by

Korey L. Kincaid  

Introduction

Carl Fickenscher II has said:

Without question the period of the Reformation brought the Christian pulpit into the modern age.  There had been significant developments in the centuries immediately before, and the contributions which Wycliffe, Tauler, and others made to preaching were by no means abandoned, but it was the preaching of Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and other great men of their age by which preaching finally stepped out of the medieval shadows.[1]  

Without a doubt many reformers felt convinced to do something about the coldness and deadness of the church at that time.  There was a failure of church leaders.  Popes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were by and large failures spiritually, and had many problems.  They were attempting to make Rome the architectural capital of the world.  Enormous amounts of money were being spent for art and political warfare.  Julius II (1503-13), the warrior pope, was interested in squashing rebellious Italian city-states.  Erasmus wrote describing how Julius had fallen from shepherding the flock.  There was a neglect of pastoral care (particular in Germany ).  There were problems of lay investiture, offices were being sold, literacy among the clergy, concubinage (sexual relationship with a secret woman), pluralism, (bishop of two different cities), absenteeism, and clerical exemptions. 

Among those that wanted to reform the way things were in that period like Luther, and Zwingli, was John Calvin, the great reformer of Geneva .  Imbart de la Tour once wrote, �The first work of Calvin was a book: the Institutes; the second was a city: Geneva .  The book and the city complement each other.  The one is doctrine formulated; the other is doctrine applied.�[2]  Much scholarly work has been done on the subject of Calvin�s preaching in recent years, but many may not know that always wasn�t the case. 

The incident is well known and deplorable, even shocking.  Almost two hundred years ago the Library of Geneva sold forty-five volumes of Calvin�s sermons as mere paper to booksellers.  Many were not found, but now we can at least know a little about the other side of John Calvin; the preacher.  The one who applied his doctrine to the people of Geneva . 

Are John Calvin�s views on preaching helpful for preachers in today�s society?  Is John Calvin�s view of preaching a theological view, and does it have contemporary significance on preaching today?  This paper will interact in two areas: 1) How Calvin intertwined his methods and styles of preaching with his theological convictions on the doctrine of Scripture. 2) In light of his theological views on preaching how do contemporary methods and styles compare?           

Calvin�s Doctrine of Scripture

            Underlying Calvin�s homiletical labors was his conviction that �the Bible is true.�[3]  In his invaluable treatment of Calvin and the Bible, Kenneth Kantzer shows that, �Calvin�s loyalty to the written Scriptures knows no bounds.�[4] 

            First Calvin believed the Scripture was necessary for the saving knowledge of God, which answers the question, �How do we know God?�  Calvin would say primarily we know Him through Scripture.  God has created sparks in creation.  Seeds of knowledge in the world, but you can truly see Him through the eyeglasses of Scripture.  The knowledge of God is like a labyrinth or maze;  we enter this maze and we try to understand him.  The string that guides us through this maze is the Word of God. 

            Calvin also believed in the sufficiency of Scripture.  It is this view he challenges the Catholic perspective that says that Scripture isn�t sufficient.  He criticized the papists for not relying on the Scripture alone.[5]  �The first point of Christianity is that the Holy Scriptures are all our wisdom, and that we must listen to God who speaks in them, without adding anything to them.�[6]  He goes on to say,

Here again they mutter that the church needed to add some things to the writings of the apostles, or that the apostles themselves afterward properly supplied through a living voice what they had not clearly enough taught.[7]  

He also attacks the fanatics who have had immediate revelations from God.  He shows that Scripture is sufficient and complete, and all we need to know for salvation is Scripture. 

To the authority of Scripture, Calvin would say two things.  First, there was confirming evidence that points to things unique in Scripture, but these evidences in and of themselves don�t get us to the true conviction of its authority.  Things like grandeur, power, antiquity, which was preserved through the ages, and was written by men who were uneducated and ignorant.  Other things like miracles, and claims by Biblical authors themselves. 

Secondly, there is the witness of the Holy Spirit.  Calvin believed it is the Spirit who convicts, and gives the believer conviction of authority.  He says,

Therefore illumined by [the Spirit�s] power, we believe neither by our own nor by anyone else�s judgment that Scripture is from God; but above human judgment we affirm with utter certainty (just as if God himself0 that it has flowed to us from the very mouth of God by the ministry of men.[8]  

            In order for preaching to merit such an exalted position in the life of the church, it was implicit in the mind of Calvin that the preaching be based solely on the word of God.  Sola Scriptura was the battle cry.[9]

            Calvin believed that Scripture was inerrant, and God breathed.  It is clear by reading his Institutes of Christian Religion that he believed in a true guide and teacher, which he calls the Holy Scripture.  It is also clear that he believes this to be the Words of God.  He says,

. . . Scripture adorns with unmistakable marks and tokens the one true God, in that he created and governs the universe, in order that he may not be mixed up with the throng of false gods.  Therefore, however fitting it may be for man seriously to turn his eyes to contemplate God�s works, since he has been placed in this most glorious theater to be a spectator of them, it is fitting that he prick up his ears to the Word, the better to profit.[10]  

            In Scripture, God accommodates himself to us.  In places Calvin speaks of the text as a nurse talking to a child.  In other places he says, that God talks with a lisp so that we may understand.[11]

            Scripture is a human book�Calvin is not na�ve and admits fully that there are some places in Scripture where there is not a rigid of correctness.  Authors used round numbers, and often were very loose in their quotations of the Old Testament.  Human authors wrote this book; they had a difference in style, and Calvin knew full well there were errors in transmission.

            Despite this he believed Scripture to still be a divine book�infallible was a word he used.[12]  He said that,  �Scripture has nothing in it mixed with man.�[13]  Therefore, we must conclude that Calvin�s view of Scripture is one of the highest importance�s when it came to preaching.  

Calvin as Preacher

            The methods and styles of Calvin�s preaching will obviously follow his view on the doctrine of Scripture.  As Parker puts it,

. . . the element in the Church�s preaching which entitles it to be called �the Word of God� is the message of Holy Scripture.  Correspondingly, the preacher is the servant of that message.  As preacher he [Calvin] is committed completely to the Bible.[14]  

            It is our task now to turn to and see what this entitles more precisely.

            The sheer volume of Calvin�s preaching is impressive.  At first he apparently preached twice on Sunday and then once on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  In 1542, in response to demand, he preached more frequently; but this proved too much and the Council released him.  In 1549 he preached twice on Sunday and every workday, every second week.[15] 

            It has been said, that Calvin preached extemporaneously.[16]  But with that being said, he was still one who prepared carefully to preach.  Calvin�s whole life was preparation for preaching, in the sense that he saturated himself in the reading and study of Scripture.  Calvin said,

If I should enter the pulpit without deigning to look at a book and should frivolously think to myself, �Oh, well, when I preach, God will give me enough to say,� and come here without troubling to read or think what I ought to declare, and do not carefully consider how I must apply Holy Scripture to the edification of the people, then I should be an arrogant upstart.[17]           

Most sermons preached in late Middle Ages would be preached around the seven deadly sins, or the seven cardinal virtues.  Preachers would also preach the lectionary, which were the scheduled passages to be read.  The lectio continua, was invented by Zwingli, and would be picked up by Calvin, and many others.  The method was expository.  It consisted of expounding whole books of the Bible, passage by passage.[18]  One would preach from book to book, verse by verse.  Calvin spent three years preaching through Isaiah, and a year in the book of Job. 

            Calvin as an interpreter explicated the text, seeking its natural, true, scriptural meaning.  In the classic passage in the Galatians commentary, he wrote,

The true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning; and let us embrace and abide by its resolutely.  Let us . . . boldly set aside as deadly corruptions, those pretended expositions which lead us away from the natural meaning.[19]    

            Calvin believed preaching was teaching.  Christ does the teaching, and the preacher�s responsibility is to preach the teaching of Christ.  The preacher is only handing over what has been written. 

            At the same time we teach we must exhort the people of God.  We must not simply teach, but also exhort.  Calvin would say that explaining a passage does nothing.  Explanation and exhortation must enliven people�s hearts and be prompted to follow and continue in it.  Preaching must be familiar and practical.  It must apply to the hearts of the people.  Just as Calvin would explain Scripture word by word, so he applied the Scripture sentence by sentence to the life and experience of his congregation. 

            Preaching for Calvin was edification.  The goal was to preach that the body would be built up and edified.  He would say preaching includes: teaching, and exhortation, which leads to edification.  He says,

Not to take too long, let us remember here, as in all religious doctrine, that we ought to hold to one rule of modesty and sobriety: not to speak, or guess, or even to seek to know, concerning obscure matters anything except what has been imparted to us by God�s Word.  Furthermore, in the reading of Scripture we ought ceaselessly to endeavor to seek out and meditate upon those things which make for edification.[20]  

            Calvin�s preaching was serious and solid.  He says,

We come together in the name of the Lord.  It is not to hear merry songs, to be fed with wind, that is with a vain and unprofitable curiosity, but to receive spiritual nourishment.  For God will have nothing preached in his name but that which will profit and edify.[21]             

            For Calvin the service was not a time of entertainment, novelty, and speculations.  Calvin spoke against those, �Who make a pastime of the Word of God and recreate themselves thereby.�[22]          

            If you were to ask Calvin what the true church looked like, he may say it is invisible and visible.  The visible would be found among baptized Christians who assemble for worship.  How shall we avoid being seduced away into one that is not the church?  Calvin says,

Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christ�s institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of God exists.[23]  

            So, we can conclude for Calvin the church is not there when there is no preaching at all, where preaching is replaced by lies and God�s Word is not �openly and with impunity trodden under foot.�[24]  Preaching is essential since its offer of Christ via the collaboration of the Spirit, it is the means by which the church is built up.  Without the preaching of God�s Word there will  be no sacraments, no family of God, no community of life, and no life. 

            Many questions still remain, though.  But how, in fact, shall we know that the preaching we hear is authentic?  Pure?  That the Word of God is being honored?  How in our human vulnerability do we avoid falling prey?  Right preaching is pure preaching, and pure preaching is  proclaiming the Word of God�for God speaks in such preaching, in Calvin�s view.  Our only source for preaching is, in Calvin�s view, Scripture.  Right preaching reveals Christ, who He was, and what he did.  It not only says, but does; it not only proclaims, but effects.   

Contemporary Views of Preaching

            We have seen Calvin�s view of preaching highly esteemed in the Word of God and was found upon it�s necessity, sufficiency, authority, and inerrancy.  We have seen some of Calvin�s methods and styles of preaching.   A preacher must commit himself to the study of Scripture, to expository preaching, preaching the lectio continua, to a literal interpretation of Scripture, to preaching to teach and edify the bride of Christ, taking it seriously, and most importantly to preaching as a true church�the true gospel of Christ. 

            Should we even assume that Calvin�s methods and styles of preaching are the right ones?  Calvin based and considered who he was as a preacher in light of Scripture.  It mattered to Calvin what Scripture said and his methods and styles of preaching were crafted from it.  They are biblically based�stooped upon the Word of God, and because they are we must now turn to ask ourselves as preachers in light of 2004 how are we doing?  Are we measuring up to those that have gone on before us?  Are we preaching the whole counsel of God?  Are we taking our calling as serious as Calvin took his or do we have a new authority for which we preach on?  Have we outlined whole new styles and methods of preaching that is off base and out of touch with God�s Word?  Yes, it may be in touch with today�s society and people, but it may be out of touch with God�s Word.  We must now turn to face some of these tough questions.

            The church, as observed throughout recent history, reminds us of a duffer�s golf swing.  She is constantly going from one extreme to the next, over correcting, coming up short , searching, and frustrated.  Occasionally, she gets it right and drives one down the middle, but repeating that feat is rare and soon she is slicing again. 

            Take preaching for example.  Having watched a large segment of the church become content with short yardage and lousy scores, some decided that there had to be a better way.  But, was it really a better way?  Or, more importantly is it a biblical way?

            Enter the age of technology.  Technology is changing the face of the church.  One author said this about technology in the church:

Prayer chains communicate via e-mail, and church databases generate everything from pictorial directories to labels from all the Sunday-school kids with March birthdays.  Newsletters appear online and youth groups create their own Web sites, complete with pictures from the last retreat and notes for the personal Bible study.  Pastors pull illustrations, and churches shop for everything from chairs to curriculum over the Internet.  In many worship services, transparencies are disappearing and computer-generated song lyrics, announcements and sermon outlines appear on rear-projection screens.  Worship teams cut their own CD�s, and the guys who used to simply turn mikes on and off now control theater lights, computer graphics and MIDI files.[25]  

            The electronic revolution has not only made an impact on worship styles, but has raised serious questions for preaching.

            Tex Sample in his book, The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World, argues that the convergence of image, beat and visualization require new ways of worship.[26]  Yet he devotes only two pages to preaching, and in his detailed example of electronic worship his sermon is ten minutes long.[27] 

            Len Wilson in his book, The Wired Church, argues that the sermon that has mutated from story telling to exegesis in the mass-print age, so now must mutate again for the electronic age.[28]  He says,

Although ministry in the age of the printed word was largely individual, ministry in the electronic age is like a television studio operating with a number of specialists . . . this means giving up control of the most powerful icon of a pastor�s leadership, the pulpit.[29]  

            We must assume that these words would be quite disturbing to most pastors, and this is only the beginning!  We are just merely scratching the service of contemporary preaching views. 

            Another that has become quite popular in recent years is that of Rick Warren�s book, The Purpose Driven Church �Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission .  Pastor Warren believes that the church must be designed to be seeker-sensitive, and pastors must preach to the unchurched.[30] In other words we must market the church to make it more attractive.  He says,

When I discovered that the greatest complaint of the unchurched in my area was �boring, irrelevant sermons,� I decided I�d better seriously reexamine my preaching.  I reviewed ten years� worth of sermons asking one question:  Would this message make sense to a totally unchurched person . . . I ended up throwing out every sermon I�d written in the previous ten years, except two.[31]  

            Describing the ministry of Saddleback Valley Community Church, Warren ably demonstrates that many church growth principles are simply common sense on the one hand and purposeful, aggressive leadership on the other.  Churches should pay attention to cleanliness and attractiveness, where people are going to park, and how new people are going to feel walking through the doors.  We should strive for excellence and do our best to communicate God�s truth.  And we should want to grow in the right ways.  Warren states,

Every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism.[32]  

            Who would argue with that?  You can�t help but admire that kind of emphasis in a church.  Churches that are seeker sensitive have made it their passion to understand the unsaved around them in order to effectively communicate the gospel.

            Perhaps no single source carries as much weight in the �seeker sensitive� church as George Barna and his Barna Research Group.  In one of his recent books, Church Marketing, Breaking Ground for the Harvest, Barna declared that he, and his types, have won the ideological battle over the issue of marketing the church.[33] Barna assures us that churches sell (or market) their product the same way Wal-Mart sells shoes and Sears sells tools.  But what is the church�s product one may ask?  What are we trying to peddle to consumers?  This has to be thought through carefully, for unlike shoes and tools that have great attraction for some consumers, the gospel is repulsive and foolishness, to the unsaved (1 Cor. 1:18 -23). 

            Are there alternatives to preaching God�s Holy Word?  Yes, we know that there must be alternatives out there other than these.  Not all contemporary views of preaching are bad.  Not all must be discarded.  But one thing that we must do as contemporary preachers is like Calvin, stay committed to preaching the true Word, the true gospel of Christ.

            Paul warned that people would want to have their ears tickled.  In our age, we are not only tickling their ears, but also their eyes!  Instead of creating a wonderful power point sermon, we must be utterly committed to what happens at the heart level.  Technology allows visual miracles in any ordinary church, but it not easy to tell fascination from learning and change.  With enough technology and talent, a prayer-less, and Spirit-less worship service or sermon can look downright impressive.[34]  As Lee Eclov puts it,

Computers and a host of other technological marvels are wonderful gifts.  But in the end, ministry depends on real people proclaiming God�s Word �with great patience and careful instruction.�  Without love, all our computers, sound equipment, and video projections are digital gongs and virtual cymbals.[35]  

            To those who market the church and permeate Christianity in a positive way, we must say that�s great, but remember nothing in Scripture indicates that the church should lure people to Christ by presenting Christianity as an attractive option.  Echoing through the corridor of time is Paul�s words that, �The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18 ).  There is no way to make it otherwise and be faithful to the message.  The gospel is disagreeable, unattractive, repulsive, and alarming to the world.  It exposes sin, condemns pride, and convicts the unbelieving heart.  It shows human righteousness�even the best, most appealing aspects of human nature to be otherwise, defiled, and filthy rags.   

Conclusion

            In no way do we ever want to speak for John Calvin, but we must believe his style and method of preaching stands in stark contrast to that of today. 

            Thus we can conclude to learn from Calvin�s preaching methods and styles in a number of ways.  The first way is to see the importance to be Bible saturated homiliticians. When we examine, find, or look at new methods and styles to preach God�s Words we must first view them in light of what Scripture says.  We can�t simply appeal to worldly standards, but must first appeal to God�s standards.  We must as God�s servants bring the world to us, not the other way around.   

            Secondly, is to see Calvin�s deep passion for Scripture, which is disappearing from this generation of preachers for other modern trends.  When the church turns from the source in which it finds its foundation, all that�s left is collapse.  Leith put it well when he said,

Preaching is, as Calvin understood and practiced, the interpretation and application of Scripture.  The minister is the minister of the Word.  Otherwise, the church is just another therapy center or agency for social and political change.  And the minister is just another therapist without as good credentials as a psychiatrist, or just another change agent without as much influence as a ward politician.[36]   

            Thirdly,  is to see Calvin�s value in preaching extemporaneously.  The value as I noted before is not so much that you are not using a manuscript to preach, but you are prepared with what you are going to say.  To Calvin ten minute sermonettes wouldn�t have cut it.  There must be preparation and a spewing of edification from your mouth and off your lips when you stand in the pulpit. 

            Lastly, is to see Calvin�s value in preaching the lectio continua.  This above all else has been lost in today�s preaching methods and styles.  Today those that sit in the pews could not even begin to tell you what the theme of John or Romans is.  God�s people today could not even begin to walk someone through the book of Matthew.   What they could tell you is that they learned about love last week.  They are going through a series on marriage.  This is all fine and dandy, but they miss the big picture of God�s Word.  They miss John�s reason for writing the fourth gospel of the New Testament.  They miss Paul�s reason and everything in between for writing his book to the Romans.  They miss exposition, book by book, and verse by verse only to get topics and series.         

            Through seeing the importance of examining Scripture in light of modern trends, seeing the importance of God�s Word, the values of preaching extemporaneously, and preaching the lectio continua we like Calvin can then embark on what it means to have communion with a Holy God.  Through reading the Institutes and his sermons, one can�t help but see that he lived with the Holy presence of God. 

            Through seeing his theology in light of his methods and styles of preaching there is a lot to be drawn upon.  May it be the goal of every preacher in this generation to examine the styles and methods of preaching in this reformer of Geneva .  Yes, times were different back then as in comparison today,  but the styles and methods in which Calvin preached don�t have to be.  The Church and its preachers can start hitting drives down the middle again.  Calvin�s theological methods and styles of preaching can help.