The following speech was given by Douwe Visser at the opening of the exhbition of Bridget Dommen's calligraphy of Calvin quotes, November 17th 2008.
When our communications secretary John Asling asked me last week to say in two sentences why the Theology Office of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches is doing an exhibition on Calvin, I had to think hard. Of course, it is obvious that the World Alliance of Reformed Churches has something with Calvin, especially in the Calvin09 year when the 500th anniversary of his birthday will be commemorated. No one can claim ownership of Calvin but as the largest global organisation in the tradition of John Calvin the World Alliance of Reformed Churches will most certainly be involved in this Calvin09 year. But still: why this exhibition?
Well, personally I see Calvin as my liberator. He made my Sunday life much happier. Let me explain. As a kid I grew up in a very orthodox reformed family in the Netherlands. Sunday life was going to church twice, in the morning and in the afternoon. No outdoor activities were allowed, except a short walk. I was a keen soccer player but to play that on Sunday was definitely not allowed. And oh how boring was that long, long day. The soccer ball in my room became so attractive. Yes my friend next door, he could play soccer on Sunday but he was Roman Catholic and my father used to say, that they could confess their sins and could continue after that as they liked. Well, I was prepared to confess all my sins if only I could go and play outside. But then on one of those Sundays the word of liberty came. Right from the pulpit in our church. It was during an afternoon service when our minister preached about the fourth commandment, about the Sabbath. He told the congregation in his sermon that we should not be too strict on Sunday because John Calvin himself in 16th century Geneva was now and then sailing in his boat on Sunday! This was a word for me. A word of salvation! The name John Calvin would be forever in my memory. And after the service I asked my mother whether she had listened well to the service. Of course she had. And oh how wonderful were the days when the word of the preacher still had great authority: the Sunday regime in our house became less strict. Thanks to John Calvin, sailing on the Geneva Lake.
Some time ago I had a visit in my office from one of the professors of the Theology faculty here in Geneva. I told him this anecdote. It was a risk because he could spoil my memory by explaining with his authority that John Calvin could never have sailed on the Geneva Lake and certainly not on Sunday. But as a great scholar he said: “This is new to me!”
But still: why this exhibition organised by the Theology Office of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches? I wrote to John Asling that this exhibition is on the words written by Calvin and that for theology today, at least theology from reformed perspective, Calvin’s words are still a source of inspi-ration. The artist of the exhibited works, Bridget Dommen, told me she was a bit amused by this state-ment. Because for the texts of the calligraphy and so for the calendar they had selected words from the more non-theological writings of Calvin. That may be so. You will not find words about Trinity. About Christology. About predestination. But is theology only limited to these topics? If we read for example this text, here shown: “It is nowhere forbidden to laugh or to eat one’s fill or gain new possessions or enjoy oneself with musical instruments or drink wine.” Is that not theology? Quoted even from one of Calvin’s most theological writings, the Institutes. If you read what comes right after that quotation you will find that Calvin warns against over consumption and greed but the words about enjoying life have been said and it is as if I hear Calvin saying: “It is nowhere forbidden to play soccer on Sunday.”
Of course Calvin’s words can today – as in the past – only be read with a critical sense. Within a cen-tury after Calvin died in the Netherlands a confession was written about predestination: the Canons of Dordt. These are words, one could say harsh words, about being ‘elected to salvation’ (for the happy few) or ‘being doomed to rejection’ (for the many). When I worked in Zambia I was elected to be part of a committee translating the Canons of Dordt in the language of the region – Cicewa – where my church, the Reformed Church in Zambia was active. What an election was that: I never felt so doomed before. Sometimes these Canons of Dordt are being regarded as the ultimate outcome of Calvin’s the-ology. However, you need theological research – if you are interested in – to be aware of the fact that there is no direct line from Calvin’s theology to the Canons of Dordt.
You also need theology to see that there is a direct line from Calvin’s theology to words which are now part of the basis of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches: the Accra Confession, a document about injustice in the world and the call for justice. You need theology, I said but look at words here at this exhibition so beautifully shown like this text: “One can recognise a just and well regulated government: it will do justice to the afflicted and needy.” As an isolated text it could just be seen as a political statement but one should read it in its context – a commentary on Psalm 82 – where Calvin speaks about being guilty before God, an awareness which could maybe have helped to prevent something like today’s credit crisis.
For the World Alliance of Reformed Churches the words of John Calvin are a source of inspiration even more than we sometimes recognise ourselves. For our theological journal Reformed World I asked contributions for the next issue on Reformed Identity. One of those I approached wrote me, that he is willing to contribute an article “even if I am not a huge fan of Calvinism”. Well we are open for critical points of view. But I can already say, after having received it, that this well written article is more close to Calvin’s theology than sometimes an article is, written by a huge fan of Calvinism.
So why this exhibition? All I have said so far has to be connected with what is as important as the con-tents of the texts: the beautiful calligraphy produced by Bridget Dommen. You don’t need to be a huge fan of Calvinism to appreciate the beauty of the works here shown. We are very grateful to Bridget for having these works of art as the centrepiece of this exhibition. They go together with posters and other material showing the work of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Because all this work goes together with sources of inspiration like the words of John Calvin. We want to show that in this tradition the World Alliance of Reformed Churches is a vital ecumenical and global organisation. I can only hope that words of John Calvin may continue to be words of liberation not only for young soccer play-ers but more so for a world in which God works with us to the fulfilment of his Kingdom.
copyright (c) Douwe Visser and WARC
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