John Calvin in missiological perspective : on church unity and social justice

Abstract

This article offers a limited missiological perspective on the thinking of John Calvin pertaining to the issues of the unity of the church and social justice. On the question of the unity of the church, his use of the mother metaphor is looked at and as far as social justice is concerned, the relation between rich and poor is cursorily explored. The study proceeds by asking pertinent questions on the relevance and implications for the Reformed churches in South Africa of Calvin’s thinking on the above-mentioned matters. The question is posed whether the celebration of the 500th birthday of the reformer is not an opportune moment for the launching of a new confessing movement among Reformed Christians in the land. A proposal is made for organising such a movement around the pastoral cycle with its four steps of insertion, context analysis, theological reflection and planning. The object would be “… not to restore its worn-out form, but once more to catch hold of the Calvinistic principles, in order to embody them in such a form as, suiting the requirements of our own century, may restore the needed unity of Protestant thought and the lacking energy of Protestant practical life” Let us remember that “… despotism has found no more invincible antagonists and liberty of conscience, no braver, no more resolute champions than the followers of Calvin” (Abraham Kuyper in his Stone lecture on Calvinism and Religion, Princeton University, 1898).