The Church is protected from error not by freedom from Scripture, but by remaining bound to it. In today’s reading from Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin sharpens his argument about ecclesiastical authority by insisting that the Church is trustworthy only insofar as she submits herself to the Word of God. He rejects the claim that the Holy Spirit leads the Church independently of Scripture, arguing instead that the Spirit illuminates and confirms what Christ has already given. Calvin then denies that the apostles left essential doctrines unwritten, challenges appeals to church authority based on Matthew 18, and argues that neither infant baptism nor the Nicene Creed proves the Church can invent new doctrine. For Calvin, Nicaea did not create a new truth when it confessed that the Son is of one substance with the Father; it faithfully expressed the meaning already contained in Scripture. The true authority of the Church, therefore, is ministerial rather than creative: she teaches, guards, and confesses the Word, but does not stand above it.

Today’s Reading:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 8, Sections 13–16

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Today’s Readings Podcast Description

How did the claim of Roman primacy first arise? In the opening of Chapter 7, Calvin traces its beginnings to the Council of Nice, which gave the Bishop of Rome a place of honour among the patriarchs but not supremacy over them. He shows that in later councils the Roman legates often sat in inferior places, that the first seat at Chalcedon was granted only as a temporary and special concession, and that the ancient Fathers never bestowed the title of primate or universal bishop. Gregory himself, when the Bishop of Constantinople claimed the title of universal bishop, denounced it as profane, blasphemous, and a forerunner of Antichrist—while refusing to claim it for himself.

Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 7, Sections 1–4

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Christ is the Church’s final and perfect teacher, and every minister, council, and Christian must remain subject to His Word. In today’s reading from Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin argues that God’s revelation reaches its fullness in Christ and that the Church therefore has no authority to invent new doctrines beyond what has been delivered in Scripture. Ministers possess real authority, but only as servants of the Word: they may teach, rebuke, exhort, and defend the faith boldly, yet they may never demand belief in teachings of their own making. Calvin then turns his criticism toward councils that claim an unrestricted guidance of the Holy Spirit, insisting that Christ’s promises of His presence do not make human teachers incapable of error. Precisely because believers and church leaders remain weak and imperfect, they must continually submit themselves to Scripture, where the Spirit teaches the truth God has given.

Today’s Reading:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 8, Sections 7–11

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