Calvin's Ecclesiastical Polity.
Calvin dreaded responsibility and warfare from afar and
beforehand, but as soon as he had entered the arena all
irresolution disappeared; he felt his own strength and did not
scruple to use it. Two days after his arrival in Geneva, as soon
as he had paid an official visit to the magistrates, he requested
them, without any further delay, to nominate a commission which
should have power to prepare the necessary reforms in the
constitution and government of the Church. Six members were at
once appointed, and a fortnight later, with the help of Calvin
and his colleagues, they had drawn up a hundred and sixty-eight
articles, which contained a complete scheme of ecclesiastical
polity. This scheme was presented to the Council on the 26th of
September, 1541. It was discussed during a whole month, and
modified on many points in which the civil magistrates thought it
too severe. It was adopted on the 9th of November by the Two
Hundred, and was received on the 20th by the General Assembly.
Several slight modifications were, however, made at the request
of some of the citizens, and it was not until the 2d of January,
1542, that the Ecclesiastical Ordinances were definitely accepted
by the General Assembly, consisting of 2,000 citizens.
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On the 14th of March, 1542, Calvin wrote: 'We have now a
kind of ecclesiastical tribunal, and such a form of religious
discipline as these troublous times will allow of. But do not
think that we have obtained it without great effort. [Footnote
88]
[Footnote 88: Transcriber's note--No footnote appears.]
I will not attempt to give a detailed account of the internal
organization of the Church of Geneva, nor of the peculiar nature
of its relation to the State, which was the result of that
organization. But I am anxious to define its first principles and
to state its essential results with accuracy; not only because of
the importance of the problems then solved, but also because the
solution accepted at Geneva was so widely received. The religious
system established by Calvin in the Church of Geneva was adopted
by the reformed churches, and by Protestantism, properly so
called, in France, Holland, Switzerland, and several of the
United States of America. A local work does not spread in this
manner unless it responds to some great instinct of humanity, to
the general condition of men's minds, and to the wants of the
time. Calvin's ideas were larger than he himself knew, and whilst
he was laboriously discussing the Ecclesiastical Ordinances with
the syndics of Geneva, he was in reality working for much greater
states, although the foundations of some of them were not so much
as laid at that time.
There were two principles to which Calvin attached the highest
importance; I might almost call them his two supreme passions,
for they were as pre-eminent in his religious system as they were
in his life.
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I. The distinction between religious and civil society; that is,
between Church and State. I say distinction, not separation; it
was an alliance between two societies, two powers, each
independent of the other in its own domain, but combining in
action, and giving each other mutual support.
II. The amendment and religious discipline of the life and morals
of all members of the Church, who were to be placed under the
inspection of the ecclesiastical powers, and subjected to their
authority, with recourse, in extreme cases, to the civil power.
In speaking of Church and State, I use the language of the
nineteenth century and not that of the sixteenth, and I do not
explain Calvin's aims. He spoke only of the Christian Church and
the Christian State. His Ordinances of 1542 were devised and
framed for the Christian church of the little Christian republic
of Geneva. They were, in fact, quite practicable in Geneva, which
was a free and independent city, and had just solemnly embraced
the reformed religion. Its two thousand citizens had been called
together and consulted, and they had bound themselves to the
Reformation by oath. Those who opposed this step had been bidden
to seek a home in some other country. Thus both Church and State
in Geneva had openly proclaimed themselves Christian. It only
remained, therefore, to organize the Christian Church in
accordance with the instructions given in Holy Scripture, and to
connect the religious with the civil administration of this
Christian State.
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The constitution which was framed for the Christian Church of
Geneva was, to a certain extent, both liberal and cautious; and,
like the civil constitution of the Christian Genevese State, it
was republican. Two supreme courts were instituted, both having
somewhat of an elective character:--. The Venerable Company of
Pastors, whose power was spiritual and ecclesiastical; the
members were to preach and teach the Christian faith, to
administer the sacraments--more especially the Lord's
Supper--and to act as members of the Consistory. 2. The pastors
and certain laymen, called _elders_, formed the Consistory,
a moral tribunal, and the guardian of ecclesiastical ordinances.
The Consistory watched over the maintenance of Christian
discipline; repressed moral disorders of every kind, in persons
of all ranks; and thus introduced moral reform--of which Genevese
society stood in great need--side by side with the religious
reform already adopted. Church and State, civil and
ecclesiastical rulers, and the veto of the citizens, all helped
to form and keep up these two courts. 'In order that everything
in the Church may be done in due order, all aspirants for the
ministry are to be examined by the pastors; the object of the
examination being to ascertain, first, the doctrine of the
candidate--that is, if he possesses a thorough and sound
knowledge of the Scriptures; secondly, if he is a fit and meet
person to impart religious instruction to the people; and
thirdly, if he is a man of good character, and has always led a
blameless life. A satisfactory examination is followed by the
laying on of hands, in accordance with the apostolical custom,
and the candidate is then eligible to be elected pastor. The
election rests with the Venerable Company of Pastors, but the
Council is at once communicated with, and sends some of its
members to hear the candidate preach before the assembled
ministers.
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On the following Sunday the name of the new minister is published
in all the churches, together with an announcement that he has
been elected and approved in the usual manner, but that if any
one knows of anything to the prejudice of his character, it is to
be communicated to one of the syndics before the next Sunday. On
that day, if no valid objection has been raised, the new pastor
takes the oaths before the Council and is publicly installed.'
The twelve lay elders who, with six pastors, compose the
Consistory, 'are chosen by the Council, in accordance with the
indication of the pastors, and their election is confirmed by the
Two Hundred. Their names are published on a Sunday, and, before
the following Thursday, any objections which may be raised have
to be laid before one of the syndics.' The power of
excommunication belongs exclusively to this court, consisting of
laymen and ecclesiastics. [Footnote 89]
[Footnote 89: Gaberel, i. 326-336. Bungener, pp. 270-275.]
Calvin thus introduced two new and daring measures into the great
European Reformation, in advance of anything attempted by its
first authors. When Henry VIII. rescued the Church of England
from the domination of the Pope, he proclaimed himself as its
head, and the Anglican Church accepted this royal supremacy. When
Zwingli provoked a rupture with the Church of Rome in German
Switzerland, he was contented to allow sovereign authority in
matters of religion to pass into the hands of the civil powers.
Even Luther, although he reserved a certain measure of liberty
and independence to the Church of Germany, yet placed it under
the protection and domination of lay sovereigns. In this great
question of the relation of Church and State, Calvin aimed at and
accomplished more than any of his predecessors.
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Even before he occupied an important position among European
reformers, when he heard of the religious supremacy of Henry
VIII. in England, he protested strongly against such a system.
Notwithstanding his unceasing opposition to the Church of Rome,
his judgment was too clear and just to allow him to be blinded to
the strength and dignity which that Church derived from the
absolute independence of its sovereign, the Pope, and its
complete separation from the state. When he became one of the
leading reformers, he was anxious that the reformed Church should
not lose this grand characteristic; indeed, in calling it
evangelical, he claimed for it the independence and authority
possessed by the primitive Church in matters of faith and
religious discipline. In spite of the repeated opposition of the
civil magistrates, and of the concessions which he was sometimes
compelled to make, he maintained this principle firmly, and, in
all purely religious matters, secured to the Genevese Church the
right of self-government, in accordance with the faith and laws
made known in the Scriptures.
He also obtained the recognition of a second and no less
important principle. In the course of time, and by a successive
series of modifications, some of them natural and others factious
and illegal, the Christian Church had been divided, as it were,
into two distinct parts,--ecclesiastical and religious, or the
clergy and the believers. In the Catholic Church all power had
fallen into the hands of the clergy; the ecclesiastical governed
the religious world; and whilst the latter were adopting the
thoughts and opinions of the laity, the former remained more and
more separate and supreme.
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The German and English Reformation had already modified this
state of things, and given laymen a certain amount of power in
matters relating to religion. Calvin interposed in a much more
direct and efficacious manner. He appointed a larger number of
laymen than of ecclesiastics, as members of the Consistory, which
was the principal moral authority in the reformed church of
Geneva and an authority evidently destined to increase; and he
thus completely destroyed the line of separation between the
clergy and the believers. He summoned laymen and ecclesiastics to
deliberate and act together, and in this manner secured a just
share of power and influence to all the members of the religious
society.
One fact proves the importance that he attached to the active
participation of faithful believers with their pastor in public
worship. The reformed churches had abolished all the pomp and
ceremonies of the Romish Church, and Calvin did not regret them;
but although he was devoted to the severe simplicity of
evangelical worship, he did not overlook the inherent love of
mankind for poetry and art. He himself had a taste for music, and
knew its power. He feared that, in a religious service limited to
preaching and prayer only, the congregation, having nothing else
to do than to play the part of audience, would remain cold and
inattentive. For this reason he attached great importance to the
introduction and promotion of the practice of psalm-singing in
public worship, in addition to the sermons, prayers, and
liturgies.
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'If the singing,' he said, 'is such as befits the reverence which
we ought to feel when we sing before God and the angels, it is an
ornament which bestows grace and dignity upon our worship; and it
is an excellent method of kindling the heart, and making it burn
with great ardour in prayer. But we must at all times take heed
lest the ear should be more attentive to the harmony of the sound
than the soul to the hidden meaning of the words.' [Footnote 90]
With this pious warning, he strongly urged the study of singing,
and its adoption in public worship. 'Some of the psalms which had
been translated in verse by Clement Marot were printed,
accompanied by a simple and elementary musical notation; and, in
order to popularise them, the children were taught to sing these
simple tunes in a loud and clear voice. A music master, who was
paid by the state, gave three lessons a week to several choirs of
children. When they had learnt the psalm thoroughly, they sang it
during the service.' [Footnote 91]
[Footnote 90: Calvin, _Instit. de la Religion
chrétienne_, ch. xx.]
[Footnote 91: Gaberel, i. 353.]
An ecclesiastical organization thus arose in Geneva, created by
Calvin, and upheld by his influence. The development of this
system, and the completion and modification of its details
according to the different necessities of place and time,
ultimately formed the presbyterian religion--that is, the
religious system adopted in the reformed churches of France,
French Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, and several states in the
New World. In its origin it was a profoundly Christian and
evangelical system; it was republican in many of its fundamental
principles and practices, and at the same time it recognised the
necessity of authority and order, and originated general and
permanent rules of discipline.
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