Calvin and Tradition: Tracing Expansion, Locating Development, Suggesting Authority

Abstract

This article examines one way that Calvin rewrote or edited his works across his various editions, adding patristic material. These patristic expansions represent one of the most significant methods by which the commentaries and the Institutes grew in length. The lengthening was not merely an elongation, but also an addition of authority and gravity. The article analyzes three instances of expansion to demonstrate Calvin's implicit acceptance of the medieval model of authority. While Calvin's use of patristic material was varied and at times nuanced, frequently Calvin's addition of the patristic and sounder medieval source material represented a foundational acceptance and establishment of the tradition's ''handing on'' of the basic form of right religion. Calvin's use of this practice revealed his acceptance of an orthodoxy in particular fathers, his formation of a traditional theology, and his establishment of correct tradition as a source of theological authority.

The Reformers and Tradition: Seeing the Roots of the Problem

“…At times, Calvin added citations from the fathers and medievals that did not even add to his case, or to the argument. Unless we wish to argue that he was acting like a Ph.D. candidate, scurrying along and putting in a footnote to every possible source to prove that he had read it, the most likely reason for Calvin engaging in such a practice was to add theological authority to his own work (Holder 2009). This was the argument from authority, a normal facet of medieval theological dialectic.…”