Book Review
by Wes Bredenhof

On Shunning the Unlawful Rites of the Ungodly, John Calvin, Dallas:
Protestant Heritage Press, 1996.  64 pages.  Softcover.

        Occasionally one hears comments among Reformed church members
which lead us to question whether the Roman Catholic Church is really as
bad as our confessions make it out to be, or at least, whether the Roman
Catholic Church has changed for the better since the time of the Great
Reformation.  Some university students may take ethics courses from
Romanist priests or nuns where their knowledge of the Roman Catholic
Church from the confessions and church history is put into question.
Others may come into contact with Roman Catholic Church members in their
daily work or through involvement with pro-life organizations.  Here too
conversations may reveal that our knowledge and criticisms of Rome are not
as strong as we once thought they were.  We therefore become softer in our
attitude towards the Papal Church.  Besides all this, aren't "Evangelicals
and Catholics Together" overcoming their differences and working
side-by-side now?  
        I dare say that we have been gravely deceived if we think that the
Roman Catholic Church as an institution has changed substantially since
the 16th century.  Recently I had the opportunity to observe a Roman
Catholic mass on television and what I saw taking place there was the very
same accursed idolatry spoken of in our Heidelberg Catechism.  Moreover,
as I read John Calvin's little booklet, it was as if I was reading a
commentary and description of what I had observed.  The false Roman Church
of Calvin's day is the false Roman Church of our day.
        Though written so many hundreds of years ago, this small work by
the powerful Geneva Reformer contains much of value for us.  Calvin wrote
it to persuade a friend to leave the Roman Catholic fold.  His friend had
written to him and asked whether it was possible to remain a member of the
false church while inwardly being of Reformed convictions.   At that time,
there was a large group of people in Reformation Europe, referred to as
Nicodemites (after the Pharisee Nicodemus of John 3), who were in
prestigious positions, and for whom conversion to the Reformed faith would
mean disaster in terms of social consequences.  Such people could lose
their family, their incomes, and even possibly their lives.  It was one of
these Nicodemites who had written to Calvin wondering what he should do.
The question is phrased this way in the Translator's Introduction:  "Is it
lawful for a person who has renounced Popery in his heart to conform
outwardly to its rites, for the purpose of avoiding persecution, or for
any other imaginable cause?"
        In the 64 pages of this minute tome, Calvin gives his reasons why
his correspondent should remove himself immediately from fellowship with
the Roman Church.  Calvin's arguments are completely founded on Scriptural
grounds, as we would expect.  He outlines why the Roman Catholic Church is
a false church and why true Christians can have nothing to do with the
blasphemies and idolatries found within.  Even being in the presence of
the mass can give the appearance to others of conformity to sin against
the second commandment.  Calvin describes Roman Catholic worship and the
Mass and argues "that those only preserve the holy religion of God who
profane it by no defilements of unhallowed superstitions, and that those
violate, pollute, and lacerate it, who mix it up with impure and impious
rites"  (pp.17-18).
        Readers at this point may be wondering to themselves if such a
book is valuable only as an historical artifact or of interest only to
theologians.  Certainly there is meat here for historians and theologians,
but also others may benefit from this work.  This book is immensely
relevant for our modern times and two factors in particular impel my
hearty recommendation.  First, Calvin lays out quite clearly the
Reformation principle of worship (cf. Heidelberg Catechism QA 96).  In a
time when so many do not understand worship and the Biblical principles
which should guide it, Calvin is calling us back home.   Second, the old
Genevan applies the Reformation principle of worship to the Roman Catholic
Church and shows us clearly why we can have no fellowship with a false
church which has not repented of its blasphemy and idolatry in the last
500 years.
        Calvin is sometimes known as a fiery polemicist whose wrath often
overtook his reason.  However, this little booklet, like all of Calvin's
letters, reflects Calvin's pastoral spirit.  Certainly one can detect
Calvin's animosity towards the Godless foolishness of Romanism, but
fondness for his correspondent shines through clearly.  Modern-day readers
will learn to appreciate the gentler, human side of John Calvin.
        Protestant Heritage Press deserves our commendation for their
reprint of this booklet.  It is printed attractively and has been edited
for easier reading.  Comparing with the edition found in Volume 3 of
Calvin's Tracts and Treatises (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958), this booklet
has headings, subheadings, improved punctuation and grammar, and an
informative Translator's Introduction.  An improvement has definitely been
made which ensures that Calvin will not wither away under the pretext of
unintelligibility.    Even three years short of a new millennium, Calvin's
voice can be heard loud and clear.  We can only be enriched if we strive
to listen closer to the words of this saint.


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Wes Bredenhof       |   "We are never nearer Christ than 
42 McIntosh Ave.    |   when we find ourselves lost in a 
Hamilton ON L9B 1J4 |   holy amazement at His unspeakable 
(905) 318-9470      |   love."     John Owen
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FOR FURTHER STUDY (added by SWRB):

FOR MORE FURTHER STUDY

KNOX, JOHN (Kevin Reed, editor)

CALVIN, JOHN

EIRE, CARLOS M.N.

Calvin speaks about the nature of worship and about the seriousness of the sin of idolatry in his 1543 treatise, On the Necessity of Reforming the Church, where he concentrates on the significance of worship for the Christian religion. CalvinŐs argument, as indicated by the title of the treatise, is that the Church had reached such a corrupt state that its reform could wait no longer. The most significant aspect of corruption singled out by Calvin is the perversion of worship, and it is in explaining this issue that he set forth the basis for his attack on idolatry.

Calvin begins by studying the place that worship holds in the Christian faith, and he concludes that it is one of the two elements that define Christianity:

"If it be asked, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity, viz., a knowledge first, of the right way to worship God; and secondly of the source from which salvation is to be sought. When these are kept out of view, though we may glory in the name of Christians, our profession is empty and vain."

KNOX, JOHN

KEVIN REED

GREG PRICE

KNOX, JOHN