T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology Edited by John Webster, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, UK Ian A. McFarland, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA Ivor Davidson, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews, UK This page intentionally left blank READING THE DECREE Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth David Gibson Published by T&T Clark A Continuum imprint The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704, New York London SE1 7NX NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Copyright © David Gibson, 2009 David Gibson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as the Author of this work. Excerpts from John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (ed. J. T. McNeil; trans. F. L. Battles; 2 vols; 1960) used by permission of SCM Press, London. North American rights used by permission of Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, USA. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN HB: 978-0-567-46874-1 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group For Angela, Archie and Ella Sine quibus non This page intentionally left blank contents Foreword ix Acknowledgements xi Abbreviations xiii 1 Calvin, Barth and Christocentrism 1 Introduction 1 1. Christ and Election 1 2. Exegesis and Election 10 3. On Comparing Calvin and Barth 17 4. Mapping the Argument 27 2 Christology and Election 30 Introduction 30 1. Jesus Christ as the Subject of Election 31 2. Jesus Christ as the Object of Election 57 Conclusion: Trinity and Election 80 3 Community and Election 85 Introduction 85 1. Calvin on Israel and the Church 88 2. Barth on the Community 91 3. Romans 9.1–23 97 4. Romans 9.24–11.36 134 Conclusion: Covenant and Election 151 4 Hermeneutics and Election 154 Introduction 154 1. The Hermeneutics of Election in Calvin 155 2. The Hermeneutics of Election in Barth 178 Conclusion: Revelation and Election 195 Conclusion 198 Bibliography 203 Index of Biblical References 213 Index of Subjects 217 Index of Names 220 vii This page intentionally left blank foreword Francis Watson What is a ‘doctrine of election’, and why should such a thing be necessary? Doctrines grow out of the language of scripture and tradition, and respond to a felt need to articulate as clearly as possible what is entailed in a particu- lar strand of that language. Yet the mere presence in scripture of statements about election is not suffi cient to give rise to a corresponding doctrine. While doctrinal construction does seek in a certain sense to comprehend the scrip- tural message in its entirety, it does so by proposing a framework within which the biblical texts are to be read, not by converting scriptural utter- ances into dogmatic propositions without remainder. In principle, then, there might not have been a ‘doctrine of election’ evoked by and responsive to biblical representations of divine choices of persons and communities. A doctrine of election comes into being in response not only to particular scriptural texts but also and above all to the scriptural witness as a whole. The doctrine seeks to specify the basis for the contingent divine actions on behalf of various persons and communities, of which scripture speaks. Is divine action to be understood primarily as re-action to the prior actions of human agents, for example, by rewarding the good and punishing the guilty? Such a view might seem to be rather fi rmly rooted in scripture. If it were to be accepted as adequate, no ‘doctrine of election’ would be needed – for the point of this doctrine is precisely to reject a construal of divine action as reaction and to insist that all our human acting and reacting is compre- hended within a divine action that precedes and grounds it. Divine action is divine action because it is occasioned solely by a divine decision unqualifi ed by anything outside God – a decision that is traced back even behind the ‘beginning’ of which Genesis speaks. Given that what begins in Genesis is an unfolding narrative of divine interaction with the world and humanity, the doctrine of election belongs within the doctrine of God insofar as God’s own being is self-determined for engagement with the world. The doctrine of election makes it impossible to suppose that we learn what is most fun- damentally true about God only when God is abstracted from the world and from relatedness to humanity. Doctrines are, however, secondary constructs that originate from scripture before they propose a way of reading scripture. In consequence, they can be corrected in light of a new and different construal of the scriptural witness ix