Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 84:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Did Calvin’s Resistance Teaching Change?
Author: William T. Reddinger

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Did Calvin’s Resistance Teaching Change?

William T. Reddinger

William T. Reddinger is Associate Professor of Government at Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.

In Calvin’s most well-known statements regarding resistance to civil authority in the Institutes, he states in no uncertain terms the necessity of submission by private individuals to civil authority in all cases except when obedience would compel one to sin. The only recourse to tyranny, excepting prayer for God’s providential intervention, is that lesser magistrates may resist a king to stop the unjust use of power. However, according to some scholars, Calvin’s view on resistance developed in fundamental ways in the final years of his life. These scholars argue that Calvin’s later sermons and commentaries on Daniel and 2 Samuel, for example, show that his resistance thought developed toward acceptance of popular resistance. This article argues that Calvin’s resistance thought shows no development so fundamental as to contradict his position in the Institutes. Calvin never departed from asserting the unlawfulness of resistance by private citizens. This article addresses Calvin’s resistance thought in a variety of sources, including the Institutes, his Lectures on the Prophet Daniel, and in other commentaries and sermons. It also considers his letters—especially those from 1559 onward, which is when his thought is said to evidence transition away from a more conservative posture on resistance.

I. Introduction

The late 1550s saw the rise of persecution and concomitant growth of French Protestantism. The Edict of Chateaubriand (1551) during the reign of Henry II (1547–1559) outlawed all Protestant books, including books from Geneva. The edict also aimed to expedite criminal prosecution of Protestants.1 By 1555, however, there were many French Protestant churches meeting in houses, and many nobles were among them. In response, Henry II issued the Edict of Compiègne (1557) under which judges were not permitted to exercise leniency toward Protestants, who were to be put to death.2 Undeterred,

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Protestants assembled in 1558 on the left bank of the Seine near Notre Dame for a series of gatherings at which they sang psalms.3 By 1559, there were at least fifty-nine Protestant churches in France.4

Two events in the years 1559 and 1560 set in motion the developments that led to the emergence of the first religious war in 1562. First, Henry II died in June 1559. ...