p. 83 | Luther and Calvin

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 16, 1875

Luther and Calvin.

THE following able contrast between Luther and Calvin, is drawn from the life of Calvin, by Dr. P. Henry, of Berlin, translated by Dr. Stebbing, and an article in the North British Review:—

“Luther was the man of the people—Calvin of the divines. Luther was drawn on to greatness in spite of himself—Calvin became great on system, by a holy energy and an intense feeling of duty. The one was bold, abrupt, impetuous—the other, systematic, accurate, severe. Luther struggled much for sound doctrine—Calvin struggled yet more for piety and holy practice. Luther overthrew—Calvin constructed. The German originated deep feeling—the Frenchman elicited profound thinking from men.

“Their contrasted characters are in some degree seen and read in their portraits; Luther, bluff, jovial, and well-conditioned—Calvin, emaciated, thoughtful, piercing. Their diverse mental temperaments are exhibited in their views of Satanic agency. Luther, it is well known, thought, or dreamed, or was persuaded himself, that he had frequent personal conflicts with Satan visibly—Calvin approached that awful subject with faith as firm, but with the fancy less fixed, than Luther. In this respect, as in others, the Genevese divine may be deemed the complement of the German. Calvin strove as energetically as Luther; but Luther aroused—Calvin tranquilized. The watchword of the one was war—that of the other, order.

“We do not present this contrast as if Luther and Calvin were rivals. Their mission and their spirit were one. They were alike God’s witnesses and remembrancers—Heaven sent of a truth. Hence, though they never saw each other, they never felt as strangers, but entertained a mutual respect, while each expressed his belief according to his particular character.”