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Abraham, David, and the Problem of Exile in Calvin’s Theology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2025
Abstract
Scholars have long noted the prevalence of exile as a theme in John Calvin’s theology, which responded to times unsettled by religious persecution and migration. However, research has only begun to describe with precision how Calvin portrayed exile. This article examines the theme in Calvin’s biblical exegesis, demonstrating how his commentaries and sermons problematize exile by establishing two requirements for faithfulness from the exilic experiences of Abraham and David: 1) open confrontation with idolatry; and 2) the pursuit of sacramental nurture. In both cases, the reformer’s exegesis is notable for reflexively invoking Nicodemism, persistently deploying Abraham and David as counterexamples against this contemporary problem. This intersection of crypto-religion and exile, considered spiritually and politically, displays how context drove Calvin’s exegesis toward readings distinctive in the history of interpretation. It also sharpens exile’s polemical potential as a differentiated category Calvin used to encourage the community of believers while disciplining its behavior.
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- © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the President and Fellows of Harvard College
Footnotes
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Elements of my research for this article were presented at the 13th quadrennial International Congress on Calvin Research in July 2023. I am grateful to the Calvin Congress praesidium for the invitation to speak, as well as to conference participants for insightful questions and discussion. I also wish to thank Jon Balserak, Tucker Ferda and, especially, the two anonymous readers for their helpful comments and suggestions. Any errors remain mine.
References
1 Calvin to Falais, 1544, in Ioannis Calvini opera quae supersunt omnia (ed. G. Baum, E. Cunitz, and E. Reuss; Corpus Reformatorum 29–87; Brunswick and Berlin: Schwetschke, 1863–1900) (hereafter CO) 11:733–37. For Calvin’s relationship with the Flemish nobleman, which soured by the 1550s, see Jean Calvin, Lettres à Monsieur et Madame de Falais (ed. Françoise Bonali-Fiquet; Geneva: Droz, 1991) 7–30; Uwe Plath, Calvin und Basel in den Jahren 1552-1556 (Basler Studien zur Historischen und Systematischen Theologie 22; Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1974) 87; and Michael W. Bruening, Refusing to Kiss the Slipper: Opposition to Calvinism in the Francophone Reformation (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology; New York: Oxford University Press, 2021) 126–27.
2 Calvin to Falais, 1544 (CO 11:735–36).
3 Nicholas Terpstra, Religious Refugees in the Early Modern World: An Alternative History of the Reformation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015) 4.
4 Ibid., 112.
5 Calvin, Institutio Christianae Religionis, 1559, in Ioannis Calvini opera selecta (ed. Peter Barth, Wilhelm Niesel, and Dora Scheuner; 5 vols.; Munich: Chr. Kaiser, 1926–1952) (hereafter OS) III:411–12; English translation: idem, Institutes of the Christian Religion (ed. J. T. McNeill; trans. F. L. Battles; 2 vols.; Library of Christian Classics; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960) (hereafter Inst.) II.10.11. Also David C. Steinmetz, “Calvin and Abraham: The Interpretation of Romans 4 in the Sixteenth Century,” CH 57 (1988) 443–555.
6 Calvin, “Author’s Preface” to Commentary on Psalms, 1557 (CO 31:28). English translation: idem, Calvin’s Commentaries (trans. John King et al; Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1844–1856), hereafter Comm. followed by biblical book, chapter, verse, and date of Calvin’s original publication; translation modified in places for clarity. For Calvin’s identification with David, see Alexandre Ganoczy, The Young Calvin (trans. David Foxgrover and Wade Provo; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1966) 302–7; R. A. Hasler, “The Influence of David and the Psalms upon Calvin’s Life and Thought,” Hartford Quarterly 5 (1965) 7–18; J. R. Walchenbach, “The Influence of David and the Psalms on the Life and Thought of John Calvin” (ThM thesis, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 1969).
7 Max Engammare, “Une certaine idée de la France chez Jean Calvin l’exilé,” Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire du Protestantisme Français (1903–2015) 155 (2009) 15–27, at 19–21; idem, “ ‘Dass ich im Hause des Herrn bleiben könne, mein Leben lang’: Das Exil in den Predigten Calvins,” in Calvin und Calvinismus (ed. Irene Dingel and Herman Selderhuis; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011) 229–42, at 231–37.
8 For Calvin and Nicodemism, see Carlos M. N. Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship From Erasmus to Calvin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986) 234–75; Perez Zagorin, Ways of Lying: Dissimulation, Persecution, and Conformity in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990) 63–82; David F. Wright, “Why Was Calvin So Severe a Critic of Nicodemism?,” in Calvinus Evangelii Propugnator: Calvin, Champion of the Gospel: Papers from the International Congress on Calvin Research, Seoul, 1998 (ed. David F. Wright, A. N. S. Lane, and Jon Balserak; Grand Rapids: Calvin Studies Society, 2006) 66–90; Kenneth J. Woo, “Nicodemism and Libertinism,” in John Calvin in Context (ed. R. Ward Holder; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020) 287–95, at 287–91.
9 Calvin published five full-length works addressing Nicodemism: Epistolae duae de rebus hoc saeculo cognitu apprime necessariis (Basel: Lasius and Platter, 1537); Petit traicté, monstrant que c’est que doit faire un homme fidèle congnoissant la vérité de l’évangile quand il est entre les papistes. Avec une épistre du mesme argument (Geneva: Jean Girard, 1543); Excuse de Iehan Calvin, à Messieurs les Nicodémites, sur la complaincte qu’ilz font de sa trop grand’ rigeur (Geneva: Jean Girard, 1544); Quatre sermons de M. Iehan Calvin traictans des matières fort utiles pour nostre temps, avec briefve exposition du Pseaume lxxxvii (Geneva: Robert Estienne, 1552); Response à un certain Holandois, lequel sous ombre de faire les chrestiens tout spirituels, leur permet de polluer leurs corps en toutes idolatries (Geneva: Jean Crespin, 1562). For Calvin’s tolerance of deception as a reasonable survival tactic and strategy in his dealings with French Reformed churches and private counsel, see Jon Balserak, Geneva’s Use of Lies, Deceit, and Subterfuge, 1536–1563 (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology; New York: Oxford University Press, 2024) 10–12, 122–65.
10 See n. 8 above. Also Albert Autin, Un épisode de la vie de Calvin: La crise du Nicodémisme, 1535–1545 (Toulon: P. Tissot, 1917); Francis M. Higman, “The Question of Nicodemism,” in Calvinus Ecclesiae Genevensis Custos (ed. Wilhelm H. Neuser; Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1984) 165–70; Eugénie Droz, “Calvin et les Nicodemites,” in Chemins de l’hérésie: Textes et documents (ed. E. Droz; vol. 1; Geneva: Slatkine, 1970) 131–71; Mirjam van Veen, “Verschooninghe van de roomsche afgoderye”: De polemiek van Calvijn met nicodemieten, in het bijzonder met Coornhert (Bibliotheca Humanistica & Reformatorica 60; Utrecht: Hes and De Graaf, 2001); Kenneth J. Woo, Nicodemism and the English Calvin, 1544–1584 (Brill’s Series in Church History 78; Leiden: Brill, 2019).
11 Heiko A. Oberman, “Europa afflicta: The Reformation of the Refugees,” ARH 83 (1992) 91–111; idem, The Two Reformations: The Journey from the Last Days to the New World (ed. Donald Weinstein; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003) 111–15, 145–50. For reception of Oberman’s proposal see Jane Dempsey Douglass, “Pastor and Teacher of the Refugees: Calvin in the Work of Heiko A. Oberman,” in The Work of Heiko A. Oberman: Papers from the Symposium on His Seventieth Birthday (ed. Thomas A. Brady, Katherine G. Brady, Susan Karant-Nunn, and James D. Tracy; Leiden: Brill, 2003) 51–65; Michael W. Bruening, Calvinism’s First Battleground: Conflict and Reform in the Pays de Vaud, 1528–1559 (Studies in Early Modern Religious Reforms 4; Dordrecht: Springer, 2005) 167–255. Also Heinz Schilling, “Peregrini und Schiffchen Gottes. Flüchtlingserfahrung und Exulantentheologie des frühneuzeitlichen Calvinismus,” in Calvinismus. Die Reformierten in Deutschland und Europa (ed. Ansgar Riess and Sabine Witt; Berlin: Sandstein Verlag, 2009) 160–68.
12 Studies of exile in Calvin’s exegesis include Engammare, “Das Exil,” 229–42; Barbara Pitkin, Calvin, the Bible, and History: Exegesis and Historical Reflection in the Era of Reform (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020) 122–40; Peter Wilcox, “The Lectures of John Calvin and the Nature of His Audience, 1555-1564,” ARH 87 (1996) 136–48.
13 Terpstra, Refugees, 171–72; William G. Naphy, Calvin and the Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994); Balserak, Lies, 122–65. For exile in Calvin’s experience and theology, see Heiko A. Oberman, John Calvin and the Reformation of the Refugees (Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance 464; Geneva: Droz, 2009); Engammare, “Une certaine idée”; Herman J. Selderhuis, Calvijn als asielzoeker (Apeldoorn: Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn, 1997); Robert Vosloo, “The Displaced Calvin: ‘Refugee Reality’ as Lens to Re-Examine Calvin’s Life, Theology, and Legacy,” Religion and Theology 16 (2009) 35–52.
14 Calvin’s commentary on Genesis was published in 1554 from material originating as lectures beginning in 1550; he preached on Genesis in 1559–1560. Critical text of the commentary: CO 23:5–622; and the sermons: Calvin, Sermons sur la Genèse 1,1 à 20,7 (ed. Max Engammare; 2 vols.; Supplementa Calviniana XI/1–2; Neukirchen: Neukirchener, 2000), hereafter Serm. Gen followed by sermon number, volume (e.g., “SC XI/1”), and page numbers. A critical text of 87 stenographers’ manuscripts of Calvin’s preaching on 2 Sam 1–24, between May 1562 and Feb 1563, appears in Calvin, Predigten über das 2. Buch Samuelis (ed. Hanns Rückert; SC I; Neukirchen: Neukirchener, 1961), hereafter Serm. 2 Sam followed by sermon number, volume, and page numbers. Calvin’s commentary on the Psalms appeared in 1557; critical text: CO 31:14–842, 32:1–442. Quatre sermons (1552; see n. 9 above) includes three sermons on the Psalms.
15 Rather than claiming influence, our historical comparison simply highlights where Calvin’s readings deviate from established exegetical commonplaces, with which Calvin was conversant even if he was not directly familiar with every source. The authors examined represent examples of early, medieval, and cross-confessional Reformation-era Christian exegesis, along with a sample of Jewish interpretive traditions. These include Origen, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, the authors and compilers of Genesis Rabbah, Bede, Rashi, Hugh of Saint-Cher, Nicholas of Lyra, Denis the Carthusian, Agostinus Steuchus, Cajetan (Thomas de Vio), Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Johannes Bugenhagen, Wolfgang Musculus, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, Johannes Brenz, and Dirck Coornhert.
16 For exile in early modern Europe beyond historiography focusing on international Calvinism and the Jewish diaspora see, for example, Terpstra, Refugees; also Religious Diaspora in Early Modern Europe: Strategies of Exile (ed. Timothy G. Fehler et al.; Religious Cultures in the Early Modern World 12; London: Pickering and Chatto, 2014); and Exile and Religious Identity, 1500–1800 (ed. Jesse Spohnholz and Gary K. Waite; Religious Cultures in the Early Modern World 18; London: Pickering and Chatto, 2014).
17 For banishment from the garden as a form of spiritual exile, see Calvin, Comm. Gen 3:23–24, 1554 (CO 23:79–81).
18 Calvin, Inst. III.9.4–5 (OS IV:174–75). Also idem, Comm. 2 Cor 5:3–4, 1548 (CO 50:61–62).
19 Calvin, Inst. III.8.7, 9.1 (OS IV:166, 171); idem, La forme des prières et chantz ecclésiastiques, 1542 (CO 6:177); see also examples from Calvin’s letters counseling individuals contemplating exile (CO 13:155–57; CO 14:739–42).
20 Rashi, Pentateuch with Targum Onkelos, Haptaroth and Rashi’s Commentary (trans. M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermannm; 5 vols.; 1929; repr. Jerusalem: Silbermann Family, 1973) 1:47–49; Genesis Rabbah: The Judaic Commentary to the Book of Genesis: A New American Translation (ed. Jacob Neusner; 3 vols.; Brown Judaic Studies 104–106; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985) 2:55–61; Bede, Libri quatuor in principium Genesis usque ad nativitatem Isaac et eiectionem Ismahelis adnotationum (ed. Charles W. Jones; CCSL 118A; Turnout: Brepols, 1967) 118A:167–68; Nicholas of Lyra, Biblia sacra cvm glossis, interlineari & ordinaria: Nicolai Lyrani Postilla & Mortalitatibus, Burgensis Additionibus & Thoringi Replicis (5 vols.; Lyons, 1545) I:60r–62r; Cajetan, Commentarii illustres planeque insignes in quinque Mosaicos libros (Paris: G. de Bossozel, 1539) lxvii; Martin Luther, Enarrationes in Genesin (D. Martin Luthers Werke, kritische Gesamtausgabe 42–44; Weimar: Herman Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1911) (hereafter WA) 42:436–37; Wolfgang Musculus, In Mosis Genesim plenissimi commentarii, in quibus veterum & recentiorum sententiae diligenter expenduntur (Basel: J. Herwagen, 1554) 295–96; Peter Martyr Vermigli, In primum librum Mosis, qui vulgo Genesis dicitur commentarii doctissimi (Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1579) 47v.
21 For the relationship between Calvin’s commentary and sermons on Genesis, see Max Engammare, “D’une forme de l’autre: Commentaires et sermons de Calvin sur la Genèse,” in Calvinus Praeceptor Ecclesiae (ed. Herman J. Selderhuis; Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance 388; Geneva: Droz, 2004) 107–37.
22 Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:1, 1554 (CO 23:170); idem, Comm. Josh 24:2, 1564 (CO 25:563–64); idem, Lectures on Ezekiel, 1565 (CO 40:334–36); Luther, Genesin (WA 42:438); also Rashi, Pentateuch, 1:47; Genesis Rabbah (ed. Neusner), 2:55–57, 60–61, Lyra, Postilla, I:59v.
23 Luther, Genesin (WA 42:436–37); Musculus, Genesim, 295–96; Vermigli, Mosis, 47v.
24 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 53 (SC XI/2:591).
25 Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:1, 1554 (CO 23:173). Another exception to the general silence on this issue is Calvin’s polemical adversary, Dirck Coornhert, whose play Abrahams uytgang (1575) contrasts obedience to other motives for flight. Critical text: D. V. Coornhert, “Abrahams uytgang,” in Het Roerspel en de comedies van Coornhert (ed. Paulus van der Meulen; Leiden: Brill, 1955) 266–316.
26 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 52 (SC XI/2:584); idem, Comm. Gen 12:1, 1554 (CO 23:173).
27 Calvin, “Author’s Preface,” Comm. Psalms, 1557 (CO 31:22); idem, “Reply to Sadoleto,” 1539 (CO 5:389); idem, Excuse. . . Nicodémites, 1544 (CO 6:607).
28 Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:6–7, 1554 (CO 23:180); idem, Serm. Gen, Sermon 54 (SC XI/2:602–9). Others lift up God’s presence with sufferers (Origen, In Genesim Homilae XV [ed. J.-P. Migne, PG 12; Paris: Vives, 1844] 12:240–41); Abram’s piety (Ambrose, De Abraham, I.1.5 [ed. J.-P. Migne, PL 14; Paris: Vives, 1845] 14:422); parallels to Israel’s exile (Genesis Rabbah (ed. Neusner), 2:65–67, 78); spiritual warfare (Bede, Genesis [CCSL 118A:173–74]; Hugh of Saint-Cher, Opera omnia in universum Vetus, & Novum Testamentum [8 vols; Venice: Niccolò Pezzana, 1703] I:17r); and God’s sovereign prerogative (Musculus, Genesim, 302; Luther, Genesin [WA 42:467]).
29 Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:7, 1554 (CO 23:181).
30 Musculus, Genesim, 295–96; Luther, Genesin (WA 42:462–67); Brenz, “Explicatio Geneseos, inchoata primo die septembris, anno salvatis 1553. Stutgardiae,” in Opervm reverendi et clarrissimi theologi, D. Ioannis Brentii, Praepositi Stutgardiani Tomus Primus (Tübingen: G. Gruppenbach, 1576) 132–33.
31 John L. Thompson, “Hagar, Victim or Villain? Three Sixteenth-Century Views,” CBQ 59 (1997) 213–33, at 220–30.
32 “Quia tamen sanctus vir hoc a se merito requiri cognoscit, ut testetur se peculiarem habere Deum, nec fallaci simulatione eum abneget, Dei gloriam praeferre vitae suae non dubitat” (Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:8 [CO 23:182]).
33 Calvin, Comm. Gen 12:7, 1554 (CO 23:180–81). Calvin makes this case consistently in his anti-Nicodemite publications, beginning with Epistolae duae, 1537: “vera enim pietas, veram confessionem parit” (CO 5:244).
34 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 55 (SC XI/2:612); see the similar list in 1544’s Excuse. . . Nicodémites (Calvin, CO 6:597–602, 608–10).
35 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 55 (SC XI/2:612).
36 Calvin to Falais, 1544 (CO 11:736). Other letters connecting Abraham’s exile to anti-Nicodemite rhetoric include: Calvin to Falais, 1543 (CO 11:628–31); Calvin to an unnamed recipient, 1548 (CO 13:61–64).
37 For the centering of such liturgical forms of “biblical commentary” as the replacement of Catholic ritual forms of devotion with another ritual system in Calvin’s Geneva, see Christian Grosse, “ ‘Docere et movere.’ Preaching, Sacrament, and Prayer in the Reformed Liturgical System of 16th-Century Geneva,” in A Companion to the Reformation in Geneva (ed. Jon Balserak; Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition 96; Leiden: Brill, 2021) 165–89.
38 For Quatre sermons, see T. H. L. Parker, Calvin’s Preaching (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1992) 61; Woo, Nicodemism, 1–68.
39 Calvin, Comm. Ps 27:4, 1557 (CO 31:273–74); idem, Quatre sermons, 1552 (CO 8:411–13, 418, 426–27).
40 Calvin, Comm. Ps 61:1–4, 1557 (CO 31:580–81).
41 Ibid.
42 Calvin, Quatre sermons, 1552 (CO 8:413, 418). For Calvin’s sensitivity to the relationship between Israel’s worship and the church’s, see Wulfert de Greef, “Calvin as Commentator on the Psalms,” in Calvin and the Bible (ed. Donald McKim; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) 85–106, at 105–6.
43 For this account of nurture in other places, see for example, Inst. IV.1.1, 5; IV.3.1–3 (OS V:1–2, 7–10, 42–45); Comm. Eph 4:11–14, 1548 (CO 51:196–202).
44 Woo, Nicodemism, 30–57. Nevada Levi DeLapp notes Calvin’s use of David in his anti-Nicodemite writings without highlighting its connection to exile (The Reformed David(s) and the Question of Resistance to Tyranny: Reading the Bible in the 16th and 17th Centuries [Scriptural Traces 3; London: Bloomsbury, 2014] 49–52).
45 G. Sujin Pak, The Judaizing Calvin (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology; New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) 87–91.
46 See, for example, Chrysostom, “Commentary on Psalm 11,” in Commentary on the Psalms (trans. Robert Charles Hill; vol. 1; Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998) 213–14; Augustine, “Exposition of Psalm 27,” in Exposition of the Psalms (ed. John E. Rotelle; trans. Maria Boulding; WSA III/15–19; New York: New City Press, 2000–2003) III/15:291; idem, “Exposition of Psalm 42” (WSA III/16:256); idem, “Exposition of Psalm 61” (WSA III/17:202); idem “Exposition of Psalm 84” (WSA III/18:204–5); and Jerome, “Tractatus de Psalmo LXXXIII (84),” in S. Hieronymi Presbyteri Opera, II (ed. D. Germanus Morin; CCSL 78; Turnout: Brepols, 1953) 78:95–100. On traditional Christological interpretation of David, see Henri de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis: The Four Senses of Scripture (trans. E. M. Macierowski; 3 vols.; Ressourcement: Retrieval & Renewal in Catholic Thought; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 2:1–9, 2:83–107. By contrast, Bede correlates spiritual teaching to the literal earthly sanctuary in a gloss on Ps 27:4 (“In Lucam I,” in Bedae Venerabilis Opera, II/3 [ed. D. Hurst; CCSL 120; Turnout: Brepols, 1960] 120:65–66); Lyra situates the same psalm historically just prior to David’s royal anointing (Postilla, III:121r-v).
47 Ulrich Zwingli, Enchiridion Psalmorum, 1532 (ed. Emil Egli et al.; Huldreich Zwinglis sämtliche Werke, vol. 13; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1982) (hereafter ZSW) 611–13; Philip Melanchthon, Commentarii in Psalmos, 1555 (ed. C. G. Bretschneider; Philippi Melanthonis Opera quae supersunt omnia, vol. 13; Halle: Schwetschke, 1846) (hereafter MO) 1058–59.
48 Cajetan, In Psalmos, Parabolas Salomonis & Ecclesiasten, nec non in tria priora Isaiae Capita commentarii: tomus tertius. . . (Lyon: Jacobi et Petri Prost, 1639) 95–96, 289–90.
49 Johannes Bugenhagen, In Librum Psalmorum interpretatio (Strasbourg, 1524) 64r–66v, 196v–197r; Martin Bucer, Sacrorum Psalmorum libri quinque (Strasbourg, 1529) 148v–49v, 204v–5v; also Wolfgang Musculus, In sacrosanctum Davidis Psalterium comentarii (Basel, 1551) 436–38.
50 Musculus, Davidis, 436–38, 926, 930; Beza, Psalmorum Davidis et aliorum prophetarum libri quinque (Geneva, 1579) 166, 172, 395. Musculus’ critique of Nicodemism appears in Proscaerus. Liceát ne homini Christiano, evangelicae doctrinae gnaro, papisticis superstitionibus ac falsis cultibus externa societate communicare, dialogi quatuor (Basel: Jakob Kündig, 1549).
51 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermons 50 and 51 (SC I:439–50).
52 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 50 (SC I:439).
53 Ibid. (SC I:441).
54 Calvin, Response. . . Holandois. For Coornhert, see van Veen, “Verschooninghe”; also n. 25 above.
55 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 50 (SC I:439); idem, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 51 (SC I:442–43). Also Comm. Ps 3:4–5, 1557 (CO 31:54–55).
56 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 50 (SC I:439). See Bucer, Psalmorum, 148v; Vermigli, In duos Libros Samuelis Prophetae qui vulgo priores Libri Regum appellantur. . . (Zurich, 1564) 267r.
57 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 51 (SC I:442).
58 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 50 (SC I:439–40). See also Comm. Ps 4:5–6, 1557 (CO 31:61–63) where Calvin describes how David in exile distinguishes the Ark’s proper place from its proper use. Even in Jerusalem, the Ark could be an idol.
59 Vermigli, Samuelis, 267r.
60 Calvin, Serm. 2 Sam, Sermon 51 (SC I:442).
61 Other psalms Calvin connects to David’s exile include Pss 3, 7, 11, 22, 25, 35, 37, 54, 55, 56, 72, 109, 116, and 120. Calvin also frequently refers to David’s struggles generically, which may indirectly suggest political exile.
62 See, for example, Calvin, Comm. Pss 4:5; 18:6, 10, 49; 27:6–8; 42:1, 4; 52:8; 61:1, 3–4; 63:2–3; 84:6; 118:19, 27; 119:54 (1557; CO 31:61–62, 172–73, 175, 192–93, 274–76, 425, 427, 527–28, 580–82, 594–95, 779–82; CO 32:207–8, 213–14, 237–38).
63 See, for example, Bucer, Psalmorum, 148v, 291v (on Pss 27 and 84); and Beza, Davidis, 93, 172, 395 (on Pss 27, 42, and 84). See also Bucer’s comments on the non-exilic Ps 24 (Psalmorum, 137r–v).
64 Bucer, Psalmorum, 245r (on Ps 61); Beza, Davidis, 266, 557–558 (on Pss 61 and 118); also Bugenhagen, Psalmorum, 64v–66r, 142v–143r, 266r; Musculus, Davidis, 646–48, 1470–72; Melanchthon, Psalmos (MO 13:1058–59, 1087, 1185); Zwingli, Enchiridion (ZSW 13:490, 531, 572, 611–12, 673, 758). See R. Gerald Hobbs, “Bucer’s Use of King David as Mirror of the Christian Prince,” RRR 5 (2003) 102–28.
65 Calvin, Comm. Ps 4:5, 1557 (CO 31:61–62).
66 Calvin, Comm. Ps 118:19, 27, 1557 (CO 32: 207–8, 213–14).
67 Calvin, Comm. Pss 11:1; 27:4–6, 42:4, 61:1–4, 84:6, 120:5, 1557 (CO 31:120–21, 273–76, 427, 580–82, 781–82; CO 32:297–98). See his exegesis of Pss 16 and 27 in Quatre sermons, 1552 (CO 8:377–92, 409–40). The reformer also finds this lesson in psalms not directly attributed to David; see Comm. Pss 105:44, 137:2, 1557 (CO 32:114–15, 368–69).
68 See nn. 8 and 10 above.
69 Wright, “Severe,” 66–90. See n. 9 above.
70 Calvin, Petit traicté, 1543 (CO 6:572).
71 See, for example, my argument in Woo, Nicodemism, 30–57.
72 Calvin, Comm. Acts 7:3, 1552 (CO 48:131); idem, Comm. Ps 11:1, 1557 (CO 31:120–21).
73 Inst. IV.14.1, 3 (OS V:258–59, 260–61). See, among others, B. A. Gerrish, Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993); Thomas J. Davis, The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin’s Eucharistic Teaching (New York: AMS Press, 1995); Lee Palmer Wandel, The Eucharist in the Reformation: Incarnation and Liturgy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 139–75.
74 See, for example, Petit traicté de la saincte cène de nostre Seigneur Iesus Christ, 1541 (CO 5:434, 443), where Calvin writes that the sacrament’s mode of nurture ameliorates unbelief, a constant companion in the present life, using language he applies elsewhere to spiritual exile: “Car c’est une maladie tant enracinée en nostre nature, que iamais nous n’en sommes plainement guaris, que nous ne soyons delivrez de ceste prison de nostre corps” (444; see Inst. III.9.4–5 [OS IV:174–75]).
75 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:231); Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram, XI.39.54 (PL 34:451). Also Hugh of Saint-Cher, Opera omnia, I:6v; Denis the Carthusian, Enarrationes piae ac eruditae in quinque Mosaicae legis libros. . . (Cologne: P. Quentel, 1534) F4v–F5r; Vermigli, Mosis, 18v.
76 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:235). On life’s “penal” quality, see Augustine, De civitate Dei, XXI.15 (CCSL 48:780–81); Vermigli, Mosis, 18v.
77 Calvin, Comm. Gen 3:16–20, 1554 (CO 23:72–77); idem, Serm. Gen, Sermon 16 (SC XI/1:216), Sermon 19 (SC XI/1:218–21) and Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:231). Also Augustine, De civitate Dei, XIII.23 (CCSL 48:405–8).
78 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:231).
79 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:236). Also Ulrich Zwingli, Farrago annotationum in Genesin, 1527 (ZSW 13:31); Philip Melanchthon, In obscuriora aliquot capita Geneseos Phil. Melanch. annotationes, 1523 (MO 13:782).
80 Calvin, Comm. Gen 3:23, 1554 (CO 23:79–80); also idem, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:232).
81 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:236).
82 Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos, II.22.34 (PL 34:213–14); idem, Genesi ad litteram, XI.40.55 (PL 34:451–52); Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 20 (SC XI/1:232–39).
83 Calvin, Comm. Gen 4:12–15, 1554 (CO 23:95–97); idem, Serm. Gen, Sermons 23–26 (SC XI/1:264–311). Also Ambrose, De Cain et Abel, II.9.32, 37 (PL 14:357–60); Augustine, De civitate Dei, XV:1 (CCSL 48:453–54); Lyra, Postilla, I:45v; Cajetan, Mosaicos, xxxix; Zwingli, Genesin (ZSW 13:35); Brenz, “Explicatio,” 76–77; Luther, Genesin (WA 42:224–26).
84 Calvin, Comm. Gen 4:12, 1554 (CO 23:95). The “faithful” are “tenants on earth” yet “enjoy tranquil lodging” and an “untroubled mind,” being “in all places upheld by the supporting hand of God.”
85 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 24 (SC XI/1:279, 284); also Bede, Genesis (CCSL 118A:77–78); Melanchthon, Geneseos (MO 13:785).
86 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 24 (SC XI/1:283–84).
87 Calvin dedicates the 1561 volume of his lectures on Daniel to evangelicals in France, commending Daniel and his friends for their willingness to die rather than “prostitute God’s sacred name” by “dissembling” their faith (Calvin, CO 18:616).
88 Calvin, Lectures on Daniel, 1561 (CO 41:1–36, 65–68). Darius’ failure to put away idols falsifies his conversion in Calvin’s eyes (21–22).
89 Calvin, Comm. Exod 2:22, 1563 (CO 24:32); cited in Engammare, “Das Exil,” 237.
90 “Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens” (NRSV).
91 Calvin, Lecture on Jer 10:11, 1563 (CO 38:73–75).
92 Ibid. For Calvin’s view that religious dissimulation is a form of conscience violation, see Timothy R. Scheuers, Consciences and the Reformation: Scruples over Oaths and Confessions in the Era of Calvin and His Contemporaries (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology; New York: Oxford University Press, 2023) 73–135.
93 See, for example, Calvin, Comm. Is 8:18, 19:24, 37:35, 44:23, 55:3, 1559 (CO 36:180–82, 349, 639–41; CO 37:122–23, 284–85); idem, Lectures on Jer 8:18, 9:13–15, 17:12, 19:1–3, 22:24, 23:5–6, 33:15, 22, 1563 (CO 38:19–22, 39–43, 274, 318–23, 396–97, 406–13; CO 39:64–67, 73–74); idem, Lecture on Ezek 4:4–8, 1565 (CO 40:106–12); idem, Lectures on Hos 1:7, Amos 9:8–9, Mic 7:14, Zech 10:3, Mal 1:6–8, 1557–1559 (CO 42:212–14; CO 43:164–67, 422–24; 44:288–90, 409–15).
94 Calvin, Comm. Gen 3:23, 1554 (CO 23:80).
95 Pitkin, Calvin, 122–40. In 1559 Calvin revised the 1551 edition compiled originally by Nicholas des Gallars.
96 Ibid., 137. Calvin distinguishes the elect, Abraham’s true children who experience exile as a severe mercy that refines faith, from the reprobate for whom the same trial is judgment en route to final destruction. See also idem, Lectures on Jer 23:1–3, 31:18, 32:37–38, 1563 (CO 38:401–5, 669–72, CO 39:37); Lectures on Ezek 11:14–16, 20:37–43, 1565 (CO 40:236–40, 505–14); Lectures on Hos 11:8–9, 1557 (CO 42:441–46); Lectures on Mic 7:14, 1559 (CO 43:422–24).
97 Calvin, Comm. Is 41:2, 1559 (CO 37:35).
98 See n. 2 above.
99 Calvin, Comm. Ps 105:44, 1557 (CO 32:115).
100 Karl Gunther, Reformation Unbound: Protestant Visions of Reform in England, 1525–1590 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 116–30.
101 Calvin to Falais, 1544 (CO 11:735–36).
102 For Calvin’s teaching in his Genevan context, see Erwin Mülhaupt, Die Predigt Calvins, ihre Geschichte, ihre Form und ihre religiösen Grundgedanken (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 18; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1931); Parker, Preaching; idem, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1971); idem, Calvin’s Old Testament Commentaries (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1986); Jean-François Gilmont, Jean Calvin et le livre imprimé (Études de philologie et d’histoire [Cahier d’Humanisme et Renaissance] 50; Geneva: Droz, 1997); Wilcox, “Lectures”; Erik de Boer, The Genevan School of the Prophets: The Congrégations of the Company of Pastors and Their Influence in 16th Century Europe (Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance 512; Geneva: Droz, 2012); Elsie Anne McKee, The Pastoral Ministry and Worship in Calvin’s Geneva (Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance 556; Geneva: Droz, 2016).
103 See n. 11 above. For exegesis and confessional identity, see G. Sujin Pak, “Contributions of Commentaries on the Minor Prophets to the Formation of Distinctive Lutheran and Reformed Confessional Identities,” CHRC 92 (2012) 237–60.
104 For refugees and Calvin’s standing in Geneva see Naphy, Consolidation. For the international Reformed diaspora, see Philip Benedict, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002); Ole Peter Grell, Brethren in Christ: A Calvinist Network in Reformation Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
105 Peter Matheson, “Martyrdom or Mission? A Protestant Debate,” ARH 80 (1989) 154–72.
106 For how Calvin’s rejection of Rome in his exegesis was directed toward ecclesial and political regime change in France, see Jon Balserak, John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) 84–85, 146–52.
107 Gary W. Jenkins, Calvin’s Tormentors: Understanding the Conflicts That Shaped the Reformer (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018).
108 Calvin, Serm. Gen, Sermon 56 (SC XI/2:623–24); idem, Quatre sermons, 1552 (CO 8:440).
109 Bruening, Refusing to Kiss, 139–79. Bruening raises this possibility of a “strange new type of Nicodemite within Calvin’s own church” (156).
110 Studies disputing the unique relationship between exile and confessional radicalization include Johannes M. Müller, “ ‘Exile Theology’ beyond Confessional Boundaries: The Example of Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert,” in Transregional Reformations: Crossing Borders in Early Modern Europe (ed. Violet Soen et al.; Refo500 Academic Studies 61; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019) 315–31; Mirjam G. K. van Veen and Jesse Spohnholz, “Calvinists vs. Libertines: A New Look at Religious Exile and the Origins of ‘Dutch’ Tolerance,” in Calvinism and the Making of the European Mind (ed. Gijsbert van den Brink and Harro M. Höpfl; Studies in Reformed Theology 27; Leiden: Brill, 2014) 76–99.
111 Peter Lake, “Calvinism and the English Church 1570–1635,” Past & Present 114 (1987) 32–76. Also n. 100 above.
112 See, for example, M. Jan Holton, Longing for Home: Forced Displacement and Postures of Hospitality (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016); Ting-Yin Lee, “The Loss and Grief in Immigration: Pastoral Care for Immigrants,” Pastoral Psychology 59 (2010) 159–69.