Calvin - Jean Calvin

Japanese: カルバン - かるばん（英語表記）Jean Calvin

Genevan reformer and one of the founders of the Swiss Reformed Church.

Conversion to Evangelicalism

Born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, north of Paris, as the son of a lawyer, he received an excellent education from an early age. He studied scholasticism at the Écoles de Marche and Écoles de Montague at the University of Paris with the aim of becoming a Catholic priest, but later, following his father's wishes, switched to law and studied at the universities of Bourges and Orléans. Around this time, he came into contact with the church reform movement in France, which was based on humanism, and after his father's death, he returned to Paris and devoted himself to classical studies, publishing his first work, Seneca's "Commentary on Toleration," in 1533.

Although there is still room for debate as to when and how Calvin's conversion to Evangelicalism (Protestantism) occurred, which he himself called a "sudden conversion," he was forced to flee France in the autumn of 1533, apparently for religious reasons, and while traveling around, he became acquainted with reformers in Zurich, Strasbourg, and other places. During his stay in Basel, Switzerland from 1535, he wrote a book for the purpose of evangelical apologetics, which was published the following spring in 1536 under the title Institutio Christianae Religionis (Institutes of the Christian Religion), with a dedication to the King of France. Both the Latin and French versions of this book were repeatedly expanded and enriched until the final edition in 1559, and it has maintained its status as a classic to this day as the culmination of Protestant theology. There are many translations into various languages, including several Japanese versions.

[Akira Demura January 19, 2018]

Church Reformation and the Founding of Presbyterianism

Calvin himself seems to have aspired to a career in academia, but through almost coincidental circumstances he was asked by G. Farel to become involved in the reform of the Geneva Church, and from then until his death he devoted himself to evangelical reform of the city's religion, politics, and civic life in general. On the one hand, he sought to correct the abuses and errors of the Catholic Church of his time, and to create an autonomous church independent of the control and interference of secular power (specifically the city council), but his plans provoked strong opposition from the citizens, and he was forced to go into exile in Strasbourg in the spring of 1538.

Calvin learned a lot from his friendship with the local reformer Martin Bucer (1491-1551), but was called back to Geneva after three and a half years due to changes in the situation, where he continued to preach and lecture hundreds of times a year as pastor of the Church of Saint-Pierre and professor of theology at the Geneva College, making great efforts to clarify the doctrine and ethics of evangelicalism. In addition to the major works mentioned above, his vast writings, including commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, various polemics, sermons, and letters, are collected in the Corpus Reformatorum as Calvini Opera Omnia .

Calvin virtually created the presbyterian system, which includes representatives of the laity, as a unique form of church government in order to secure the autonomy of church power and to implement disciplined church training. It was neither the episcopal system, which tends to be arbitrary, nor the congregational system, which is prone to chaos, but a third way, that is, a representative decision-making method, which was eventually applied to political situations and is said to have contributed in no small way to the formation of modern democracy.

Of course, this plan was not realized all at once, and there was external pressure from Catholic countries, and internal criticism and dissatisfaction from the traditional citizen classes. In particular, the Servetus incident in 1553 can be seen as a serious challenge to Calvin's leadership. Calvin burned Servetus at the stake for his pantheistic views and actions, which were met with fierce criticism. However, 20 years of efforts gradually bore fruit, and from around 1560 Geneva became a literal stronghold of evangelicalism, attracting believers from all over Europe.

[Akira Demura January 19, 2018]

Theological Thought and Its Influence

In theology, he adhered to the two major principles of evangelicalism, "faith alone" and "Scripture alone," and advocated predestination to emphasize that human salvation is not achieved through the merit of good works, but through trust in God's grace in Christ alone. The Bible guarantees this faith, and his commentary on it is characterized by his attempt to extract central meanings from it while maintaining a critical attitude based on the text. From this doctrine arose a new ethics of accepting one's worldly occupation as a divine calling and living an active life in response to it. Its relationship to the spirit of capitalism and the formation of the modern world is still being debated today.

His teachings spread from France (the Huguenots), the Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, and then to the New World, and to the present day they form a powerful wing of Protestantism as the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches.

Calvin passed away on May 27, 1564, leaving a farewell message to his fellow pastors and city canons, and all that remains at his death in the Geneva public cemetery is a small stone with the initials JC engraved on it, as if to allude to Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone).

[Akira Demura January 19, 2018]

"Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Watanabe Nobuo, 4 volumes, 6 books, 1 supplementary volume (1962-1965, Calvin Works Publishing Committee/Revised translation, 3 books, 2007-2009, Shinkyo Publishing)" ▽ "Calvin Essays, translated by Hagii Saiji (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Jean Calvin, by Doumergue, translated by Masuda Kenji and Yamanaga Takeo (1941, Nagasaki Shoten)" ▽ "Calvin, by Kodaira Naomichi (1963, Publishing Bureau of the United Church of Christ in Japan)" ▽ "Calvin, by Watanabe Nobuo (1968/New edition, 2016, Shimizu Shoin)" ▽ "Calvin the Man, by R. Stofer, translated by Morikawa Hajime (1977, Sugu Shobo)" ▽ "The Intellectual Heritage of Mankind 28: Calvin, by Kume Atsumi (1980, Kodansha)" ▽ "Calvin" by Tanaka Goji (1984, Shinkyo Publishing)" ▽ "Calvin's Theology" by W. Niesel, translated by Watanabe Nobuo (1960, on-demand edition, 2004, Shinkyo Publishing)" ▽ "Studies on the History of the Swiss Reformation" by Demura Akira (1971, Publishing Bureau of the United Church of Christ in Japan)" ▽ "With Calvin" by Watanabe Nobuo (1973, International Institute of Japanese Studies)" ▽ "Calvin's Ecclesiology" by Watanabe Nobuo (1976, Reformation Press, expanded and revised edition, 2009, Ichimoku Publishing)" ▽ "Geneva in the Age of Calvin: The Reformation and the City-State" by E.W. Monter, translated by Nakamura Kenjiro and Sunahara Norio (1978, Jordan Publishing)"

Reformation Wall
A monument erected in 1917 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of the religious reformer J. Calvin. The statues of Calvin and four other religious reformers are engraved on it (from left to right: Farel, Calvin, Beze, and Knox). Geneva, Switzerland ©Shogakukan ">

Reformation Wall

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ジュネーブの宗教改革者。スイス改革派教会の創始者の一人。

福音主義への転向

1509年7月10日、パリ北部のノワイヨンで弁護士の子として生まれ、早くから優れた教育を受けた。パリ大学のマルシュ学寮およびモンテーギュ学寮で、カトリックの聖職者を目ざしてスコラ学を修めたが、のちに父親の意向に添って法学に転じ、ブールジュ、オルレアン両大学で学ぶ。このころ人文主義を基盤とするフランス国内の教会改革運動に触れ、父親の死後はパリに戻って古典研究に没頭、1533年には処女作としてセネカの『寛容論注解(ちゅうかい)』を出版した。

　カルバン自身が「突然の回心」とよぶ福音主義(ふくいんしゅぎ)（プロテスタント）への転向が、いつどのような経過で生起したのかは、いまなお論議の余地があるとしても、1533年秋には明らかに信仰上の理由で、フランスからの亡命を余儀なくされ、各地を転ずる間にチューリヒやストラスブールなどの改革者たちと知り合った。1535年からスイスのバーゼル滞在中に、福音主義弁証の目的をもって執筆された著述は、『キリスト教綱要』Institutio Christianae Religionisの題名のもとに、フランス王への献呈の辞を付して翌1536年春に公刊された。本書は1559年の最終版までラテン語版、フランス語版ともに繰り返し拡張・充実され、プロテスタント神学の集大成として現代に至るもなお古典の地位を保つ。数種類の邦訳を含め各国語訳が多い。

［出村　彰　2018年1月19日］

教会改革と長老制の創始

カルバン自身は学究の道を志したようであるが、ほとんど偶然の事情からG・ファレルに請われてジュネーブの教会改革にかかわり、それ以後没年に至るまで同市の宗教と政治、さらに市民生活全般の福音主義的改変に献身する。一方では当時のカトリック教会の悪弊と誤謬(ごびゅう)を正すとともに、世俗権力（具体的には市参事会）の支配・干渉から独立した自律的教会の形成を目ざしたが、彼の企図は市民の強力な反発を招き、1538年春にはストラスブールに亡命を強いられた。

　この地の改革者ブツァーMartin Bucer（1491―1551）との交友によって多くを学んだカルバンは、情勢の変化によって3年半ののちにジュネーブに呼び戻され、サン・ピエール教会の牧師およびジュネーブ学院神学教授として、年間数百回の説教と講義を続け、福音主義の教理と倫理を明らかにする努力を重ねた。前掲の主著のほか、旧・新約聖書注解や各種の論争文、説教、書簡など膨大な著述は『宗教改革著作集』Corpus Reformatorum中に『カルバン著作全集』Calvini Opera Omniaとして収められている。

　カルバンは教会権の自律性を確保し、規律ある教会訓練を実施するため独自な教会政治の形態として、平信徒代表も加わる長老制を事実上創始した。それは、専断に傾きがちな監督制でもなく、無秩序に陥るおそれなしとしない会衆制でもない第三の道、すなわち代表制の意思決定手段として、やがて政治の局面にも転用され、近代民主主義の形成にも資するところ少なくなかったと評される。

　もちろん、このような企図が一度に実現されたわけではなく、外部からはカトリック諸国の圧力、内部では旧来の市民階層の批判や不満が渦巻き、ことに1553年のセルベトゥス（セルベト）事件はカルバンの指導力への重大な挑戦とも解される。三位一体論(さんみいったいろん)に反対し汎神論(はんしんろん)的な言動をなすセルベトゥスを、カルバンは火刑に処したが、この処置に対して激しい非難がおこった。しかし、20年にわたる努力はしだいに実を結び、1560年ごろからのジュネーブは文字どおり福音主義の牙城(がじょう)として、ヨーロッパ各地から同信の徒を集めた。

［出村　彰　2018年1月19日］

神学思想とその影響

神学思想としては、福音主義の「信仰のみ」「聖書のみ」の二大原理を堅持し、人間の救いが善行という功績ではなく、ただキリストにおける神の恵みへの信頼であることを強調するため予定論を唱えた。このような信仰を保証しているのは聖書であり、その注解に際しては、本文に即して批判的姿勢を保ちつつ、そこから中心的な意味を読み出そうとするのが特色である。この教理から、この世の職業を神の召命として受け止めて、これにこたえる積極的な生き方という新しい倫理が生じた。それと資本主義の精神、ひいては近代世界の形成とのかかわりは、いまなお論じられている。

　彼の教えはフランス（ユグノー派）、オランダ、スコットランド、ドイツなどから、さらに新大陸へと広がり、現代に至るも長老・改革派教会としてプロテスタントの有力な一翼を形づくっている。

　1564年5月27日、カルバンは同労の牧師や市参事会員に惜別の辞を残して世を去ったが、「ただ神にのみ栄光あれ」Soli Deo Gloriaを暗示するかのごとく、今はただJ. C. の頭文字の刻まれた小さな石がジュネーブ公共墓地に残るのみである。

［出村　彰　2018年1月19日］

『渡辺信夫訳『キリスト教綱要』4巻6冊・別巻1（1962～1965・カルヴァン著作集刊行会／改訳版・全3冊・2007～2009・新教出版社）』▽『波木居斎二訳『カルヴァン小論集』（岩波文庫）』▽『ドゥメルグ著、益田健次・山永武雄訳『ジャン・カルヴァン』（1941・長崎書店）』▽『小平尚道著『カルヴィン』（1963・日本基督教団出版局）』▽『渡辺信夫著『カルヴァン』（1968／新装版・2016・清水書院）』▽『R・ストーフェール著、森川甫訳『人間カルヴァン』（1977・すぐ書房）』▽『久米あつみ著『人類の知的遺産28　カルヴァン』（1980・講談社）』▽『田中剛二著『カルヴァン』（1984・新教出版社）』▽『W・ニーゼル著、渡辺信夫訳『カルヴァンの神学』（1960／オンデマンド版・2004・新教出版社）』▽『出村彰著『スイス宗教改革史研究』（1971・日本基督教団出版局）』▽『渡辺信夫著『カルヴァンとともに』（1973・国際日本研究所）』▽『渡辺信夫著『カルヴァンの教会論』（1976・改革社／増補改訂版・2009・一麦出版社）』▽『E・W・モンター著、中村賢二郎・砂原教男訳『カルヴァン時代のジュネーヴ――宗教改革と都市国家』（1978・ヨルダン社）』