In today’s reading we continue through Institutes of the Christian Religion with John Calvin as he reflects on the relationship between God’s eternal decree, the incarnation of Christ, and the redemption of humanity. Calvin argues that Scripture connects the incarnation of Christ directly with the work of redemption, and therefore warns Christians against speculating beyond what God has revealed. Curiosity that seeks answers Scripture does not provide, he says, often leads the mind away from Christ rather than toward Him.

Calvin then turns to critique the views of the sixteenth-century theologian Andreas Osiander. Osiander argued that humanity was originally created according to the pattern of the future incarnate Christ, and therefore that Christ would have become man even if Adam had never fallen. Calvin rejects this reasoning, insisting that the incarnation must be understood primarily in connection with redemption. Christ is called the “second Adam” because He restores what was lost through the fall, not because the incarnation was an independent decree unrelated to humanity’s need for salvation.

Finally, Calvin defends the traditional teaching that the image of God in humanity does not depend on the incarnation itself but on the dignity God granted to human nature in creation. Christ remains the eternal head of both angels and humanity as the divine Word through whom all things were made. Yet the Son of God became man at the fullness of time in order to redeem the fallen race of Adam. For Calvin, this sober focus on the redemptive purpose of the incarnation guards the Church from speculation and keeps attention fixed on the central truth of the gospel: Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 12, Sections 5–7

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