The Lord’s Gifts to Human Nature

composed of two levels: the Gymnasium and the Hochschule. 12 Latin and language-study would be the primary focus of the lower gymnasium, while the Hochschule “would stress practical subjects such as Greek, Hebrew, philosophy, mathematics, physics, history, law, and theology.”13 Reid points out that while Sturm’s vision of education never came to total fruition, Sturm’s ideas would carry great influence when it came to the institution established by Calvin in Geneva. In 1541, Calvin was welcomed back to Geneva with open arms. He immediately resumed the work of reformation, which encompassed all aspects of societal life—including ecclesiology, politics, and education. In the realm of education, Calvin promptly set his sights on establishing a school which would comprise of both the lower level (the schola privata) of language-learning and the arts, and an upper-level (the schola publica) primarily devoted to the study of theology and languages for the sake of equipping more preachers of the Gospel for the Protestant Reformation.14 Indeed, not only was John Calvin a Pastor-Theologian, he was also a Pastor-Educator. Alongside the theologian Theodore Beza, Calvin finally launched the Academy of Geneva in 1559. Calvin’s Academy of Geneva would go on to equip hundreds for the sake of the Gospel and its model was replicated throughout the world.15

12 Reid, “Calvin And The Founding Of The Academy Of Geneva,”6.

13 Ibid.

14 T. H. L Parker, John Calvin: A Biography . (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 159.

15 Karin Maag, Seminary or University? , 7.

The Gifts of the Liberal Arts: Calvin’s Educational Philosophy in Books 1 & 2 of the Institutes

Having provided an overview of the historical narrative in regards to the educational career of John Calvin, we now turn to analyze the specific role of the liberal arts within Calvin’s educational philosophy. Having been immersed in the liberal arts himself, Calvin understood the value and the shortcomings of studying the arts. Calvin was most concerned with man’s ability to know God through God’s revelation of Himself in His Word. Yet, Calvin believed that there was a place for studying “earthly things.”16 His most renowned work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, provides helpful insight into the role of the liberal arts in a Christian education, and it is clear that the system of education practiced at the Academy of Geneva aligned with Calvin’s thoughts found in the Institutes.

In the opening pages of the work, Calvin emphasizes a two-part knowledge which was essential for the Christian life, namely, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self.17 These two knowledges are interdependent. In order to have a right knowledge of God, we must have a proper knowledge of self, and in order to have a proper knowledge of self, we must have a right knowledge of God. Furthermore, Calvin states clearly, “The final goal of the blessed life…rests in the knowledge of God.”18 John Calvin sought to provide an educational system which existed for the sake of aiding man in coming to a proper knowledge of God, which is most clearly revealed in the Scriptures.

16 John Calvin, Institutes , 2.2.13.

17 Ibid., 1.1.1.

18 Ibid., 1.5.1.

Calvin first mentions the liberal arts in chapter five of the first book of the Institutes. He posits, “Men who have either quaffed or even tasted the liberal arts penetrate with their aid far more deeply into the secrets of divine wisdom.”19 Calvin understood that the study of the liberal arts served as an aid to the study of God. 20 Through His creation, God reveals His attributes and divine wisdom. How, then, might the liberal arts equip the Christian in their knowledge of God? The liberal arts function to raise men’s minds to behold the works and deeds of God. Calvin states, “As God’s providence shows itself more explicitly when one observes these, so the mind must rise to a somewhat higher level to look upon his glory.” 21 When one studies that which God has established in His universe, they come to know better the wisdom of God—thus giving God the glory that He is due. While Calvin sees the value of the liberal arts in this way, he makes clear that the study of the liberal arts and human philosophy by itself is ineffective in providing a full, saving knowledge of God. It is for this reason that the study of the Scriptures is of greater and more essential importance to a Christian education. Calvin claims,

19 Ibid.

20 Reid insightfully points out, “Calvin believed that physical science should be taught simply because nature was God’s vesture in which He continually reveals Himself to all men everywhere…To Calvin, the study of nature was a God-given responsibility to be carried out in the light of His Word.” W. Stanford Reid, “Calvin And The Founding Of The Academy Of Geneva,” 15.

21 John Calvin, Institutes , 1.5.1.

It is therefore clear that God has provided the assistance of the Word for the sake of all those to whom he has been pleased to give useful instruction because he foresaw that his likeness imprinted upon the most beautiful form of the universe would be insufficiently effective 22 (emphasis added)

Nevertheless, Calvin does not reject the liberal arts altogether as if they lacked any value, but instead speaks highly of the arts when they are directed towards their proper end. The arts are not God’s given means of salvation, but they exist as gifts from our God for His glory and our good. 23 The arts, included under Calvin’s categorization of “earthly things,” serve to aid the believer in the affairs of the present life, while the “heavenly things” exist to equip us with the true knowledge of God. 24

In book two of the Institutes, Calvin provides a discourse on the doctrine of God the Redeemer. Herein, Calvin also continues to give justification for the role of the liberal arts in the life of the Christian. The arts, while unable to provide saving knowledge of God, act as gifts of God’s common grace towards mankind. 25 These gifts still come by way of

22 John Calvin, Institutes ,, 1.6.3.

23 “But because sculpture and painting are gifts of God, I seek a pure and legitimate use of each, lest those things which the Lord has conferred upon us for his glory and our good be not only polluted by perverse misuse but also turned to our destruction.” John Calvin, Institutes , 1.9.12.

24 Calvin states, “I call ‘earthly things’ those which do not pertain to God or his Kingdom, to try justice, or to the blessedness of the future life; but which have their significance and relationship with regard to the present life and are, in a sense, confined within its bounds. I call ‘heavenly’ things the pure knowledge of God, the nature of true righteousness and the mysteries of the Heavenly Kingdom. The first class includes government, household management, all mechanical skills, and the liberal arts. In the second are the knowledge of God and of his will, and the rule by which we conform our lives to it.” John Calvin, Institutes , 2.2.13.

25 John Calvin, Institutes , 2.2.16.