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IO THE PRESBYTERIAh
his doctrinal system are as old as the life of the Church.
Paul taught them, and Augustinus, the Venerable Bede
and Alcuin, Anslem and St. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas
and Savonarola. All the great leaders of theological
thought had felt, before Calvin, as they do after him,
the inspiration of the idea of divine sovereignty. What
we call Calvinism is therefore older than Calvin and it
survived him. It stands for an organic process in the
history of theology, and is capable of extension and
modification, its main principles alone remaining abso
luteiy nxed. J\o man was ever more deeply loved and
more bitterly hated than Calvin. Whilst the historical
pictures of the other great Reformers have come down
to us, from their own times, with a tolerably fiexd outline,
that of Calvin was distorted by his apologists and
caricaturists alike. But history spoke definitely and
fairly. ,
The countries and nations, which came under his influence,
became the strongest in the world. His touch
created men and women of steel and marble, men and
women of fixed purpose and large hopes, liberty-loving
men and women, fearing God alone and dreading no
man, in whose nostrils was the breath of life. .
The Huguenots were the life of France, and their extinction
and exile made the inferno of the great revolution
possible. The Dutch followers of Calvin founded
a republic, which became the wonder of the world and
tne pattern oi our own. The English Pruitans re-made
English history, and the Puritans of America impressed
their stamp indelibly on all the later history of this
country, according to the testimony of our best historians.
Dr. A. Kuvper has truly said?"Calvinism is
the guarantee of constitutional liberty."
The very name, however, unfortunately became a
synonym for oppression and narrowmindedness,
through the reaction, which began with the Illumination
in Germany, a hundred years ago, the theology of
Geneva seemed puerile and' hopelessly passe. The
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day, in the lives of the nations, magnified man at the
expense of God, banished serious thinking, and caricatured
the love of liberty, which the Reformed doctrine
inculcates. Geneva itself erected a statue to Rousseau,
and utterly forgot the man who made it great. And the
very followers of Calvin, who in point of time stood
nearest to him, caused his name to be execrated,
through a slovish imitation of his methods. The stern
repressive laws by which the gross immoralities of Geneva
were seared out, were adopted in countries and
under environments, where they were wholly unneeded.
Thus a straight jacket was put on a perfectly sane patient,
and the process was justly resented. But as the
years rolled on, Calvin began to be better understood.
Henry gave his picture to the world in 1835, Staedelin
another in 1863, perhaps till this day the fullest generally
available biographies of the man. The re-action
against Rationalism, which went on in Holland for the
last seventy-five years, raised able defenders of the
name and true teachings of the Reformer. The Calvin
literature, in the German Universities, expanded year
I OF THE SOUTH. January 13, 1909.
by year, till its volume exceeded the possibility of keeping
up with it.
The day of Calvin is still coming. Those who deem
him dead and buried are dealing with a corpse of surprising
vitality. The best and greatest biography,
perhaps ever written of any man. is that of Calvin by
D . r t?
r roi. 11. uouinergue, of Montauban, begun in 1899,
which, in five folio volumes, of which three arc complete,
treats the life of the Reformer, from every point
of view, with marvelous erudition and skill. Dr. Williston
Walker, of Yale, has boiled down all present
available data of the Calvin literature in his "John Calvin,"
published among "The Heroes of the Reformation,"
in 1906.
We thank God that our Presbyterian Churches still
have sufficient reverence for the name of Calvin to
pause and remember his great work, as we celebrate-his
four hundredth jubilee.
In broad outlines, we will endeavor to draw a popular
picture of the man and his labors, in a few articles,
which will treat of his parentage, youth, and early trials,
his work at Geneva and Strasburg, his character, his
place among the Reformer* hie -
^ ?f <?iu >3viiv/iai?iii|j? 111b organizing
talent, his system and his significance for the
twentieth century.
.? i
MILTON'S SONNET ON HIS BLINDNESS.
When I consider how my light Is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide?
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask:?But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: God doth not need
Either man's works, or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding ansoH
And )?ost o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
For the Presbyterian of the South.
"THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER
OF HIS RESURRECTION." Phil. 3: 10.
By Mr. Wm. Laurie Hill.
More than nineteen centuries have passed away, and
all Christendom has been engaged in commemorating,
once again, the advent of the world's Redeemer.
It is not the birthday of any ordinary king that hath
stopped the wheels of trade, silenced the throb of the
nrADn II nor ? 1 1 r *
vauicu d nusn ox joy ana peace to settle
down upon a sinful world; that has given rest to
weary toilers in shop and mart and mine, has stilled the
plow, and given pause to the faithful beasts in byre
and stall, that they, too, may enjoy with man (both
under the curse of labor), a sweet refreshing on this
hallowed day.
The glad song of the angels comes down the ages?
"Unto you is born this day in the city of David a.Savior
?which is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will toward men."
This old song, ever new, is as fresh and sweet in this