on reading calvin

While reading the Calvin material I began thinking about how it might be rather easy for one to develop anithetical feelings toward him, and I was reminded how Barth tried to show his deep appreciation for Schleiermacher, even though he profoundly disagreed with him. And so as I was reading an essay by John Webster on Barth's historical lectures at Gottingen, I cames across this passage which I thought would be pertinent to keep in mind as I read Calvin, or any other theologian from history: (The quotes and page numbers are from Barth's "Protestant Theology")

" 'We hear the voices of the ancients in order to give an answer by our own attitude and decision. But we do that for or against ourselves, not for or against them" (p8). The root of this deferential and patient attitude towards our forebears is, very simply, that 'we are with them in the Church' (p 10) ...There is therefore a unity to the history of theology which the historian may not breach by consigning part of that history to the rubbuish heap: 'over and above the differences, a unity can be seen, a unity of perplexity and disquiet, but also a unity of richness and hope, which in the end binds us to the theologians of the past' (p13). And this means, further, that the historian of the Church must never allow confession of the Church's unity to be eclipsed by hostile judgement. 'Credo unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam [trans. I believe in one, holy, catholic, apostolic church] is the reason for this, and if I am to pay attention to a theologian from the past, whether he is called Schleiermacher or Ritschl or anyone else, then I must be deadly serious about this credo' (p14). In the end, therefore, the historian can only remember that 'I and my theological work are only in the Church on the ground of forgiveness' (p14); that recognition is the ground of charity in historical judgement."

Or, to put it more succintly, we all make mistakes so let's have some grace for Christians of an earlier age who phrased things in ways we might not today!

(N.B. don't take this to mean that I have profound disagreements with Calvin)