by Matthew Myer Boulton
Wm. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, Mich. 242 pages
reviewed by ROY W. HOWARD
A few years ago I spent a considerable portion of my sabbatical at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colo. The guest master was kind enough to provide a small cabin for my stay — a hermitage. While there I joined other guests entering into the daily rhythms of the monks, balancing prayer, study and work. Given the common understanding of John Calvin’s harsh criticism of monasticism, it surprised the monks (and others) that I was a Presbyterian pastor. Didn’t I know what Calvin had said about their vocation? (I did not.) What would I find among a community of monks? (Earthy wisdom, commitment to daily prayer, dedication to vows.) In the end, I experienced much that deepened my pastoral vocation. I also came away with a somewhat wistful yearning for an intentional community following a rule of life that integrated prayer, work and study.
Then came Matthew Myer Boulton’s new book reframing Calvin’s critique of monasticism into a positive appraisal of Christian formation. In his previous work, “God Against Religion,” Boulton examined closely Karl Barth’s critique of religion. Now he takes a fresh look at John Calvin to bring his most important insights into contemporary conversation about the practices that form the Christian life. Rather than being a fierce critic of monasticism as commonly understood, Calvin actually appreciated the form because it aided the cultivation of piety that is the true purpose of all Christian doctrine. Not only does Boulton helpfully illuminate the real source of Calvin’s concern — insular clericalism separate from ordinary people — he demonstrates how Calvin borrowed from the monastic structure to support his own program of Christian formation. Through an acutely tuned historical reading and theological analysis, Boulton shows Calvin as a practical theologian with the singular purpose of making Christian doctrine formative for ordinary Christians’ real daily life. The heart of the book is a rereading of the Institutes that amounts to a trenchant appraisal and appropriation of the key doctrines of the Reformed tradition. From the knowledge of God to Scripture to the incarnation and concluding with a close look at the Calvin’s understanding of the sacraments — everything is reframed through the critical lens of “genuine piety.”
This is not a naïve or narrow analysis; Boulton is a careful historian and insightful theologian. He knows Calvin’s errors and outlandish rhetoric and doesn’t shy away from a close critique of them. The book concludes with a discussion of the future of Protestant theology that tcorrects Calvin’s errors while appropriating his deeper insights into practical Christian formation in communities of people who are genuinely shaped by Scripture, prayer, sacraments and daily commitment to a new way of life in God. Along with his previous book, “Life in God,” this book deserves a wide reading among pastors and teachers, and especially ruling elders, who are often left out of the conversation.
ROY W. HOWARD is pastor of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in North Bethesda, Md., and Outlook book editor.
