Joel R. Beeke hat diese Argumente aus einer Korrespondenz mit Freunden zusammengetragen (in “Calvin for today”).
Bildung
Calvin broke with medieval pedagogy that limited education primarily to an aristocratic elite. His academy, founded in 1559, was a pilot in broad-based education for the city….
Soziologie
Calvin is a realist in his political expectations. He sets the standards high; but he does not expect sinless perfection in political man.
…he placed his vision of man’s life in the world squarely in the context of man’s twofold identity as a creature made in the image of God and as a fallen sinner redeemed
Evangelisation
Calvin writes that the gospel “does not fall from the clouds like rain,” but is “brought by the hands of men to where God has sent it.” God “uses our work and summons us to be his instruments in cultivating his field.” The power to save rests with God, but He reveals His salvation through the preaching of the gospel. God’s evangelism thus causes our evangelism. He allows us to participate in “the honor of constituting his own Son governor over the whole world.”
…. According to Calvin, this convergence of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in evangelism means that we must pray daily for the extension of Christ’s kingdom. We should not become discouraged by a lack of visible success in evangelism but pray on, believing that “Christ shall manifestly exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” We must also diligently work for the extension of Christ’s kingdom, knowing that our work will not be in vain. We evangelize for many reasons, Calvin says: God commands us to do so, God leads us by His own example, evangelism is our duty to God, we want to glorify Him and please Him, we are grateful to Him, and evangelism is our duty to fellow sinners.
Hirtendienst
The more one reads his letters and listens carefully to his sermons and treatises, the more one recognizes a shepherd who carried the burdens, hopes, and fears of his people upon his heart.
Frömmigkeit (pietas)
Living piously means dedicating every minute to living coram Deo (in the presence of God) with intense consciousness, realizing that we must yearn for God every minute of our lives.
Bibelkommentare
We should study his commentaries, one of Calvin’s greatest permanent legacies to the church.
Ekklesiologie
While breaking with the clericalism, authoritarianism, and absolutism of Rome, Calvin maintained a high view of the church.
Trinität
What seems to dominate the development of the Institutes is Calvin’s immense Trinitarianism: the unity of the Trinity, his appreciation of the distinctives of each person within the Trinity, and his appreciation of how God Himself is the gospel.
Predigt
Calvin’s sermons were not short on application, rather, the application was often longer than the exposition.
Christliches Leben
Calvin was a theologian of the heart. Spiritual experience really began for Calvin when ‘by a sudden conversion, God subdued and brought my heart to docility’.
Calvin suffered almost every day of his adult life.
Theologie
Calvin models marvelous systematic theology by combining the best of exegetical, doctrinal, historical, and pastoral theology for the church rather than for the academy.
Exegese
Whether in his commentaries, sermons, Institutes, other theological treatises, letters, church meetings, or interactions with people, Calvin strove to be governed by sound exegesis of the Scriptures.
