W. Robert Godfrey - John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor

This book is a masterful treatment of John Calvin by a masterful church historian. We see Calvin the theologian, Calvin the reformer, Calvin the man. His mind and heart are laid bare by Dr. Godfreys work. A must read.

R. C. SPROUL, Chairman and President,
Ligonier Ministries, Lake Mary, Florida

John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor will surely rank among the best introductions to the life and thought of one of the churchs greatest theologians. It offers a rich tapestry woven from both Calvins life-story and his profound biblical theology. Here we meet the real Calvinstrikingly apostolic in his constant preaching, his lecturing, his authorship of many erudite volumes and a vast correspondence, and his deep care for the many needs of his flockwhile himself in constant physical sickness. It is a remarkable story. Dr. Robert Godfreys mature scholarship, enthusiasm for his subject, and easy style bring Calvin to life for the twenty-first-century reader. Here is a rare work indeed, making it easy to see why the great Genevan Reformer was such an inspiration to those who knew and loved him.

SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON, Senior Minister,
First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

There are good books on Calvins doctrine, his life, his piety, and his influence in the modern world. However, this book stands out as a marvelous integration of all three. More than accessible, this book is interesting even for those who know nothing about Calvin or his significant labors. It would be dishonest to deny that this book is written by an admirer of Calvin, but as a veteran church historian, Professor Godfrey places the reformer in his context and does not hide his blemishes. I owe a great deal of my own formative understanding of Calvin to Robert Godfrey and hope for a wide readership of this important book.

MICHAEL S. HORTON, J. Gresham Machen
Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics,
Westminster Seminary California

Bob Godfrey has long been known as doing the unimaginable and has once again lived up to his reputation. His work on Calvin offers not only an accessible history of the man and his work, and an assessment of his influence, but also allows Calvin to be seen through his own words and offers an opportunity for another generation to appreciate the vastness of his genius. Combining excellent scholarship with an accessible style, Dr. Godfrey has once again placed the church in his debt as he resurrects the character from the caricature in which Calvin is so often buried.

ROBERT M. NORRIS, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church,
Bethesda, Maryland

This book is arguably the best introduction to the life and ministry of John Calvin by one of the Reformed worlds best interpreters of the Reformation. For anyone wondering what the fuss is over the 500th anniversary of Calvins birth, this is the place to start.

D. G. HART, author of The Lost Soul of American
Protestantism and Defending the Faith: J. Gresham
Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in
Modern America

John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor

Copyright 2009 by W. Robert Godfrey

Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Keane Fine

Cover illustration: Chris Tobias

First printing, 2009

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New AmericanStandard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

ISBN PDF: 978-1-4335-1195-0

ISBN Mobipocket: 978-1-4335-1196-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Godfrey, W. Robert.
John Calvin : pilgrim and pastor / W. Robert Godfrey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4335-0132-6 (tpb)
1. Calvin, Jean, 15091564. I. Title
BX9418.G585 2009
284'.2092dc22

2008047480

VP 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION:
THE IMPORTANCE OF CALVIN

July 10, 2009 marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin (15091564). Today for many people the name of 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. Calvin and Calvinism have been linked to the rise of such diverse phenomena as democracy, capitalism, and modern science. Theologians and biblical scholars know him as a writer in theology and biblical studies whose work must still be carefully considered today. Church historians remember him as the principal theologian of Reformed Christianityan expression of the Christian faith that over four and a half centuries has attracted millions of adherents in countries throughout the world. He was indeed a leader and writer whose work affected the life and worship of countless congregations and has inspired thousands of pastors, theologians, and biblical scholars.

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 that impact positive or negative?

His critics have been many. In his own day they sometimes railed at himnaming their dogs after himand sometimes laughed at him, some suggesting that his wife died of boredom. Some modern critics have been savage. Will Durant wrote,... we shall always find it hard to love the man who darkened the human soul with the most absurd and blasphemous conception of God in all the long and honored history of nonsense.

On the positive side, Calvins friend and colleague Theodore Beza (15191605) wrote a brief biography of Calvin to answer the critics of his day. Bezas admiring work breathes a spirit of affection and warmth, observing that in the common intercourse of life, there was no man who was more pleasant.

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.

Calvin saw the importance of his life as a pastor in his own day and did not focus on his influence in years to come. When his friend William Farel urged him to publish his study of Genesis, he replied, As to my observations on Genesis, if the Lord shall grant me longer life and leisure, perhaps I will set myself about that work, although I do not expect to have many hearers. This is my especial end and aim, to serve my generation; and for the rest, if, in my present calling, an occasional opportunity offers itself, I shall endeavor to improve it for those who come after us. I have a mind to set about writing several things, but as my wife is now in ill health, not without danger, my attention is otherwise engaged.