His purpose was not just to be provocative, but to witness the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit upon his listeners. This internal testimony is the agent by which true persuasion is achieved.31 In other words, it is the internal testimony that has efficacy and relevance in respect to the persuasion and assurance of our minds.

Illustration

If there is an area of weakness in Calvin's preaching it may be that he did not use illustrations very much. Perhaps Calvin considered his preaching to have irresistible grace to those chosen to sit in his congregation. In form, he used the homily, or continuous commentary on a passage. This method was begun by Origen, used by most of the great church Fathers, and revived by Wyclif and the Reformers. The value of the form, primarily, is that it connected his preaching to the Scriptures. "With such a form, it is nearly impossible for the preacher to deliver a religious speech on some suasion and assurance of our minds.

Illustration

If there is an area of weakness in Calvin's preaching it may be that he did not use illustrations very much. Perhaps Calvin considered his preaching to have irresistible grace to those chosen to sit in his congregation. In form, he used the homily, or continuous commentary on a passage. This method was begun by Origen, used by most of the great church Fathers, and revived by Wyclif and the Reformers. The value of the form, primarily, is that it connected his preaching to the Scriptures. "With such a form, it is nearly impossible for the preacher to deliver a religious speech on some subject near or remote from his text," Parker notes.32

Despite these strengths, the homily form also has its weaknesses. First of all, the sermons of Calvin often lack unity of subject, "owing two or three or more principal ideas appearing in the text."33 This poses danger to the artistic quality of the sermon and offers practical problems as well. The main point of the sermon should develop in unity, whether or not the hearer is aware of it. Another difficulty is the homily tends to be repetitive (especially in reading), which detracts from interest. Calvin made no attempt at novelty in his treatment of passages. "Repetition was necessary because men rarely did their duty at the first exhortation, but needed to be continually urged to it."34 Calvin believed that in order for his listeners to experience the thrill of exhortation, they had to endure the agony of repetition.

Despite the repetition of the same form of sermon day after day, year after year, homily was the best form for Calvin's purpose "to combine a scrupulous fidelity to Scripture with a thorough and pertinent application of doctrine to the lives of the people."35 He simply served generous ungarnished helpings of God's word, trusting God to speak through him to satisfy those who truly hungered and thirsted for righteousness.

1Eerdmans Handbook to the History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977, p. 380.

2Ibid.

3Thea B. Van Halsema, This Was John Calvin, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Company, 1959, p, 17.

4Eerdmans, p. 380.

5This occurred in August of 1523. The monk was the first of many to die that way in Paris. Van Helsema, p. 19.

6John C. Olin, A Reformation Debate; Sadoleto's Letter to the Genevans, and Calvin's Reply. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1966, p. 17.

7Ibid.

8Eerdmans, p. 381.

9Ibid.

10Benjamin W. Parley, John Calvin's Sermons on the Ten Commandments, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980, p. 7.

11Farley, p. 8.

12Ibid.

13Eerdmans, p. 381.

14Ronald S. Wallace, Calvin's Doctrine of the Word and Sacrament, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957, p. 159.

15Ibid., pg 82. Wallace quotes Calvin here from his Commentary on Isaiah 55.

16Wallace, p. 84, 85.

17John Murray, Calvin on Scripture and Divine Sovereignty, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1960, pp. 15, 16. (Murray quotes Calvin here from his Institutes.)

18Richard C. Prust, "Was Calvin a Biblical Literalist?," Scottish Journal of Theology, (September 1967), p. 314.

19Ibid, p. 315.

20A. T. Robertson, "Calvin as an Interpreter of Scripture," Review and Expositor, no. 4 (October, 1909), 577-78.

21Ibid.

22T. H. L. Parker, The Oracles of God; An Introduction to the Preaching of John Calvin. London: Lutterworth Press, 1947, p. 13.

23Ibid., p. 15.

24Farley, pg. 7

25Parker, p. 136.

26Ibid.

27Wallace, p. 89

28Parker, p. 137.

29G. R. Potter and M. Green grass, John Calvin, New York, St. Martin's Press, 1983, p. 120.

30Ibid.

31Murray, p. 47.

32Parker, p. 71.

33Ibid.

34Ibid., pg. 72.

35Ibid.