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Calvin's
Commentaries on the Whole Bible
"He makes hence a
transition to another exhortation, that
we are to lay hold on that kingdom which
cannot be shaken; for the Lord shakes us
for this end, that he may really and
forever establish us in himself."
- On Hebrews 12
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Genesis:
1-23,
24-50
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Harmony of the Law:
Vol 1,
Vol 2,
Vol 3,
Vol 4
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Joshua
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Psalms:
1-35,
36-66,
67-92,
93-119,
119-150
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Isaiah:
1-16,
17-32,
33-48,
49-66
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Jeremiah:
1-9,
10-19,
20-29,
30-47,
48-52
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Lamentations
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Ezekiel:
1-12,
13-20
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Daniel:
1-6,
7-12
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Hosea
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Joel
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Amos
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Obadiah
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Jonah
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Micah
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Nahum
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Habakkuk
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Zephaniah
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Haggai
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Zechariah
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Malachi
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Harmony of the Gospels:
Vol 1,
Vol 2,
Vol 3
- John:
1-11,
12-21
- Acts:
1-13,
14-28
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Romans
- 1
Corinthians:
1-14,
15-16
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2 Corinthians
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Galatians
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Ephesians
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Philippians
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Colossians
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1 Thessalonians
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2 Thessalonians
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1 Timothy
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2 Timothy
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Titus
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Philemon
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Hebrews
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James
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1 Peter
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2 Peter
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1 John
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Jude
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COMMENTARY
ON THE
HARMONY OF THE
EVANGELISTS,
MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COLLATED WITH
THE AUTHOR'S FRENCH VERSION,
BY THE REV. WILLIAM PRINGLE
"For God had promised two things
seemingly opposite; that
the throne
of David would
be eternal, (Psalm
89:29, 36,) and that, after it had been destroyed, he would
raise up its ruins, (Amos
9:11;) that the sway of his kingly power would be eternal, and yet
that there should come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, (Isaiah
11:1.) Both must be fulfilled. That supremacy, therefore, which God
had bestowed on the tribe of Judah, was suffered by him to be
broken down for a time, that the attention of the people
might be more strongly directed to the expectation of
Christ’s reign. But when the destruction of the
Sanhedrim appeared to have cut off the hope of
believers, suddenly the Lord shone forth."
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Calvin's Commentaries |
'Calvin is a Praeterist' -
According to His Translators | The Non-Preterist Historicalism of Calvin and Westminster
VOLUME FIRST
THE
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
All the writings of John
Calvin are marked by extraordinary vigor,
learning, and judgment. Few of them are so well known as the
institutes of the Christian religion — a systematic treatise, which,
though written at the early age of twenty-four, was universally
acknowledged to be a production of the highest ability. Concise and
luminous, powerful in argument, scriptural, devout and practical, it
has not been superseded by any later work. But the fame which he
acquired by the institutes was fully
sustained by his expository writings, which possess at least equal
claims on the attention of divines. They contributed powerfully to
diffuse the pure Gospel of Christ, commanded the applause of all the
Reformed Churches, and received even from enemies no mean
commendation. More than a century after his valuable life had
closed, they occupied a place in every theological library. The
learned Matthew Poole, in the preface to his Synopsis, apologizes
for the small number of his quotations from them, on the express
ground that the Commentaries themselves, he had every reason to
believe, were in the hands of all his readers.
This reputation, after having suffered a
partial eclipse, will soon, in all probability, regain its former
brightness. The first tendency to this improvement was discovered in
a neighboring country, where the distinguishing doctrines of
Christianity had long been supplanted by a creed little removed from
infidelity. In Germany, Biblical criticism is almost a national
pursuit. That unconquerable industry which had already crowned her
scholars with laurels in Greek and Roman literature, has given them
as unquestionable a pre-eminence in the field of sacred philology.
Had such rare attainments been always consecrated to the honor of
the Redeemer, every good man would have rejoiced. Unhappily, they
were but too frequently employed in maintaining the most dangerous
errors, in opposing every inspired statement which the mind of man
is unable fully to comprehend, in divesting religion of its
spiritual and heavenly character, and in undermining the whole
fabric of revealed truth. But a gracious Providence has raised up
other men, whom, though we may not feel ourselves at liberty to
subscribe to all their views, we cannot but hail as the friends of
evangelical truth, and admire for their holy fortitude in coming
to the help of the
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty, (<070523>Judges
5:23.)
At the head of this illustrious band it is
almost superfluous to name Professor Tholuck of Halle, admitted by
the most competent judges, both in Britain and on the Continent, to
be one of the first biblical scholars of the age. Having been led by
his own researches, and by public events, to examine the writings of
the Reformer, he hastened to draw the attention of his countrymen to
the neglected treasures. His own Commentary on the Epistle to the
Romans afforded an opportunity which was eagerly embraced. Not
satisfied with this brief notice, he wrote an elaborate and masterly
dissertation on “The merits of Calvin as an Interpreter of the Holy
Scriptures,” a translation of which appeared shortly afterwards in
the (American) “Biblical Repository.” He superintended a handsome
octavo edition of Calvin’s Commentaries on the New Testament,
printed at Berlin, and sold at a moderate price. To another eminent
interpreter he candidly awards the honor of having led the way in
this undertaking. fa1 But he was
one of the earliest to follow in the path which had been marked out,
and has labored, beyond all his contemporaries, to make the
Commentaries of Calvin more extensively known, and more highly
esteemed.
Our Author has exerted a powerful influence
on all succeeding expositors. They have found their interest in
listening to his instructions, and have been more deeply indebted to
him than is generally known. Many valuable interpretations of
passages of Scripture appeared for the first time in his writings,
and have ever since been warmly approved. In other cases, the views
which had been previously held are placed by him in so strong a
light as to remove every doubt, and satisfy the most cautious
inquiry. And yet the stores, from which so much has been drawn, are
far from being exhausted, nor is their value greatly lowered by
improvements which have been subsequently made. The department of
History presents an analogous case. Documents which had been
overlooked are carefully examined. Conflicting evidence is more
accurately weighed. Important transactions assume a new aspect, or,
at least, are altered in their subordinate details. Still, there are
historians, in whose narrative the great lines of truth are so
powerfully drawn, that the feebler, though more exact, delineations
of other men cannot supply their place.
In the chief moral requisite for such a
work Calvin is excelled by none. He is an honest interpreter. No
consideration would have induced him to wrest the words of Scripture
from their plain meaning. Those who may question his conclusions
cannot trace them to an unworthy motive. Timid theologians will be
occasionally startled by his expositions. Though they may not
absolutely impeach the soundness of his doctrine, they will tremble
for the fate of some favorite theory or ingenious argument. With
such minds he has no sympathy. He examines the Scriptures with the
humility of one who inquires at the oracle of God, (<101623>2
Samuel 16:23,) and proclaims the reply with the faith of one who
knows that the word of the Lord is tried, (<191830>Psalm
18:30.)
Intimately connected with this integrity of
purpose is the Catholic spirit which he constantly breathes. His
labors are dedicated to no sect, but to the cause of divine truth.
If his opinions do not find equal favor with all true Christians,
they are made to feel that he addresses them as brethren in Christ
Jesus. In his eye the Church of Christ is one. He never forgets the
ties which unite all believers to each other and to their exalted
Head. Are there any whose sentiments are hardly distinguishable from
those things which are most surely believed among us, (<420101>Luke
1:1,) and yet who associate with the name of Calvinism all
that is stern and repulsive? Let them follow the expositions of this
master in Israel. They will find the most remarkable
peculiarities of his creed boldly avowed, but accompanied by other
revealed truths to which they had supposed him to be indifferent,
and by no ordinary earnestness of practical exhortation. Amidst his
severest denunciations of doctrinal error, they will not fail to
discover the same enlarged views and Christian forbearance which
animated the great apostle of the Gentiles. Rarely will they behold
that sentiment more beautifully exemplified,
Grace be to all
them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, (<490624>Ephesians
6:24.)
Learning
ought not to be a prominent
feature in a work essentially popular. But the learning of Calvin
manifests itself in the most desirable manner, and adds great weight
to his interpretations. Of his acquaintance with Hebrew it is
unnecessary now to speak. His familiarity with the Greek language
appears less in observations on phrases, or allusions to the various
renderings of some passages, than in a close adherence to those
shades of meaning which no translation of the Scriptures can convey.
Even when he appears to have overlooked or mistaken the words, a
reference to the original, which had been studiously kept out of
view, will justify the unexpected remark. fa2
Origen, Chrysostom, and other Greek
Fathers, were among his familiar authors. Classical writers are
introduced on every proper occasion, for illustrating a term, or a
custom, or the general principles of reasoning. Quotations are made
from these writers, and from some of their philosophical treatises,
which are seldom even consulted except by those who can read the
language with considerable freedom. To say nothing of the Stagyrite,
every scholar knows, for example, that no Greek prose offers more
serious difficulties than the idiomatic, though fascinating, style
of Plato. fa3
In that minute analysis which is peculiar
to modern criticism, Calvin may have been deficient. That he wanted
the skill necessary for such investigations is not so manifest. The
absence of those processes by which he arrived at his conclusions
makes it difficult to determine how far the subtle elements of
language had undergone his scrutiny. If we shall suppose him to have
neglected these matters, our astonishment must be the greater that
the deductions of recent inquirers should have been so largely
anticipated. Conjectures thrown out by Sir Isaac Newton were long
afterwards verified by experiments of extreme labor and delicacy.
But Calvin speaks habitually with a tone of confidence. We must
therefore conclude that, like the shrewd remarks to which the
philosopher was pleased to give the name of conjectures, his
discoveries were reached by a shorter route, which other minds could
with difficulty follow. fa4
This extraordinary sagacity was accompanied
by another quality not less needed in an interpreter, a sound
judgment, which leaned neither to ancient usage nor to ingenious
novelties, which refused to bow to the authority of great names, and
sternly rebuked the most plausible sophistry when opposed to the
plain and obvious meaning of Scripture. He took a dispassionate and
wide survey, not only of the passage immediately under
consideration, but of kindred expressions or sentiments that were
found in any of the inspired writers. It was left to the industry of
later times to collect parallels, and arrange them on the margin of
our Bibles, as an invaluable aid to interpretation. But his own
perusal of the sacred volume supplied him largely with such
materials, and enabled him to draw them out with instinctive
readiness as occasion required.
As we pass along, we meet with direct
quotations, largely but appositely introduced, and tending to
confirm the views which he had adopted. Still more frequently we
observe a copious use of that phraseology which is peculiar to the
sacred writers, and which falls on the pious ear with refreshing
melody. In him it rises higher than that felicitous application of
Scripture which our more elegant writers have cultivated for the
purpose of imparting a literary charm to their compositions; for
those beauties came to him unsought while he was aiming at something
higher than the mere ornaments of diction, and the language of
Scripture had been so thoroughly interwoven with his ordinary style,
that he must have been frequently unconscious of its presence. To
aid the reader in discovering those allusions, the passages from
which they have been taken are generally marked. The references made
by our Author himself may be supposed to be abundant, and must have
struck many persons as a prominent feature of his writings; but in
far more numerous cases, no clue was given to his authorities, and
some pains have been taken to supply the omissions.
The Latin original has been scrupulously
followed. His own vernacular version gives us some idea of the
freedom, spirit, and elegance, with which he would have accommodated
himself to the taste of the English reader, if it had been executed
in our language. But a translator is not permitted to use the same
liberties as the author, and faithfulness demands that he shall
adhere strictly to the copy which is set before him. The meaning has
been given without addition or omission, and even the structure of
the sentences has been followed, so far as that could be done
without violating the purity of English idiom. To exhibit the
peculiar excellencies of such a writer, or, where that could not be
done, to find in a modern tongue a suitable equivalent, was no easy
task. His admirably concise diction, and rapid but masterly
transitions, and above all, that rare felicity of expression for
which his severest judges have given him credit, render it difficult
to represent the style and manner of so great a master of
composition.
All the assistance that could be derived
from our Author’s French version has been thankfully accepted. It
would have been unwise as well as ungrateful to leave out of view so
authoritative an exposition of his meaning, or to disregard the
production of one whose command of his native tongue is acknowledged
by the ablest critics to have anticipated the elegancies of a later
age. “He wrote in Latin,” says D’Alembert, “as well as is possible
in a dead language, and in French with a purity which was
extraordinary for his time. This purity, which is to the present day
admired by our skillful critics, renders his writings greatly
superior to almost all of the same age; as the works of Messieurs de
Port Royal are still distinguished on the same account from the
barbarous rhapsodies of their opponents and contemporaries.” Amidst
the driest details of verbal criticism, there are frequent glimpses
of that eloquence which De Thou and other great men regarded with
admiration, and which, when aided by the living voice, must have
told powerfully on his hearers.
It must be observed, however, that the
Latin and French texts have been treated apart, as if they had not
proceeded from the same pen, and have been separated by a broad line
which meets the eye of the reader. The old translators sometimes
proceeded as if they had not been aware of the vernacular copy, and
at other times blended it with the original in so strange a manner,
that they appear to follow a path of their own, while they are
faithfully tracking the Author’s footsteps. In the new translations
prepared for the Calvin Society,
care has been taken to adhere scrupulously to the Latin text, and at
the same time to give the English reader the full benefit of those
illustrations which the Author thought fit to employ in submitting
the work to the perusal of his countrymen. The French translation
has been all along collated with the original; and whenever it
contained additional matter, or removed obscurity by greater
copiousness of language, or even when a striking phrase occurred,
the passages have been exhibited and translated at the bottom of the
page.
Notes,
partly selected, but chiefly
original, have been added. Some are intended to illustrate a remote
allusion, to prevent a casual expression from being misunderstood,
or to bring out more clearly the Author’s meaning. Others are
devoted to history, or to biblical criticism. Those which have been
written by myself, and for which I must be held responsible, are
marked. Ed. All questions of a doctrinal nature have been
excluded from these Notes. The publications of the Calvin
Translation Society
are addressed to the whole Church of Christ, and ought not to wear
the badge of any of the sections into which that Church is unhappily
divided. In every thing that relates to doctrine the Author has been
left in full possession of the field.
It will scarcely be supposed that every
interpretation contained in this work has my entire concurrence. The
great principles inculcated in the writings of Calvin have my
cordial approbation; and, indeed, I could scarcely name a writer
with whose views of Divine truth I more fully coincide. As a
Commentator, ever since I became acquainted with him, I have been
accustomed to assign to him the highest rank, and to receive his
expositions with the deepest respect. My labors on this and on a
former occasion fa5 led me to
examine his opinions more closely than before, and have raised him
still more highly in my estimation. There are some points on which I
feel assured that he mistook the meaning of Scripture; but almost
all of them had been little investigated in his day, and do not
appear to have been subjected to his usual severity of judgment.
Many will wonder that he should contend so earnestly for the
identity of John’s baptism with Christ’s baptism, instead of
representing them to be two distinct ordinances, instituted for
separate purposes, and placed under totally different regulations:
but on this question the followers of Christ may agree to differ. It
will excite more general surprise to find the great Reformer
maintaining the right of the civil magistrate to punish heretics,
and even to inflict on them the last sentence of the law. Men far
inferior to him in learning and ability have avoided mistakes from
which his powerful and enlightened mind was not exempted. They ought
to regard with admiration and gratitude the conduct of a gracious
Providence, which preserved his creed so remarkably free from Romish
errors, and enabled him to approach so closely to the mind of the
Holy Spirit.
A may be expected to resemble other works
which bear the same title. Our Author’s delight in brevity, and his
extreme aversion to repeat what he had said before, would aid the
influence of other reasons for adopting this plan, which are stated
by himself towards the conclusion of The Argument. To meet
one obvious disadvantage of this arrangement, a Table of the
passages expounded, which may enable the reader easily to discover
where the exposition is to be found, becomes necessary. Such a
Table, together with a list of the passages taken from other books
of Scripture which are quoted or illustrated in this work, and a
copious Index to the subjects of which it treats, will be given in
the Third volume.
The old translator of the Harmony, Eusebius
Paget, deserves to be honored by the admirers of Calvin. It was
indeed to be expected that, after the lapse of nearly three
centuries, his version would be found unsuitable to modern taste.
But it is highly creditable to his scholarship, and to his
scrupulous fidelity to the original, for which his well known
integrity, and his warm attachment to the writings of the Reformer,
were a sufficient guarantee. His name has come down to us in
connection with sermons and other works, which appear to have been
much esteemed, but are now little known. “The History of the Bible,
briefly collected, by way of Question and Answer,” was one of his
productions, and was printed at the end of several of the old
editions of the Bible.
This volume is adorned by a
well-authenticated likeness of the Reformer.
fa6 Many will be surprised to trace the lines of
extreme old age in the countenance of one who died at the age of
fifty-five. But all his biographers agree in stating that, ere he
had concluded his fortieth year, the white locks, shrivelled
features, and bent shoulders, bespoke Calvin to be already an old
man; fa7 and that long before
other fifteen years had run their course, he seemed as if
threescore years and ten, or rather fourscore years, had
passed over him, and brought their usual attendants of labor and
sorrow, (<199010>Psalm
90:10.) His friends observed with grief the forerunners of an event
which, when it arrived, they could not but mourn as the premature
close of a life so highly valued.
The quaint title-pages of two editions of
the French version, together with the “Epistle Dedicatory” of
Eusebius Paget, and a fac-simile of his title-page,
immediately follow this Preface.
It may be proper to state, in conclusion,
that, throughout this work, Calvin’s own version of
the three evangelists is adopted, as nearly
as the difference of the languages would allow, in preference to our
Authorized Version, which would not have rendered equal assistance
to the reader in understanding the expositions. Yet the singular
coincidence between the two Versions, interrupted chiefly by verbal
differences which do not affect the sense, lends countenance to the
suggestion of an esteemed friend and fellow-laborer, that King
James’s Translators have been more deeply indebted to the labors of
Calvin than is generally believed.
W. P.
Auchterarder,
4th January, 1845.
THE EPISTLE
DEDICATORY
TO THE OLD TRANSLATION
To the right honorable
FRANCIS, EARL OF BEDFORD,
Of the noble order of the garter, knight,
One of the lords of her majesty’s most hon. Privy
council;
Grace and peace from god, with the increase of
that true
Honor which is from god, and lasteth for ever.
[Prefixed to the Original English
Translation, London, 1584 and 1610.]
The choice (Right
Honourable) which Luke the Evangelist made in dedicating this
History of the Gospel, which he wrote, to that noble man Theophilus,
and which that man of worthy memory, M. John Calvin, took in
dedicating these his labors to the Lords of Frankfort, driveth me to
dedicate this my small labor of translating this book into the
English tongue. And though it is but little that I have done, in
comparison of the labors of the other two, and not worth the
offering to men of great estate; yet, lest that I should seem
singular in dissenting from these two singular instruments in the
Church of God, and that in one and the selfsame book I have presumed
to make bold of your Lordship’s name, hoping that your Honor will
not mislike to have it written in the forehead of this book with
noble Theophilus and the Lords of Frankfort; specially, sith that I
do it in testimony of my dutiful love to you, for the manifold grace
of God in you, and benefits which I have received from you. Men do
commonly, in their Epistles, write either in the commendation of the
work, or in the praise of their patron, or in discharging of
themselves of the discredit which their enemies would lay upon them.
But I crave pardon of your Honor, if, in studying to be short, I
omit these things.
For, first, the very name of The
Gospel of Jesus
Christ and then the names of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke,
the Evangelists, and of M. Calvin, the
gatherer of The Harmony and the writer of The Commentary, do yield
more credit and commendation to the matter than all that I can say
of it, all the days of my life. Only this I say of M. Calvin’s
labors here, that in my simple judgment it is one of the
profitablest works for the Church that ever he did write.
Next, for your praises, as you like not to
hear them, so I will not offend you in setting them down, nor give
others occasion to condemn me of flattery. They which have best
known you say, that you began a good course in your youth; that you
witnessed a good confession in the late time of persecution; that
your constancy hath been testified by your troubles at home and
travels in foreign countries: You have continued your profession in
the midst of your dignity, lordships, and living, left by your
parents, and in the seat of government wherein our sovereign and
most gracious Queen hath placed you; not falling asleep, in
security, in this so peaceable a time.
My Lord, continue to the end, so shall you
be safe. I speak not this as if it were your own strength that hath
holden you up all this while; but meditate sometimes, I pray you,
upon the seventy-first Psalm; and pray that Lord, as David did, who
kept you in your youth, that He will keep you in your old age, now
that your hair is hoar and hairs grey. And I beseech the mighty Lord
to thrust them forward which are drawn back by their youthly
affections, and to raise up them that fell away for fear of
troubles, and to waken those which in this quiet and calm time do
sleep in security, or wax wanton with the wealth of the world; that
we may meet the Lord with true humility and earnest repentance, to
see if He will be intreated to continue His mercies towards us; lest
he turn his correcting rod, which he hath so oft shaken over us,
into a devouting sword to consume us.
Of myself I will say nothing. The mouths of
the wicked cannot be stopped. Their false tongues, I hope, shall
teach me to walk warily; and I have learned, I thank my God, to pass
through good report and through evil, and to commit myself and my
cause to Him that judgeth right.
The Lord of lords preserve your Honour in
safety, and multiply all spiritual blessings upon you and yours.
From Kiltehampton, in Cornwall, this 28th of, January, 1584.
The Lord’s most unworthy Minister, lame
Eusebius Paget
THE
AUTHOR’S EPISTLE
DEDICATORY
TO
The Very Noble And Illustrious Lords,
THE BURGOMASTERS AND COUNCIL
OFTHE NOBLE CITY OF
FRANKFORT,
JOHN CALVIN
If virtuous
examples were ever necessary to be held out for imitation, in order
to stimulate lazy, sluggish, or inactive persons, the sloth,
and—what is more—the indifference of this very corrupt age makes it
necessary that the greater part of men, who do not of their own
accord advance, but rather fall back, should at least be compelled
by shame to discharge their duty. All, indeed, are seen to be
influenced, both in public and in private, by a disgraceful
emulation. There is not a king who does not labor to show that he is
equal to his neighbors in the address, or perseverance, or energy,
or courage, necessary for extending, by every possible method, the
bounds of his dominion. There is not a state or commonwealth that
yields the preference to others for cunning and all the arts of
deception, nor a single individual among the ranks of the ambitious
who will acknowledge his inferiority to others in wicked
contrivances. In short, we would almost say that they had entered
into a silent but mutual conspiracy to challenge each other to a
contest of vices, and every man who carries wickedness to an extreme
easily ruins a vast multitude by his example; so that, amidst the
general prevalence of crimes, very few persons are to be found who
exhibit a pattern of uprightness.
For these reasons I reckon it to be the
more advantageous that those uncommon excellencies, by which eminent
persons are distinguished, should receive the commendations which
they deserve, and should be raised to an elevated situation so as to
be seen at a great distance, that the desire of imitating them may
be awakened in many breasts. And this I acknowledge, most honorable
Lords, to be the principal reason why I am desirous that this work
of mine should be given to the world under the sanction of your
name. For though my undertaking will be regarded by me as having
obtained a distinguished reward, if your readiness to do good shall
derive from it any increase, yet I have had more particularly in my
eye the other object which has been mentioned, namely, that others
may equal your progress, or at least may follow the same course.
I have no intention, however, to frame a
catalogue of all the excellencies by which you are distinguished,
but shall satisfy myself for the present with mentioning, in terms
of commendation, one excellence which has bound to you myself and a
great number of the servants of Christ by what may be called a more
sacred tie. It was a great matter that, more than five years ago,
when all were seized with dreadful alarm, when a fearful devastation
of the churches of Germany, and almost the destruction of the
Gospel, was threatened by the calamity which had occurred, you, on
whom the first shower of darts fell, stood firm in an open
profession of the faith which was at that time extremely odious, and
steadily maintained the pure doctrine of godliness which you had
embraced, so as to make it evident that, amidst the greatest
anxieties and dangers, there is nothing which you value more highly
than to fight under the banner of Christ. But it is still more
remarkable, and more worthy of being put on record, that you not
only maintain the pure worship of God among yourselves, and
faithfully endeavor to keep your fellow-citizens within the fold of
Christ, but that you collect as torn members those fragments of a
dispersed church which had been thrown out in other countries.
In the present melancholy state of affairs,
it has given me no small consolation to learn that devout
worshippers of God, who had come to you as exiles from England and
from other places, were received by you with warm hospitality; and
that you not only opened your gates to them in their wretched exile,
but rendered deserved honor to the Son of God, by making his Gospel
to be distinctly heard in your city in foreign languages. A similar
instance of distinguished kindness was recently showed to the
unhappy natives of Locarno by the Council of Zurich, who not
only threw open their city to them, (when they were not permitted to
worship Christ at home according to their consciences) but even
assigned to them a church for holding their religious assemblies,
and were not prevented by a diversity of language from desiring to
hear Christ talk Italian in their own city.
To return to yourselves: as soon as I heard
that you had had the kindness to allow persons who speak our
language to found a church amongst you, I considered that you had
laid me under private obligations, and resolved to take this
opportunity of testifying my gratitude. For while there is good
reason for deploring the state of our nation to be such, that the
sacrilegious tyranny of Popery has made a residence in our own
country to be little else than a banishment from the kingdom of God,
so, on the other hand, it is a distinguished favor to have a
habitation granted to us on a foreign soil, where the lawful worship
of God may be observed. This truly sacred hospitality—which was
rendered not to men, but rather to Christ himself—will, I trust, add
to your already prosperous condition fresh acts of the divine
kindness, and secure them to you in uninterrupted succession.
For my own part at least, as I have just
now declared, such were my inducements to dedicate to you this work
of mine. It is a Harmony arranged out of Three Evangelists,
and has been prepared by me with the greatest fidelity and
diligence. What toil I have bestowed on it would serve no purpose to
detail; and how far I have succeeded must be left to others to
decide. The readers to whom I refer are those honest, learned, and
well-disposed persons, whose desire of making progress is not
retarded by a barbarous shame at receiving instruction, and who feel
an interest in the public advantage. I do not trouble myself with
mean and wicked scoundrels; and such I call not only the hooded
monks, who, in defending the tyranny of the Pope, carry on open war
with us, but those useless dronesl
who, mixing with us, seize on every pretense for concealing their
ignorance, and would wish to have the light of doctrine wholly
extinguished. Let them impudently bark at me as much as they please:
my reply will be always ready. Neither divine nor human obligation
subjects me to the judgment of those who deserve the lash for their
most disgraceful ignorance, as much as they deserve the whip for
their obstinate and hardened malice and insolence.
I may be allowed at least to say, without
the imputation of boasting, that I have faithfully endeavored to be
of service to the Church of God. Two years ago, John was
published along with my Commentary, which, I trust, was not without
advantage. And thus like one of the heralds,
fb2 I have endeavored, to the utmost extent that my
ability allowed, to do honor to Christ riding magnificently in his
royal chariot drawn by four horses; and feel assured that candid
readers, who have derived advantage from my labors, will not be
ashamed to acknowledge that the success has, in some measure,
corresponded to my wish. The evangelical history, related by four
witnesses divinely appointed, is justly compared by me to a chariot
drawn by four horses: for by this appropriate and just harmony God
appears to have expressly prepared for his Son a triumphal chariot,
from which he may make a magnificent display to the whole body of
believers, and in which, with rapid progress, he may review the
world. Augustine, too, makes an apt comparison of the Four
Evangelists to trumpets, the sound of which fills every region of
the world, so that the Church, gathered from the East, and West, and
South, and North, flows into a holy unity of faith. So much the more
intolerable is the curiosity of those who, not satisfied with the
heavenly heralds, obtrude upon us, under the name of a Gospel,
disgusting tales, which serve no other purpose than to pollute the
purity of faith, and to expose the name of Christ to the sneers and
ridicule of the ungodly.
With regard to yourselves, most noble
Lords, as you detest every kind of leaven, by which the native
purity of the Gospel is corrupted, and show that you have nothing
more at heart than to defend and maintain the pure doctrine, as it
was delivered by Christ, I feel assured that this production, which
opens up the treasure of the Gospel, will receive your warmest
approbation, and trust that my dedication of it to you will be
accepted as a mark of my regard. Farewell, most illustrious Lords.
May Christ always direct you by his Spirit, support you by his
power, defend you by his protection, and enrich your city and
commonwealth with all abundance of blessings.
Geneva,
1st August, M.D.LV.
THE ARGUMENT
ON THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, MARK, AND
LUKE
In order to read
with profit the Evangelical history, it is of great importance to
understand the meaning of the word Gospel.
fc1 We shall thus be enabled to ascertain what design
those heavenly witnesses had in writing, and to what object the
events related by them must be referred. That their histories did
not receive this name from others, but were so denominated by the
Authors, is evident from Mark, who expressly says (<410101>1:1)
that he relates the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is one passage in the writings of Paul, from which above all
others a clear and certain definition of the word Gospel may
be obtained, where he tells us that it . .
was promised by God in the Scriptures, through
the prophets, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the
Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of sanctification, by
the resurrection from the dead, (<450102>Romans
1:2-4.)
First, this passage shows that the Gospel
is a testimony of the revealed salvation, which had been formerly
promised to the Fathers in an uninterrupted succession of ages. It
points out, at the same time, a distinction between the promises
which kept the hope of the people in suspense, and this joyful
message, by which God declares that he has accomplished those things
which he had formerly required them to expect.
fc2 In the same manner he states a little afterwards,
that in the Gospel
the righteousness
of God is openly manifested, which was testified by the Law and the
Prophets, (<450321>Romans 3:21.)
The same apostle calls it, in another
passage, an Embassy by which the reconciliation of the world
to God, once accomplished by the death of Christ, is daily offered
to men, (<470520>2 Corinthians
5:20.)
Secondly, Paul means not only that Christ
is the pledge of all the blessings that God has ever promised, but
that we have in him a full and complete exhibition of them; as he
elsewhere declares that all the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him amen, (<470120>2
Corinthians 1:20.) And, indeed, the freely bestowed adoption, by
which we are made sons of God, as it proceeds from the good pleasure
which the Father had from eternity, has been revealed to us in this
respect, that Christ (who alone is the Son of God by nature) has
clothed himself with our flesh, and made us his brethren. That
satisfaction by which sins are blotted out, so that we are no longer
under the curse and the sentence of, death, is to be found nowhere
else than in the sacrifice of his death. Righteousness, and
salvation, and perfect happiness, are founded on his resurrection.
The Gospel, therefore, is a public
exhibition of the Son of God manifested in the flesh, (<540316>1
Timothy 3:16,) to deliver a ruined world, and to restore men from
death to life. It is justly called a good and joyful
message, for it contains perfect happiness. Its object is to
commence the reign of God, and by means of our deliverance from the
corruption of the flesh, and of our renewal by the Spirit, to
conduct us to the heavenly glory. For this reason it is often called
the kingdom of heaven, and the restoration to a blessed life,
which is brought to us by Christ, is sometimes called the kingdom
of God: as when Mark says that Joseph waited for the kingdom
of God, (<411543>Mark
15:43,) he undoubtedly refers to the coming of the Messiah.
Hence it is evident that the word Gospel
applies properly to the New Testament, and that those writers
are chargeable with a want of precision, fc3
who say that it was common to all ages, and who suppose that the
Prophets, equally with the Apostles, were ministers of the Gospel.
Widely different is the account which Christ gives us, when he says,
that
the law and the
prophets were till John, and that since
that time the kingdom of God began to be preached, (<421616>Luke
16:16.)
Mark, too, as we mentioned a little ago,
declares that the preaching of John was the beginning of the
Gospel, (<430101>John 1:1.)
Again, the four histories, which relate how Christ discharged the
office of Mediator, have with great propriety received this
designation. As the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ contain
the whole of our salvation, and are therefore the peculiar subject
of the Gospel, the name of Evangelists is justly and
suitably applied to those who place before our eyes Christ who has
been sent by the Father, that our faith may acknowledge him to be
the Author of a blessed life.
The power and results of his coming are
still more fully expressed in other books of the New Testament. And
even in this respect John differs widely from the other three
Evangelists: for he is almost wholly occupied in explaining the
power of Christ, and the advantages which we derive from him; while
they insist more fully on one point, that our Christ is that Son of
God who had been promised to be the Redeemer of the world. They
interweave, no doubt, the doctrine which relates to the office of
Christ, and inform us what is the nature of his grace, and for what
purpose he has been given to us; but they are principally employed,
as I have said, in showing that in the person of Jesus Christ has
been fulfilled what God had promised from the beginning.
fc4 They had no intention or design to abolish by their
writings the law and the prophets; as some fanatics dream
that the Old Testament is superfluous, now that the truth of
heavenly wisdom has been revealed to us by Christ and his Apostles.
On the contrary, they point with the finger to Christ, and admonish
us to seek from him whatever is ascribed to him by the law and
the prophets. The full profit and advantage, therefore, to be
derived from the reading of the Gospel will only be obtained when we
learn to connect it with the ancient promises.
With regard to the three writers of the
Evangelical history, whom I undertake to expound, Matthew is
sufficiently known. Mark is generally supposed to have been
the private friend and disciple of Peter. It is even believed that
he wrote the Gospel, as it was dictated to him by Peter, and thus
merely performed the office of an amanuensis or clerk.
fc5 But on this subject we need not give ourselves much
trouble, for it is of little importance to us, provided only we
believe that he is a properly qualified and divinely appointed
witness, who committed nothing to writing, but as the Holy Spirit
directed him and guided his pen. There is no ground whatever for the
statement of Jerome, that his Gospel is an abridgment of the Gospel
by Matthew. He does not everywhere adhere to the order which Matthew
observed, and from the very commencement handles the subjects in a
different manner. Some things, too, are related by him which the
other had omitted, and his narrative of the same event is sometimes
more detailed. It is more probable, in my opinion—and the nature of
the case warrants the conjecture—that he had not seen Matthew’s book
when he wrote his own; so far is he from having expressly intended
to make an abridgment.
I have the same observation to make
respecting Luke: for we will not say that the diversity which
we perceive in the three Evangelists was the object of express
arrangement, but as they intended to give an honest narrative of
what they knew to be certain and undoubted, each followed that
method which he reckoned best. Now as this did not happen by chance,
but by the direction of Divine Providence, so under this diversity
in the manner of writing the Holy Spirit suggested to them an
astonishing harmony, which would almost be sufficient of itself to
secure credit to them, if there were not other and stronger
evidences to support their authority.
Luke asserts plainly enough that he is the
person who attended Paul. But it is a childish statement which
Eusebius makes, that Paul is the Author of the Gospel which bears
the name of Luke, because in one passage he mentions his Gospel,
fc6 (<550208>2
Timothy 2:8.) As if what follows did not make it clear that Paul is
speaking of his whole preaching, and not of a single book: for he
adds, for which I suffer trouble, even to bonds, (<550209>2
Timothy 2:9.) Now, it is certain that he was not held guilty
fc7 of having written a book, but of having
administered and preached with the living voice the doctrine of
Christ. Eusebius, whose industry was great, discovers here a
singular want of judgment in collecting without discrimination such
gross absurdities. On this head I have thought it necessary to warn
my readers, that they may not be shocked at fooleries of the same
description which occur in every part of his history.
Of that method of interpretation which I
have chosen to adopt, and which it may be many persons, at first
sight, will not approve, it will be proper to give some account for
the satisfaction of pious and candid readers. First, it is beyond
all dispute, that it is impossible to expound, in a proper and
successful manner, any one of the Evangelists, without comparing him
with the other two; and, accordingly, faithful and learned
commentators spend a very great portion of their labor on
reconciling the narratives of the three Evangelists. But as it
frequently happens that persons of ordinary abilities find the
comparison to be no easy matter, when it is necessary to pass at
every turn from the one to the other, I thought that it might prove
to be a seasonable and useful abridgment of their labor, if I were
to arrange the three histories in one unbroken chain, or in a single
picture, in which the reader may perceive at a glance the
resemblance or diversity that exists. In this way I shall leave out
nothing that has been written by any of the three Evangelists; and
whatever may be found in more than one of them will be collected
into one place.
Whether or not I have succeeded to my
expectation, the reader must decide by his own experience. So far
from claiming the praise of having brought out something new, I
readily acknowledge, as becomes an honest man, that I have adopted
this method in imitation of others. Bucer, a man of revered
memory, and an eminent teacher of the Church of God, who above all
others appears to me to have labored successfully in this field, has
been especially my model. As he availed himself of the labors of the
ancients who had traveled this road before him, so my toils have
been not a little alleviated by his industry and application. Where
I use the liberty of differing from him, (which I have freely done,
whenever it was necessary,) Bucer himself, if he were still an
inhabitant of the earth, would not be displeased.
COMMENTARY
ON A
HARMONY OF THE EVANGELISTS
LUKE 1:1-4
Table 1-1
Luke is the only
Evangelist who makes a preface to his Gospel, for the purpose of
explaining briefly the motive which induced him to write. By
addressing a single individual he may appear to have acted
foolishly, instead of sounding the trumpet aloud, as was his duty,
and inviting all men to believe. It appears, therefore, to be
unsuitable that the doctrine which does not peculiarly belong to one
person or to another, but is common to all, should be privately sent
to his friend Theophilus. Hence some have been led to think that
Theophilus is an appellative noun, and is applied to all godly
persons on account of their love of God; but the epithet
which is joined to it is inconsistent with that opinion. Nor is
there any reason for dreading the absurdity which drove them to
adopt such an expedient. For it is not less true that Paul’s
doctrine belongs to all, though some of his Epistles were addressed
to certain cities, and others to certain men. Nay, we must
acknowledge, if we take into account the state of those times, that
Luke adopted a conscientious and prudent course. There were tyrants
on every hand who, by terror and alarm, were prepared to obstruct
the progress of sound doctrine. This gave occasion to Satan and his
ministers for spreading abroad the clouds of error, by which the
pure light would be obscured. Now, as the great body of men cared
little about maintaining the purity of the Gospel, and few
considered attentively the inventions of Satan or the amount of
danger that lurked under such disguises, every one who excelled
others by uncommon faith, or by extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,
was the more strongly bound to do his utmost, by care and industry,
for preserving the doctrine of godliness pure and uncontaminated
from every corruption. Such persons were chosen by God to be the
sacred keepers of the law, by whom the heavenly doctrine committed
to them should be honestly handed down to posterity. With this view
therefore, Luke dedicates his Gospel to Theophilus, that he might
undertake the faithful preservation of it; and the same duty Paul
enjoins and recommends to Timothy, (<550114>2
Timothy 1:14; 3:14.)
1.
Forasmuch
as many. He
assigns a reason for writing which, one would think, ought rather to
have dissuaded him from writing. To compose a history, which had
already employed many authors, was unnecessary labor, at least if
they had faithfully discharged their duty. But no accusation of
imposture, or carelessness, or any other fault, is in the slightest
degree insinuated. It looks, therefore, as if he were expressing a
resolution to do what had been already done. I reply, though he
deals gently with those who had written before him, he does not
altogether approve of their labors. He does not expressly say that
they had written on matters with which they were imperfectly
acquainted, but by laying claim to certainty as to the facts, he
modestly denies their title to full and unshaken confidence. It may
be objected that, if they made false statements, they ought rather
to have been severely censured. I reply again, they may not have
been deeply in fault; they may have erred more from want of
consideration than from malice; and, consequently, there would be no
necessity for greater fierceness of attack. And certainly there is
reason to believe that these were little more than historical
sketches which, though comparatively harmless at the time, would
afterwards, if they had not been promptly counteracted, have done
serious injury to the faith. But it is worthy of remark that, in
applying this remedy through Luke to unnecessary writings, God had a
wonderful design in view of obtaining, by universal consent, the
rejection of others, and thus securing undivided credit to those
which reflect brightly his adorable majesty. There is the less
excuse for those silly people, by whom disgusting stories, under the
name of Nicodemus, or some other person, are, at the present day,
palmed upon the world.
Are
most surely
believed among
us. The participle
peplhroforhme>na, which Luke employs, denotes things fully
ascertained, and which do not admit of doubt. The old translator has
repeatedly fallen into mistakes about this word, and through that
ignorance has given us a corrupted sense of some very beautiful
passages. One of these occurs in the writings of Paul, where he
enjoins every man to be fully persuaded in his own
mind, (<451405>Romans
14:5,) that conscience may not hesitate and waver, tossed to and fro
(<490414>Ephesians
4:14) by doubtful opinions. Hence, too, is derived the word
plhrofori>a, which he erroneously
renders fullness, while it denotes
that strong conviction springing from faith, in which godly minds
safely rest. There is still, as I have said, an implied contrast;
for, by claiming for himself the authority of a faithful witness, he
destroys the credit of others who give contrary statements.
Among
us f1
has the same meaning as with
us. f2
He appears to make faith rest on a weak foundation, its relation to
men, while it ought to rest on the Word of God only; and certainly
the full assurance
(plhrofori>a)
of faith is ascribed to the sealing of the Spirit, (<520105>1
Thessalonians 1:5; <581022>Hebrews
10:22.) I reply, if the Word of God does not hold the first rank,
faith will not be satisfied with any human testimonies, but, where
the inward confirmation of the Spirit has already taken place, it
allows them some weight in the historical knowledge of facts. By
historical knowledge I mean that knowledge which we obtain
respecting events, either by our own observation or by the statement
of others. For, with respect to the visible works of God, it is
equally proper to listen to eye-witnesses
as to rely on experience. Besides,
those whom Luke follows were not private authors, but were also
ministers of
the Word. By
this commendation he exalts them above the rank of human authority;
for he intimates that the persons from whom he received his
information had been divinely authorized to preach the Gospel.
Hence, too, that security which he shortly afterwards mentions, and
which, if it does not rest upon God, may soon be disturbed. There is
great weight in his denominating those from whom he received his
Gospel ministers of
the Word; for
on that ground believers conclude that the witnesses are beyond all
exception, as the Lawyers express it, and cannot lawfully be set
aside.
Erasmus, who has borrowed from Virgil
f3 a phrase used in his version, did not sufficiently
consider the estimation and weight due to a Divine calling. Luke
does not talk in a profane style, but enjoins us in the person of
his friend Theophilus to keep in view the command of Christ, and to
hear with reverence the Son of God speaking through his Apostles. It
is a great matter that he affirms them to have been
eye-witneses,
but, by calling them ministers, he
takes them out of the common order of men, that our faith may have
its support in heaven and not in earth. In short, Luke’s meaning is
this: “that, since thou now hast those things committed faithfully
to writing which thou hadst formerly learned by oral statements,
thou mayest place a stronger reliance on the received doctrine.” It
is thus evident that God has employed every method to prevent our
faith from being suspended on the doubtful and shifting opinions of
men. There is the less room for excusing the ingratitude of the
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