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Departing From—And Recovering—Tradition: John Calvin and the Imitation of Christ

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Departing From—And Recovering—Tradition: John Calvin and the Imitation of Christ JETS 56/4 (2013) 801–14 DEPARTING FROM—AND RECOVERING—TRADITION: JOHN CALVIN AND THE IMITATION OF CHRIST JIMMY AGAN* With respect to the imitation of Christ, E. J. Tinsley had the following to say in a 1972 article: “In Protestantism there is a perceptible nervousness about using the term at all. This has been particularly the case since the time of Luther. His final antipathy to the ideal became the orthodox protestant [sic] tradition on the mat- ter.”1 The present article hopes to demonstrate two things: first, that evangelical scholarship continues to maintain this “orthodox Protestant tradition” through appeals to John Calvin and his perceived hostility toward the imitation of Christ; second, that such appeals to Calvin are misleading, since the Reformer himself dis- played far less nervousness regarding the imitatio Christi than many of his theological heirs. As We shall see, while Calvin could speak strongly against the abuse of the imitation of Christ when necessary, the concept ultimately played a positive and prominent role in Calvin’s understanding of the Christian life. In other Words, whereas Calvin speaks of imitation in terms of both abuse and proper use, many in the Protestant and Reformed heritage have heard only the former. As a result, many who believe they are maintaining Protestant tradition by downplaying the imitation of Christ are actually departing from that tradition, at least as it is repre- sented by Calvin.2 The ultimate aim of this article, then, is to let the Reformer him- self reform our views so that we might recover a neglected part of our tradition— namely, a proper emphasis on the imitation of Christ.3 I. “MAINTAINING” THE TRADITION: CALVIN AND IMITATION AS COMMONLY PERCEIVED Before examining Calvin’s thought, We need to demonstrate that a common perception—or, as We will later argue, a common misperception—persists among some Protestant and Reformed scholars. While many Calvin specialists * Jimmy Agan is professor of NeW Testament and director of homiletics at Covenant Theological Seminary, 12330 Conway Road, St. Louis, MO 63141. 1 E. J. Tinsley, “Some Principles for Reconstructing a Doctrine of the Imitation of Christ,” SJT 25 (1972) 45. 2 For a similar argument With respect to Luther, see Dietmar Lage, Martin Luther’s Christology and Ethics (Texts and Studies in Religion; LeWiston, NY: Mellen, 1990). 3 We define the imitation of Christ as follows: the Christian’s sustained effort to pattern his or her life in accordance With the character and conduct of Jesus Christ as he is portrayed in Scripture. We presuppose that such effort is rooted in (1) profound, thoughtful reflection on the NT’s portrayal of Christ; (2) the conviction that likeness to Christ is a central feature of Christian maturity; and (3) de- pendence on the power of the Holy Spirit for progress in sanctification. For further development see the author’s forthcoming work, The Imitation of Christ in the Gospel of Luke: Growing in Christlike Love for God and Others (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2013). 802 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY acknowledge the key place the imitation of Christ has in the ReFormer’s thought,4 evangelical scholarship frequently paints a different picture. By leveling serious criticisms against imitation, appealing to Calvin in support oF these criticisms, and neglecting to present more positive evidence from Calvin, such scholarship points to three conclusions: 1) Calvin preferred to speak of conformity to Christ or union with Christ and pitted these concepts over against imitation. Thus Protestant suspi- cion of the imitation of Christ may be traced, at least in part, to Calvin himself. 2) Like his Reformation contemporaries and his present-day theological heirs, Calvin associated imitation with a range of deficient theological perspec- tives, including antipathy to grace, works-righteousness, and reliance on self rather than on Christ and his Spirit in sanctiFication. 3) Calvin issued strong cautions with regard to imitation, and had much to say about more helpful themes—suggesting that Calvin had little to say on the subject of imitating Christ, and what he did say was by way of warning or criticism. Lest these tendencies be interpreted as caricatures, they will be illustrated through interaction with three representative scholars.5 1. Alister McGrath. In a 1991 journal article, Alister McGrath asks “In What Way Can Jesus be a Moral Example for Christians?” McGrath suggests that the key to this question is found in “Martin Luther’s idea oF ‘being conFormed to Christ’ or John Calvin’s notion of ‘being incorporated into Christ’….” 6 According to McGrath, the Reformers’ concepts remind us that “[s]anctification … is about be- coming Christlike, not by imitating Christ but by being changed by the grace oF God. And sanctification, I should stress, is not a human activity, a human work. Rather, it is God’s work within us as he seeks to conform us to the person of Christ.”7 Anticipating objections, McGrath asks, “So is this just splitting hairs? … Are not the ideas of ‘imitation’ and ‘being conFormed’ virtually indistinguishable? I think not. Imitation brings in its wake a whole range of ideas and attitudes that are profoundly hostile to the gospel of grace.”8 On the whole, McGrath’s article sug- gests that the idea oF imitating the example of Jesus is an anthropocentric form of works-righteousness. Meanwhile, Calvin is held up (alongside Luther) as a propo- 4 See the literature cited in the notes below. 5 Also representing hostility toward the concept oF imitation, but interacting with Luther rather than Calvin, is Helmut Thielicke, Theological Ethics, vol. 1: Foundations (ed. William H. Lazareth; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1966) 185–94. 6 Alister E. McGrath, “In What Way Can Jesus be a Moral Example for Christians?,” JETS 34 (1991) 296. 7 Ibid. 297. 8 Ibid. Compare the observation oF E. J. Tinsley that “there are those, chieFly oF the ReFormed tradi- tions, who have felt that the idea of the imitation of Christ matches ill with the Christian doctrine of grace and conceals a moral endeavour of a Pelagian kind” (“Imitation of Christ,” in A Dictionary of Chris- tian Spirituality [ed. Gordon S. WakeField; London: SCM, 1988] 208). DEPARTING FROM—AND RECOVERING—TRADITION 803 nent of a grace-focused, theocentric corrective. Significantly, the article neither cites from Calvin’s works nor interacts with any of Calvin’s comments on the topic. 2. F. Scott Spencer. More recent is F. Scott Spencer’s article on “Imitation of Je- sus” in Baker’s Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics.9 Operating within the space con- straints of such a reference work, Spencer gives a four-paragraph summary of how Christian tradition has appropriated this theme. In a paragraph intended to demon- strate that “by and large the imitation of Christ did not become a major tenet in the mainstream of Christian thought,” Spencer cites the Reformers: Luther and other Protestants worried that imitatio Christi promoted a “works righteousness” path to salvation inimical to sola fide (faith alone). Calvin noted that “the Lord did many things which he did not intend as examples for us” (In- stitutes 4.19.29), and that “it is not right to take all his actions indiscriminately as objects of imitation” (commentary on John 13:14)—in particular, Jesus’ one- time, forty-day fast in the wilderness, his healing the paralyzed and raising the dead, his imparting the Spirit to his followers, and his sacrificial death on the cross.10 A reader of Spencer’s article learns that Thomas à Kempis’s classic work The Imita- tion of Christ emphasized “emulation of Christ’s humility, simplicity, self-denial, and cross-bearing”11—but not that Calvin’s writings share these emphases. Instead, the article gives the impression that Calvin’s outlook on imitation was primarily, if not entirely, negative. 3. Michael Scott Horton. In his recently published systematic theology, Michael Scott Horton includes a chapter on union with Christ, which he contrasts with imi- tation: “This organic union with Christ is far richer than any notion of the Christian life as an imitation of Christ (imitatio Christi) …. [B]elievers bear fruit that is not the result of their imitation of Christ’s life but of their being incorporated into Christ.”12 As the chapter proceeds, Horton repeatedly cites Calvin, whose writings lay great stress on union with Christ. Eventually, Horton appeals to the Reformer to underscore warnings about imitation: “Christ is not simply a moral example to imitate, says Calvin. ‘As if we ought to think of Christ, standing afar off and not rather dwelling in us!’ We are not merely admirers or even followers of Christ, but members of his body.”13 Two extended citations from the same passage of Calvin’s Institutes follow, along with a concluding comment by Horton: “Although Christ’s example remains instructive, sanctification is not a life of striving to imitate Christ, 9 F. Scott Spencer, “Imitation of Jesus,” in Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics (ed. Joel B. Green; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011) 397–99. 10 Ibid. 397–398. 11 Ibid. 398. 12 Michael Scott Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rap- ids: Zondervan, 2011) 591. See also idem, “Calvin’s Theology of Union with Christ and the Double Grace: Modern Reception and Contemporary Possibilities,” in Calvin’s Theology and Its Reception: Disputes, Developments, and New Possibilities (ed. J. Todd Billings and I. John Hesselink; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012) 72–96. 13 Horton, Christian Faith 597, citing Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.2.24. It should be noted that in this passage, Calvin is not commenting on, let alone criticizing, imitation.
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