Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Friday, August 06, 2010 10:12:00 PM
‘In the 1500s, a pestering theologian instituted something called the Marriage Ordinance in Geneva, which made "state registration and church consecration" a dual requirement of matrimony.’ –David Harsanyi
Re: http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidHarsanyi/2010/08/06/time_for_a_divorce
That ‘pestering theologian’ wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion which is a systematic theology of Reformed thought and the foundation for the advance of Western thought and culture.
To demean Calvin is to demean our heritage. How is it any different than when the Far Left does the same thing? Would we consider the times and circumstances of Calvin’s Geneva? Calvin was engaged in untangling the abuses of church-state hierarchies and establishing a free church and a free state based on biblical authority.
No one is saying that he got everything right, but we do say that he helped advance the cause of liberty in the midst of a revival of Biblical Christianity that had been suppressed for a 1000 years. The real question is what role should the state have in its civil law as minister of God’s law to enforce the principles of general equity. The American Founders answered that question in terms of Natural Law.
What is the origin of the rule of law as associated with constitutionalism? What is the origin of the work ethic where any man’s honest labor is considered honorable and the fruit of his labor is as sacred as any other private property. When was a man’s conscience given its due liberty in matters of religion? These are all fruits of the Protestant Reformation. And least we forget, America was settled and its independence was won by Reformation Men.
These men had a different view of John Calvin; they honored him as Reformer and Theologian of the West. We would do well to reconsider the view of those who were engaged in the struggle.
Regarding the Marriage Ordinance: it was the Protestant answer to the tradition of the marriage sacrament, which was Augustine’s mistake. Would we consider that civil law provided a safe guard against unjust divorce, protecting women and their children? Would we consider that this helped to stabilize the family and the culture?
Today we are like the culture of Pharisees who put away their spouse for any reason. But Christ taught that “from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” [Mark 10]
We disregard the words of Christ at our own peril. [Psalm 2]