Calvin’s Ecclesiology: A Study in the History of Doctrine

Tadataka Maruyama

Reviewed by: David C. Noe

Calvin’s Ecclesiology: A Study in the History of Doctrine, by Tadataka Maruyama. Eerdmans, 2022. Hardcover, 480 pages, $65.00. Reviewed by OP pastor David C. Noe.

Calvin’s Ecclesiology (CE) both succeeds and fails, leaving this reader both grateful and deeply frustrated. The former president and professor of church history at Tokyo Christian University, Maruyama labored exhaustively to elucidate Calvin’s view of the church, particularly how it developed from earliest days until his death in May 1564. This volume is a natural prequel to Maruyama’s 1978 monograph on Theodore Beza’s ecclesiology.

As one would expect, given Maruyama’s long tenure in the field and groundbreaking volume on Beza, CE is exemplary for its use of primary and secondary sources. In this way, Maruyama avoids past errors of Calvin scholarship: anachronistic readings, or a too narrow focus on one aspect of his writings, mostly the Institutes, at the expense of the treatises and commentaries. Thus, Maruyama canvasses a very broad range of Calvin’s works, including the mostly neglected Duae Epistolae of 1537, as well as classics from the secondary literature (Doumergue, Ganoczy, Milner) and newer contributions (Gordon, Manetsch, Tuininga). This gives CE a commendable breadth of research.

Second, the work is noteworthy for its ambitious scope. Beginning with chapter 1, “Academic Formation and Catholic Ecclesiology,” Maruyama carefully traces the discrepant and sometimes confusing threads of Calvin’s thought through the whole fabric of his career and writings. Every potential contributing element—from the influence of Lefèvre d’Étaples and Farel, to the extent of Calvin’s departure from Bucer’s notions—is analyzed. CE thus has a comprehensive feel, assembling a wealth of research and a wealth of investigation into virtually every factor constituting Calvin’s ecclesiological thought.

Third, CE is soberly modest in argumentation, advancing no novel theories, making no outlandish or unsupported claims, and claiming to sail few uncharted waters. For example, at the conclusion of chapter 2, “The Early Genevan Reformation and Practice of Catholic Ecclesiology,” Maruyama writes: “Concerning the three Genevan documents, over against the traditional view attributing them to Calvin’s authorship, while we hold Calvin’s sole authorship of the Instruction, we attribute both the Confession and the Articles to Farel’s primary authorship, but with some possible assimilations with the Instruction and partial contributions by Calvin” (223). Quite modest. Another example of welcome temperance in scholarship is on CE’s final page, where Maruyama writes: “On the one hand, the Reformation church was viewed as ‘the orchestra’ in the European theater and ‘the living/visible image of Christ’s kingdom.’ On the other hand, it was viewed as ‘a remnant’ or the church ‘under the cross’ and ‘in resistance’” (444).

As the Roman poet Martial once noted to Avitus, “some of my poems are good, some bad, most average.” The same is true of research volumes, and CE is no exception. Though the book is attractive and well put together, it clearly should have been read a few more times to reduce the number of errors. Some basic items were incorrect (most painfully the repeated Johannes Strum, not the correct Sturm; the latter was apparently victim of a drive-by autocorrect). The style of the work is a more delicate question, because Maruyama’s first language is not English. This reader has much sympathy for how difficult an enterprise like this must be. Nevertheless, the acknowledgements name several individuals who specifically sought to help him overcome this challenge. Yet, it needed more readings. The prose is at places labored and confusing, as for example in chapter 3, “The Strasbourg Period and a Transition to New Ecclesiologies,” where Maruyama writes: “Instead, Calvin interpreted its history [i.e., sacred history] as a particular pattern of salvation history, namely, the history of justification by faith” (316). Reading slowly did not bring much clarity, with strange terminological choices, as in chapter 4 where Maruyama toils to distinguish between his categories “Reformed Ecclesiology” and “Reformation Ecclesiology.” Finally, the book suffers from inadequate organization. As previously stated, the book’s depth of research and ambitious scope are admirable. Regrettably, however, it bears the marks of many decades of meticulous research that have not been carefully distilled. CE could have been reduced in length by at least one hundred pages, and thereby made a much more cogent contribution to this important field. While CE will be an important volume for Calvin scholars to consult, this reader cannot recommend it for a broad audience. There are simply too many obstacles to a smooth appreciation of the content.