Tracts & Letters (Vol 3) - Calvin - XI - Tract 2 appendix

Required reading
Tracts and Letters (Volume 3) by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read the Appendix to Tract II (The Adultero-German Interim).

My summary
Today we read an appendix to Calvin's rebuttal of the 'Interim, or declaration, of religion of his imperial majesty Charles V'.

The Appendix is a later addition to the treatise written by Calvin over  a year after the initial publication.

Firstly Calvin alerts the reader to a corrupted edition of his work that has been circulating in German.

Calvin then moves on to answer the insinuation of Roman Catholics that he denied original sin in the treatise.  This was their interpretation of his baptism teaching on the holiness of children of Christians.

Calvin clearly asserts that he does not deny original sin, but he does affirm that:
(i) the salvation of the soul is by no means to be tied down to external signs (e.g. baptism);
(ii) children of infidels are aliens from the covenant;
(iii) baptism by women is not proper.

What grabbed me
As a baptist, it was interesting to me that Calvin got into hot water over infant baptism.  If he denied infant baptism and affirmed only the baptism of those who give evidence of personal faith, then it wouldn't have been a problem.

I'm also disappointed in his denial of eternal life for those children of non-Christian parents: 'But he who is an infidel, being descended of wicked parents, is regarded as an alien from the communion of the covenant until he is united to God by faith.'

I think there is good evidence in the Old Testament for believing in the salvation of children of pagan parents who die in infancy.

Next week's reading
Read Tract III (On shunning the unlawful rites of the ungodly, and preserving the purity of the Christian religion).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.