Have you ever wondered what the famous Genevan Reformer John Calvin was all about? Catholic convert Dr. David Anders gives his take in his excellent article, How John Calvin Made me a Catholic.David narrates his experience as an Evangelical Calvinist studying Calvin while pursuing a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. In the course of his research, David learned first that Calvin was not an Evangelical or proto-Evangelical at all. “Although he rejected the authority of Rome, there were things about the Catholic faith he never thought about leaving. He took for granted that the Church should have an interpretive authority, a sacramental liturgy and a single, unified faith.” This David contrasts with the modern Evangelical perspective, which takes an embracing approach to the seeming problem of denominationalism and often invites private interpretation of Sacred Scripture.
While studying the Reformation, David also learned about the peculiar history of Calvin's Geneva. There lawyer John Calvin ran a nearly dictatorial theocracy. Beating down the fires of doctrinal disunity, he established “the Consistory – a sort of ecclesiastical court – to judge the moral and theological purity of his parishioners. He also persuaded the council to enforce a set of 'Ecclesiastical Ordinances' that defined the authority of the Church, stated the religious obligations of the laity, and imposed an official liturgy. Church attendance was mandatory. Contradicting the ministers was outlawed as blasphemy.” This eventually culminated in Calvin's being invested with the power to excommunicate unworthy members of the church-state.
What impact did this study have on the good doctor? David concluded that the “lowest common denominator” theology so prevalent in Evangelicalism was just a modern phenomenon. This modern view tends to see all doctrinal opinions as negotiable and permissible but those held by essentially all in one's particular denomination. By contrast, the original Reformers, to whom David had looked as fathers of his faith, had a hunger for unity and catholicity. Their trouble was that they lacked the authority (and, without the state's aid, the power) to deliver either unity or catholicity. This is so starkly contrary to the Catholic Church's sacramental unity, and to the great examples of the unity given by the Saints. From all of this, he eventually made the plunge into the Tiber, entering into full communion with the Catholic faith in 2003.
I can share from my personal experience that Calvinism is not easily pegged. It is a nuanced way to look at God and the faith, one that stresses the power of God's sovereignty and the profound treasure that is God's grace. But this scholar's narrative touches on precisely what was so noteworthy to me in my own conversion. What I hungered for in the Reformed Calvinist tradition, and what I knew from Scripture should have been a quality of the true faith (unity and catholicity), the Protestant authority structure was incapable of delivering. How profound should be our gratitude for the gift of the Church, and of the Holy Spirit Who makes our sacramental unity and catholicity possible!
Afterword. The most recent newsletter from Marcus Grodi's Coming Home Network printed the conversion testimony of Dr. David Anders. He is also scheduled to appear on Fr. Mitch Pacwa's EWTN Live on June 23rd to discuss this and other of his observations.
I can share from my personal experience that Calvinism is not easily pegged. It is a nuanced way to look at God and the faith, one that stresses the power of God's sovereignty and the profound treasure that is God's grace. But this scholar's narrative touches on precisely what was so noteworthy to me in my own conversion. What I hungered for in the Reformed Calvinist tradition, and what I knew from Scripture should have been a quality of the true faith (unity and catholicity), the Protestant authority structure was incapable of delivering. How profound should be our gratitude for the gift of the Church, and of the Holy Spirit Who makes our sacramental unity and catholicity possible!
Afterword. The most recent newsletter from Marcus Grodi's Coming Home Network printed the conversion testimony of Dr. David Anders. He is also scheduled to appear on Fr. Mitch Pacwa's EWTN Live on June 23rd to discuss this and other of his observations.
