John Calvin and Facebook

John Calvin's 500th birthday is on July 10. Here, perhaps, he anticipates social networking.

"It is the common habit of mankind that the more closely men are bound together by the ties of kinship, of acquaintanceship, or of neighborhood, the more responsibilities for one another they share. This does not offend God; for his providence, as it were, leads us to it. But I say: we ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves. When we turn aside from such contemplation, it is no wonder we become entangled in many errors. Therefore, if we rightly direct our love, we must first turn our eyes not to man, the sight of whom would more often engender hate than love,but to God, who bids us extend to all men the love we bear to him, that this may be an unchanging principle: Whatever the character of the man,we must yet love him because we love God."

It's a nice thought. But I cannot lose sight of his intolerence that led to the execution of Servetus. But nor should I forget his positive impact. From Wikipedia: "Calvin's writing and preaching provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin's thought exerted considerable influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements, such as Puritanism, and his ideas have been cited as contributing to the rise of capitalism, individualism, and representative democracy in the West."

A half millenium after Calvin's birth, I along with many others continue to dispute his Five Points. Perhaps that too reflects his legacy and his greatness.