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Calvin's Calvin's "Theodicy" in his Sermons on Job and the Hiddenness of God by Paolo de Petris McGill University, Montreal February 4,2008 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author. Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47993-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47993-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada VXORID1LECT1SS1MM u Abstract Calvin's "Theodicy" has been substantially ignored or simply negated until now on the assumption that the issues raised by the modern problem of evil and Calvin's discussion of providence and evil are different. The unspoken premise underlying this conviction is that theodicy would be a modern problem, since earlier formulations in no way attempted to justify God's actions. The goal of the present research decisively goes in the opposite direction. It aims to demonstrate that one of the most important reasons that prompted Calvin to preach for almost 2 years 159 Sermons on the Book of Job was to give an answer to the anguishing problem of human suffering and to "vindicate" God's justice. As if he were installed in a tribunal and with the enthusiasm of a lawyer Calvin made recourse to all the possible formal exceptions and substantive arguments, trying to persuade, convince, and exhort his contemporaries that God, in spite of all the charges made against Him, was not only blameless, but also just. The theologian, the minister, and the God's lawyer were merging within Calvin's person to the extent that very often it is not easy to understand who wrote: the theologian equipped with the instruments of law, or the lawyer armed with the instruments of biblical exegesis. His attempt found its more appropriate expression, when in the Sermons on Job he resorted to the concept of "double justice." The distinction between the "revealed" and the "hidden" justice of God enabled him to try to give a provisional answer to all those cases in which the divine justice was challenged. Nevertheless, Calvin's defence of God's justice reached its apex, when he conveyed the attention of the church to the definitive revelation of God's justice that will take place only in the last day. Resume La th6odicee de Calvin a ete sensiblement ignoree ou simplement ni6ejusqu'a nos jours sur la base de 1'assertion que les issues soulevees par le probleme moderne du mal et la discussion de Calvin sur la providence et sur le mal seraient diff6rentes. La premisse sous entendue de cette conviction est que la theodicee serait un probleme moderne, puisque les premieres formulations n'ont nullement essaye de justifier les actions de Dieu. Le but de la recherche actuelle va decidement dans la direction opposee. Elle a l'intention de demontrer que un des motifs les plus importants qui a pousse" Calvin a r6diger pendant presque 2 annees les 159 Sermons sur Job etait de donner une reponse au probleme de la souffrance et de la douleur humaine et de defendre la justice de Dieu. Comme s'il 6tait installe dans un tribunal et avec l'enthousiasme d'un avocat, Calvin a fait recours a toutes les exceptions formelles possibles et a tous les arguments substantiels essayant de persuader et de convaincre ses contemporains que Dieu, malgr6 tous les accuses faites contre lui, 6tait non seulement irreprochable, mais egalement juste. Le th6ologien, le ministre, et 1'avocat de Dieu fusionnaient chez la personne de Calvin au point que tres souvent ce n'est pas facile de comprendre qui ecrit: le theologien equipe" des instruments de la loi, ou l'avocat arm6 des instruments de l'exegese biblique. La tentative du Reformateur a trouv6 son expression la plus appropriee, quand dans les Sermons sur Job il a utilise le concept de la double justice. La distinction entre la justice "revelee" et la justice "cachee" de Dieu a permis a Calvin d'essayer de donner une reponse provisoire a tous ces cas dans lesquels la justice divine a ete defiee. N6anmoins, la defense de Calvin de la justice de Dieu a atteint son sommet, quand il a adresse l'attention de l'eglise a la revelation definitive de la justice de Dieu qui aura lieu seulement le dernier jour. iv Table of Contents Abstract iii Resume iv Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 Chapter I Calvin's "Theodicy" and his Sermons on Job 6 1.1 Introduction: The terms of the "Theodicy" problem 6 1.2 The current state of interpretation on Calvin's "Theodicy" 11 1.3 The current state of interpretation concerning the Sermons on Job 32 1.4 Overview 42 Chapter II The origin and development of Calvin's thought 44 2.1 De dementia (1532) 44 2.2 Calvin's conversion (1532-1534) 48 2.3 The Institutes of Christian Religion of 1536 55 2.4 Geneva's Catechism 63 2.5 The Institutes of Christian Religion of 1539 66 2.6 Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans 74 2.7 Against the fantastic and furious Sect of the Libertines 76 2.8 The "somber years" 79 2.9 De Aeterna Dei Praedestinatione (1552) 86 2.10 Congregation surl'election eternelle 94 2.11 Overview 100 Chapter III The juridical framework of Calvin's "Theodicy" 102 3.1 "Defence" or "Theodicy"? 102 3.2 The metaphor of lawsuit 109 3.3 Calvin's dilemma in the lawsuit between God and man 114 3.4 Calvin's empathy with Job 130 3.5 Lawsuit against God? 139 3.6 Overview 149 Chapter IV The premises of Calvin's vindication of God 150 4.1 Evil is genuine. 150 4.2 God rules the Universe and History 162 4.2.1 Evil is not out of God's control 172 4.2.2 God not only permits, but also wills evil 177 4.3 God is just and good 181 4.4 Overview 187 Chapter V The "first line of defence" for God's justice 189 5.1 God converts evil to good 190 5.2 Suffering has a purpose 202 5.2.1 Suffering as judgement 203 5.2.2 Suffering as a test 210 5.2.3 Suffering as medicine 212 5.2.4 Suffering as an educational tool 214 5.3 The excluded lines of defence 220 5.4 Overview 230 Chapter VI The "second line of defence" for God's justice: the "Deus Absconditus" 232 6.1 The Hiddenness of God 235 6.2 Where the Hiddenness of God can be perceived 246 6.3 Causes resulting in the Hiddenness of God 255 6.4 The double justice and the double wisdom 269 6.5 The eschatological hope 279 6.6 Overview 288 Conclusion 290 Bibliography 293 vi Acknowledgments I owe a primary debt of gratitude to all the professors of McGill University who, over the years, have enabled me to improve my theological skills and knowledge. This research would not have been possible without the precious advice of my supervisor Dr Torrance Kirby, to whom I wish to express my deepest thanks and appreciation for his continuous and generous support. I would like to thank also Dr Hermann Selderhuis, Director of the Institute for Reformation Research (Apeldoorn) and president-secretary of the International Calvin congress, for having edited "Calvini Opera Database," which collects the complete works of John Calvin in the edition of the "Corpus Reformatorum." This database has represented for me an extraordinary and indispensable help. Yet I would not be able to end up this research without the sustaining love and deep insights of my dear wife Rossana. Since I knew her, and prompted by her, I felt compelled, first as a lay preacher and then as Minister, to attempt to draft an answer to theodicy's questions: Why is there so much evil in the world? Why have innocent people to suffer? Why does an Omnipotent and just God tolerate so much suffering? Far from being only a detached and academic research, the present dissertation has represented for me an occasion to clarify my "cogitationes" on one of the most important problems of Christian theology.
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