The Jolly Calvin You’ve Never Heard of…

”Auch ist es nirgendwo untersagt, zu lachen, sich am Klang der Musik zu freuen oder Wein zu trinken” — John Calvin
Read the whole essay by that brilliant Calvin scholar Matthias Freudenberg and meet the Calvin you never knew existed.

Another Noteworthy Observation

Die Prediger pflügen und säen, und nach der Saat pflegen sie die Erde, bis sie Frucht bringt. Diese Frucht aber ist ein Wunder der göttlichen Gnade, nicht das Ergebnis menschlichen Fleißes.’ — John Calvin

John Calvin On, Mutatis Mutandis, The ‘Emerging Church’ Movement

Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness. For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit, reject all reading of the Scriptures [...]

Oh Happy, Happy News!

Just published!
Calvin: Predigten über das Deuteronomium und den 1. Timotheusbrief — Calvin Studienausgabe Bd. 7, hrsg. von Eberhard Busch, Alasdair Heron, Christian Link, Peter Opitz.
One can never be too thin, too rich, or too Calvinist.

Johannes Calvins theologische Friedensethik

Johannes Calvin hat in seinen Kommentarwerken, Predigten und kleineren Traktaten die Fragen nach Krieg und Frieden immer wieder in den Mittelpunkt seines theologischen Interesses gerückt: etwa in der Auslegung des sechsten Gebots in seinen Deuteronomiumspredigten, in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Pazifismus der sog. „Anabaptisten“ und im Abschlusskapitel seiner „Institutio“. Außerdem sind Calvins Kommentarwerke voll von [...]

For The Person Who Has Everything (And Loves Calvin)

Evidently you can pick up a bottle of Calvin Riesling (which I’m presuming is some sort of wine).  Very odd indeed.  But I forgive Calvin his drinking because he just didn’t have proper water.  You modern day swillers of spirits and fermented bitlets, on the other hand, are another matter altogether.

No Big Surprise

I took the quiz here.  Thanks to Doug Chaplin, who didn’t fare so well here, and so demonstrates himself to be outside those numbered the elect.  Poor git.

More Calvin, And This Time It’s Personal (And In French)

With thanks to Chuck Jones for telling me about this very cool page.

Calvin: A Bit More

The very fine folk at Reformiert-Info have sent along a sheet of Calvin stamps, some bookmarks, and some postcards.  All of course in observance of Calvin 500.  So a big thanks to them and especially to Barbara Schenck!
Let the envy commence…

24 Posts in 24 Hours: 24- Calvin: Some Final Thoughts

There’s no doubt that Calvin was the greatest systematic theologian of the 16th century.  He was, truth be told, aside from Melanchthon, the only one of note.  The other Reformers were too busy fighting the good fight against Rome to have time to systematize their theology in any extensive way.  Luther and Zwingli, the Reformers [...]