Meditation – "Calvinist" or "Christian" (Pt 1)
by Ray O. Zorn
Preamble (by the T&S Revisited Editors): What’s in a name? This could well be considered a subtitle to this week’s post. In the early days of the Reformed Church, its leaders went to great lengths to proclaim to its members and indeed to the world that here was a church which unashamedly followed the teachings of John Calvin. This was reflected in the naming of many of its groups, particularly its youth groups. For example, we had Calvinettes, the Calvinist Cadet Corp and also the Federation of Calvinist Youth clubs of Australia. Some twenty-five years later the mood started to change. Some wanted to become more closely associated with Christians of other denominations, hence the push to drop the “label” Calvinist and replace it with “Christian”, while others argued for the distinction to be retained. The following article by Rev. Zorn was part of that debate.
The Editorial Secretary has asked me to respond to certain questions which have arisen in connection with the change of the name of the Calvinist Cadet Corps to the Christian Cadet Corps. Mrs. J.F. Schouten in the August issue of Trowel and Sword wrote a letter expressing her “dissatisfaction and unhappiness with the change as it waters down the principles for which we stand”. (p.25).
Mr. J.W. Bonker in the October issue wrote a letter in defence of the name change, “for we are followers or disciples of Christ (as e.g. Luther and Calvin were) and therefore we and our associations are called after Christ and not after certain men”. (p.25).
Mr. W. de Vries then wrote in the December issue that he thought it would be better to keep the old name, since “The Reformed Church stands for the teachings of John Calvin and so does the Cadet movement. It is not Lutheran or Baptist. Let it then be so and do not change the name because you are confusing others and maybe yourself too.” (p.26).
In the meantime another letter was received by the Editorial Secretary which raised the question whether the majority of Reformed Church members are indeed Calvinistic or merely Christian? For, the letter-writer alleges, aren’t the ordinary members simply bound to the Twelve Articles of our catholic and undoubted Christian faith? However, he admits that the office bearers must subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity (e.g. the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort) before taking office. The letter-writer concludes by saying, “I confess that Calvinists are also Christians and that all Christians are not Calvinists, but to say that the Reformed Church – as a whole! – stands for the teachings of Calvin … that is not true!”
Without going into the issue of whether the Cadet Corps was right in changing its name from Calvinist to Christian, it seems to me that the above correspondence deals with two basic questions which need clarification.
The first is, what does the word Calvinist express? The answer to this is really quite simple. For the word stands for a movement of reform in the Christian Church of which John Calvin was a leading exponent, as over against another movement of reform of which Martin Luther was the initiator and leading exponent. Calvin’s movement followed Luther’s and was more thoroughly biblical as can be seen, for example, by the principle he advocated in the worship of God; namely, what is not commanded by God is forbidden (reflected also in the answer toQuestion96inthe Heidelberg Catechism). Luther’s more mediating principle was, what is not forbidden by God is allowed.
Just as Luther’s movement of reform came to be known as Lutheran, Calvin’s came to be known by the terms Reformed, or Calvinistic. Therefore, though none of the creedal standards of the Reformed Churches of Australia were written by Calvin, they are nevertheless a part of the Reformed, or Calvinistic, movement. So also are the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, even though they were written some 100 years after Calvin’s time.
A Calvinist is therefore a Christian in the Reformed tradition. Hence, it would at any rate seem that the Cadet Corps by changing its name now wishes to identify itself more broadly with the mainstream of Christianity rather than with the narrower Reformed movement that gave it its birth. Whether this is an improvement or not we leave to the judgement of others.
(To be continued...)
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Rev. Ray O. Zorn
Trowel and Sword, March 1975
Courtesy of the "Trowel & Sword Revisited" blog - https://tsrevisited.com/