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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -<br />
PROF. M. M. NINAN<br />
BOOK IV. THE EXTERNAL MEANS OR AIDS BY WHICH GOD INVITES US INTO THE SOCIETY<br />
OF CHRIST AND HOLDS US THEREIN.<br />
THE MEANS OF GRACE<br />
The final book describes what he considers to be the true Church <strong>and</strong> its ministry, authority, <strong>and</strong> sacraments.<br />
He denied the papal claim to primacy <strong>and</strong> the accusation that the reformers were schismatic. For <strong>Calvin</strong>, the<br />
Church was defined as the body of believers who placed Christ at its head. By definition, there was only one<br />
"catholic" or "universal" Church. Hence, he argued that the reformers "had to leave them in order that we might<br />
come to Christ."<br />
The ministers of the Church are described from a passage from Ephesians, <strong>and</strong> they consisted of apostles,<br />
prophets, evangelists, pastors, <strong>and</strong> doctors. <strong>Calvin</strong> regarded the first three offices as temporary, limited in their<br />
existence to the time of the New Testament. The latter two offices were established in the church in Geneva.<br />
Although <strong>Calvin</strong> respected the work of the ecumenical councils, he considered them to be subject to God's<br />
Word found in scripture. He also believed that the civil <strong>and</strong> church authorities were separate <strong>and</strong> should not<br />
interfere with each other.<br />
Contents of Book IV<br />
1. Of the true Church. Duty of cultivating unity with her, as the mother of all the godly.<br />
2. Comparison between the false church <strong>and</strong> the true.<br />
3. Of the teachers <strong>and</strong> ministers of the Church. Their election <strong>and</strong> office.<br />
4. Of the state of the primitive Church, <strong>and</strong> the mode of government in use before the papacy.<br />
5. The ancient form of government utterly corrupted by the tyranny of the papacy.<br />
6. Of the primacy of the Romish see.<br />
7. Of the beginning <strong>and</strong> rise of the Romish papacy till it attained a height by which the liberty of the church<br />
was destroyed, <strong>and</strong> all true rule overthrown.<br />
8. Of the power of the church in articles of faith. The unbridled license of the papal church in destroying<br />
purity of doctrine.<br />
9. Of councils <strong>and</strong> their authority.<br />
10.Of the power of making laws. The cruelty of the pope <strong>and</strong> his adherents, in this respect, in tyrannically<br />
oppressing <strong>and</strong> destroying souls.<br />
11.Of the jurisdiction of the church <strong>and</strong> the abuses of it, as exemplified in the papacy.<br />
12.Of the discipline of the Church, <strong>and</strong> its principal use in censures <strong>and</strong> excommunication.<br />
13.Of vows. The miserable entanglements caused by vowing rashly.<br />
14.Of the sacraments.<br />
15.Of Baptism.<br />
16.Paedobaptism. Its accordance with the institution of Christ, <strong>and</strong> the nature of the sign.<br />
17.Of the Lord's Supper, <strong>and</strong> the benefits conferred by it.<br />
18.Of the Popish mass. How it not only profanes, but annihilates the Lord's Supper.<br />
19.Of the five sacraments, falsely so called. Their spuriousness proved, <strong>and</strong> their true character explained.<br />
20.Of civil government.<br />
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