UPDATE: Happy to say that I got a 95% on this essay! Also, there have been a few minor edits of grammar and of some sentences that could have flowed a bit better.
This is it. THE essay--the essay I wrote for my Theology Honors class, Church History from 1547-Present. The prompt was quite complicated, but what it boils down to is this: we had to take three of the theologians (or character from Dostoevsky's The Idiot) that we had read (St. Teresa de Avila, Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Karl Barth), put them together and discuss church history in 20 pages of script. There was a church history "text book" we read (see the endnotes) that we had to use. I chose to use Luther, Calvin, and Barth to discuss the chapters on Catholic Orthodoxy, Lutheran Orthodoxy, and Reformed Orthodoxy. We were told to be creative and to use the theologian's works to support what we had them saying. It is 20 pages of script (and 9 pages of endnotes).
This is it. THE essay--the essay I wrote for my Theology Honors class, Church History from 1547-Present. The prompt was quite complicated, but what it boils down to is this: we had to take three of the theologians (or character from Dostoevsky's The Idiot) that we had read (St. Teresa de Avila, Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Karl Barth), put them together and discuss church history in 20 pages of script. There was a church history "text book" we read (see the endnotes) that we had to use. I chose to use Luther, Calvin, and Barth to discuss the chapters on Catholic Orthodoxy, Lutheran Orthodoxy, and Reformed Orthodoxy. We were told to be creative and to use the theologian's works to support what we had them saying. It is 20 pages of script (and 9 pages of endnotes).
I decided that the best way to do that would be to take those three and stick them in a pub during a pub quiz. This is the result. I don't yet know what grade I received...but I'm, well, you'll see.
Therefore, I present to you exactly what I turned in. Keep in mind, I finished it three hours or so before a Spanish final the day it was due (which was right after the Spanish final). So it's a wee bit rough at times.
--
So, Luther, Calvin, and Barth Walk Into a Pub
DISCLAIMER: Having been allowed a certain amount of creativity, I have decided to caricature a number of people. This shouldn’t be taken as a sign of disrespect or a lack of knowing that they all had lives full of heartache and troubles. I have nothing but respect and love for these people I’m using. Just please understand that while this is meant to convey their thoughts, it is also meant to be funny and enjoyable. Let’s be honest--it is occasionally difficult to wade through these brilliant men for long periods of time. Therefore, I present a serious comedy of theological proportions. (To be totally honest, about 17.5 pages is theological dialogue. The other pages are the beginning and ending of the story.)
[setting: The AfterLife Pub which, tonight, is packed. As KARL BARTH walks in, he sees a sign with large lettering saying “PUB QUIZ TONIGHT!” hanging in the entryway. Below, in a smaller script it says, “JESUS CAN’T PLAY--SORRY” and “GROUPS OF THREE TO FIVE ONLY.” He looks around and sees that all the groups have been formed: Hussein, Mao, and Stalin lurk together in a dark corner. Tolkien, Lewis, and the other Inklings sit off to the side. Homer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Hugo, and Twain recline in another corner. Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein, and Oppenheimer sit together near the back. Near the front, Lincoln, Washington, FDR, and Reagan sit. There are a myriad of others: Chuck Berry and John Lennon are playing at the piano; Jesus and the Disciples are at a long table in the back; Hemingway, Churchill, and Spurgeon smoke cigars; Napoleon and Hitler discuss Russia; and Hobbes and Job talk about leviathans, to name a few. Nearer the front, MARTIN LUTHER, with a sizable tankard of beer, and JOHN CALVIN, with a glass of wine, sit hopefully looking for another member.
BARTH approaches them.]
BARTH: Mind if I join you two?
CALVIN/LUTHER: Of course not. Not at all.
BARTH: Thank you. You know, I’m a huge fan of your work. Especially yours, Luther.1
LUTHER: It’s Martin, and thank you.
BARTH: You too, Calvin. I just wish that --2
LUTHER: Shhhh! It’s about to begin!
SOLOMON: Alright everyone, we’re gonna get started. You guys know the rules, Lord, you
can’t play since you’re all-knowing, sorry--
JESUS: (from the back) No worries!
SOLOMON: --no cheating or fighting--
[he looks pointedly at the Evil Dictator table who feign being hurt]
SOLOMON: -- andlet’s try and stay on task. Tonight’s topic is church history.
LUTHER: YES.
SOLOMON: Specifically…
[he looks at his notecards]
SOLOMON: Catholic Orthodoxy, Lutheran Orthodoxy, and Reformed Orthodoxy. Huh. That
is awfully specific.
LUTHER: (whispering loudly) John, we’ve got this.
SOLOMON: First question for Catholic Orthodoxy: What was the Tridentine program of
reformation based on?3 You have three minutes.
[the groups now scramble to work as they do every time the question is given]
BARTH: Centralization of power under papal authority.4 Really not something I like,
to be honest. It’s a bit constricting, especially since the church hasn’t had the best
history.5
LUTHER: Agreed, since they’re a bunch of tyrants.6 I just really don’t appreciate how they
treat normal people and take away things that Christ gave us.7
CALVIN: Agreed. Unless a church, any church, proclaims the Word of God, it has no
authority.8 And if I’m remembering properly, they are missing on some points.9
LUTHER: Tell me about it.10
CALVIN: What’s more, that Church doesn’t have nearly as much power as it says it
does from a strictly Biblical point of view. Especially concerning the Pope.11
LUTHER: It’s totally rubbishm all that--people shouldn’t want to leave the Church like they
wanted to because of godless flatteres and abuses of power.12
CALVIN: Agreed, but you know better than I the necessity for leaving, Martin.13
LUTHER: Yeah, I guess, I do.14
BARTH: The Church should be unified though as the body of Christ.15
CALVIN: Yes, but in a sense it is, though perhaps not under Rome and the Pope.16 As
you said, Karl, we are the “body of Christ” and so as we are all properly under Him, we are all still the church.17
LUTHER: But those bloody...donkeys! are deceivers and villains, among other things.18
CALVIN: The real problem, Martin, is that Church at that time was no longer a church, but a
government of sorts, therefore going beyond what it was intended to be.19 It was
no longer under the Headship of Christ, but politicians and when that happens, the
church has ceased to be.20
BARTH: Yeah. Any time people lose track of Christ and start doing things their own way
and not God’s way, things don’t go well.21
LUTHER: Hey, what did you guys think about Febronius?
CALVIN: Justin Febronius? Who wrote the book about the power of the pontif?22 Nice
fellow. He was on the right track about where power should go, in that it shouldn’t be in the pope’s hands. He didn’t go far enough however, because power should be
localized not to the bishops or cardinals or people in general, but to specific ministries as the Spirit sees fit.23
BARTH: Yeah, people are very fallible, not that ministries aren’t as they are made of
people-24
CALVIN: Then perhaps I might clarify: it’s not the people, and not necessarily the ministry
who hold the power, but the Word of God from which the ministry works.25
LUTHER: Alright then, centralizing power in the papacy is really terrible idea if the
pope is corrupt, and I’m not saying he is, because his people, or I guess even him, had really botched up Scripture something fierce by leaving out some of Christ’s commands.26
BARTH: Yeah. People do that.27 But when people left the church it wasn’t just because
of its lack of...theological correctness. They also left because of strictly political
reasons.28 Strictly non-religious reasons, Calvin.
CALVIN: Well, government is allowed to be non-religious, though it would be best if it
weren’t, so long as it is not against religion, which does not seem to be the case here.29
BARTH: (nodding his head in agreement) No, it does not..
LUTHER: Hey, but regardless of what anyone does, the grace of God is so awesome
that normal people are in the clear because God won’t fault them for the mistakes
and lack of love on the part of their leaders.30 “The important thing is that in every
way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.”31
CALVIN: Amen!32
BARTH: It’s really interesting that for all their blustering for power, they eventually had to
get rid of their army, the Jesuits.33 I suppose that’s good, actually.34
CALVIN: Well, a civil government can, and should, have an army, but not the Church since
it’s not a government.35
BARTH: I might--
SOLOMON: Alright, everyone, time’s up! Make sure your answers are written on your
sheet before we go onto the next question.
CALVIN: You were about to say?
BARTH: Nevermind. Our answer was definitely “centralization of power under papal
authority” right?
LUTHER: Yep!
[BARTH scribbles them on a piece of paper]
SOLOMON: Alright, next question: who were dominant leaders of Jansenism?36
Three minutes!
LUTHER: (less than happily) Here we go…
CALVIN: Cornelius Jansenius, Jean Duvergier, Mother Angelique, Antoine Arnauld, and
Blaise Pascal.37
[BARTH writes down all the names]
LUTHER: I think this is the only set of Catholics you really liked.38
CALVIN: That’s not true.39 They just understood Augustine properly.40
BARTH: Everyone gets so hung up about predestination and grace. Understandably.41
I was still writing about it in the 20th century.
LUTHER: Of all the things for people to get hung up about! There are more practical things
to worry about.42
CALVIN: I didn’t even spend a great deal of time on it. Frankly, Christ and His grace are
much more important.43 It’s quite frustrating that, once more, a movement becomes
strictly political or social, it loses all religious depth. Politics was never really
supposed to sever ties with God.44
BARTH: Well, no one is, but people frequently do. When a religious movement like
Jansenism is taken over by the intelligentsia it will lose it’s religion. It then just
becomes fashion and politics.45
LUTHER: Why do you think that happens? Why do good people use religion for
politics?46
BARTH: I think it’s pride. I think people place so much weight on their own intelligence that
they miss God. And I think people get swept up in the “popular” thing to do, for better or worse, without thinking it through.47
LUTHER: Yeah. People enjoy the prestige it brings them.48 (grinning) Still, it’s nice to see
someone like Pascal write some scathing letters.49
BARTH: But wouldn’t Pascal have been part of the intelligentsia that started to corrupt
Jansenism?50
LUTHER: What, because he was a philosopher? Maybe. I’ve never been a big fan of
secular philosophers.51
CALVIN: Perhaps he would have been part of the problem since he started out as one.
We cannot use philosophy to extrapolate information about God because we cannot think as God does--we try to make Him into something that we recognize rather than Someone who is quite different.52
BARTH: Exactly! Philosophy is all well and good, but it can’t be used to understand God
outside of God because man just can’t comprehend God without Him.53 But it is alright for us to realize and accept that we use philosophy to discuss God as long as we’re free.54 Provided then that he used his philosophy in the context of God, it would be alright, yeah?
CALVIN: I suppose.55
BARTH: What’s more, Pascal was a Christian who used his philosophy much like you and
Martin have used it to discuss theology.56
LUTHER: I guess I can accept that.57
SOLOMON: Time is up, everyone. write down your final answers.
CALVIN: Did you get all of them?58
BARTH: Yes, I did.
SOLOMON: Next question: who created Quietism?59 Three minutes.
LUTHER: I know this one:60 Miguel de Molinos, a Spanish chartletan.61 I really don’t
like this guy.62
BARTH: Agreed. You can’t live that way, doing nothing but meditating on God. We were
made not only to live in community, but to serve one another. It’s a part of being partners with God.63 If we are partnered with God then we’ll do as He does and He is about serving.64
LUTHER: Exactly! God wants to to serve each other!65 What good is it if we’ve been freed
by God if we don’t do anything about it?66 It is not good for us to just “meditate” and sit around being “spiritual.”67 I mean, this guy was probably sleeping with the women who followed him. Lots of good it did him to be “spiritual.”
BARTH: And then when he “recanted” it was so “humble!”68 I hate false humility.69
LUTHER: Yeah, that really bothers me. If you’re going to recant, you recant. You don’t sort
of half-recant.70
CALVIN: Well, he was jailed, which is good.71
LUTHER: Yeah, well it gets worse! His cause was taken up by some Madame de
Guyon who actually said that as a sacrifice to God, you should commit worse sins!72
CALVIN: How typical.73 I’m sure she made it sound very good and noble and righteous. It’s
so sad that people will masquerade lies as truth.74
BARTH: God would never have us sin.75 That’s just ridiculous. It is contrary to the nature of
God Himself.76
LUTHER: It gets even worse! She recruited a pastor who helped her!77
BARTH: He wasn’t quite as extreme--78
LUTHER: Irrelevant! Pastors don’t do that! The purpose of a pastor is to preach Christ so
that person might be made righteous, then freed, then saved!79 Otherwise, they might as well just get a giant millstone and hang it around their neck!80
CALVIN: Indeed! As ministers, we are doing the will of God and leading His church--a tool
for Him to use as He will.81 His Word clearly defines how we should be! We are to be “above reproach,” among other things, according to Paul’s letter to Timothy, but Titus explains that we must be “blameless…[and] holy.”82 A pastor proclaiming such nonsense is clearly none of these things.
BARTH: Yes! Pastors and ministers, Christian leaders in general, have a lot of power
over their followers and they have to use it the way God would have them use it since they’re partnered with Him in His freedom!83 In propagating this ridiculous theology, he wasn’t doing that because freedom and sin can’t exist together.84 Thing is, after he was tried by the Church - yes, Martin, he was tried - he gave up being a pastor, sold all of his things, and gave the money to poor. Victor Hugo might have even based the good Bishop Myriel in Les Misérables after him.85 What do you two do with that?
LUTHER: Did he recant?86
BARTH: Ah, I don’t know, actually.
LUTHER: (he starts softer and is shouting by the end) Well then. He’s a fart-ass and a
wolf, he is an enemy of God. Phooey on him, servant of idols, he’s a gross, unfaithful
clod!87
CALVIN: Martin! People are starting to stare. Don’t get us kicked out of another place.88
SOLOMON: What are you worked up about this time?
LUTHER: (continuing on without listening) --a liar and a villain, he’s--89
BARTH: You really are an angry man somedays. (listens to LUTHER) Huh, there’s a
cadence to it.
[at this point, Victor HUGO has snuck up behind LUTHER who stops when HUGO starts]
HUGO: (singing in his ear, soft at first, then louder) Do you hear the people sing, singing
the songs of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves--90
SOLOMON: No! Victor, we are staying on task tonight! Karaoke is tomorrow. Sit down!
[HUGO sulks back to his table]
SOLOMON: Alright, let’s move on to Lutheran Orthodoxy. What are the key differences
between Philippists and Strict Lutherans? Oh, come on! Seriously? Martin’s here
tonight! Who wrote these?
LUTHER: (smiling) Easy: Letting the adiaphora go, the role of humanity in salvation, and
the Lord’s presence in Communion.91
CALVIN: Adiaphora. Uch. Scripture comes from God, who is the Creator of all things--it
does not need to be bound by what the church believes or says.92 It is not subject to human reason since human reason cannot comprehend it and therefore does not need its seal of approval.93 Who then is to decide what is essential and what is not? I grant that we all have different interpretations of Scripture, but all of it is relevant. 94
BARTH: But is all of it...necessary for salvation? Can’t God do as He pleases?95
CALVIN: Yes, absolutely, but--96
LUTHER: You can’t compromise like that. You can’t put the words of people above the
Words of God.97 And you can’t make that choice for people other than just you. If someone wants to give in to what someone else says, that’s between them and God, but when you make that decision for anyone other than yourself, it’s tyranny. I had just been fighting against that sort of thing right before all this with Master Philip happened, so of COURSE the people who followed me wouldn’t give in. And they shouldn’t have to.98
BARTH: Alright, Martin, I can accept that.99
MARTIN: Good. I just can’t believe that Philip would go so far as to give humanity so much
credit in salvation. I mean, we have trouble understanding that we’ve been saved--how can we play a part in it?100 It’s all grace.101
CALVIN: Agreed. God alone decides who is saved. Not man.102
BARTH: I think I understand Philip. In Christ’s deity and humanity, he became both the
elect and the non-elect meaning that we now, as people, have the choice to respond to the call of God going from spectator to participator.103
CALVIN: No. God has willed what will happen to all men, and we have no part in it.104
Difficult though this may be to accept, it is the truth.105 Man can have no part in this.
BARTH: But--106
CALVIN: No.
LUTHER: Oh, come on, John. You two can argue about it when we get to Reformed
Orthodoxy. What I want to know is if Karl here understands why Philip would side with you about the Lord’s Supper.
CALVIN: That’s because the body of Christ cannot be in the bread. Why would you want to
bring Christ down again?107 The Philippists were right on this point, Martin.
BARTH: Actually, I agree with Calvin and the Philippists on this one.108
LUTHER: Seriously? Christ said, “this is my body” and so it’s His body. He is in the bread.
He said, he meant it, it’s true.109 It’s pretty simple, guys. It’s not about Christ being brought down, it’s about what Christ said.
CALVIN: Martin, he cannot be brought down. It doesn’t make sense.
LUTHER: John, it doesn’t HAVE to make sense. Human reason is flawed, you know that.
Christ in the bread just is.110
CALVIN: I don’t mean that it doesn’t make sense by human reason. I am in agreement with
you about that. What I mean is why would Christ continuously come down to us rather than bring us up to Him?111
BARTH: Exactly. Because God came down, He can now bring us up!112 It’s really quite
wonderful.113 It makes a lot of sense that Philip would believe it. And even more sense that your people would call his people Calvinists, since Calvin here systematized it so well.114
LUTHER: No! That’s just--
SOLOMON: Alright! Write your answers. The next question is: after which theologian did
the orthodox Lutherans model their theological systems after?115Three minutes!
LUTHER: I hate this.116 Aristotle. They even systematized theology and made schools
like Aristotle had. It’s really frustrating, actually.
CALVIN: Well, there is nothing wrong with a good bit of systemization, Martin.117
LUTHER: There is when Aristotle is your model! Ad fontes! And if they wanted
systemization, they should just have talked to you. I didn’t systematize anything. I just wrote in response to people and events.118
CALVIN: That’s fair. Scripture, not man’s philosophy, must be the foundation upon which
we build our theology.119
BARTH: Well, yeah, but since they were free, couldn’t they use Aristotle or whomever they
wanted?120
LUTHER: Are you serious?
BARTH: Completely. No one JUST uses the Bible. Even the authors of the New
Testament were colloquial. I reference you guys.121 And you guys referenced
Augustine!122
LUTHER: Excuse me? Are you comparing Augustine with Aristotle?!123
BARTH: (ignoring LUTHER) As long as everything matches up with the Bible, then it
should be fine, right?124
LUTHER: ABSOLUTELY NOT! You can’t just go using human philosophy when you talk
about God. They have no idea what the Bible is talking about!125
CALVIN: Martin, calm down!
LUTHER: No! This is ridiculous! They claim to be “Lutherans”--or whatever--and then they
completely ignore what I said! And they didn’t even ignore it for the Bible! Are you kidding me? And it wasn’t even about saving souls anymore; it was about academia.126
CALVIN: Academia isn’t bad.127
LUTHER: Well, I know that, DUH.128
BARTH: But you can’t do theology in a vacuum, right?129 That’s what you’re getting at?
LUTHER: Actually--yeah. Exactly. If you’re not doing theology in the world, with people,
saving souls, not just theorizing and postulating or whatever, you’re doing it wrong.130
BARTH: Yes! God didn’t just think about saving humanity, He broke in from the outside
and did it Himself. He actually became one of us and lived with us in condescension so that he could bring us up!131 We should do the same.132
LUTHER: Exactly. The “Lutherans” were talking about things like “the inspiration of
scripture” and stuff like that. It’s from God and it tells us how to live. Done.133 Move on.
CALVIN: There is a bit more to it than that, Martin. God is the Author of Scripture and He
has chosen to write through people.134 Knowing this is important to the credibility
and therefore the authority of Scripture.135
LUTHER: Fine. But there are just more important things to be doing than discussing
theology in a school. You have to go out and be doing it. You can’t be a servant by
just sitting inside and talking about theology.136
CALVIN: Would you be this mad if they had not completely ignored your writings on
Aristotle?137
[LUTHER opens his mouth to say something, then thinks for a moment]138
LUTHER: Maybe.139
SOLOMON: Alright! Is everyone finished? Great. Next question: what was the theory that
Georg Calixtus introduced?140 Three minutes; go!
LUTHER: I don’t like this either.141 “The consensus of the first five centuries.”142
BARTH: But it allows for greater Christian unity.143
LUTHER: Alright, and I am all for that, but not at the expense of Scripture. You can’t say that
some stuff is more relevant in the Bible than other stuff because the church
father’s say so. You have to go back to the source.144
BARTH: Yeah, I know, and all due respect, but who is to say that your interpretation is the
right one?145
LUTHER:(surprised) What?146
BARTH: Why couldn’t Calvin be right about something that you two disagree on? Really
though, why do you think that any one person or theological group has to be totally
right? How would we know that? Isn’t it more likely that we all have some “errors”147
but not heresies and so we should all, as Christians who test everything by the Bible,
get along and live well together?148
LUTHER: Alright, maybe, but my problem with Calixtus is that he wanted to run the Bible
through the church fathers.149
BARTH: Only to find common ground.
CALVIN: Admirable while that may be, you cannot subjugate Scripture to anything man
has written.150
BARTH: Yeah, I know.151 But having unity among Christians would be better than all the
fighting, wouldn’t it be?
LUTHER: Yeah, I guess. Unity would be nice, but NOT the way Calixtus envisioned it.152
BARTH: I know, but you used Augustine!
LUTHER: Not to determine what is necessary for salvation!
BARTH: But--
LUTHER: Trust me. You just gotta let it be, man.
[John LENNON at this point is on his guitar and so he begins to sing, much to Solomon’s annoyance]
LENNON: Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. (to SOLOMON) Whisper words of
wisdom…153
SOLOMON: Lennon, I will cut that guitar in two.
LENNON: I’ll just let it be then, shall I?
SOLOMON: Wise choice. You know what, let’s just move on. Reformed Orthodoxy is the
new topic, which is really not fair with Calvin right here. The question is: when did Arminius die?154
CALVIN: Well that’s a boring question. 1609.155 (sighs) I genuinely dislike this part.
LUTHER: Welcome to my world.
CALVIN: I die and my followers decide that 5% of what I wrote is more important than the
rest of it. It’s really quite frustrating.156
LUTHER: I know, right?!
CALVIN: And then they take what I’ve written and condense it into an absurd little
anagram.
BARTH: TULIP.157
CALVIN: That. They condense an immense amount of writing into this little memory
device and they didn’t even get what I was writing about.158
BARTH: Well, Calvin, your doctrine of predestination is maybe the most polarizing thing
about your work.159 People were writing about it in my day and they are still writing about it now. It’s what you’re remembered for.
CALVIN: But it was not the point of my writings. And if I may speak to what happened, I
would like to. The Remonstrants that the Arminians put together had a few key points that my followers got very upset about.160 First there was the “open decree of predestination” which means something to the effect that God knew who was going to believe in Him.161 To be fair, I understand why they became upset about this. God owes us nothing and we were all going to hell before He saved us. It is all in His mercy.162 The second holds that Christ died for all, but only the elect benefit from it.163 I believe this is where my followers got unduly upset. Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all, not just the elect--God has no desire to destroy or suffer all to perish, but to “have mercy upon all”; however, only the elect are specially called.164 My followers instead purported this “limited atonement” whereby they tried to take some of Christ’s significance as redeemer away.165 The third thing the Arminians said was that humanity can do nothing good.166 At least my followers didn’t refute that. That would be have been quite ridiculous.167 The fourth was that grace is resistible, which is simply incorrect.168 The fifth concerns whether or not man can fall from grace, for which the Arminians claimed there is not enough Scriptural evidence on either side, but I disagree.169 My followers were mostly correct in disagreeing, but the fact that they then oversimplified what I wrote into TULIP is very frustrating for reasons already mentioned, but then especially because they are incorrect about the irresistible grace! What is even more frustrating is that they had that Synod of Dort and made it particularly official.170
BARTH: Yeah, it did. I don’t think that either one of you were right about predestination
though.171
LUTHER: Here we go.
CALVIN: Pardon? Aren’t you Reformed?172
BARTH: Basically. I’m allowed to disagree though. And I’ll tell you why I disagree. I agree
with you about the total depravity, which is when God says “no” to humanity, and unconditional election because we don’t deserve it, but….you didn’t go far enough with your Christology.173 Christ, in becoming human, said “yes” to us, even though we didn’t deserve it, and broke into the lives of all of humanity allowing for Christ to be both the elect for all humanity and the reprobate for all humanity.174 Therefore, we can now partner with God and receive His gift if we so choose.175 Both you and Arminius were in error, if you ask me, because neither one of you got past God choosing. I mean, Arminius at least thought people had more choice, but even then it was based on foreknowledge.176
LUTHER: Yeah, I always thought your people and Arminius were talking about the same
general thing. It’s all by the grace of God, I don’t really think that details matter all that much.177
CALVIN: Martin, the details always matter.178
LUTHER: Whatever. The point is, your people and Arminius were fighting over details,
and they messed up your Institutes like the “Lutherans” messed up my work. Not
that it’s about the work itself, but if they’re going to adopt our names, they should use what we wrote, right?
SOLOMON: Time’s up! Write your answer. Next question is: what were the two major
events that shaped Reformed Orthodoxy?179 Three minutes start now.
BARTH: Well, we already know the Synod of Dort, but the other one was--
CALVIN: The Westminster Confession.180 Of this, I am not so keen either. I wrote out the
Institutes. Why would they feel to do it again? Why not just abridge it? Or go and write something else apart from my writings and read and interpret the Scripture themselves?181
BARTH: Well, they did some things you hadn’t, like dealing with how to interpret vague
Scripture.182
CALVIN: It is all from God and it cannot be measured against anything man has written
so of course you would have to use Scripture to interpret itself.183 God speaks in person through it.184 But, I suppose, it is nice for it to be clarified. Though, if I thought it needed clarifying, I might have done it myself. That being said, not everything needs clarifying at least not in Scripture. There is some mystery in Scripture that man can not understand.185
LUTHER: Agreed.186 But you know what gets me, John? That people now see you as sort
of super stern and joyless because of those “Calvinists.”187
BARTH: I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of you as sort of gloomy.188
CALVIN: (hurt) What? Why?
BARTH: Your Christology and predestination.189
CALVIN: What! Predestination, while a difficult teaching, is about the mercy of God shown
to us despite our sins.190 God takes away all consideration of worth on our part and
chooses us to take into His fellowship of life.191 It is the ultimate expression of God’s mercy towards us. A hard teaching it may be, but it is a good one.192
BARTH: I have to disagree.
CALVIN: (still hurt) You know what--
[Suddenly Hobbes casually walks up to the table and sets a stuffed tiger in front of CALVIN. He smirks, then leaves. CALVIN finally breaks and throws the tiger across the room.]
CALVIN: (to Hobbes) IF YOU PUT THAT STUFFED TIGER IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN I’LL
BOTH BEHEAD AND BURN YOU!193 (to LUTHER) I told you we shouldn’t
come here!
[the whole bar stares at CALVIN]
SOLOMON: Woah, hey. What is going on?
[LUTHER edges CALVIN’s wine glass towards him]
LUTHER: Calm down, John. I really don’t want to get thrown out of another place.
CALVIN: I will NOT calm down or give into this madness!
LUTHER: I know a thing or two and not backing down, this isn’t the time. Trust me. I know.194
CALVIN: FINE. (begrudgingly) Sorry. Sorry. Sorry, everyone. Continue.
SOLOMON: Alright, good. Golly Moses, guys--
MOSES: (with a mop in the back) Yeah?
SOLOMON: Oh, no, it’s just a--
BERNSTEIN: (singing “Gee, Officer Krupke”195) Golly Moses, naturally we're punks!
SOLOMON: No, Leonard, stop--
BERNSTEIN: (ignoring Solomon) Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset!
SINATRA: (jumping up and joining in with BERNSTEIN) We never had the love that every
child oughta get!
SOLOMON: Frank, guys, karaoke's tomorrow--
BERNSTEIN and SINATRA: We ain't no delinquents, we're misunderstood--
[Jean-Jacques ROUSSEAU leaps on top of a table as Gershwin bolts to the piano]
ROUSSEAU: (singing) Deep down inside us there is good!
CALVIN: (angry again) NO, THERE’S NOT!196
[at this point, most of the pub has joined in with the song and dance routine]
PUB: There is good, there is good,
There is untapped good,
Like inside, the worst of us is good!
[CALVIN gets up as music continues]
CALVIN: I’m leaving.
LUTHER: Yup. This time I actually want to leave.197
[LUTHER and CALVIN leave]
SOLOMON: Meaningless! This is all meaningless! I’m done!198
[SOLOMON storms off]
LUTHER: (shouting over the music) You can expect a very unsatisfied review nailed to
your door in the morning!199
[the pub continues singing as BARTH sits there, a bit awkwardly]
BARTH: So, karaoke night then?
ENDNOTES
1Barth, Karl. The Humanity of God. Translated by John Newton Thomas and Thomas Wieser. Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960. “The early theologians should not have hesitated so long to appeal to Luther” (Barth 24).
2 Calvin, Jean. Calvin's Institutes, abridged. Edited by Donald K. McKim. Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. Barth comes from a Reformed tradition and he references Calvin at page 49.
3 Gonzalez, Justo L. The Reformation to the Present Day. Vol. 2 of The Story of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, 21.
4 Gonzalez 211-212.
5 Barth knew his history.
6 Luther, Martin. Three Treatises. N.p.: Fortress Press, 1970. “...the tyrants of the churches, without the consent of the church, which is the people of God” (Luther 137).
7 The church withheld part of communion from the laity (Luther 136).
8 “For, where they [ministers] are called to office, it is at the same time enjoined upon them not to bring anything of themselves, but the speak from the Lord’s mouth”; and “The power of the church...is...subject to the Lord’s Work and...enclosed within it” (Calvin 137).
9 “Inordinate and fraudulent claims of the papacy and its usurpation of worldly power” (Calvin 142). Calvin would have been familiar with the abuses of power of the Church.
10 Luther called the Church captive and he understood better than most the abuses of the church since he wrote 95 Thesis on them.
11 Calvin has an entire section on the “Primacy of the Roman See” where he says that “admission that Peter was bishop in Rome does not establish Rome’s perpetual primacy” and that the “Roman Church is honored but not as [the] unifying head} (Calvin 136).
12 Luther calls some people in the church “godless flatteres” (Luther 266).
13 At 4.1.9 Calvin shows he desire for a more unified church.
14 Luther would know this since he was kicked out of the church because of doctrinal differences. He understood why people would leave the Church.
15 see endnote 14.
16 see endnote 12.
17 see endnote 14.
18 These come from a list of insults Luther rattles off on page 267; the “donkeys” comes from the Lutheran Insulter. http://ergofabulous.org/luther/.
19 “The power of the church is therefore to be not grudgingly maintained but yet to be kept within definite limits, that is may not be drawn hither and thither according to men’s whims” (Calvin 137).
20 “God is comprehended in Christ alone” (Calvin 46).
21 “Deprived of a guiding principle [God] man could turn anywhere” (Barth 27) which is bad because unless man chooses God, he is choosing sin (77).
22 Gonzalez 212.
23 “...we must here remember that whatever authority and dignity the Spirit in Scripture...it is...given...to the ministry to which they [men] have been appointed” (Calvin 137)
24 Barth remembers well the day when his theology professors supported a war effort--something that changed his life and made him reconsider their theology which he later decided was wrong (Barth 14).
25 see endnote 23.
26 Luther wrote a very polite and generous letter to Pope Leo X in which he did not lambast the Medici pope (Luther 266-276); “...if we permit one institution of Christ to be changed, we all his laws invalid” (Luther 135).
27 see endnote 24.
28 Gonzales 212.
29 The main point of a civil government is for the “establishment of civil justice” and “to cherish and protect the outward worship of God” (Calvin 163).
30 “...the laity are without fault” (Luther 142-143) when their leaders screw up. He was specifically talking about being denied the sacraments there, but this can apply to most thing when the church leadership screws up and leads their flock astray.
31 Phil 1:18. Luther quoted Scripture frequently.
32 Calvin also quotes Scripture quite liberally and he would agree with it.
33 Gonzalez 214.
34 Based on how Barth talks about war (it being a bad thing) on page 15 as well as his reaction to his professors’ endorsement of said way on page 14, it is reasonable to conclude that he would not have been terribly in favor of war and therefore of armies.
35 Calvin discuses the “right of a government to wage war” and comes to the conclusion that some wars have been deemed “lawful by many testimonies of Scripture” in that section meaning that it is alright for a civil government to have an army.
36 Gonzalez 214-217.
37 Calvin would totally know this because they basically agreed with him. heheh.
38 Luther had a sense of humor. He’s a snarky, sassy sort of guy who employed sarcasm in his letters. Also, I think he would have taken pleasure, in brotherly love, in ruffling the feathers of someone as uptight as John Calvin. This is better expanded upon in endnote 49.
39 While Calvin disagreed with the church, I’m sure he would have had a bit of respect for them as a man of God (Calvin 136-137).
40 Calvin was a fan of Augustine and he wrote the book on predestination, which is essentially what the Jansenists got in trouble for--sounding too much like Calvin (Gonzales 215).
41 Barth wished that Calvin had gone further with his Christology so that it would have impacted his doctrine of predestination (Barth 49).
42 Of the Luther I’ve read and been allowed to draw from, Luther seemed more concerned with the sacraments and people’s freedom in Christ then anything else.
43 Calvin spent only 5% of the entire Institutes on predestination. Because of how he wrote the book, everything flows to Christ and from Him. He is the most important thing. Calvin, 46: “God is comprehended in Christ alone.”
44 While he realized that the church and government were two separate entities, he believed they worked best together. Calvin, 163-164 (and his whole treaty on Civil Government, really)
45 Barth probably didn’t have a high view of the intelligentsia after one of his professors became philosopher (Barth, 14) and because a number of his professors were in support of a war (14). I can’t imagine he was terribly fond of people using religion for political gain.
46 I would imagine that Luther would ask this question both probingly and honestly. Luther was no fool, but I think he had a problem understanding, or perhaps coming to terms with how some people could do this. I figure this because how intensely he believed in and loved Christ (I cite just about everything he ever wrote) and because of his open letter to Leo X (Luther, 266-276) where he still fully believes that a Medici pope is still a good man corrupted by those around him. To me this shows a failure to accept how far corruption can go. I do think that he understood it (okay, he did based on the title “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” but I believe there would always be a part of him that didn’t get it, or didn’t want to get it. I could be overly romanticizing him though (which, to be fair, isn’t hard). Also, I think he also wants to know how others see it.
47 I think because of how he saw the century before him and his professors he would say this. Barth, 11-17.
48 Yes, Luther did understand what lies in the heart of man. But I picture him saying this with a scowl. Luther, 125.
49 This is still pretty tongue in cheek, because Luther was a cheeky fellow, but I do think Luther would have enjoyed clever letters that lambast someone because he did that quite well himself. He called people: “vile-smelling cloaca” (Luther 129), “flatterers” (124), “messenger of Satan” (130), among other things. He had great zingers like: “It is so bad that ever Antichrist himself, if he should come, could think of nothing to add to its wickedness” (269), and “But listen to our distinguished distinguisher of ‘kinds’ to whom the decision of the church and the command of Christ are the same thing, and the command of Christ and no command of Christ are the same thing” (127). Apply burn cream here.
50 Pascal was a philosopher and came into the movement as it was becoming more zealous. I still don’t think Barth was really keen on secular philosophers. Barth, 14.
51 Luther was not terribly keen on philosophers it sounded like. He was not keen on one’s like Aristotle anyway (Luther, 151, 129). Not to say that Pascal is like Aristotle, but I think Luther would have been wary of all secular philosophers, especially when then are used to try to explain God’s mysteries, because “the authority of God’s Word is greater than the capacity of our intellect to grasp it” (Luther 151).
52 I doubt that Calvin trusted in secular philosophy since he speaks to “the error of the philosophers” (Calvin, 8) which is to “fashion for himself an idol or specter in place of God” (Calvin 8) which I think could be more than a physical thing. He also calls “God’s nature immeasurable” (16) and describes it as something we cannot “grasp” (16).
53 God is so “wholly other” (Barth 45) and can only be recognized “in the existence of Jesus Christ” (Barth 48), so unless you start with Jesus, which secular theology does not, you can’t find God.
54 Barth was a serious philosopher and recognized his “indebtedness” (Barth 91) to it.
55 Looking at Calvin’s writings, he would have to agree with this. His logic is pretty solid.
56 Gonzalez 216; the way the Luther and Calvin (and particularly Barth) all construct their arguments is quite philosophical and genius.
57 Ibid.
58 Calvin ran a city. I think he would sort of assume control where there is none. Especially with a “follower” like Barth.
59 Gonzalez 218.
60 I think Luther would know this one because Molinos would have made him angry because “Christian liberty...does not induce us to live in idleness” (Luther 284).
61 Gonzalez 217.
62 see endnote 60.
63 “Human freedom is not realized in the solitary detachment of an individual in isolation from his fellow men” (Barth 77).
64 “Human freedom cannot contradict divine freedom” (Barth 77) and God is very “pro nobis” (77) so we should be too.
65 “A Christian is a...servant of all” (Luther 277).
66 “But works...can, if faith is present, be done to the glory of God” (Luther 288).
67 “...there works redice the body to subjection and purify it of its evil lusts” (Luther 295)
68 Gonzalez 218.
69 First, I’m using “hate” in the most common way possible since I’m not attempting to write exactly as they did, but Barth wouldn’t have appreciated false humility in anyone. One, because the Bible doesn’t, but two, because I don’t think he had any tolerance for it after seeing the “enlightened,” and probably pretentious, ways of the former century.
70 Luther would be a little upset by this, I think, because of what he went through when people told him to recant. He would have wanted to guy to recant since Luther would have thought him wrong (see footnotes 61-63), but the fact that he sort of didn’t really recant would have not sat well with him.
71 Calvin ran a city knowing what is in the heart of man. He understood the need to punishment. At 4.20.10, he discusses the use of force by rulers and comes to the conclusion that it’s better to “live under a prince with whom nothing is permitted [than] one by whom everything is allowed” (Calvin 168).
72 Gonzalez 218.
73 Calvin wouldn’t have been surprised by this sort of evil knowing that in the heart of man there is, “depravity and corruption” (Calvin 2).
74 “Then, what was masquerading earlier as righteousness...will soon grow filthy in its...wickedness. What...impressed us in the name of wisdom will stink of...foolishness” (Calvin 3).
75 Sin does not equal freedom. It is “not included in the freedom give to man by God” (Barth 77).
76 “...human freedom cannot contradict divine freedom” (Barth 77).
77 Gonzalez 218.
78 Gonzalez 218.
79 I’m paraphrasing: “To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it, provided it believes the preaching” (Luther 280).
80 Paraphrase of Matt. 18:6. Luther quotes scripture a lot.
81 “...he uses the ministry of men to declare openly his will to us…just as a workman uses his tool” (Calvin 132).
82 1 Tim. 3:2 Calvin references this verse at 4.3.12; Titus 1:7-8. Calvin references this verse at 4.3.12.
83 I think he would clarify to that because of his experience with his theology professors (Barth 14); Barth would say this not only because of his experience with his professors (Barth 14), but because he was a pastor himself and had to understand the power he wielded; God accepts us as a partner in His freedom. Barth 76.
84 “In human freedom there is no room for sin” (Barth 77).
85 Gonzalez 219.
86 I figure recanting must have been an important subject for Luther on a personal level. But also, while he had an entire treatise on the freedom in Christ to do good works and love on people, he starts with faith and being a new man who has given up the old ways (Luther 277-278).
87 Martin Luther is outdone in insults only by Shakespeare and perhaps Churchill. I found these on the Lutheran Insulter. (Also, and here’s the fun part, since Luther wrote hymns I made sure these insults actually work to music: “Do You Hear the People Sing” from Les Misérables which actually works quite nicely because it’s about a people who want to be free, something Luther was very keen on.)
88 Calvin is a product of Luther’s break from the church.
89 Lutheran Insulter.
90 Kretzmer, Herbert and Claude-Michel Schonberg. "Do You Hear the People Sing Lyrics." MetroLyrics. Accessed April 30, 2014. http://www.metrolyrics.com/do-you-hear-the-people-sing-lyrics-les-miserables.html.
91 Gonzalez 223-224.
92 Calvin at 1.6.1; Calvin at 1.6.4.
93 “...hence, it [Scripture] is not right to subject it to proof and reasoning” (Calvin 12); because it is “self-authenticating” (Calvin 12).
94 Calvin would say this, but believe some are wrong, because he watched the Reformation and all these different interpretations come about.
95 Barth didn’t really touch on this at all. He clearly believes in the Bible (“A free theologian starts steadily and happily with the Bible” [Barth 90]), but because he doesn’t lambast universalism (Barth 61-62) (something that’s really not in keeping with Christianity, c.f. John 14:6), I am uncertain as to whether or not he would oppose adiaphora. I don’t know that he would, actually, though I haven’t read enough Barth to really be able to say that.
96 Calvin believed that God will do as God will and that He is not “subject to our questioning” (Calvin 2.23.4-7). This is really seen in all of his writing on predestination. Calvin doesn’t completely understand it, but he knows that God does what He does for His reasons.
97 “We must be careful to give more heed to the Word of God than to all the thoughts of men and angels” (Luther 153).
98 On page 194, Luther discusses putting people under the law of bishops and how to do so is tyranny. This is different, but the principle of making decisions of faith for others carries over to this argument.
99 “A free man is one who chooses, decides, and determines himself and who acts according to his thoughts, words, and deeds…[in] his God-given freedom” (Barth 84).
100 In explanation of the first part of the sentence: “For our human weakness, conscious of its sins, finds nothing more difficult to believe than that it is saved” (Luther 180). The second half of the sentence is therefore the logical conclusion.
101 On page 167, among other places, he calls faith, which is indicative of our salvation (“unless it [the soul] believes this [that it is saved], it cannot be saved, because it does not believe the truth of God that promises salvation,” [Luther 180] and on pages 284 Luther explains that faith is trusting in the promises of God) a gift, making us the passive party in the giving relationship and therefore having no part in it other than acceptance (which we already have a problem with, c.f. footnote 96).
102 See Calvin 3.21-25 where Calvin outlines predestination.
103 Frankly, this is based off our in-class discussions concerning page 49; “It is Kerygma, the herald’s call, the message which invites and summons...man [to] step[...] out the mere ‘interest’ of the spectator into the genuine participation” (Barth 58).
104 “...he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man” (Calvin 113).
105 “The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess” (Calvin 116).
106 Barth would, I’m sure, want to talk to Calvin about this since he said, “Would that Calvin had energetically pushed ahead on this point in his Christology...his teaching about predestination…” (Barth 49).
107 “Greatly mistaken are those who conceive no presence of flesh in the Supper unless it lies in the bread…[and thus] drag him from heaven” (Calvin 160).
108 Barth comes from a Reformed tradition.
109 “...and clinging to his words, firmly believe not only than the body of Christ is in the bread, but that the bread in the body of Christ” (Luther 150).
110 “For my part, I cannot fathom how the bread is the body of Christ, yet I will take my reason captive to the obedience of Christ” (Luther 150).
111 “As though, if he should lift us to himself, we should not just as much enjoy his presence!” (Calvin 160)
112 “Without the condescension of God there would be no exaltation of man” (Barth 48). Again, Barth didn’t talk about the Lord’s Supper, but based on this line and that he came from a Reformed tradition, I think he would really agree with Calvin.
113 This is based on what he discusses next on page 49 where he describes what God’s freedom in Christ allows him starting with, “It is rather His freedom to be and for Himself…”
114 But he really did and Barth knew it. See Institutes xxi where Barth is quoted.
115 Gonzalez 224.
116 Luther really would have hated that “Lutherans” drew from Aristotle so heavily as he saw Aristotle as “a man who did not understand” and so they would be “building...upon an unfortunate foundation” (Luther 145).
117 Calvin wrote 1500+ pages of systematized theology--of course he would be alright with this.
118 Luther really didn’t. He wrote for occasions, not to create a new way of doing theology like Calvin did.
119 “...unless this foundation [of Scripture] is laid, its authority will always remain in doubt” (Calvin 12), and “[t]he testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason” (11).
120 “A free theologian does not deny, nor is he ashamed of, his indebtedness to a particular philosophy or ontology, to ways of thought and speech. These may be traditional...old…” (Barth 92)
121 Barth discusses this on page 92 saying, “no one speaks exclusively in Biblical terms. … The Biblical authors themselves...spoke in many earthly languages.” Barth does reference Luther (at least on 24) and Calvin (at least on 49).
122 Both of them quote Augustine at various points and Barth, who had studied both of them, would know that.
123 Luther would be a little miffed at this as a monk trained in the Augustinian order and as someone who quotes quite a bit of Augustine (at least on page 133).
124 “[The free theologian] stands ready to submit to the coherence of his concepts and formulations to the coherence of the divine revelation and not conversely” (Barth 93).
125 Luther, as explained previously, doesn’t like secular philosophy. When discussing the Lord’s Supper and the presence of Christ in the bread, he says, “What does it matter if philosophy cannot fathom this? The Holy Spirit is greater than Aristotle” (Luther 151). He doesn’t care if any human philosopher can fathom any part of the mystery of God. I think he thought they couldn’t.
126 Luther would not have been happy about this since his whole movement began out of a desire to help people and stop the church from abusing the people, thus saving souls.
127 Calvin thought that learning and knowledge was good and comes from God (Calvin 2.2.15-16).
128 Luther speaks of Aristotle and Augustine as one very familiar with his work. Plus, he was Doctor Martin Luther.
129 “Obviously theology has always been to some extent open toward and related to the world, consciously or unconsciously. It should be so.” (Barth 18).
130 One, Luther believed we were free to be “servant of all” (277) and that to “preach Christ [was to] save” (280) the soul. Luther understood academia, but always made it applicable to how we live.
131 “Without the condescension of God there would be no exaltation of man” (Barth 48).
132 God wants us to partner with Him (Barth 48) and if we are partnered with Him, we should do as He would do.
133 “You may ask, ‘What then is the Word of God, and how shall it be used, since there are so many words of God?’ I answer: The Apostle explains this in Romans 1. The Word is the gospel of God concerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through the Spirit who sanctifies. To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it, provided it believes the preaching. Faith alone is the saving and efficacious use of the Word of God.” (Luther 280)
134 Calvin says just that at 1.7.3.
135 1.7 is all about the credibility of Scripture.
136 “Work...can be done to the glory of God” (Luther 288). “A Christian is...servant of all….” (277). These two parts plus Luther’s concern for the laity make me think that he would be in favor of living out one’s faith rather than just thinking about it. Luther certainly thought a lot, but he also traveled a lot and did.
137 Calvin is a very wise man and would know, because he would have known Luther’s works, that Luther is a genius and something of an academic (I say this based on his genius, how he constructs his arguments, and how he uses other writers). Calvin would, because in this paper they are friends, know that Luther also is a very excitable guy, which is evident from his intense passion in his writings, and therefore I think he would gently ask this question.
138 Luther, while fiery, is also an astronomical thinker.
139 Honestly, he might have enjoyed discussing topics like that if he hadn’t been so busy doing other things. But in this scenario, I think he would let his passion and dislike of Aristotle sort of get the better of him.
140 Gonzalez 288.
141 While in favor of using the church fathers, Luther was very ad fontes.
142 Gonzalez 228.
143 First off, he’s stating the obvious. Second, Barth, while he would have thought people were wrong, I think he would be in favor of people getting along. This is based off his lack of a definitive answer about Universalism.
144 Luther was about ad fontes and while he respected Augustine, Scripture is key. I have a dozen endnotes to support that.
145 Barth had his views on theology, but at the end of the day he didn’t want to box it in (Barth 62). I also think he would question people like Luther in this instance because of Christian freedom in which Christ speaks to us individually (Barth 91).
146 I think Luther would be caught off guard. Of course he thinks his is right. I believe that Luther would be wise enough to hear out another position though. I think this young guy (comparatively) questioning him like that would throw him off a bit.
147 It’s how small mistakes in doctrine unrelated to salvation are referred to (Gonzalez 227).
148 See endnote 141 for this whole paragraph.
149 Luther is wise and I think he would be willing to be corrected since he did change his positions of some things as he grew in wisdom.
150 Because “Scripture bears its own authentication” (Calvin 12).
147 The Bible is the “starting point” (Barth 90).
151 Luther never wanted to leave the Church much less start a new one. I can’t believe that he wouldn’t want some form of unity among believers.
153 Lennon, John, and Paul McCartney. "Let It Be Lyrics." AZ Lyrics. Accessed April 30, 2014. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beatles/letitbe.html.
154 Gonzales 230.
155 Gonzales 230.
156 Of the 1500+ pages written, 5% was on predestination.
157 Gonzalez 233.
158 Honestly, Calvin is about Christ (I say this based on how he structured the Institutes and how he built into Christ, through Him, and then let the rest of his theology flow out of Christ.
159 Barth was very familiar with Calvin and, from the reading, this seems to be his only real “issue” with Calvin (Barth 49).
160 Gonzalez 231.
161 Gonzalez 231.
162 Calvin 2.23.3.
163 Gonzalez 231.
164 Calvin 2.6.8, quoting Romans 11:32; Calvin, John. Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, n.d., Calvin 3.20.45.
165 Gonzalez 231; honestly, I understand that this whole argument is a bit of a stretch, but the evidence is there and I can’t imagine Calvin disagreeing with Arminius on this bit because I really do think Calvin placed a lot of emphasis on Christ’s saving power (Calvin 2.16). Christ is the centerpiece of everything for Calvin--I don’t think he’d want to stript his Lord of any power. Also, Calvin freely admits that predestination is a mystery “for it is not right for man unrestrainedly to search out things that the Lord had willing to be hid in himself” (112).
166 Gonzalez 231.
167 Calvin is quite clear on the “miserable condition” (Calvin 33) of man and how knowing how terrible we are actually leads us to God (1.1.1).
168 Gonzales 231; God chose “what he willed to become of each man” (Calvin 133).
169 Gonzales 232; Calvin 3.24.7.
170 Gonzales 232.
171 He disagreed with Calvin because he didn’t go far enough in his Christology (Barth 49) and he would disagree with Arminius for the same reasons which shall gotten into presently.
172As this is in a fictional universe, Calvin would know that Barth is of the Reformed tradition. He would ask in surprise.
173 Barth knew than man was sinful and, if given the choice, would sin (Barth 79-77, 17); God says “no” to us in our sin (Barth 78); He grants us “unmerited” favor (Barth 78); Barth 49.
174 This is a mash-up of pages 78 where Barth discusses “unmerited” favor and pages 48 and 49 where he unpacks the rest of it.
175 “[Man’s] power lies in receiving...God’s gift” (Barth 76).
176 “According to Arminius, predestination was based on God’s foreknowledge of those who would later have faith in Jesus Christ” (Gonzalez 230).
177 “...my God has given me in Christ all the riches on my righteousness and faith” (Luther 304) and “alll things depends on faith...whoever does not have faith will have nothing” (Luther 283). Luther didn’t try or want to systematize any of this. For him, God gives us a gift we don’t deserve and I think that’s good enough for him.
178 Calvin, the mass systematizer, went into great detail about a lot of things.
179 Gonzalez 229.
180 Gonzalez 229.
181 According to another writing of Calvin’s, an except from which is included in the introduction to the Institutes on page xvi, he intended this to help people study the Scripture. He never intended, I don’t think, to create a new sect of Christianity with all of these things based off his work.
182 Gonzales 233.
183 Calvin 1.7.5.
184 Mild paraphrase of “God in person speaks in it” (Calvin 11).
185 This is taken from 3.21.1 where Calvin discusses how man shouldn’t “search out things that the Lord had willed to be hid in himself,” and how “Scripture is superior to all human wisdom” (Calvin 12).
186 Luther did not have a high opinion of man’s ability to explain some of the more vague parts of Scripture (Luther 151).
187 Gonzalez 235; also, Luther read Calvin’s Institutes and “commented favorably on them” (Gonzales 222) so I think, in this weird alternate universe, they two might be friends.
188 Barth called Calvin’s Geneva a “gloomy affair” (Barth 49) because of his Christology concerning predestination.
189 Ibid.
190 God’s choice to choose anyone comes “solely from his mercy” (Calvin 117) and “he did not choose us because he foresaw that we would be [holy]” (115).
191 “...he takes away all consideration of real worth on our part...to chose ...those whom he was to take into the fellowship of life” (Calvin 114).
192 “The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess” (Calvin 116).
193 Calvin once asked that someone he had helped put to death be beheaded rather than burned as an act of mercy (Gonzalez 84).
194 Luther did not back down when asked to recant.
195 Bernstein, Leonard, and Stephen Sondheim. "Gee, Officer Krupke." The Official West
Side Story SIte. Accessed April 30, 2014.
http://www.westsidestory.com/site/level2/lyrics/krupke.html.
196 Humanity has an “inability to do good” (Calvin 41).
197 Luther did not want to break with Rome, so this is just a joke on that.
198 Ecclesiastes opens with “Meaningless!” (Eccl. 1:2 NIV) So, it’s a joke that is not meant to be reflective on any of the preceding dialogue.
199 It’s a bad 95 Thesis joke.
