My Theatre

A portion of a letter by John Calvin to his fellow reformer, Melanchthon. He referred to him as "most distinguished sir," and spoke of him as a man "whom I venerate from the heart." The letter is a response to Melanchthon's comment about antagonists who were teaching false doctrine and causing trouble in the churches. He said that they "have no other object in view than to show themselves off on a public stage." Calvin responds with an exhortation to be careful themselves for they too are being observed. The letter was written from Geneva, August 23, 1555.

But though their [the antagonists] expectations, as I trust and as is probable, will be frustrated, nevertheless, even if they should gain the plaudits of the whole world, it becomes us to direct all our attention with so much the more zeal to that heavenly prize-giver under whose eyes we combat.

What! Shall the sacred assembly of the angels, who animate us by their favour, and strenuously point out to us by their example the manner of acting, permit us to grow sluggish or advance with hesitating steps? And the whole band of the holy fathers! Do they not also stimulate us to exertion? In fine, the church of God which is present to our view in the world! When we know that its prayers combat on our side, and that it is animated by our example, shall its suffrages in our favour be lost upon us?

No, let this be my theatre, and satisfied with its approbation, though the whole world should hiss me, I shall never want courage. I am very far from envying these silly and noisy players. Let them enjoy for a brief space and in an obscure corner their barren little sprig of triumph. What the world deems worthy of its applause or hatred does not escape me. But far more important I hold it to follow the rule prescribed by our Master. Nor have I any doubt that this ingenuousness will in the end prove more agreeable to all pious and rational minds, than a complaisant and wavering manner of teaching, which is always swayed by some empty terror.

John Calvin: Tracts and Letters, edited by Jules Bonnet and translated by David Constable, first published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1858, republished by The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009, vol. 6, p. 219.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Christ

A selection from a letter by Rev. William Still to his congregation, Gilcomston South Church of Scotland, Aberdeen, October, 1972. He warned his people about the devil and sin, stating that many Christians dismissed Satan and his wiles to readily. He also encouraged them to keep their eyes on Christ and not be caught up in a negative ministry.

… I think men in their preaching, teaching, and writing can become too preoccupied with the world situation and with the evils of the present day. Some are in a ferment concerning insidious influences in the Kirk and in the land who would have every one as hot and bothered as they are over such things. But that agitated frame of mind is far from being the strong bulwark against the spiritual disintegration of Christ's church in the land that some think it is. Some have given their lives to combat the world's evils and have worn themselves out accomplishing nothing because their eyes were on the wrong thing, namely, evils in men. Turn your eyes upon Christ, and He will soon let you see who your enemy really is, and will help you to bind him and rescue souls from his grip. Mere denunciation and fevered polemic will never effectively combat the ills in the Kirk and in society, although, of course, we admit the validity and necessity of protest. But the consistent building up of Christ's people in their most holy and glorious faith will combat these ills and increase the area in the Kirk, and then in the land, where the fruits of that upbuilding will be seen…

The Letters of William Still, The Banner of Truth, 1984, pp. 133-34.