«Nous ne sommes point nostres...»: La spiritualité de Jean Calvin
John Calvin (1509-1564) did not only pass on a broad theological culture, but he presented also a new way of being Christian, a new spirituality, profoundly rooted in the Christian tradition. His thinking has had a great influence upon christian life. After having first called to mind the life of th...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | French |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana
1988
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| In: |
Gregorianum
Year: 1988, Volume: 69, Issue: 2, Pages: 279-297 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | John Calvin (1509-1564) did not only pass on a broad theological culture, but he presented also a new way of being Christian, a new spirituality, profoundly rooted in the Christian tradition. His thinking has had a great influence upon christian life. After having first called to mind the life of the French Reformer, the article starts the explanation of his spirituality with a description of Calvin's emblem, a hand stretched out and holding a heart, with the motto «prompt and sincere». For Calvin theology is a practical science, directed towards the conversion of a person and his betterment. The heart, the experience and the piety are more important than the intellect. Calvin's spirituality has in view the common Christian. Ils foundation and the privileged tool for spreading it is the catechism. By doing so Calvin, as much as Luther, wants to return to the fundamental equality of all Christians before God, rooted in their common baptism. The dominant perspective can be described with a sentence from the Institutes of the Christian Religion: «We are not our own, we are God's» (ICR III,7,1). It speaks of an infinite distance between God and the human being and, at the same time of a promise of God's merciful intimacy towards the human person. We have to recognize God's majesty and our humble condition. Therefore we must look for God's will and renounce ourselves. «Let his wisdom and will rule all our actions...» (ICR III,7,1). In the midst of deep humility, «an unfeigned submission of our heart, stricken down in earnest with an awareness of its own misery and want» (ICR III,12,6) arises the need for prayer. Briefly the article touches the ecclesial aspect of Calvin's spirituality. His spirituality is a disciplina crucis, as radical as Luther's theologia crucis. It impresses through its coherence and earnestness, but also through its deep humanity. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Gregorianum
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