Mark Talbot on Sin and Suffering in Calvin’s World | DG 2009
“The human world is a dazzling theater of God’s glory.”
How can Calvin make such a claim when the theater is marred with sin and suffering?
Mark Talbot’s answer:
“There is nothing in the course of human history that God has not tempered with his own providence to bring the best.”
Calvin’s Imperfections
Calvin was both aware of God’s providence and his own imperfections.
Calvin had a tendency to overreact. No surprise, given his extreme personal sufferings. In a recent biography, he was described as ruthless and an outstanding hater. He hated Catholic church, dominated others, intimidated, bully, and humiliated.
Some of the biographer’s word choices are too strong, but the fact remains: Calvin was aware that his own character was often only another obstacle in his way.
Where Calvin Placed the Fault
Calvin blamed himself for his own crankiness and stubbornness. As long as the character traits involved sin, Calvin was very careful to place the fault on himself.
Not God.
Admittedly, the Infinite God Doesn’t Fit in Our Pea Brain
Talbot didn’t shirk away from the apparent contradiction. “Man is acted upon by God, but at the same time, he himself also acts.”
Calvin Reminds Us to Remember the Limits of our Minds.
Calvin:
“We can not grasp how God wills to take place through human wills what he forbids in scripture to be done. To us, that’s an abyss we can’t understand. We must recall our own mental incapacity, and remember the light God dwells in is not without reason called inapproachable.”
Why Does the Corpse Stink? [An Imperfect Analogy]
To help us grasp the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility, Calvin provided the following analogy:
“Whence, I ask you, comes the stench of a corpse, which is broth putrefied and laud open by the heat of the sun? All men see that it is stirred up by the sun’s rays, yet not one for this reason says that the rays stink. Thus, since the matter and guilt of evil repose in a wicked man, what reason is there to think that God contracts ant defilement if he uses the service of a wicked man for his own purposes?”
No neat analogy will fail to break down. Understanding is simply beyond human mental capacity.
Talbot:
“We do not and cannot grasp how, in diverse ways, God both wills and does not will for something to take place. In spite of this ever-present danger of misunderstanding, Calvin still would not back down from the claim that God is the just cause of everything.
A Possible Good Purpose for the Sin and Suffering in Calvin’s Life
Talbot:
“Through such trials, and even the sinfulness in himself, God may have very well been teaching Calvin that in his flesh there dwelt no good thing, and he could not rely on his own industry and talents.”
My final thought in the session: What if Calvin had lived the American dream?
We can all feast on the literary fruit of Calvin’s trials. We might not be tasting those sweet writings if Calvin had been wrapped up in some version of the American dream.
Guest writer Daniel C. Wilson is covering the Desiring God National Conference.
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September 30, 2009