Calvin and the Purpose of Creation
As I continue to think about gratitude and our existence as created, dependent beings, allow me a quick aside to develop an idea from Calvin related to God and the purpose of creation. Specifically, I’ll focus today on Calvin’s account of God’s purpose in creating heaven and earth across the span of six days (Genesis 1:1-2:3).
In Reformed circles, there has been a lively debate about how to interpret Genesis 1:1-2:3. The conversation is not new, even the Westminster divines held a diversity of opinions on the matter. Some believe that Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a historical record that chronicles what God did across six, literal twenty-four-hour days in creating the world. Others posit that Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a highly structured poetic narrative that is designed to identify the Author and his product, not to publish a scientific report. The former focus on questions concerning how and when; the latter on questions of who and what. It is important to affirm that both groups take Scripture seriously and both affirm that God is the Creator and Lord of all things.
In reading through Calvin’s writings on creation, I encountered something unexpected and helpful. Aware of alternate interpretations of Genesis 1:1-2:3, Calvin clearly taught that the creation narrative is a chronological record of events that took place in the space of six, literal twenty-four hour days (Institutes I.14.2). That noted, he also was not content to limit his interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2:3 to questions concerning how and when or who and what. Going beyond these concerns, Calvin mostly sought to answer the question, “Why?” In his thought, Calvin seeks to understand God’s purpose for creating the world in six days. In my judgment, this is where his teaching on the subject is provocative and offers something to the modern conversation.
Calvin perceives that God was perfectly free and capable of creating in another way, but he chose to create across six days for a particular reason. The Reformer explains: [W]e ought in the very order of things diligently to contemplate God’s fatherly love toward mankind, in that he did not create Adam until he had lavished upon the universe all manner of good things” (Institutes I.14.2). Additionally, Calvin posits that God “separated the creation of the world into distinct stages that he might retain our attention and compel us to stop with a thrust out hand” (Commentary on Genesis 1:5, CTS 1:78). For Calvin, God divided his work in this way “that he might keep us in meditation of his works” (Commentary on Acts 12:10, CNTC 6:341). By meditating on the order of his works, God communicates his fatherly love and care to us through his meticulous preparation of everything for us—his images—in this theater of his glory (Institutes I.14.22). Thus, Calvin teaches that God accommodated himself to our finite intellectual capacity in his work of creation so that we might apprehend truth about his love and care for humanity through meditating on his lavish preparation of a home for us (Commentary on Genesis 1:5, CTS 1:78). This knowledge from the created order was given to induce us to trust, invoke, praise, and love God (InstitutesI.14.22).
In this emphasis, Calvin rescues us from the ditch of focusing merely upon the historical record in our discussions about Genesis 1:1-2:3. While Calvin acknowledges that the chronological record is important, he believes it is important because of what God communicates about himself through his works to us. For Calvin, Genesis 1:1-2:3 is about history, but it is no mere history lesson—we are to discern truth about God from the order of his works. Calvin’s focus on why orients us to God in our interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2:3, drawing us towards a spiritual theology of creation that leads to doxology.
Too often in debates about how and when or who and what we seem to lose this point by submerging ourselves in abstract conversations about science and exegesis. For Calvin, if the creation narrative doesn’t primarily stimulate doxology, then we cannot rightly claim the mantle of being a creationist. Creationism, rightly ordered, emphasizes God’s loving purposes that induce wonder, awe, and praise.
This is the kind of creationist I aspire to be. God, help me.