The Story

I carved out the time this morning to slow down and continue my reading in Calvin's Institutes.

I have been asked "Really? The Institutes?" regarding my choice of morning reading. My response has been that I am taking up the challege from one of my seminary professors to read through the Institutes as a pastor. I am also seeing how many who claim to 'Calvinists' have never read through (or even opened) the Institues. It is always fun to ask, "Have you read the Institutes?" when someone pulls out TULIP and claims to be a Calvinist. I haven't heard a "Yes" yet...

I do not consider myself, however, a 'Calvinist' but I continue to be refreshed by Calvin's heart for Christ, Scripture and the church.

Today, I read through Book, Chapter VIII, 1-13 - "So Far as Human Reason Goes, Sufficiently Firm Proofs Are at Hand to Establish the Credibility of Scripture."

The timing of this reading is ironic because I am facilitating a weekly Starting Point conversation at MVPC and this week's topic is Scripture.

Calvin reminded me of the (nothing short of) miraculous nature of the Bible in terms of the overall story and how all of the inputs come together. Even moreso, I was reminded that the Bible is not composed by eloquent writers (even though THE King James version tried to clean up that 'mistake') and that adds to its credibility. Calvin writes:

For it was also not without God's extraordinary providence that the sublime myseteries of the Kingdom of Heaven came to be expressed largely in mean and lowly words, lest, if they had been adorned with more shining eloquence, the impious would scoffingly have claimed that its power is in the realm of eloquence alone. Now since such uncultivated and almost rude simplicity inspires greater reverence for itself than any eloquence, what ought one to conclude except that the force of the truth of Sacred Scripture is manifestly too powerful to need the art of words?

I am encouraged that the Bible is not composed by eloquent philosophers. Instead, the writers are a collection of regular individuals who God selected to share his story and therefore allow us to see ourselves in that story as well.