The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
“Neither the Spirit without the Flesh”: John Calvin’s Doctrine of the Beatific Vision
Steven W. Tyra
T&T Clark (2024). 208 pp.
Steven Tyra presents an articulate, readable, and compelling study of John Calvin’s doctrine of the beatific vision. Tyra’s central assertion is that Calvin did indeed have a perspective on the visio Dei, despite recent assertions from Hans Boersma in his Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition (Eerdmans, 2018). Tyra rescues Calvin from the footnotes and places his understanding of the visio Dei as one unique for his time yet historically rooted in the first centuries of the church. Tyra’s contribution to the growing conversation on the beatific vision provides a much-needed corrective and addition to the literature.
Tyra identifies the central issue pertaining to the theology of the beatific vision: is the visio Dei necessarily corporeal or not? In other words, is a resurrected and glorified body necessary for beholding God’s beauty? Calvin and his theological mentors would exclaim, “Yes!” However, the late medieval tradition declared that the vision occurred among purified saints before the final resurrection. Having established the context and relevant questions in chapter one, Tyra explains the historical context in chapters two to three, noting the progressive divergence between Eastern and Western perspectives on the beatific vision. The Western tradition eventually advocated for an experience of the visio immediately upon death. Saints who were utterly pure due to their holiness in life or their cleansing in purgatory would partake in the divine vision. Thus, Calvin’s insistence on the need for resurrection and a bodily experience of the visio became a contested view in his lifetime, both among Roman Catholics and, surprisingly, among Protestant colleagues. His views were termed “Greek” based on his influence from Greek Fathers (though they were also influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux. Tyra does not attempt to rescue Calvin from this accusation but proves its veracity as central to understanding Calvin’s eschatology.
In chapter four, Tyra unpacks Calvin’s early theological work, the Psychopannychia (1542), demonstrating Calvin’s evolving yet consistent thought on the visio Dei. Calvin maintained the need for an embodied experience of the beatific vision through his commentaries and the Institutes. Though departed saints enjoyed rest and comfort in the arms of Christ, according to Calvin, their journey was incomplete. Only in the final resur rection would the saints of God enjoy the full vision of God.
While Calvin was dismissed by Roman Catholic opponents such as Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, he also received a fair bit of friendly fire from fellow Reformers such as Peter Martyr Vermigli. The disagreement with the latter is the subject of chapter five. Tyra demonstrates that the Reformers, while joining forces against Roman Catholic accretions, did not always agree on other points of doctrine. In this instance, the “Greek” Calvin met strong resistance fromt the Thomist Vermigli. Chapters six and seven present a constructive view of Calvin’s eschatology as it pertains to the visio Dei. Calvin’s eschatology was thoroughly corporeal, and full enjoyment of God necessitated the restoration and redemption of the material realm. Tyra concludes, “Seeing God face to face, seeing him as he is, happiness—this was the language of the beatific vision hallowed by both scripture and tradition. For Calvin, they were promises inextricably bound to the resurrection of the body” (p. 122).
Tyra concludes his work by thrusting Calvin into modern theologi cal discourse. Tyra addresses Jürgen Moltmann’s assertion that Calvin’s eschatology was of a “spiritualist” sort, as well as addressing the modern reception of Calvin in the Reformed tradition. In the concluding chapters, Tyra enters the conversation of “Calvin and the Calvinists/Calvinisms” by reminding readers of Calvin’s exegetical priorities tempered by his reading of the Church Fathers. His priority was exegesis, and whether his conclusions were debatable, Tyra posits that Calvin preferred the Bible for theological reflection more than the medieval scholastic consensus or Platonic speculation (p. 172). Calvin was not silent on matters related to the beatific vision but as Tyra quips, “[The] Reformed theologians who came after them simply did not like what he had to say” (p. 169).
Tyra concludes that Calvin’s eschatology is worthy of reflection whether one embraces or is embarrassed by it. In bringing Calvin’s doctrine of the visio Dei back into view, Tyra presents an excellent work of historical theology that should be considered by students of Calvin, the Reformed tradition, or anyone concerned with eschatology and the beatific vision.
Coleman Ford (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as Assistant Professor of humanities at Texas Baptist College. He is a member of the St. Basil Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
