The Legacy of John Calvin, Part Two

Dr. Lawson continued: Calvin put forward a Christian worldview, summed up as soli Deo gloria. See Romans 11:36. No man ever had a more profound view of God (per B. B. Warfield). He possessed zeal for the glory of God. A work ethic--all work is a calling from God. Prior to Calvin, a doctrine of vocation was reserved to apply to the clergy. Education--love God with all one's mind. In the Middle Ages, education was a valuable commodity in short supply. Even with the Renaissance education remained for the elite only. Calvin's Reformation changed all that. He established the Geneva Academy, which trained many of the Protestant clergy of the next few generations. A standard of law, order, and justice. Calvin explained the uses of the Law. Punishment must fit the crime. Free market capitalism. At its heart were certain values: Hard work, right of private ownership, investment, honesty and integrity in business, nobility of profit, necessity of caring for the poor out of the profits given by God. He established a Reformed church in Geneva and then spread abroad such ideas such as Scripture as the sole and final authority, the preaching of the Word, church leaders as a plurality of godly men, the regulative principle, and even democratic republicanism. Geneva was the laboratory for Calvin's view of church and state relations. There was limit on power, checks and balances, distinct branches of government. He emphasized divine sovereignty over human sovereignty. All of this to the preservation of individual liberty. Everything above was in the notes for the Geneva Bible, which was one reason James I of England authorized a new translation of the Bible in order to get rid of the influence of those notes. Calvin can be credited with instituting separation of church and state.