Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609

445 Pages·2012·1.674 MB·English

by  Scott M. Manetsch

Calvin’s Company of Pastors
OXFORD STUDIES IN HISTORICAL THEOLOGY
Series Editor
David C. Steinmetz, Duke University
Editorial Board
Irena Backus, Universit é de Gen è ve
Robert C. Gregg, Stanford University
George M. Marsden, University of Notre Dame
Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University
Gerhard Sauter, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universit ä t Bonn
Susan E. Schreiner, University of Chicago
John Van Engen, University of Notre Dame
Geoff rey Wainwright, Duke University
Robert L. Wilken, University of Virginia
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS ON THE READING AUGUSTINE IN THE
TRINITY AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD REFORMATION
In Your Light We Shall See Light The Flexibility of Intellectual Authority in
Christopher A. Beeley Europe, 1500–1620
Arnoud S. Q. Visser
THE JUDAIZING CALVIN
Sixteenth-Century Debates over the Messianic SHAPERS OF ENGLISH CALVINISM,
Psalms 1660–1714
G. Sujin Pak Variety, Persistence, and Transformation
Dewey D. Wallace, Jr.
THE DEATH OF SCRIPTURE AND THE
RISE OF BIBLICAL STUDIES THE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION OF
Michael C. Legaspi WILLIAM OF ALTON
Timothy Bellamah, OP
THE FILIOQUE
History of a Doctrinal Controversy MIRACLES AND THE PROTESTANT
A. Edward Siecienski IMAGINATION
The Evangelical Wonder Book in Reformation
ARE YOU ALONE WISE?
Germany
Debates about Certainty in the Early Modern
Philip M. Soergel
Church
Susan E. Schreiner THE REFORMATION OF SUFFERING
Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late
EMPIRE OF SOULS
Medieval and Early Modern Germany
Robert Bellarmine and the Christian
Ronald K. Rittgers
Commonwealth
Stefania Tutino CHRIST MEETS ME EVERYWHERE
Augustine’s Early Figurative Exegesis
MARTIN BUCER’S DOCTRINE OF
Michael Cameron
JUSTIFICATION
Reformation Theology and Early Modern MYSTERY UNVEILED
Irenicism The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England
Brian Lugioyo Paul C. H. Lim
CHRISTIAN GRACE AND GOING DUTCH IN THE MODERN AGE
PAGAN VIRTUE Abraham Kuyper’s Struggle for a Free Church in
The Theological Foundation of Ambrose’s Ethics the Netherlands
J. Warren Smith John H. Wood
KARLSTADT AND THE ORIGINS OF THE CALVIN’S COMPANY OF PASTORS
EUCHARISTIC CONTROVERSY Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed
A Study in the Circulation of Ideas Church, 1536–1609
Amy Nelson Burnett Scott M. Manetsch
Calvin’s Company of Pastors
Pastoral Care and the Emerging
Reformed Church, 1536–1609
scott m. manetsch
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Manetsch, Scott M.
Calvin’s company of pastors : pastoral care and the emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609
/ Scott M. Manetsch.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–993857–5
1. Geneva (Switzerland)—Church history—16th century. 2. Reformed Church—
Switzerland—Geneva—History—16th century. 3. Pastoral theology—Reformed Church.
4. Religious refugees—Switzerland—Geneva—History—16th century. 5. Calvin, Jean,
1509—1564. I. Title.
BX9415.M36 2013
284'.249451609031—dc23
2012018345

ISBN 978–0–19–993857–5
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my wife, Catherine,
and daughters Hannah and Melissa
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i x
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
chapter 1 Geneva and Her Reformation 11
chapter 2 The Company of Pastors 38
chapter 3 The Pastoral Vocation 68
chapter 4 Pastors and Their Households 98
chapter 5 Rhythms of Ministry 123
chapter 6 The Ministry of the Word 145
chapter 7 The Ministry of Moral Oversight 182
chapter 8 Pastors and Their Books 221
chapter 9 The Ministry of Pastoral Care 255
Epilogue 299
Appendix 309
Notes 317
Bibliography 395
Index 417
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The idea for this book was fi rst conceived nearly ten years ago dur-
ing a summer in residence at the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin
Studies (Grand Rapids, Michigan) as I read through the published sermons
of Theodore Beza and became intrigued by the prominent pastoral themes
that they contained. The vital spirituality and practical ministry concerns
that I encountered in the sermons did not match popular caricatures
which portrayed Beza’s theology as stagnant, speculative, or scholastic.
That initial discovery served as the impetus for a more expansive study of
the pastoral theology and practical ministry activities of John Calvin, Beza,
and the other members of the Company of Pastors who served Geneva’s
church during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The gesta-
tion of this book over the past decade has required four summer research
trips to Geneva, consumed two sabbaticals, and invited rich and valuable
conversations with scholarly colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Along the way, my daughters Hannah and Melissa, who were preschoolers
when I began this book project, have grown into beautiful teenagers. The
passage of time is unrelenting, but God has been good to us.
I t is with sincere gratitude that I would like to thank several institutions
and the many friends and colleagues that have contributed to this writing
project over the years. Research trips to Geneva were made possible by
generous fi nancial support provided by the Christian Scholars Foundation
and the Lilly Foundation-ATS Faculty Research Grant. The Institut d’histoire
de la Ré f ormation at the University of Geneva also awarded me a research
stipend and served as my scholarly “home away from home,” providing
me with research space and access to its outstanding collection of early
modern books. I am greatly indebted to the director and professors of
the Institute, Maria-Cristina Pitassi, Irena Backus, and Philip Benedict, as
well as the remarkable group of scholars who work there, including Alain
Dufour, Nicolas Fornerod, Hervé Genton, Bé a trice Nicollier-de Weck, Max