Reconsidering John Calvin

Randall C. Zachman places Calvin in conversation with theologians such as Pascal, Kierkegaard, Ezra the Scribe, Julian of Norwich and Karl Barth, and attends to themes in Calvin's theology which are often overlooked. Zachman draws out Calvin's use of astronomy and great concern to see ourselves in comparison to the immensity of the universe, acknowledging in wonder and awe our nothingness before God. Throughout, Zachman presents a Calvin who seeks a route out of self-deception to self-knowledge, though Kierkegaard shows that it is love, and not judgment, that most deeply reveals us to ourselves. The book discusses Calvin's understanding of the election of the Jews and their relationship to God, and further reconsiders Calvin's understanding of judgment and how the call to love our neighbour is undermined by the formation of alliances.

Introduction; 1. The beauty and terror of the universe: John Calvin and Blaise Pascal; 2. The bond and critique of all social union: John Calvin and Soren Kierkegaard on the image of God; 3. The one elect people of God: John Calvin and Karl Barth on the Jews; 4. The restoration of Israel by Gospel and law: Calvin and Ezra the Scribe; 5. The comfort and the challenge of love: John Calvin and Soren Kierkegaard; 6. Hoping for all others, fearing for myself: John Calvin and Julian of Norwich; Conclusion.

Places John Calvin in conversation with theologians such as Pascal, Kierkegaard, Barth, Ezra the Scribe and Julian of Norwich to examine our place in the immensity of the universe, our love of enemies, God's love for the Jews and our contemplation of the love and wrath of God.

Randall C. Zachman is Professor of Reformation Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Image and Word in the Theology of John Calvin (2007), John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian (2006) and The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin (2005). He is also the editor of John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, Then and Now (2008) and, with Howard P. Louthan, of Conciliation and Confession: The Struggle for Unity in the Age of Reform, 1415–1648 (2004).