Apart from predestination, what are Calvins great insights?

[GoldenKingGaze]

I wanted to ask Calvinists, especially well read ones, what apart from Calvin's concept of predestiny are his most loved and greatest insights?

 

[Neostarwcc]

I wanted to ask Calvinists, especially well read ones, what apart from Calvin's concept of predestiny are his most loved and greatest insights?

Calvin was very famous from his view of the scriptures. He considered scripture to be more important than life itself something that was a new concept at the time.

There were also Calvin's writings. I love Calvin as a theologian because he touched a variety of scriptures in a very unique way that no other theologian thought of. His writings are even unique to the writings of McArthur and Sproul.

Calvin's commentaries touched a variety of scriptural topics aside from Predestination. I recommend even a non Calvinist to read them because there's several things in there that all denominations can benefit from.

 

[public hermit]

I wanted to ask Calvinists, especially well read ones, what apart from Calvin's concept of predestiny are his most loved and greatest insights?

One of Calvin's greatest insights was realizing how insightful Augustine could be. Calvin loved him some Augustine.

I really like Calvin's use of divinitatis sensum. "There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity" (ICR I.III.I). Somewhat like our five senses, we have a sense for divinity, which he also refers to as the "seed of religion." That was new to me when I read Calvin. I think this is why religion is ubiquitous throughout human history. And, I think something like a sense for the divine is what ensures that if we seek, we will find. It is built into our DNA, perhaps, to seek God and find God. I wouldn't argue for the DNA bit, but I think God has created us the know God so it makes sense, divine sense even.

I also like Calvin's image of a nurse or mother speaking baby talk to an infant to describe God's transcendence and how we should think of the anthropomorphic metaphors and mental images used for God in the scriptures.

"For who of even slight intelligence does not understand that, as nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to "lisp" in speaking to us?" (ICR I.XIII.I)

God speaks baby talk to us, which I take to mean we should not take ourselves and our positions as seriously as Calvin did.

 

[JM]

I wanted to ask Calvinists, especially well read ones, what apart from Calvin's concept of predestiny are his most loved and greatest insights?

Calvin was a man of great intellectual power and focus. Keep in mind he wrote his magnum opus The Institutes before he was 30 and deepened his understanding of scripture and theology in successive editions. His insights into the sacrament of the Lord's Supper took me a while to warm up to but ultimately I agree with his scriptural position.