Life is a steeplechase: there are dangers everywhere,
and God himself, who has put most of the obstacles in our way, watches to see
whether we make it over them. Such is John Calvin’s view of life—and of God.
Calvin never spoke of life as something fun, and his own wasn’t. Many of his
followers concluded that there shouldn’t be any fun in life, and here they
misunderstand him.
Calvin runs the race of this life, falling all the
while, picking himself up again and again, and looking forward to the finish,
which he calls “the reflection of the life to come.” The race wears him out,
often seeming to pointlessly bring him back to the place he started, and yet
there remains something to look forward to. Calvin stays on the course in faith
that the God who makes the race so difficult also secures the runner’s finish.
At times, Calvin understands nothing of his God, but still hews closely to him and
calls others to do the same. Without that God, life is nothing.
Calvin wanted things to be otherwise, but he had no
choice. This is his greatest problem: there is so much he wants to do, but
cannot. He wants to be free, but God always stands in the way. As so many
others then and now have also seen, Calvin seems to be aware that even his own
character is often only another obstacle in his way. Calvin pleads for freedom,
but prays for providence. Doesn’t he see that these two just do not go
together? Or is this precisely what gives life its edge—a battle between the
human race that wants to run free, and the God who wants to keep a tight rein
on things? Does this make Calvin more exciting as a person than his dull
appearance suggests?
In this book, Calvin is approached as neither friend
nor enemy; I just do not categorize him in that sense. I feel nothing for
Calvin either way, but I am fascinated by him as a person. Without intending
to, he created a worldwide community of believers, arousing as much scorn as
admiration and accomplishing so much in spite of his many limitations. I have
tried to tell the story of his life to discover what he was like as a person.
Since Calvin himself claimed that we learn most about people from their
letters, the most important source for this book is his correspondence. Because
I hope it will get us closer to Calvin himself, there are few references to
secondary literature.
Much more can be said about Calvin than what is in
this book, but I hope the story told here will reveal a very interesting person
hidden behind perceptions of him as a sombre academic. At first glance, he is
no more than a bookish man with a long goatee who spent his entire life
chopping away at dry doctrine with an occasional pause to burn some odd heretic
in his spare time. In the coming of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us, God
clothes himself in the skin of another to transform each human being into
another person.
Maybe, just maybe, we will see another transformation
if we ourselves crawl into Calvin.
It is well worth trying to get under his skin, and—if
you get that far—I will let you out again at the end. I promise.
