inexhaustible fullness". (Resurrection and Redemption, P&R, 1987 second edition, p. 135.)

This emphasis has perhaps been downplayed in traditional Reformed systematic theologies (see here). In such works the tendency is to progress from the cross of Christ to the application of salvation without taking the resurrection into account. It may be true that when we speak of the cross we also include the resurrection. But the New Testament insists that we should explicitly recognise the distinctive contribution of Christ's resurrection to the process of salvation. Calvin's insights on this matter help to redress the biblical balance. The resurrection of Jesus, was of great theological importance for Calvin. We cannot be saved apart from the the resurrection of Christ. His resurrection power is a bright mirror that reflects his divinity as the Son of God. It is the risen Christ who ascended to claim his throne as the world's true Lord,

"For although Christ, by rising again, began fully to display his glory and virtue. having laid aside the abject and ignoble condition of a mortal life, and the ignominy of the cross, yet it was only by his ascension to heaven that his reign truly commenced." (II:XVI:14).

2. Union with Christ and the future resurrection of the believer

Believers are already raised with Christ to the new life of holiness. This union with him also guarantees the future bodily resurrection of the faithful. Calvin writes with deep insight into Paul's teaching on resurrection and union with Christ,

"Therefore, whenever the subject of the resurrection is considered, let us think of the case of our Saviour, who, having completed his mortal course in our nature which he had assumed obtained immortality, and is now the pledge of our future resurrection...It is not lawful, it is not even possible, to separate him from us, without dividing him. Hence Paul's argument, 'If there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen' (1 Corinthians 15:13); for he assumes it as an acknowledged principle, that when Christ was subjected to death and by rising gained a victory over death, it was not on his own account, but in the Head was begun what must necessarily be fulfilled in the members, according to the degree and order of each." (II:XXV:3).

Christ is presented as the model and guarantee of the believer's resurrection in order to encourage the faithful in the midst of the trials and difficulties of this life. We need to consider that,

"God did not raise up his Son from death to give an isolated specimen of his mighty power, but that the Spirit exerts the same efficacy in regard to them that believe; and accordingly Paul says, that the Spirit when he dwells in us is life, because the end for which he was given is to quicken our mortal body (Romans 8:10, 11, Colossians 3:4)." (III:XXV:3).

Calvin was aware that he had simply glanced at subjects that could have been treated at greater length. But his concern was to say just enough to build up the faith of his readers. He wants to assure us that,

"Christ rose again, that he might have us as partakers with him of the future life. He was raised up by the Father, inasmuch as he was Head of the Church, from which he cannot possibly be dissevered. He was raised up by the power of the Spirit, who also in us performs the office of quickening. In fine, he was raised up to be the resurrection and the life. But as we have said, that in this mirror we behold a living image of the resurrection, so it furnishes a sure evidence to support our minds, provided we faint not, nor grow weary at the long delay, because it is not ours to measure the periods of time at our pleasure; but to rest patiently till God in his own time renew the kingdom." (II:XXV:3).

3 Conclusion

So, for Calvin the resurrection of Christ was a key event in redemption history, without which there could be no salvation from sin and death. The Reformer was deeply aware of the trinitarian structure of the resurrection hope. The Father raised up his Son by the work of the Spirit. The same Father will raise up believers by his Spirit, that we may share in the resurrection glory of the Son. Calvin clearly grasped the importance of union with Christ in relation to the resurrection of believers. By virtue of their union with Christ, Christians have been raised with him to newness of life. Also, believers have been justified by Jesus' resurrection. The atoning work of Christ is made effective by his risen power. As far as the future is concerned, our bodily resurrection is an absolute certainty. We, as members of Christ's body will inevitably share in the risen glory of our Lord.

In the next post, I hope to discuss Calvin's teaching on the historicity of Christ's resurrection. Also we will look at Calvin's second "proof" for believing in bodily resurrection - the power of God.

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (2)

Unknown to the Philosophers

(John Calvin, portrait by Titian)

Calvin was willing to make use of the insights of the philosophers in developing his doctrine of the human soul. He was especially willing to draw upon Plato's teaching on the soul's immortality. (See John Calvin's Ideas by Paul Helm, Oxford, 2006 paperback edition. Helm devotes a chapter to The Soul and discusses Calvin's use of philosophy in his doctrine of man). Plato may even have speculated that man's chief good is to be united with God. But he did not expect that this would involve being united to God as resurrected human beings. Calvin says,

"It is difficult to believe that after our bodies have been consumed with rottenness, they will rise again at their appointed time. And hence, while many of the philosophers maintained the immortality of the soul, few of them assented to the resurrection of the body." (III:XXV:3).

N. T. Wright devotes a lot of attention to pagan views of the afterlife in his The Resurrection of the Son of God and concludes,

"The great majority of the ancients believed in life after death; many of them developed complex and fascinating beliefs about it and practices in relation to it; but, other than within Judaism and Christianity, they did not believe in resurrection. 'Resurrection' denoted new embodied life which would follow whatever 'life after death' there might be. 'Resurrection' was, by definition, not the existence into which someone might (or might not) go immediately upon death; it was not a disembodied 'heavenly' life; it was a further stage, out beyond all that. It was not a redescription or redefinition of death. It was death's reversal." (SPCK, 2003, p. 82 & 83).

No philosopher entertained that possibility. The resurrection hope is not the product of human reason, but divine revelation. However, the fact that bodily resurrection is a revealed truth does not mean that it is at all unreasonable. The philosophers were "inexcusable" for denying the resurrection hope (III:XXV:3). The problem is not that resurrection is an unlikely or foolish belief, but that human understanding has been darkened by sin. Calvin suggests that the burial of human remains is a testimony to a long lost belief in the resurrection of the body,

"But that this gross ignorance might be no excuse, unbelievers have always by natural instinct had an image of the resurrection before their eyes. For why the sacred and inviolable custom of burying, but that it might be the earnest of new life...But although that ceremony was without profit, yet it is useful to us if we prudently consider its end; because it is no feeble refutation of infidelity that all men agreed in professing what none of them believed." (III:XXV:5).

Calvin suggests two main grounds for believing in the resurrection of the body. First that the resurrection of Jesus is the model and dynamic of the believer's resurrection. Second the power of God (III:XXV:3). But a third reason is hinted at in III:XXV:2 - that by the the resurrection, God will restore what was lost in Adam due to the fall,

"For since Adam by his fall destroyed the proper order of nature, the creatures groan under the servitude to which they have been subjected through their sin; not that they are all endued with sense, but that they naturally long for the state of perfection to which they have fallen."

Calvin cites Romans 8:19 at this point and then draws upon the language of Romans 8:23 to describe the final advent of Christ as the believer's redemption "we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body".

Salvation will not be complete unless the body is redeemed. The philosophers, like Plato may have tended to view the physical side of human life as inherently evil and irredeemable, but the Bible teaches that God made man as a union of body and soul. Calvin reflects on this on Book I:XV. He can sound rather Platonic in his emphasis on the soul as "an immortal, though created essence" and the body as a "prison house" for the soul (I:XV:2). He thinks that God made the human body out of the dust of the ground to curb our pride "nothing being more absurd than that those should glory in their excellence who not only dwell in tabernacles of clay, but are themselves in part dust and ashes." (I:XV:1). The Reformer insists that the soul rather than the body is the seat of the image of God (I:XV:3). But he does not exclude the body altogether from man's identity as God's unique image bearer,

"An though the primary seat of the divine image was in the mind and the heart, or the soul and its powers, there was not part even of the body in which some rays of glory did not shine" (I:XV:4).

The human body, then is an essential and important aspect of our God-given humanity. The philosophers were mistaken in their estimation of the origin and destiny of man as a union of body and soul. For Calvin, God has acted in Christ to redeem created, yet fallen human life in its totality.

One feature of Calvin's teaching needs to be qualified and corrected. The Reformer's tendency to use the word "immortality" of the soul is regrettable. This gives his teaching a slightly Platonic flavour. It is true to say that the soul exists beyond death, but in Scripture "immortality" is used only of resurrected humanity (1 Corinthians 15:50-55). Calvin cites 2 Timothy 1:10 in a footnote to III:XXV:1,

"Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel"

It is through the gospel, not Plato that the true, Christ-defined meaning of immortality is brought to light. It is a pity that Calvin, who was usually so careful to put the Bible's teaching ahead of philosophical speculation did not pay more careful attention to Scripture at this point.

To sum up, Calvin argues that the resurrection hope was unknown to the philosophers because the fall has darkened human reason. The resurrection hope flows from the Bible's account of man's constitution as a psycho-physical being, the resurrection of Christ and the omnipotence of God.

In the next post in this series I hope to reflect on Calvin's teaching regarding Christ as the model and dynamic of the believer's resurrection.

John Calvin on the resurrection of the body (1)

Introduction

Reformed dogmatics has often failed to give due attention to the meaning and significance of the resurrection of Jesus. (See this earlier post for more details). While the Institutes is not a formal work of systematic theology, it is fair to say that Calvin's seminal work has had a huge effect on the development of Reformed theology. B. B. Warfield opined,

'As the fundamental treatise in the development in a truly evangelical theology, the Institutes' mission has stretched far beyond its own day. All subsequent attempts to state and defend that theology necessarily go back to it as their starting point, and its impress upon the history of evangelical thinking is ineffaceable'. (From back cover of the Henry Beveridge translation, 1993, Eerdmans).

It will be interesting then, to consider Calvin's discussion of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. What weight does he give to this subject? How does the Reformer understand the relationship between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believers? What does contemporary Reformed theology have to learn from Calvin on this matter? I hope to address such questions over the course of this series.

While Calvin makes reference to the resurrection of Christ at various points in the Institutes, he gives his most detailed attention to the subject in Book III:XXV, On the Last Resurrection. This really is a remarkable chapter. The Reformer covers a huge amount of ground in 17 pages. Many of the main arguments that are detailed in N.T. Wright's massive, 817 page The Resurrection of the Son of God, SPCK, 2003 are anticipated here in summary form. Now, 17 pages may not seem like a lot of space devoted to the resurrection in a work of over 1200 pages. But the relative importance of a doctrine to Calvin should not be measured only by the number of pages he devotes to that truth in the Institutes. We have to pay attention to what he says about the value of a doctrine not simply how long he takes to say it. The Institutes are not, as I say a systematic theology, where doctrines are (hopefully) given biblically proportionate attention. Calvin's magnum opus was an occasional work, written in the heat of the Reformation controversies. The Reformer concentrated his fire power where it was needed most. If a doctrine was at the centre of contemporary controversy such as justification by faith, he would spend more time explaining and defending it in detail. While Calvin deals with some of the controversial issues that surrounded the resurrection of the body, the doctrine was not the focus of theological argumentation in his day. This rather than anything else is the reason why the Reformer did not give a more space to discussing the resurrection hope.

It should be remembered that the Institutes is Calvin's attempt to set forth the theology of the Reformation using the framework of the Apostle's Creed. The creed, of course contains this affirmation: "I believe in.... the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting". Calvin wants to show that the Reformed movement is thoroughly biblical and orthodox on this fundamental article of faith.

The location of the Reformer's treatment of the resurrection within the structure of the Institutes is important. The chapter on the resurrection is found at the end of Book III, which constitutes a massive exposition of, "The mode of obtaining the grace of Christ. The benefits it confers and the effects resulting from it." According to Calvin, the resurrection hope is the grand fulfilment of salvation in Christ. The goal of God's redemptive work is that the elect are conformed to the image of the risen, glorified Jesus. In placing his treatment of the resurrection at this point in the Institutes, Calvin emphasises that the resurrection of the body is the crowning benefit and effect that believers receive from grace of Christ. This is "the prize of our high calling" (III:XXV:1.)

For Calvin, the resurrection of the body is a deeply practical doctrine. The Lord Jesus has conquered death. Even now, believers sit with him in the heavenly places. In the midst of life's trials and difficulties, we are to attend to the great Christian hope that, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory."(Colossians 3:4). This hope will steel us to stand firm in the faith, steadfast to the end. We are raise our eyes from the passing things of this life and to fix them on the risen Christ. Reflection on the resurrection hope is absolutely vital for growth in godliness,

"Wherefore, he alone has made solid progress in the gospel who has acquired the habit of meditating continually on a blessed resurrection." (III:XXV:1).