This continues my series on Calvin's political theology
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John Calvin was no theonomist – he did not hold that the Bible prescribed precise laws which must be applied today. He, along with other magisterial reformers, followed the medieval division of old testament laws into ceremonial, civil, and moral. Ceremonial laws were specific to the old testament forms of worship and are fulfilled, therefore abrogated, in their ceremonial capacity, by Christ. Civil laws were specific to the nation of Israel, and in the internationalisation of the gospel in Christ, they too are fulfilled and abrogated.
But the moral law ‘is the true and eternal rule of righteousness, prescribed for men of all nations and times, who wish to conform
their lives to God’s will’. Indeed, the ceremonial and civil laws are themselves expressions of the moral law – the ceremonial pointing to the first table of the decalogue, illustrating what it means to love God, and the civil pointing to the second, as examples of love of neighbour. Hence, while ceremonial and civil laws have been abrogated in their ceremonial and civil functions, they are still binding in their moral aspects.
Calvin was not, strictly speaking, politically egalitarian: he did not hold to the radical equality of all people in all aspects which has become the post-Enlightenment norm. But he was adamant of the equality of all people before law – both God’s law and human. He affirmed the right to sue, and ‘held to an equality of disciplinary treatment for all Genevans, rich or poor, celebrated or inglorious’.
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John Calvin was no theonomist – he did not hold that the Bible prescribed precise laws which must be applied today. He, along with other magisterial reformers, followed the medieval division of old testament laws into ceremonial, civil, and moral. Ceremonial laws were specific to the old testament forms of worship and are fulfilled, therefore abrogated, in their ceremonial capacity, by Christ. Civil laws were specific to the nation of Israel, and in the internationalisation of the gospel in Christ, they too are fulfilled and abrogated.But the moral law ‘is the true and eternal rule of righteousness, prescribed for men of all nations and times, who wish to conform
their lives to God’s will’. Indeed, the ceremonial and civil laws are themselves expressions of the moral law – the ceremonial pointing to the first table of the decalogue, illustrating what it means to love God, and the civil pointing to the second, as examples of love of neighbour. Hence, while ceremonial and civil laws have been abrogated in their ceremonial and civil functions, they are still binding in their moral aspects.Calvin was not, strictly speaking, politically egalitarian: he did not hold to the radical equality of all people in all aspects which has become the post-Enlightenment norm. But he was adamant of the equality of all people before law – both God’s law and human. He affirmed the right to sue, and ‘held to an equality of disciplinary treatment for all Genevans, rich or poor, celebrated or inglorious’.
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