Hopefully, by the time you read this post, I will have been to Geneva on my sabbatical. So, I will have taken some of the same steps as Calvin.
Geneva in mind, Tim Keller helps us learn about popularity from Bruce Gordon’s biography of Calvin:
For much of his life, John Calvin had two close friends — Farel and Viret. Farel was very hot-headed and out-spoken, while Viret was of very mild temperament, an instinctive peace-keeper. Farel often came to Geneva and stayed at Calvin’s home, where, sometimes with Viret, the friends would have long talks about theology and current events over a glass. Calvin delighted in the company of his zealous friend. Nevertheless, as time went on he came to see that Farel’s inflexible nature made him a doughty defender but a limited propagator of the gospel. He often sent his own discourses and letters to Viret, whose job was to moderate his language. Calvin himself had been more hot-headed as a young man, and he worked to curb his own tongue.
After Farel inappropriately denounced a prominent woman in Geneva from the pulpit, which turned her whole family against him, Calvin wrote him a remarkable letter:
"When you have Satan to combat, and you fight under Christ’s banner, he who puts on your armor and draws you into battle will give you the victory. But…we only earnestly desire that insofar as your duty permits you will accommodate yourself more to the people. There are, as you know, two kinds of popularity: the one, when we seek favor from motives of ambition and the desire of pleasing; the other, when, by fairness and moderation, we gain their esteem so as to make them teachable by us. . .”
Given that Calvin’s 500 birthday is in July, I’ve played a time travel exercise in my mind. If suddenly Calvin rode a time machine into our age and it was my job to bring him up to date on what has happened in the last 500 years, how would I go about it.
Here are some of the first books and assignments I would hand him:
I would require him to get an I-Phone and to Twitter his progress throughout each of the assignments. John would also blog.
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. I wasn’t impressed by Friedman’s latest book, but The World is Flat would give Calvin a crash course on how the Internet and other factors have flattened the world.
I would make Calvin watch a documentary on the O.J. Simpson trial. I doubt that he would have much interest in the NFL, but the Simpson trial is a study in the disintegration of the West:
struggles with racism,
an undermining of justice,
violence,
our pre-occupation with entertainment,
television etc.
I would have Calvin watch a season of Seinfeld. He would learn a lot about television and our narcissistic culture.
Unspeakableby Os Guinness which summarizes the incredible evil of the 20th century – - the most murderous century. Calvin would quickly learn about the Holocaust, Stalin, Mao etc. And, he would see once again that he was right about original sin?
I would need something to catch him up on developments in the East. And, a book that summarized the missions movement.
Something on Islam.
Karl Barth. I would think we would want him to read Karl Barth’s stuff, which would allow him to appreciate developments within liberalism that took place in the 20th century.
I would have him watch an edited, I say again, edited, version of Titantic.
He would need to learn something about musical developments. His capstone assignment might be an orginal rap summarizing what he has learned.
What should we assign Calvin to read to bring him up to speed on the last 500 years?
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
