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John 6:52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
Perhaps you know someone who prefers to keep Scripture a collection of intellectually indecipherable mysteries. Such a person thinks it impious to ask too many questions, claiming to take by faith what is not immediately understood. Maybe you are such a person. If so, Calvin gives you a piece of his mind:
 The Jews therefore debated among themselves. He again mentions the Jews, not by way of honor, but to reproach them with their unbelief, because they do not receive the well known doctrine concerning eternal life, or, at least, do not inquire modestly into the subject, if it be still obscure and doubtful. For when he says that they debated, it is a sign of obstinacy and contempt; and those who dispute so keenly do, indeed, block up against themselves the road to the knowledge of the truth. And yet the blame imputed to them is not simply that they inquired into the manner; for the same blame would fall on Abraham and the blessed Virgin, (Genesis xv. 2; Luke i. 34.) Those persons, therefore, are either led astray through ignorance, or are deficient in candour, who, without taking into account the hardihood and eagerness to quarrel, which alone the Evangelist condemns, direct all their outcry against the word how; as if it had not been lawful for the Jews to inquire about the manner of eating the flesh of Christ. But it ought rather to be imputed to sloth than ascribed to the obedience of faith, if we knowingly and willingly leave unsolved those doubts and difficulties which are removed for us by the word of the Lord. Not only is it lawful, therefore, to inquire as to the manner of eating the flesh of Christ, but it is of great importance for us to understand it, so far as it is made known by the Scriptures. Away, then, with that fierce and obstinate pretense of humility, “For my part, I am satisfied with that single word of Christ, when he declares that his flesh is truly food: to all the rest I willingly shut my eyes.” As if heretics would not have equal plausibility on their side, if they willingly were ignorant that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, because, believing that he is the seed of Abraham, they make no farther inquiry. Only we ought to preserve such moderation about the secret works of God, as not to desire to know anything more than what he determines by his word. —John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries Volume XVII, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, Volume I (Baker Books, 2009), 263–264.
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2 Comments:
#1 || 10·05·13··14:00 || Bill Weber
It is interesting that they "debated among themselves" rather than seeking the Lord's mind. Among Protestant liberals this seems to be how theology is done, consult the perspectives of one another. What does the community say, rather than what does the Lord say! Theology is done on a horizontal level, never a vertical.
#2 || 10·05·13··16:12 || David
Good observation, Bill. Another case of “some things never change,” isn’t it?
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