The five hundredth birthday of Calvin is stirring up quite some interest! Captivating debates about the meaning of Calvin and Calvinism are going on in newspapers and on podia, ranging from studied historical disputes on the ideas of the reformer from Geneva to attempts to attribute to him everything one is uneasy with.

I think I will not enter into a 21^st century version of the dispute between Bavianen and Slijkgeuzen [Rouvoet is referring to an historical theological dispute JT] and would like to plead for some realism. So no anachronistic ‘pitch and feathers’-approach here, but no glorification either.

To show my colours straight away: Yes, I am a Calvinist; and, no, I do not claim Dutch history for Calvinism. I agree with professor Schutte in saying: “The Calvinist Netherlands are a myth, a nineteenth century invention.” At the same time, it is undeniably so that Calvinism in the past five centuries has left deep marks and there is thus every reason to count our blessings in this respect and to pose the question whether the person of John Calvin can in our time, amidst discomfort and crisis, again provide the inspiration that he has for centuries to millions of people world wide and certainly in the Netherlands.

The development of a ‘Calvinist standard’ [a test to measure how Calvinistic one is JT] is in that respect in itself, of course, a nice idea, but if we then see that the ‘Girls of Halal’ [Rouvoet is referring to some Muslim TV-personalities that took the test JT] turn out to be more Calvinistic than Calvin himself according to the standard, we should conclude that our perception of what is Calvinistic does not stand the test.

My contribution tonight sets out from the view that Calvinism was an international, profound renewal of Christian thought that had an historic influence in various countries and eras. This Calvinism still has eloquence today and this is to be expected when we come to realize that Calvinism was not just a hype, but stood on the foundation of the timeless wisdom of the Scriptures and of great thinkers like Augustine. What was new about Calvinism was that it offered a consistent philosophical frame that was equipped for the modern age after the end of the Middle Ages. It later turned out that other thinkers were able to apply his viewpoints while participating in the science and politics of their own times. When speaking at the Free University we cannot leave the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea, also known as Calvinist or Reformational Philosophy, unmentioned.

I would like to consider briefly the most distinguished blessings of Calvinism - which are political freedom, economic prosperity and cultural development. I shall demonstrate that these things are closely related to religious principles. After that, I will discuss the importance of Calvinism for Dutch politics today.

Calvinism and Freedom

The first blessing of Calvinism that I count is: political freedom. This freedom had to do with the principle of the sovereignty of God. Calvin carried out a coup for the benefit of the individual in that no earthly institute - such as the church, the pope or the state - was between the sovereign God and man any longer. The only thing that counted is the authoritative Word of God. The consequences of this for church and politics can be said to be revolutionary and is proven by the fact that Calvinists did not only justify the right to revolt against perverted authority, but used it too! This placing of earthly power into perspective implied, by extension, the right to religious freedom from which later the other civil liberties evolved. The distinction of Church and State was also one of the products of Calvin’s thought for he strived for a free church that was answerable to God only. Calvin claimed the same freedom in reference to the state for the family too, by the way (sphere sovereignty). So, to resume:

Calvinism sowed the seed for a modern, democratic conviction - first in the church, but then also outside it, in politics and in society. As you will know, in our country it was thinkers like Groen van Prinsterer and Abraham Kuyper and – in philosophical respect – Herman Dooyeweerd that have deepened this thought and made it fruitful.

Calvinism and Economic Prosperity

The second blessing of Calvinism that I count is that of economic prosperity. Here it applies too that a theological principle contributed to societal revolutions. Calvin equated earthly labour and production to a calling performed in direct service to God himself. No theologian before him had spoken of labour in such a positive way! Furthermore, Calvin dismissed the ban on interest which then cleared the way for the modern market economy.

Later on, I will discuss Calvinism as an inspiration to Christian-social politics. I would therefore like to point out here that Calvin’s positive stance regarding economic conduct was accompanied by radical social compassion. He considered it unthinkable that a rich man would keep on enriching himself while witnessing poverty around him. In his view, the rich man had, according to the Bible, the duty to help the poor and certainly the refugees in his vicinity. It is for this reason that Calvin in his sermons sometimes ranted relentlessly against frivolity and decadence because the money spent on such things would be better spent on the poor. So Calvin’s famous soberness has its roots in his effort for social justice!

Calvinism and Culture

A third blessing I want to mention is Calvin’s contribution to cultural development. This deserves explanation because, with the banning of music and sculptures from the church, it would seem that Calvin did not care much for art and culture. I am aiming here at his effort to make people literate and his openness towards science. Laymen should be able to read the Bible themselves, Calvin thought, so the Calvinists in Geneva were the first in the world to establish public primary schools that were open to everyone (Graafland, 2008). The contribution of Calvinism to literacy is undisputed. Scientists should, according to Calvin, glorify God’s majesty in creation by their research. Calvin could combine just fine Copernicus’s insight that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around with his explanation of the Bible that God adapts his speech to man. Again: we note theological principles with societal renewal as a consequence.

Importance for Today

This brings me to the importance of Calvinism for the Netherlands today.

It is evident that Calvinism is still leaving its traces in our current day political landscape. Tonight, as a member of the Cabinet and not an entirely unprejudiced politician of the Christian Union party, I will not discuss how these tracks run and especially along which party political lines. For this you will, moreover, have your own standards. But I thought it was pleasant to read in De Pers [a free newspaper JT] some time ago that even the leader of the liberal VVD party considers himself a Calvinist. My colleague, Mr Bos, has made some remarks about the Calvinist disposition of the social-democrat PvdA. Hence, in some sense then, we could say about the Netherlands: Christian, socialist or liberal, we are all Calvinists!

I fear, though, that we are then merely talking about a Calvinist mentality: that is, some positive virtues that many Dutchmen like to be associated with such as working hard, living soberly and being economical. In other words: the Calvinism of the C-factor [the aforementioned Calvinist standard JT]. The real Calvinism is then associated with more negative characteristics such as being pessimistic, thinking along fixed lines and pettiness. And, of course, we like to recognise these characteristics only in others.

In my definition of what Calvinism stands for, both perceptions overlook from what it is that Calvinism derives its strength. For me, the strength of Calvinism lies herein, that it offers consistent philosophical principles with which any person can then address the issues of his own time and be truly renewing. Someone who did this in an exemplary way is, of course, Abraham Kuyper. With his Neo-Calvinism he succeeded in making a big contribution to the development of our country and especially to the Reformed part of our people. Just like Calvin, he was a real innovator. The term ‘petty bourgeois’ that is nowadays often applied to Calvinists in a pejorative fashion (in the sense of being narrow minded), with Kuyper, of course, had a totally different ring to it as it applied to a socio-economic group in society and had a strongly emancipating connotation.

I consider Calvinism to be an indispensable and renewing force in Dutch politics today in two main points. These are: 1) working for an involved and engaged society and 2) the reinforcement of morality as the sheet anchor of the economy.

The Engaged Society

First, I will discuss the engaged society. There is in Calvinism, as I have mentioned before, a strong emphasis on individual freedom with respect to the state and other earthly institutions. Therein, Calvinism has a certain similarity with liberalism. Unlike liberalism, however, Calvinism gives a direction to this freedom. It is not only about the freedom of, but also about the freedom to: the acquired liberty is not to be used for the interest of self alone, but is to be seen in the light of responsibility before God and one’s fellow man. This means that man is not only to work to sustain himself, but that he is also to share his wealth with someone who cannot sustain himself. Making an effort for the ill and needy and for the refugees is a matter of justice. One is not to turn away in indifference saying: “This is not my problem”, when one sees that someone else is not doing well. This is not being patronizing or nosy, but is an expression of being responsible for, and involved with, the other person. In the context of a political climate that is dominated by the dogmas of self determination and an excessive, but selective, ideal of freedom (which has, by the way, far less to do with tolerance than the confessing members of the liberal congregation would have us to believe), Calvinism presents itself as a renewing force. Though Calvin may have been a staunch man, his compassion for his fellow man can be clearly pointed out in his letters and works.

This idea of an involved, engaged society has its influence in the Calvinist view of the task of the government. Foremost, government creates the essential pre-conditions in which individuals, families, churches, schools, enterprises and other associations can freely develop. The sovereignty within one’s own sphere is to be safeguarded. This freedom is not unlimited, however: When these associations turn out not to be up to their responsibilities, there is then reason to intervene. Recently, we have seen this in the financial sector. Or, we can think of the checks on Islamic schools when they cross legal boundaries, or the discussions about intervening in families when children are being abused or neglected. This is characteristic of a government that is led by the motive of public justice and is concerned for the wellbeing of all its citizens. It is important to note that interventions of the government should, as much as possible, be temporary and be aimed at restoring the strength and authority (‘sovereignty’) of the family or enterprise. We will resell these banks as soon as we can; we will return children to their families as soon as it is safe again to do so.

It is this nuanced thinking about liberty and the involvement of citizens and the involved, but limited, role of the state that is indispensable as a counterforce both against an overestimation of the possibilities and authority of the state to interfere in the liberties of citizens and their associations and against an underestimation of the same. In other words, fully Calvinist or Christian-social politics guards itself against the extremes of both high-strung state socialism and hyper-individualist liberalism.

Reinforcement of Morality

I will now discuss my second main reason of speaking of Calvinism as an indispensable and renewing force today. And that is that our market economy needs a renewed supporting morality. The economic crisis that we are in today underlines this. For even though the crisis is partly due to structural shortcomings in the free market economy, such as oversight and regulation that did not keep up with the rapid developments in the financial markets, it should now be clear to everyone that the crisis encompasses more than merely a temporary stagnation of the system of the financial markets. There is a correlation between the financial crisis and the environmental crisis, the climate crisis, the food crisis, the energy crisis. And if we take into account that these crises are not ‘Naturnodwendigkeiten’ [a German term for strict necessities that follow from the nature of things JT], but follow from the choices and conduct of people, then it becomes clear that these crises confront us with questions of a cultural and moral nature. In our western culture we have forgotten how to live within boundaries of moderation. This then creates a culture of dissatisfaction and discontent. Some authoritative economists are speaking of the “institutionalization of greed”. So, we can speak today of an erosion of principles and values. For example, the principle that steady and sustainable development of a company is better than big profits in the short term. Or, the principle that credit is not to be given too easily, but that there has to be a decent value at the other end. Or, the principle of profit as a fair reward for the capital invested in stead of profit maximization in the short term. In other words, we live – in the words of Herman Wijffels – in more than one way beyond our means and we will not be content with the boundaries that are a part of reality. And, not to the surprise of those who have read Calvin, the victims are the poorest and most vulnerable on our planet. So such a culture causes injustice and sustains it.

In 2009 we shall have to enter upon new roads so as to lead the exploded casino-capitalism to a socially sensible market economy. What we can learn from Calvinism in this respect is that a healthy economic development cannot be achieved separately from a moral foundation. Calvinism provided such a religious and ethical-cultural foundation, and, in that, it provided a moral anchor.

Do not get me wrong: I am by no means saying that this crisis could not have happened if we in the West had all been reading Calvin. That would be out of place and un-historic. I am saying that history and modern theorizing on ethics and economy show us that morality benefits us in the long run. So, as of old, the minister and the merchant can shake hands in this conversation on the future of the economy!

Proud of Calvinism

I will conclude. The recognition that Calvinism is relevant yesterday and today is not something exclusive of orthodox-protestant believers. I hope to have convinced you that Christians, social-democrats and liberals - and not to forget the Muslims too - all have something to learn from Calvin. Let us this year, as a tribute to him, delve further into what he and other Calvinists have had to say about politics, the economy and an engaged society from their sturdy principles.

Quite contrary to my Calvinist nature, I will risk making a prediction here: I predict that in the course of 2009 the Netherlands will become a little proud of Calvin. And once we have reconciled ourselves with Calvin, then maybe we will start loving ourselves and our country a bit more. Then, we will cast out the demons of Dutch self-rejection and put our backs into it together. “Working together, living together”,¹ actually quite a Calvinist motto!!

Thank you very much for your attention.

Translation by Jonathan van Tongeren (youth editor Christian in Politics Portal)

Photo: Marie Cecile Thijs

¹ ‘Working together, living together’ (Samen werken, samen leven) is the motto of the current government in the Netherlands.

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