John Calvin on the Visions of Ezekiel: Historical and Hermeneutical Studies in John Calvin's sermons inédits, especially on Ezek. 36-48 (review)

The author, a researcher in Historical Theology in both the Netherlands and South Africa, has also prepared a critical edition of Calvin's previously unpublished sermons on Ezekiel 36–48 of which the present volume is a study. The work is divided into three parts: Calvin and the history of exegesis on Ezekiel; Calvin on visionary revelation; and the visions of Ezekiel 37–48 in Calvin's exposition.

Part 1 contains four chapters: The Church Fathers, the monks, the colleagues, and the Jews. While there is no evidence on precisely how the details of Calvin's sermons on Ezekiel have been influenced by earlier writers, the place these sermons occupy in the history of exegesis has been established. Part 2 deals with the principles of Calvin's treatment of visionary revelation, including an analysis of the sermons on Ezekiel 1–3 and 8–11, while part 3 provides a more complete exposition of chapters 36–48.

Calvin probably used Jerome's Commentary on Ezekiel from the Glossa Ordinaria, and also works of fellow reformers, especially Oecolampadius. It does not appear that he read the Jewish texts in Hebrew, although he was certainly aware of the rabbinical interpretations of Ezekiel.

While Calvin has left us a commentary only on Ezekiel 1–20, the general principles of his exposition of 36–48 are evident both in his commentary and sermons. His hermeneutics are that of a literal (but not literalistic) and historical interpretation with application to Christ and the Christian church. Unlike many earlier exegetes he studiously avoids apocalyptic interpretations of 37–48.

The Babylonian exile provides the background of the visions, while Calvin extends the literal sense to include the period until the Incarnation. When application is added to exegesis, Calvin could write, "The soul of a vision is the doctrine itself from whence faith is born." (Commentary on Ex 33:19, as quoted on 108.) Doctrine includes the knowledge of God in revelation. Calvin's view of visionary revelation accounts for the method of preaching in lectio continua (exposition of the book, verse by verse).

The third part of the book contains a splendid analysis of Calvin's treatment of Ezekiel 37–48 introduced by a brief exposition of chapter 36. The vision of the valley of dry bones is not viewed as a prophecy of the resurrection, but as a depiction of the captivity and restoration of Israel with a lesson of hope for the future of the church. The same line of exposition applies to the symbolic act of uniting the two sticks.

Gog and Magog are not viewed in the light of Revelation 20 as Antichrist before the end, but only as the European enemies of Israel between the return from Babylon and the Incarnation with application to all the foes of the church without reference to any particular Antichrist. Calvin surprisingly treats of the closing vision in chapters 40–48 in only one sermon. In it he studiously avoids allegorizing the details of the temple and city, which he does not identify with the new Jerusalem of Revelation 21–22. His exegesis is historically oriented to the exile and return of the Jews, but extends to the Incarnation and the ultimate fulfillment in Christ and the Christian Church. The specifications of the visionary temple were not realized in the visible temple, but are taken as a promise of a more perfect relationship of God and his worshipers. Ez 48:35.

While the book on the whole is a model of thorough and careful scholarship, one reservation must be made. De Boer seems unaware of the fact that in contrast with the Lutheran extension of Christian liberty respecting the adiaphora (things morally indifferent) as far as worship and...