Calvin, Accra, and Empire: The Reformed quest for social justice

Authors

  • HM Van den Bosch

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17570/ngtt.2009.v50n3.a31

Keywords:

Accra Confession, Economic Justice, Empire, John Calvin, Social Justice, World Alliance of Reformed Churches

Abstract

The Reformed tradition has a reputation for addressing issues of social justice in critical and controversial confessional statements. This article raises the question whether the Reformed tradition in its advocacy for social justice can claim to have John Calvin at its side. By exploring the example of the Accra confession “Covenanting for faithâ€, issued by the WARC in 2004, and by comparing this text with Calvin’s Institutes, it is argued that both with regard to the role of government and vis-à-vis economic justice a line of reasoning can be identified in Calvin’s thought that emphasizes that the sovereign God can only be served by the practice of justice. Examples are given of Calvin’s own stance on issues of social and economic justice.

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Published

2009-12-31

Issue

Vol. 50 No. 3&4 (2009)

Section

Articles | Artikels

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