History and Eschatology: A Study on Calvin’s Understanding of History

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to examine Calvin’s understanding of history in relation to eschatology. Calvin believes that God is not the God who created the world and stepped back from it, but the God who ceaselessly acts in his- tory. When he talks about providence it is within the context of emphasizing God’s dominion over history and the push towards the ultimate goal. Calvin asserts that history is based on the order of the physical world flows by the appointment of God, an appointment which is promised to continue to the end of the world. Calvin vigorously rejects an idea which views God as the cause of the motion but left the world to its own right. Calvin argues that such an idea leads to the error of distancing God from the world, and makes human affairs to be regulated by uncertain wheel of fortune. Everything is under God’s hand and care, and thus nothing happens by chance. The contingency of history and the suffering of righteous raise the question of God’s provi- dence. For Calvin, the telos of history does not conflict with the contingency of history. From God's point of view, everything rests in his hand, and history proceeds through the omnipotent God's providence. But from the limited per- spective and finite understanding of human beings, history may seem like a continuous progression of contingent events, one after another. Calvin admit- ted that the meaning is beyond natural human grasp and known only to God.
For Calvin, providence is a band, which binds past, present and future to- gether. According to Calvin, the eschaton is not an outbreak event, which hap- pens beyond history, but is a ripe fruit, which reaches its maturity. In Calvin’s view, eschatology is closely related to his understanding of history. Calvin be- lieves that the end for which the world was created is the completion of God’s good purpose orient towards the glory of God. This is the goal by which God has set a direction to history.

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