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Book Reviewsis less gracious to New Testamentbelievers than He was tothe Jews. But "whoever wantsto make the grace of God lesstoward us and our children thanit was toward the Jewish peopleinflicts a great injustice on JesusChrist and blasphemes Him" (p.51).The fact is, Calvin asserted,"children ... belong tothe church before they departtheir mother's womb" (p. 48).The secondofthe two treatisesthat make up the book isCalvin's "Against the Fantasticand Furious Sect of the LibertinesWho are Called 'Spirituals.,., This was published inGeneva in 1545. In this work,Calvin took on the more radicalelements ofthe "left wing oftheReformation." These most radicalofthe radicals taught a formofpantheism. Since God-theuniversal Spirit-is all, all actionsofhumans are determined,so that there is no differencebetween good and evil. Therefore,in refuting this branch ofthe Anabaptists, Calvin had todistinguish between biblicalprovidence and determinism.These Anabaptists wereantinomians, or "libertines."According to them, sin, thedevil, and the wicked world arenot reality, but merely badthoughts. Thisdoctrine is muchthe same as the teaching ofthecult ofChristian Science.The "Libertines" taughtthat the fellowship ofbelieversmust be expressed bya communityofgoods, which extends tohusbands and wives. This teachinggave Calvin occasion to explainwhat having all in commonin the early church ofActsreally was.The pantheism ofthe "Libertines"led them to deny theresurrection of the body. Forthem, the resurrection is pastinasmuch as spirituallythey hadalready been taken up to God.At death, their soul would becomeGod. Calvin, in response,affirmed the resurrection ofthebody in the day ofChrist's coming.For Calvin, this is "ourhighest hope." It is '~imperativethat the understanding of believersshould be entirely pinnedon this day and that their heartsshould cling to it" (p. 295).Basic to the entire gnosticphilosophy of the "Libertines"was an allegorical interpretationofScripture. They despisedthe "simple sense" ofthe Bible.They defended their allegoricalinterpretation of Scripture byan appeal to Paul's statement inNovember, 200165
II Corinthians 3:6 that "the letterkills" (p. 222). In contrast,Calvin described his own, andthe Reformation's, hermeneutic.This is the principle ofthenatural sense of Scripture withJesus Christ as its central content.Calvin insisted on thesimple sense from whichnothing else should be drawnout, unless we ought to learnnot to divide the Word ofGod so as to cut it off fromJesus Christ who is its soul... and by whom alone it hasthe power to become beneficialto us (p. 223).Against the claim of the"Libertines" to be honoring theSpirit by their fanciful, allegoricalinterpretation, Calyinwarned that the interpreter ofthe Bible must not separate theSpirit from the Word. Such isthe importance and timelinessof the subject that what Calvinsaid on the relation ofWord andSpirit, especially as regards interpretingScripture, deserves tobe quoted at length:66[Christ] did not promise theSpirit for the purpose offorsakingScripture, so that wemight be led by Him andstroll amid the clouds, but inorder to gain its true mean-ing and thus be satisfied. InJesus Christ's own words:"When the Spirit of Truthcomes, He will enable youto understand the thingswhich you have heard fromMe" (John 14:26). [Hence]we see that He does notpromise His apostles a spiritthat will create new doctrinesfor them; rather the Spiritonly confirms them in thegospel which was preachedto them.Furthermore, after His resurrection,when He openedthe understanding ofHis twodisciples (Luke 24:27, 32), itwas not in order to inspirethem with strange subjectsnot found in Scripture but inorderto help them understandScripture itself.In fact, to whom has beengiven the greatest abundanceof the Spirit if not to theapostles? Nevertheless, theSpirit did not cause them tolay aside Scripture or createin them mistrust for it. Buton the contrary we see thatthe Scripture became the focusof their entire study andobedience. And we hold tothe same obedience.As for Saint Paul in particular,never once did he want tolay aside Scripture, for hefound its authority so goodt.hat he recommends it to usin order to persuade us toPRTJ
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ProtestantReformedTheologicalJourna
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EDITOR'S NOTESProf. Russell J. Dyks
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For there are many, even l unruly,
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happen to hold unwittingly to some
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tion oftheir false teachings. II Pe
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est, they are very weak, at worst,
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truth~' (see I Tim. 4: 1 - 4). Ever
Page 15 and 16: Thomas Bradwardine:Forgotten Mediev
Page 17 and 18: ated grace and uncreated grace. Unc
Page 19 and 20: Bradwardine faces the question ofth
Page 21 and 22: the age, namely, that having set fo
Page 23 and 24: did not identify Thomas Bradwardine
Page 25 and 26: The first is that Bradwardine was a
Page 27 and 28: to Bradwardine as oneof"two pre-emi
Page 29 and 30: Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Sir
Page 31 and 32: power of the papacy in Bradwardine'
Page 33 and 34: The Serious Callof the Gospel -Is t
Page 35 and 36: elieve th~s proclamation with uprig
Page 37 and 38: to bring good news with their "fig
Page 39 and 40: nation, we read of Melchisedek, the
Page 41 and 42: official activity ofa monarch's her
Page 43 and 44: 8): "Calling is ofthose elect and r
Page 45 and 46: ut all his posterity unable to obey
Page 47 and 48: alone, and He saves whom He will. E
Page 49 and 50: have moved away from the notion oft
Page 51 and 52: every member ofthe visible, institu
Page 53 and 54: fulfilling this calling is their pa
Page 55 and 56: contingent. Further, Calvin did not
Page 57 and 58: ofacceptance in terms of merit, ins
Page 59 and 60: covenant ofgrace and works, or it i
Page 61 and 62: Spiritual, Suffers Them to DefileTh
Page 63 and 64: the gospel is preached" (p. 212).In
Page 65: "They do not hold that JesusChrist
Page 69 and 70: is to oppose and to repulsethat sec
Page 71 and 72: Rightly Divided: Readings inBiblica
Page 73 and 74: is necessary speaks volumesabout th
Page 75 and 76: Guilt, Grace and Gratitude,Lectures
Page 77 and 78: 76ted under the new? If it wererigh
Page 79 and 80: er to keep himself holy; forthe Sab
Page 81 and 82: there is room for both positionsin
Page 83 and 84: Dr. Gannett's eschatologyalso effec
Page 85 and 86: that, but man has a corrupt nature(
Page 87 and 88: the love of God is "universal"(p. 5
Page 89 and 90: ever, throughout the book thereis n
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