Tuesday, February 3

Five reasons that Calvin was a postmodernist - well not quite

I love this post I have found Down Under ( An Australian Anglican)

Ironically I think "point 5" may be "inexact" (read here for an American in France on PostModernism ) Yet he may be right. I will post later my own thoughts on Postmodernism and French culture.

As a footnote (or headnote?) I am a calvinist on a very French way. I still have a hard time to understand somme Dutch or English calvinist. I always wonder if some calvinist are more Calivinist than Jean Calvin. This is one of the reasons I like the open minded approach of
Michael Jenses. His post is clever and original

Michael Jenses
My Photo is a Doctor on Martyrdom and a teachear of Christian Doctrine at Moore College, all the way in Sideny Australia. He has another clever article on Jean Calvin too. Have a look

  1. Calvin thought author's intentions were not decisive for interpretation, though not irrelevant. You can't understand biblical prophecy if you are wedded to author's intentions! In fact, it was the Enlightenment that was obsessed with origins and psychological states, not the Reformation. The text is to be understood with reference to its self, primarily.
  2. Calvin recognised that texts produced a multiplicity of possible meanings depending on context and purpose - because he believed that the text was speaking to us today, and had spoken to people in the past. The text has a tradition of interpretation that is not irrelevant to understanding it.
  3. But Calvin's not an allegorist - he believes in history, of which we are a part. He doesn't seek 'eternal spiritual truths' from the text. Rather, he is aware of its time-boundedness. So, NARRATIVE is really important for him
  4. He thinks hermeneutics has a context - ie, it serves an interpretative community. 'Who is this for?' is a question that really matters for the interpreter.
  5. He was French -so must have been a postmodern!

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