JP Wallace
Puritan Board Sophomore
Hi All
In reading through Institutes I and a colleague were discussing the following sentence in 2.12.1
"Even if man had remained free from all stain, his condition would have been too lowly for him to reach God without a Mediator."
From this sentence it appears that Calvin believes that the Creature -Creator distinctive was such that even a hypothetically sinless humanity would still in some sense require Christ/The Son/The Word to act as Mediator.
What I'm wondering is
a) If you agree with Calvin here - what ways do you think Christ Mediated - pre-redemptively and pre-incarnately? And are there texts you believer teach as much. I think that Calvin probably has in mind natural revelation - with the divine logos/Son/Christ as Mediator revealing God to us through is creation (I think this is what Calvin is thinking of in 1.13.7 for example.
b) What do you think Calvin means by "reach God"? That seems to me to be important.
c) If you disagree can you interact with Calvin on this point? For example Robert Shaw writes in connection with the Confession's "Of Christ the Mediator"
"A mediator is one who interposes between two parties at variance, to procure a reconciliation. Before the fall, there was no need of a mediator between God and man; for, though there was an infinite distance in nature, yet, there was no variance between these parties. But upon the fall the case was altered;"
That appears to be in opposition to Calvin.
d) Have you given any thought to this, or read elsewhere about it? Bavinck, Turrentin?
Any help would be appreciated.
In reading through Institutes I and a colleague were discussing the following sentence in 2.12.1
"Even if man had remained free from all stain, his condition would have been too lowly for him to reach God without a Mediator."
From this sentence it appears that Calvin believes that the Creature -Creator distinctive was such that even a hypothetically sinless humanity would still in some sense require Christ/The Son/The Word to act as Mediator.
What I'm wondering is
a) If you agree with Calvin here - what ways do you think Christ Mediated - pre-redemptively and pre-incarnately? And are there texts you believer teach as much. I think that Calvin probably has in mind natural revelation - with the divine logos/Son/Christ as Mediator revealing God to us through is creation (I think this is what Calvin is thinking of in 1.13.7 for example.
b) What do you think Calvin means by "reach God"? That seems to me to be important.
c) If you disagree can you interact with Calvin on this point? For example Robert Shaw writes in connection with the Confession's "Of Christ the Mediator"
"A mediator is one who interposes between two parties at variance, to procure a reconciliation. Before the fall, there was no need of a mediator between God and man; for, though there was an infinite distance in nature, yet, there was no variance between these parties. But upon the fall the case was altered;"
That appears to be in opposition to Calvin.
d) Have you given any thought to this, or read elsewhere about it? Bavinck, Turrentin?
Any help would be appreciated.