Reviewed Book: Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 198

Cole-Arnal, Oscar

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Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation

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ConsensusVolume 17Issue 2 Health and Wholeness Article 1511-1-1991Calvin, Geneva, and the ReformationOscar Cole-ArnalFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationCole-Arnal, Oscar (1991) "Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation," Consensus: Vol. 17 : Iss. 2 , Article 15.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol17/iss2/15196 ConsensusCalvin, Geneva, and the ReformationRonald S. WallaceGrand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1988In his terse, splendidly written Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation,Ronald S. Wallace has given us an eminently fine summary of the full rangeof Calvin’s thought in the context of both his life amd that of ReformationGeneva. Too many works on Calvin give only passing reference to the realityof Geneva. As well, they slip over the reformer’s life in too superficizil away. Wallace’s book is a welcome exception to this. Calvin’s theology isthoroughly summarized, with a wealth of quoted material, but it is neverdivorced from its broader social or personal and biographical contexts. Hisundersteinding of Calvin’s views on politics, economics and education inGeneva are interwoven into the broader tapestry of Genevan events whichshaped these views. Calvin’s role as pastor is highlighted, and in thissection one encounters his theology of worship, ministry, church polity,mission, martyrdom and pastoral care in all their facets. Extensive use ofCalvin’s correspondence is employed to portray these concerns. The bookconcludes with an examination of Calvin as theologian. Once again Wallaceplaces Calvin’s ideas into the historical context. The reformer’s theology isdescribed in the matrix of theological method, polemical style and personalinsights into the man himself.Wallace has produced a finely crafted and useful summEiry. He hasplumbed the Calvin corpus with rigour and thoroughness. His scholarshipis impeccable. Fine and clear writing add to the positive dimensions of thebook. Add to this, the intricate intertwining of thought eind biography andsociopolitical history and one has a most commendable work. It is a well-organized, usable and instant Calvin resource. See the well-organized indexas a fine example of this.There remain, however, some discordant notes. More attention couldhave been given to the continuous turbulence in Genevan town life andpolitics, yet even here, an author was forced to set his own priorities. Mostunfortunate, the book is too heavily dominated by apologetic concerns.Only toward the end of the work do we glimpse weaknesses in the man.Prior to that the fine scholarship is marred by rather uncritical hagiogra-phy. To be honestly and personally involved with one’s subject matter ishardly a negative quality, but it is nonetheless incumbent upon a scholar todelve more critically into a man as complex and sometimes contradictoryas Calvin was. In the final analysis, though, this one glaring flaw does notharm irreparably an otherwise fine work of scholarship.Oscar Cole ArnalWaterloo Lutheran Seminary

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Calvin, Geneva, and the Reformation

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