The Political Theology of John Calvin

Abstract

In this paper, I will discuss Calvin’s political theology. First, I will show how the political subject is defined on the basis of his belonging to the People of God. Human institutions are thus divinely ordained in accordance to Calvin’s convenantal theology. Concordantly, the Christian State promotes our obedience to the Will of God through the legal implementation of His mandates, as Calvin argued from a purely theoretical standpoint and as a pastor in Geneva with a view to reform its religious and political institutions. As a result of this analysis, I conclude that Calvin’s political theological should be better appraised as a derivation from previous medieval doctrines that affirmed the divine right of kings, rather than as a source of modern constitutionalism.