‘We, Syndics, Little and Great Councils, with our people assembled at the sound of the trumpet and of the great bell, according to our ancient customs,
‘Having considered that it is a matter worthy above all others of recommendation that the doctrine of the holy Gospel of our Lord should be indeed preserved in its purity, that the Christian church should be duly maintained, that the young should for the future be faithfully instructed, and that the hospital should be kept in good condition for the support of the poor, it has seemed good to us that the spiritual government, as our Lord institutes it by his Word, should be reduced into proper form to be kept among us; and thus we have ordained and established for observance in our own town and territory the ecclesiastical policy set forth below, seeing that it is taken from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.’[[123]]
Thus Calvin wished to establish the church of Geneva after the model of the primitive church. More than that, it was in the word itself, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that he would seek its nature, its rules, and its character. Here is no question of tradition, not even of the most ancient. This is the characteristic feature of the church as Calvin wished to establish it.
Geneva An Evangelical Fortress.
In pagan antiquity legislators had made it their foremost aim to train their peoples for war by exercises adapted to develop their strength and their dexterity. Moses, at the same time that he set forth a living God, the Creator, and his holy will, had been obliged, in order to keep the people from evil, and to represent in figures things to come, to bind them up in a network of numerous ceremonies. The Popes of modern Rome, putting at the head of their system their own infallible and absolute sovereignty, checked the development of the peoples; while by their indulgences and their absolutions, they loosened the bonds of duty, and struck a blow at morals. Calvin, who knew that sin is the ruin of nations, desired for Geneva the conditions which are essential to the real prosperity of a people, namely, that it should be good, pure, and sound in body and in mind. His purpose was larger still. He wished to make of the city which received him that which it in fact became—a fortress, capable not only of offering resistance to Rome, but, in addition, of winning the victory over her, and of substituting for her superstitions and her despotism truth and freedom. Nothing less than the salvation of modern Christendom was to be the result of his efforts. In order to make of Geneva a Villafranca, as at a later period it was sometimes named, it was not enough that he should deliver discourses, as had frequently been demanded of him; it was necessary to watch over this seed of the Word when cast into men’s hearts to the end that it might flourish there. The ruin of Rome had been her separation of morals from faith. Had not the world seen a Pope, John XXIII., when charged ‘with all the mortal sins, infinite in number, and likewise abominable,’[[124]] make answer ‘that he had indeed, as a man, committed some of these sins, but that it was not possible to condemn a Pope except for heresy’? Immorality had found its way not only into the abodes of the laity, but into convents, presbyteries, bishoprics, and the palace of the Pope. And thenceforward the Papacy was ruined. Calvin longed for Christianity in its integrity, for its faith and its works. It is not enough that a stream of water be near a meadow. It may pass beside it, and leave it dry. There must be conduits and canals by which the water may pass, spread over, and fertilize the lands. Calvin thought that he was bound to do something of this sort for the establishment of the church which he had at heart.
The earnestness with which he insisted on the necessity of a truly Christian life is, perhaps, the distinguishing characteristic of Calvin among all the Reformers. ‘There ought to be perceptible in our life,’ said he, a ‘melody and harmony between the justice of God and our own condition, and the image of Christ ought to appear in our obedience. If God adopt us for his children, it is to this life.’[[125]] In the Ordinances he did not stop to demonstrate this doctrine; it was not the place to do so. He kept to the practical side. ‘With regard to what belongs to the Christian life,’ said he, ‘the faults which are in it must be corrected.’ And, contrary to the common opinion, he adds with regard to the remonstrances to be made, ‘Nevertheless, let all this be carried out with such moderation, that there may be no severity to burden any one; and also let correction be only mild (médiocre), to bring back sinners to our Lord.’
The Ministry.
Calvin especially sets himself to establish what the ministry in the church ought to be; and in doing this he shows not only what the ministers, but also what the members of the Church ought to be: for St. Paul says to the faithful, Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ. ‘There are,’ says Calvin, ‘four orders of offices which our Lord has instituted for the government of his Church: Firstly, pastors; next, teachers; after them, elders; and, fourthly, deacons.’[[126]] He names pastors before teachers; faith first, according to the Scriptures, and afterwards knowledge.
Speaking first of pastors, Calvin insists on the importance of doctrine, or of faith in Christ, since so long as we have not this, ‘we are,’ said he, ‘only dry and useless wood; but all those who have a living root in Christ are, on the contrary, fruitful vines.’ ‘The first thing,’ say the Ordinances, ‘is touching doctrine. It will be right for the ministers to declare that they hold the doctrine approved in the church; and it will be necessary to hear them treat particularly the doctrine of the Lord.’[[127]] But he takes great pains to show that he means a living doctrine, and not a dry, scholastic dogma. ‘It must be such as the minister may communicate to the people to edification.’[[128]] And, as he elsewhere says, ‘since there is no truth if it is not shown by its fruits,’ he desires that the minister should teach by his life, ‘being a man of good moral character, and always conducting himself blamelessly.’[[129]] On this point he insists. He knows that morals are the science of man; and, nevertheless, as was said at a later period, that ‘in the times we live in, the corruption of morals is in the convents, and in the devotional books of monks and nuns....’[[130]] He enlarges, therefore, on this topic, and gives a long catalogue of vices which are altogether intolerable in a minister, the model of the flock. ‘Manifest blasphemy,’ he said, ‘and all kinds of bribery, falsehood, perjury, immodesty, thefts, drunkenness, fighting, usury, scandalous games, any crime entailing civil disgrace, and many other sins besides.’ Any minister who commits these crimes ought to be deposed from his office, so that a lesson may thus be given to all Christians. He admits, however, that there are vices the correction of which ought to be attempted by brotherly admonition, such as ‘a manner of dealing with Scripture which is unusual, and gives rise to scandal; curiosity, which prompts idle questioning; negligence in studying the holy books. Buffoonery (scurrilité), lying, evil-speaking (détraction), licentious words, injurious words, rashness, cunning tricks (mauvaises cautèles), avarice and excessive niggardliness, unbridled anger, quarrelling, &c.’[[131]] Calvin has been frequently censured for his severe morality; but a celebrated French moralist, a member of the Academy, La Bruyère—said, ‘An easy and slack morality falls to the ground with him who preaches it.’ Calvin thought the same.
But he knew that rules and prohibitions would not suffice. He was acquainted with that saying of the wise man of Israel, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.’[[132]] Thus say the Ordinances—‘At noon on Sundays let there be a catechizing, that is to say, instruction of young children in all the three churches. Let all citizens and inhabitants be under obligation to bring or send their children to it. Let a certain formulary be provided as a basis of this instruction; that while doctrine is imparted to them, they may be questioned about what has been said, to see if they have really understood and retained it. When a child is sufficiently instructed to dispense with the catechism, let him solemnly repeat the substance of its contents, and thus make a sort of profession of Christianity in the presence of the church.’[[133]] Calvin knew and taught that ‘when little children are presented to the Lord, he receives them humanely and with great gentleness,’ and he added ‘that it would be a too cruel thing to exclude (forclorre) from the grace of God those who are of this age.’ He wishes ‘the elders to have an eye to them, that they may watch over them.’[[134]] He thus says in his Ordinances, what a great poet has repeated in his verses: