This is not a thread concerning whether the Sabbath is to be observed or not. I believe it is. I'm just wondering what Calvin had in mind here.

Calvin's Commentary Vol 1 pg 106-107

It could just be my misunderstanding but he seems to be saying that the Sabbath was done away with but that the employment of worship still exists. Is this what you guys think he is saying?

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sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

that pretty much sums it up...

goes, I believe, with the statement of 'eternal sabbath' in the HC:

XXXVIII. LORD'S DAY.

Question 103. What doth God require in the fourth commandment?
Answer. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be [a] maintained; and that I, especially on the sabbath, [b] that is, on the day of rest, [c] diligently frequent [d] the church of God, to hear his word, to use the sacraments, [e] publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the [f] poor, as becomes a christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by his Holy Spirit in me: and thus [g] begin in this life the eternal sabbath.
[a]: Deut. 12:19; Tit. 1:5; 1Tim. 3:14,15; 1Cor. 9:11; 2Tim. 2:2; 1Tim. 3:15
[b]: Lev. 23:3
[c]: Acts 2:42,46; 1Cor. 14:19,29,31
[d]: 1Cor. 11:33
[e]: 1Tim. 2:1
[f]: 1Cor. 16:2
[g]: Isa. 66:23

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Bert Mulder
Elder of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Edmonton
Edmonton Alberta Canada

My understanding is that Calvin was not a strict Sabbatarian.

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Michael P Doyle
Waukesha WI
Member of http://www.cornerstone-pca.com/
Attending http://www.lampseminary.org/

It sounds like Calvin is saying this: We are still required to keep the Sabbath, but it is no longer a figure of spiritual rest.

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Curt Hayashida
member, Community Bible Church (Non-denominational)
Vallejo, CA

You might also consult this, concerning Calvin:

Calvin in the Hands of the Philistines: Or Did Calvin Bowl on the Sabbath? | Naphtali Press

Only because it may come up.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

I'm not asking if Calvin believed in the Sabbath. This is not a thread debating the Sabbath observance so I don't need more of what Calvin said on the subject. I'm wondering what he means by this quote.

I don't know if Calvin's doctrine on the Sabbath is less strict than ours or not, I am very sure that the actual practise of keeping the Sabbath must be much more stricter than we do nowadays.

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Yigang Xu
Husband of Yele, Father of Anna (07/17/08)
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Bethesda, Maryland

"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side." Psalm 65:10,11

Understood, Sarah. The post was for all who will read the thread, just in case someone's tempted to bring up the tired old accusation against Calvin.

It's as if he is saying there are two purposes at once in sabbath- one ceremonial, another in the necessity to set aside, cease and worship.

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Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

Calvin was not as clear on the Sabbath in his doctrine of it as he could have been, because he did not take enough account of the fact that the Sabbath and the Seven Day week was established before the Fall to be a type of the eternal rest to which Adam and Mankind were destined after the completion of the probation and the creation mandate.

Calvin had a theory that the Sabbath was stricter for the Jews than for us, because total rest on that day was a type for them of the rest from sin and sinful attempts to justify ourselves which the believer enjoys perpetually. Dabney in his Systematics does a good analysis of Calvin's view of the Sabbath, and says that this idea has rather slim biblical backing. It seems that if some Old Covenant verses about lighting fires and cooking are interpreted wrongly, it seems as if the Jewish Sabbath was meant to be stricter. If they're looked at correctly and in the light of our Saviour's words on the Sabbath in all ages, the Sabbath for the Jews was not meant to be stricter than our own.

Fairbairn says that this view of the Sabbath by Calvin and other continental Reformers eventually led to a looser Sabbath on the Continent than in the British Isles.

Calvin and other Continental Reformers, it is clear from their sermons and other writings, were in practice strong Sabbatarians, but their rationale for the Sabbath was weaker than that of the British and the Puritans.

Richard Gaffin has devoted a book to Calvin's view of the Sabbath, which is very instructive:-

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Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

He says "it is right that it should continue to the end of the world" -- it referring to the Sabbath. Hence the Sabbath continues. All Sabbatarians, even the strictest, recognise elements of discontinuity in the Jewish Sabbath.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."

It seems to indicate he counts the rest aspect of the Sabbath as fulfilled, but the day of worship aspect as binding. Either way, he rested on the day (as the thread Mr. Hicks linked above points out), but the distinction in views is still there. In my studies, I have seen little difference between his view of the Sabbath and that of the Augsburg Confession.

I am interested in seeing other comments on his meaning, though.

-----Added 10/5/2009 at 09:33:45 EST-----

Hmm...the first sentence in your quote, Sarah, indicates that he is saying that the Mosaic Covenant added elements to the Sabbath, which in Calvin's view were temporal. He seems to be making the point that those added things, in his view, are fulfilled, while the day as instituted from creation continues. In other words, he seems to be saying that even though (in his view) the details added under the mosaic covenant (not in the decalogue, but in the applications later) are fulfilled, the day itself has reverted to its original form, although it has also been sanctified by Christ's resurrection.

Thoughts anyone?

__________________
Austin
EE student at Texas State University
Member of Church of the Cross (PCA) in San Marcos, TX
Ps. 8:3-4 "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

It is really unwise to pit Calvin against himself on this issue. One should always seek to harmonize his statements; and if his view seemed actually to change over time, one should look for corroborating indications of this. Otherwise, his comments should be narrowly construed in whichever context and unto whichever point he is making.

Please read Calvin expositing Scripture directly, the 4th commandment:
Calvin on the 4th Commandment
Calvin's view on the Sabbath

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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Reading the first sentence of the quote, does it seem to you fair to say that Calvin believed the Mosaic Covenant added something to the original creation day? I get that impression from the first sentence especially, but I want to make sure that is not a faulty interpretation.

-----Added 10/5/2009 at 09:46:49 EST-----

The basis of that interpretation is that Calvin regards the Sabbath as already existing, yet he mentions a new precept for the Jews in the quote in the OP. The new precept cannot be the Sabbath itself, which already existed, so it seems to be a new precept regarding how it is to be observed. What does everyone think?

One thing that was added to the Sinaitic Sabbath was that for the Jews, as well as resting in God as Creator as Adam did and being invited to enjoy and enter into His rest with Him in a special way on the Seventh Day in anticipation of the eschatalogical kingdom, the Jews rested in God as their redeemer from Pharaoh (Satan), Egypt (the world that lies in the Wicked One) and sin (slavery). On their way to the type of the eschatalogical kingdom, they were invited to enjoy and enter into God's rest from His work of redeeming them on the Seventh Day. There were also special ceremonials for the Sabbath that have fallen away.

Fairbairn, James Alting (Jacobus Altingius) and Thomas Shepard, to name some, did not believe that the Jewish/Sinaitic Sabbath was intended to be any stricter than Adam's Sabbath, the Patriarchal Sabbath or the Christian Sabbath (Lord's Day). The Pharisees of course messed it up.

See the latter posts in this thread:-

Is cooking/preparing food on the Sabbath Day an issue or non-issue?

I'm glad you pick up on this sentence bc it's the one that seems odd in its Grammatical construction. According to today's Grammatical construction, this is how this sentence looks:

what is for a season? well it can't be "a figure of rest" bc he in the sentence before stated that "a figure of rest" was the mortification of the flesh (once the flesh is completely mortified in our glorious state we have achieved spiritual rest which will last forever thus it can't be for a season) which means he is stating that the Sabbath was for a season.

what was commanded from the beginning? Both the Sabbath and worship was commanded by God from the beginning. How do we know for sure that "it" is the Sabbath or if "it" is worship? Grammatically speaking the word "but" introduces a new exclusive thought (as opposed to "and" introducing a new inclusive thought) which shows that He is picking up on another idea that of "worship". So is he saying that we should worship until the end of the world, which I don't think he means since we all know that we will be worshipping God forever, or is he saying that we should observe the Sabbath until the end of the world, which is more in line with what Sabbatarians believe? Of course worshipping God is part of what we do on the Sabbath but only one part. So in order to exclude worship from being "it" one would have to acknowledge that worshipping God will be preformed longer than "to the end of the world". But we have the problem with him saying the Sabbath is only for a season in his first statement. Here is where I think the key lies. If we define season as being "to the end of the world", then the two sentences are harmonious in that the Sabbath is for a season (that defined as being to the end of the world), and that it should be observed "to the end of the world" and the new "exclusive" thought of worshipping God is just part of the definition of the Sabbath. How does that strike you? I think many ppl think he defines "season" as the time from the Garden to the coming of Christ. But it clearly can't be that since he states "to the end of the world" and we've excluded worship being "to the end of the world"

I think this is exactly what Calvin's talking about being fulfilled - the Sinaitic additions to the day.

God's work of New Creation (Re-creation) and Redemption in Christ is far greater and more glorious than His work of creating the Old Creation and redeeming the Israelites from Egypt, so it is appropriate that the day changes to reflect the day on which Christ rested from this work, Resurrection "Sunday".

So then, there remains the keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God [in the New Covenant as in the Old], for He [Christ] that is entered into His rest, He also has ceased from His own works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10)

Once we become believers, we rest in Christ as our Re-creator and Redeemer every day. We rest from our sins and sinful attempts to justify ourselves every day, because Christ has put off the burden of our sins at Calvary and we are justified by His blood and righteousness, and we are in Christ. But God invites and commands us to enter into and enjoy that rest in a special way each Lord's Day, until we go to Heaven.

The same was true for Adam before he sinned, although he only rested by faith in God as his Creator/Sustainer/Providential Governor and not as his Redeemer.

Before he heard about the flood, Noah, as a believer would have rested in His God every day as Creator/Sustainer/Providential Governor and Saviour-Redeemer and on the Sabbath God invited him to enter and enjoy that rest in a special way.

From the time that Noah was told to build a boat to be saved from judgement and the ungodly world he was in, he rested in His God in this capacity also, and to the extent he observed the Sabbath - and since we are told he was a godly man he must have sought to observe the Sabbath - the Sabbath would have this additional typological meaning to him as an anticipation of the rest he was to enter after the flood.

The relationship of the clauses indicates that the pronoun is referring back to the pronoun and not to the noun.

The first clause is conditional, and is only completed by the third clause. The second clause is purely incidental.

I'm pretty sure this is what I said except that I think I explained it better. Unless, of course you have a problem with what I said? If so please point it out where you think I'm wrong.

My apologies.