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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Celebration of Calvin, April 30, 2009
This review is from: John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor (Paperback)
There are not too many men whose five hundredth birthday is a cause for remembrance, not to mention celebration. Yet here we are, five hundred years after the birth of John Calvin, witnessing widespread celebration of his birth. This year we see many conferences dedicated to understanding Calvin's impact on the church and on society, even centuries later, and we see the publication of many books looking at the man and his theology. It strikes me as a strange oversight that we do not yet have a definitive biography of Calvin (as Marsden has done for Edwards, as Dallimore has done for Whitefield, as Murray has done for Lloyd-Jones, and so on) and I am hoping that this year will end the drought--that by year's end we will have that one biography that will stand for many years as the definitive life of Calvin. With several biographies set for release in 2009, one would think this ought to be the year.
Into the fray steps Robert Godfrey with John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor. He begins by saying "Today for many people the name of John Calvin is known only in a vague sense and has become a label for attitudes that are negative, judgmental, and joyless. Historians, by contrast, know that John Calvin was one of the most remarkable men who lived in the last five hundred years and that his influence on the development of the modern western world has been immense." Indeed, Calvin's influence is felt in the rise of democracy, capitalism and even in modern science. "The life and work of John Calvin have always been controversial as well as influential. Some have loved him, and some have hated him. All would agree that he was a man with a brilliant mind and a powerful will who had a profound impact on the development of western civilization. But was the impact positive or negative?" Even among Christians, many of whom have no sense of the debt they owe Calvin, many see the negative much more than the positive. Everyone has an opinion about Calvin but one wonders how many of these opinions are based on fact.
Even in his own day Calvin was loved by some and hated by others. Even in his own day he was a figure of great controversy. Yet, as Godfrey points out, he did not set out to be controversial or to be a figure of great renown. "The real Calvin was not in the first place a man who lived to influence future generations. Rather he was a spiritual pilgrim finding anew the apostolic Christianity expressed in the Bible and serving as a faithful minister of that Word in the church of his day. The influence that Calvin would have regarded as most important was as a purifier of the Christian religion and a reformer of the church for his day. The essential Calvin was a pilgrim and pastor. From that reality all his influence flowed." This book is "an introduction to the life and thought of John Calvin," a man who lived out his faith as both a pilgrim and a pastor.
Though the book introduces Calvin's life and his thought, it focuses primarily on the latter. The first few chapters, along with the final one, give that overview of his life. It looks to the outline we tend to be familiar with--his "fateful" journey from France to Strassburg and his meeting there with William Farel who convinced Calvin that he must stay; his initial ministry in Geneva and his eventual banishment; his short ministry in Strassburg; and the rest of his career after returning from his exile and taking up again his ministry in Geneva.
The bulk of the book describes Calvin's theology. Some of this theology is woven into biography, but in many cases it stands alone. Godfrey focuses on topics such as the church and worship, predestination, sacraments, city and schools, and Calvin as pastoral counselor. He describes each well, looking primarily at how Calvin formulated his thoughts and his theology in each of these areas. He looks often to Calvin's writings, the Institutes, his sermons and his voluminous personal correspondence. I feel that the chapter on Calvin as Pastoral Counselor is particularly important to those who would seek to understand Calvin as something other than the caricature so many present. Here we see a man who had a pastor's heart and who was eager to bless and encourage others. He shows himself to be a far cry from the angry tyrant that so many present him as. Godfrey clearly has an exhaustive knowledge of Calvin and in this book he conveys it in a way that is at once deep and accessible.
In the end analysis, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor is more of a life and theology than a life and times. Perhaps history has not recorded enough about Calvin's life that we can construct the kind of biography that would be the equal of Marsden's Edwards or Dallimore's Whitefield. We will continue to wait and see. But I do not wish to criticize this book for what it is not and, perhaps, what it cannot be. This is, after all, a very good overview of Calvin's life as well as a description and assessment of his theology. What it seeks to do, it does very well and it is well worth the read. As you close the back cover, you will know more about Calvin the man, more about Calvin the theologian, and more about Calvin's influence in history. And I suspect, even if you cannot agree with all of his theology, you'll thank God for raising up the right man at the right time. Calvin is one of those rare men who deserves to be remembered, even on his five hundredth birthday.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John, How is Your Soul?, July 25, 2009
This review is from: John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor (Paperback)
We oftetimes ask people "who are you" and we get pleasantries as answer,"OK, "Fine" etc. But this book takes under the surface of John Calvin and tell us the frustrations of a man just like us. It tells us his grief in the death of his wife and child. It describes the persecution from the people of Geneva and from the Popish Church. In a year when publishers went wild with books on John Calvin's 500th Birthday, I admit, I was leery of another book on John Calvin. But after hearing Godfrey describe his book and the track he took to describe this man (the interview aired on the 'the White Horse Inn') I was intrigued to see a book that would tell me the formation of Calvin's theology in the midst of the pilgrim life led by John Calvin. I was not disappointed.
The new book takes you to the familiar history of Calvin's plan for one night in Geneva and it makes sure that even the newest reader would grasp the life of John Calvin. But then comes the struggles, the depression, the fights with the City Council, the exile, the writings and revisions of texts and of course the five-fold revision of the two volumes that changed the map of Christian history--the Institutes. The details are all there, but the details are not just facts, it is so beautifully interwoven with the truth of real life in 16th century Europe.
In addition, Godfrey adds some new materials to the personal life of Calvin that are rarely added by other authors. Calvin is too frequently viewed in many volumes as a scholar, writer, and theologian. But now we see the pilgrim, the pastor, the father, the exile, the shepherd (who was prevented from visiting his flock by his own elders during the great plague in order to save his life so shepherd more people.) We see Calvin in written debate with the Roman Church and the desire to transform lives with the Kingdom of God. And yet, we see a man who rarely had a day go by without depression, feelings of worthlessness...a person we can identify with even if he penned the greatest systematic theology of all time.
If I could recommend one book for this year to know the person, the pastor, and the pilgrim...this would be the volume to add to the library. In fact, buy a case and give it to the families of your church. Rarely will you ever read such a volume so tender and yet so strong.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Refreshing look at John Calvin, June 25, 2010
This review is from: John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor (Paperback)
Godfrey's book on John Calvin, to celebrate the Reformer's 500th birthday, is well written and engaging. Of course much is written about Calvin, both positive and negative, but this one has Godfrey's ability to make old historical things come to life. The book rehearses Calvin's life and the events that led up to his conversion to the Protestant faith out of Rome, which is fast paced and an enjoyable read. However, if you are familiar with the life of John Calvin, there is not much new information on that. But what causes this book to shine is that Godfrey shows the things that drove Calvin to be what he was. A history book that doesn't put the subject in context is worthless, of course, but Godfrey, as a good historian, understands that period of time and how people thought and weaves that into the story to make Calvin a real person and not a stilted controversial theologian. Moreover, Godfrey helped us get to know Calvin by examining his teachings on various subjects that Calvin thought important. More than just biographical material, he helps us to understand Calvin's "psyche." Calvin is often only seen as a stern theologian, unbending in his doctrine of predestination and condemnation of heretics. But Godfrey shows that he was preeminently a Pastor. What kind of pastor? What kind of preacher? What kind of counselor? Why was he this kind of theologian rather than another kind? He wasn't perfect, and those weaknesses are pointed out in this book, but Dr. Godfrey reveals just how he was a man driven by a true desire to see God glorified and Christ's church built up through choice quotes from various sources of Calvin's own works. I readily recommend this book for a good introduction to the man and thought of Calvin.
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