“One thing [civil magistrates] must do, [John Calvin] says, is examine their own motives, to be sure to ‘not be carried away with headlong anger, or be seized with hatred, or burn with implacable severity.’ They must also, he insists, ‘have pity on the common nature in those whose special fault they are punishing.’[1] Calvin, I have remarked, was a good Calvinist—he knew that as sinners we need a spiritual strategy for dealing with our own sinful tendency to put the best possible interpretation on our own motives while putting the worst possible interpretation on those of our opponents. So he advised magistrates to do two things; look into yourself to see if you are being guided by some sinful motive, and be sure also to reflect on the humanity you share with your enemy.”
Richard J. Mouw, Adventures in Evangelical Civility: A Lifelong Quest for Common Ground. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press/Baker Publishing Group, 2016, page 88.
Photo by GAC
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Pastor Note #91: Loving our Enemies and Gospel Faithfulness
Bible Note #62: Compassion & the Anger of Jesus–Mark 3:1-6
[1] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (John T. McNeill, ed.; Ford Lewis Battles, trans.) Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960, Bk. 4, ch. 20, sec. 12.
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