The balloon and the book: on Calvin and the Bible

This article explores a basic tension in John Calvin’s doctrine of Scripture. Arguing that the key lies in Calvin’s “high” view of the Bible, it explores the tension between conservative and radical possibilities of his thought. The argument has three steps. To begin with, Calvin asserts that the Bible is beholden to no earthly authority, especially the Church. In order to achieve this move he attempts to raise the Bible above grasping human hands. When it has achieved such a dizzying height, Calvin explores a number of overlapping features of this elevated Bible: it is selfsufficient, but then it also comes from God’s mouth, and the way we know that it is God’s word is by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, this high position leads in two directions, one conservative and the other far more radical. Conservatively, one must never question the Bible since it comes from God (he spends a good deal of time countering criticism of the Bible). More radically, it means that one’s faith and hopes rest with no earthly person. If that text exhorts one to pursue or provides examples of radical action, then one had better do so