John Calvin on Emotions

The 16th century Reformer John Calvin is well-known for his towering intellect and deep commitment to God’s Truth. Recently, though, while reading John’s Calvin’s commentary on the book of Acts, I was helped by some of his insights about human affections and emotions. This godly, very cerebral man, who staked his life on truth, warned against ministers or counselors who teach that godliness requires us to put away all feelings.

After Stephen was martyred in Acts 7, the next chapter tells us, “Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him” (Acts 8:2). Note: Not just a little lamentation. They showed great sadness, even though Stephen died declaring the glories of heaven he was about to enter. But their deep sadness was not a defect in their faith or godliness. Rather, it was a true expression of it. Calvin affirmed this, and then warned against those who might teach otherwise:

“Luke commends their profession of godliness and faith in their lamentation... we must reject that foolish philosophy which wills all men to be altogether blockish that they may be wise… the Stoics were void of common sense who would have a man to be without all affection. Certain mad fellows would gladly bring in the same foolishness in the Church this day… they require a heart of iron of other men… they cannot abide that other men should shed one tear… Let us know that those affections which God has given to man’s nature are, of themselves, no more corrupt than the Author himself… Surely that man which denies that we ought to rejoice over the gifts of God is more like a block than a man; therefore, we may no less lawfully sorrow when they be taken away.”¹

Calvin offered similar thoughts on Acts 20:37-38. When the apostle Paul left the elders (spiritually mature men!) of the Ephesian church, Scripture says, “There was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.” He commented:

“When the Spirit commends their tears by the mouth of Luke, as witnesses of sincere godliness, he condemns the rashness of those who require at the hands of the faithful hard and cruel constancy. For that is false where they dream that those affections proceed only of corruption, which we have naturally from God. Therefore, the perfection of the faithful consists not in this, that they put off all affections.”²

We should not require people to be more like blocks than men. Strong emotions aren’t always the overflow of heart idolatry. At times, they’re just normal human nature, and even can be expressions of sincere godliness.

How then should we sort through human emotions? How should we distinguish between godly or ungodly expressions of them? Hear the rest of the Calvin’s comment on Acts 20:

“The perfection of the faithful consists not in this, that they put off all affections; but that they be moved therewith only for just causes, and that they may moderate the same.”³

He gave the same criteria in examining the church’s great lamentation in Acts 9:

“Those affections which God has given to man’s nature… are first to be esteemed according to the cause; secondly, if they keep a mean and moderation.”⁴

Calvin teaches us to evaluate emotions along two lines. First: What caused the emotion? Death or departure of a loved one? Envy over having a smaller income than others? These sadnesses are not morally equal (cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13).

In Scripture, God teaches us to evaluate the cause of our emotions. He asked Cain to consider what caused his anger and sadness: “The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?’” (Genesis 4:6) He did the same with Jonah: “And the LORD said, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’” (Jonah 4:4, 9) The godly psalmist asked himself, when feeling down, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5).

The second axis Calvin offered to measure our emotions is also very important: Is our emotion excessive? That is, is it all-consuming, immobilizing, or clearly incommensurate with the cause? Or is it tempered (“moderated”) by other truths, even by other godly emotions?

Calvin offered the way Paul counseled the Thessalonians as an example of this:

“Paul doth not altogether forbid men mourning, when any of their friends are taken away by death, but he would have a difference between them and the unbelievers; because hope ought to be to them a comfort and a remedy against impatience.”⁵

Similarly, Calvin commends the Christians of Acts 9:2 for how their lamentation and other trials did not immobilize them, keeping them from zeal and faithfulness. He saw in verse 4:

“They are not afterward discouraged either with exile or with their present miseries, or with any fear, that they degenerate into slothfulness; but they are as ready to preach Christ even in the midst of their calamity as if they had never suffered any trouble.”⁶

While assessing our counselees’ emotions (and our own), we need to think more along the lines Calvin proposed. Rejecting feelings-oriented living does not require a rejection of feelings. We must learn to think more carefully: What is leading to the feeling, and what is it leading to? What is the origin, expression, and response to the emotion?

May we never be the kind of counselors that Calvin decried as foolish, mad, hard, and cruel. Human emotions have their place in the life of faith and godliness. Our challenge as biblical counselors is to help our counselees neither elevate nor denigrate them from that proper place.

¹ John Calvin and H. Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 326–328. Here, and in the following quotes, I updated some of the language found in this translation of Calvin’s work.

² Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2, 266.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1, 326–328.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.