CHAPTER 3 JOHN CALVIN'S VIEW OF THE AUTHORITY OF
3.3 C ALVIN ’ S T HOUGHT ON THE A UTHORITY OF S CRIPTURE IN THE I NSTITUTES 94
3.3.2 The Self-Authenticating Authority of Scripture as the Word of God
For Calvin, the ultimate authority of Scripture comes from its being the Word of God. Calvin argues that ‘the Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men
56 In Calvin’s theological thought, the term “the Word of God” (Verbum Dei) has a range of referents: (1)
the living Word of God by which God created and sustains the world; (2) the hypostatic Word of God (the Second Person of the Trinity) or the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ; (3) the inspired Word of God or the written Word of Scriptures; (4) the proclaimed Word of God, the public preaching of Christ by ministers, which, as the internal Word of the Spirit, testifies to the human mind and heart about the truth of God. These four meanings of the term “the Word of God” are distinguished, yet not separated. Thus, they can be understood fully in a way to be interrelated with each other.
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regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard’ (Inst 1.7.1). God is the real Author of Scripture and from this fact we can be convinced of the credibility of doctrine taught by Scripture. ‘Thus, the highest proof of Scripture derives in general from the fact that God in person speaks in it’ (Inst 1.7.4). Scripture is the Word of God which ‘has flowed to us from the very mouth of God by the ministry of men’ (Inst 1.7.5). Calvin, with other Reformers, underlines that only God can witness to Himself and that God’s witness in that direct manner would thoroughly trustworthy. For Calvin, it is Scripture that God’s fuller knowledge of Himself is mediated. Calvin believes that ‘God himself directly or immediately authenticated and endorses his Word in the minds and consciences of men and women as they read or reflect on some part of it’ (Helm 2004:248). Only God’s own Word alone, not human authority, can provide the necessary certainty of faith and assurance of salvation Calvin and the other Reformers were looking for.
Scripture does not derive its authority as the Word of God from the church, but from itself. Calvin calls those who make the authority of Scripture dependent upon the consent or the determination of the church as ‘sacrilegious men’ that are looking for tyranny (Inst 1.7.1). Quite the opposite, the church is built upon “the foundation of the prophets and apostles,” which has preceded the existence of the church. Therefore, the pious duty of the church is to recognise Scripture to be the truth of its own God, rather than to establish its authority (Inst 1.7.2).57
At the core of Calvin’s view of the authority of Scripture lies the self-authenticating or
self-witnessing character of Scripture (Inst 1.7.5). Here, careful attention needs to be
paid to the term “self-authenticating,” or “self-authenticated,” which is a translation of the Greek adjective autopistos (αύτόπιστος).58 Calvin introduced the term autopistos in
57 It is worthy of note that Calvin has the double attitude concerning the authority of the church. Calvin
rejects the authority of the church as a foundation for the authority of Scripture. For this purpose, Calvin uses strong language to undermine the authority of the church. However, in the fourth book of the
Institutes, Calvin appreciates the authority of the church as “mother” of believers in preparing them for
faith. Calvin returns to the topic of the authority of Scripture in the context of the church as the external means by which God invites us to the society of Christ.
58 On this matter, I owe much to the historical study of Henk van den Belt’s The Authority of Scripture in
Reformed Theology, in which he examines the meaning and background of theological concept of autopistos in Calvin’s theology. Especially, in chapter 2 and 3 of his book, Van den Belt traces the use
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the final edition of the Institutes (1559). By deliberately using the Greek term in Latin texts, Calvin suggested that autopistos had a particular nuance that was too difficult to translate with the Latin alternatives (Van den Belt 2008:71). What implication then did Calvin intend to carry by using the term autopistos? According to Van den Belt, Calvin with his remarkable linguistic sensitivity chose the Greek term autopistos instead of a Latin equivalent. Because of the element of trust (πιστός), the term αύτόπιστος can convey the double connotation of “truth” or “truthfulness” and of “trust” or “faith.” Van den Belt (2008:308) explains Calvin’s use of autopistos in a theological context as follows:
Calvin was aware of the philosophical meaning of αύτόπιστος when he adopted the term for and adapted it to Scripture; he used it metaphorically, but his theological application had much in common with the original philosophical meaning of the term. In philosophy self-convincing principia need no demonstration and in Calvin’s theology Scripture needs no proof. In philosophy the term expresses the self-convincing character of axioms in a context of education, and in Calvin’s theology it expresses how those taught by the Spirit are convinced that Scripture is trustworthy. In philosophy the meaning of αύτόπιστος is illustrated with sensory perception and in Calvin’s theology, too, Scripture gives as clear a sensus of its own truth as colors or flavors.
Through the “baptism” of the philosophical term, Calvin transposed the term autopistos from the realm of reason to the realm of grace. Thus, when using the term autopistos, Calvin did not intend to suggest that Scripture must be regarded as the axiomatic
principium of theology in a philosophical sense. Rather, Scripture itself convinces its
truthfulness because of its contents. ‘Scripture exhibits fully as clear evidence of its own truth as white and black things do of their color, or sweet and bitter things do of their taste’ (Inst 1.7.2). Recognising the authority of Scripture is similar to recognising a colour or a taste for oneself with his/her own senses. The self-authenticating Scripture with its own majesty creates its own faith and trust. In other words, to say that Scripture and occurrences of the term autopistos in not only Calvin’s various editions of the Institutes but also his other works.
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is autopistos implies that it not only contains the truth, but also deserves our faith and trust. Self-authenticating Scripture not only is the truth, but also requests trust.
To sum up: for Calvin, Scripture does not claim its authority as the Word of God in a way dependent on any external authority such as the church, but rather by Scripture itself, and hence self-authenticating. The self-authentication of Scripture implies that believers, recognising the majesty of Scripture as the Word of God, find rest in it with the certainty of faith and the assurance of salvation. Through Scripture God manifests the true knowledge of God and discloses Himself to be the Lord and the Redeemer.