Book 4/Chapter 6 Submission to Rome (section 1) 1. What is the principle of unity for the Roman church? 2. How do the Romanists define schism? Aaron and sons (section 2) 1. What argument for papal supremacy is made from the Old Testament? 2. How does Calvin answer this? The word to Peter (section 3) …
Plucking At Your Sleeve
There is a view afoot, I am afraid, that holds that when Paul says law he is always referring to the Torah. The works of the law, therefore, are those works that maintain the covenant boundary markers, which were given by grace. The works of the law understood in this way are part of the …
Calvin on Bishops
Book 4/Chapter 5 Benefices (section 6) 1. What stipend or living used to be connected to ordination? 2. Under the papacy, how are most benefices secured? Monstrous abuses (section 7) 1. What kind of man is give rule in five or six churches? 2. Why is it useless to cite the Word against these people? …
Spitting Sixteen Penny Nails
An evangelical newspaper in the UK has printed an excerpt from a book entitled Risking the Truth in which Ligon Duncan says some creative things. I am quoting the section that deals with me by name, and my commentary is interspersed. “Douglas Wilson of Moscow, Idaho (perhaps the best-known advocate of the FV), highlights the …
Would They Do This If They Thought There Was a God?
Book 4/Chapter 5 Learning (section 1) 1. Is hierarchy important to the Roman church? 2. If they ordain a man of learning, what is he likely to know? 3. What sorts of men are ordained? A lost franchise (section 2) 1. What has vanished from the church? 2. When bishops are presented to the people, …
Ordination in the Olden Times
Book 4/Chapter 4 Church elections and emperors (section 13) 1. How long did the old method of selecting church rulers last? 2. When was the last election of the pope ratified by the consent of the people? 3. What cities required the emperor’s consent before a bishop was installed? Ordination (section 14) 1. What did …
Consent of the Governed
Book 4/Chapter 4 Consent of the people (section 10) 1. What ancient practice in the government of the church does Calvin commend? 2. When a church was afflicted with an evil presbyter, did they have a remedy? More consent (section 11) 1. If a bishop chose his own successor, what was then required to ratify …
Patrimony of the Poor
Book 4/Chapter 4 Deacons (section 5) 1. What were the responsibilities of deacons in the early years? 2. What was the bishop’s responsibility? 3. How is the deacons’ office toward the poor described? 4. Where did archdeacons come from? Patrimony (section 6) 1. What were the church’s possessions considered to be? Fourfold division (section 7) …
Government in the Ancient Church
Book 4/Chapter 4 The ancient church (section 1) 1. How has Calvin discussed church government up to this point? 2. To what aspect of the discussion does he now turn? 3. What is his conclusion? The office of bishop (section 2) 1. What were all teachers in the ancient church called? 2. What did the …
Call to the Ministry
Book 4/Chapter 3 An orderly call (section 10) 1. What things should be done “decently and in order” in the church? 2. Are some things more important than others in this regard? The outer call (section 11) 1. What aspect of a man’s call to the ministry is Calvin treating? 2. Why does he pass …