SYNOPSIS OF JOHN CALVIN'S WRITINGS RELATING TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE WITH CONCENTRATION UPON DIACONAL CARE

I. Introductory Information

A. Calvin was as or more interested in practical growth in Christian life as he was in predestinary soteriology.

B. Calvin's writings evidence the emphasis that he placed upon the practical ministry of care for the poor and sick.

C. There are three major sources relating to Calvin's interest in social and economic justice.

1. Commentaries.

2. Ecclesiastical Ordinances.

3. Institutes.

II. Calvin: Commentaries 1540 A.D. - 1564 A.D.

A. Calvin reveals his greatest concern for social and economic justice in his Commentaries, Chapter Eight, "Ethics and the Common Life."

B. Love for God must result in treating others justly and kindly, no matter what their status. (316)

C. All living creatures are to be treated justly. (330)

D. Retaliation is not a Christian practice. (334)

E. Family and home life must reflect the nature of the Gospel. (342)

F. Those who have been deprived of regeneration must be treated justly for their contributions are far from negligible. (355)

G. Women and men are of equal status in the eyes of God. (358)

III. Calvin: Ecclesiastical Ordinances 1541 A.D.

A. Calvin revealed in clearest of fashion the method by which social and economic justice may be protected by the diaconate of the Church.

B. There are four offices recognized by Calvin.

1. Pastors.

2. Doctors.

3. Elders.

4. Deacons.

C. There are two different types of deacons.

1. Procurator.

a. Receive goods for the poor.

b. Dispense goods for the poor.

c. Hold goods for the poor.

2. Hospitallers.

a. Care for the sick.

b. Administer allowances to the poor.

D. Together the deacons are to ensure that the public hospital is maintained equally for all people no matter their status.

E. Calvin mentions several groups that must not be neglected.

1. Poor.

2. Sick.

3. Widowed Women.

4. Orphaned Children.

5. Other "poor creatures."

6. Immigrants.

7. Refugees.

8. Plague Victims.

F. Because all basic needs were to be met, Calvin encouraged the removal of loiterers and beggars.

IV. Calvin: Institutes 1536 A.D., 1539 A.D., 1559 A.D.

A. The Institutes must be read within their sixteenth century context.

B. Calvin was fighting a theological battle on four fronts.

1. Rome and the Scholastics.

2. Anti-Rome, Anti-Establishment Groups.

3. Humanist Scholars.

4. Extreme Neo-Pagan Humanists.

C. The Institutes began as a children's catechism but was changed by Calvin into a systematic arrangement of doctrine.

D. The fourth book of the Institutes, "On the external Means or Helps by which God invites us into the Society of Christ and keeps us in it," is where Calvin most concisely presents his concern for social and economic justice through his treatment of the diaconate.

E. Women are encouraged to be deacons. (322)

F. Deacons are to be held accountable for their stewardship. (331)

G. Care for the poor is more important than the Church building. (333)

H. No special sacrament is needed to care for the poor. (646)

V. Concluding Statements

A. The writings of John Calvin reveal the logical, spiritual, and practical connection between love for God and love for neighbor.

B. Even though many times he acted to the contrary, Calvin advocated a life totally devoted to God with a resultant outgrowth of unity, love, compassion, and care for all of God's creatures.


SOURCES
Haroutunian, Joseph, ed. Calvin: Commentaries, The Library of Christian Classics, vol. 23. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958.

Dillenberger, John, ed. John Calvin: Selections from His Writings, "The Geneva Church, Draft Ecclesiastical Ordinances," ch. 3. Scholars Press, 1975. 229-244.

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Trans. Henry Beveridge. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989.