Raymond A. Blacketer 
The School of God 
Pedagogy and Rhetoric in Calvin’s Interpretation of Deuteronomy

Calvin’s Old Testament Exegesis in Context Calvin in Context Jean Calvin, the reformer and pastor of Geneva, is renowned as one of the most important figures in what came to be known as the Reformed and Presbyterian branch of the Protestant Reformation. Perhaps less well known is the fact that he devoted the bulk of his creative efforts to prea- ing, lecturing, and commenting on the Bible. Calvin envisioned a program of reform in Geneva in which the Bible, properly interpreted, would shape the minds and morals of the Genevan populace. The people of Geneva, whom Calvin viewed as a precise spiritual reincarnation of the “sti- necked, intractable Hebrews” of the Old Testament, were in need of some serious remedial education, and it was his duty as their chief minister to provide the requisite training in doctrine and godliness. Despite Calvin’s emphasis on preaching and producing biblical c- mentaries, however, scholars have often portrayed him as “a man of one 1 book”—that one book being the Institutes of the Christian Religion. In so – ing, they have produced a one-dimensional and consequently incomplete view of Calvin’s theological work. Scholars have tended to study Calvin’s theology exclusively from the perspective of his Institutes, without taking into account his work of biblical interpretation and preaching, or the re- tionship of those efforts to the Institutes.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Introduction: Calvin’s Old Testament Exegesis in Context.- 1: L’École de Dieu. Pedagogy from the Pulpit. Preaching and Pedagogy in Calvin’s Vision of a Godly Society.- 2: Ample Preaching. The Rhetoric of Calvin’s Sermons.- 3: Calvin’s Sermons on Deuteronomy. A Course in Remedial Education.- 4: Calvin’s Pedagogically Correct Commentary On Moses’ Perfect History. Improving on Perfection.- 5: Calvin on the Fourth Commandment. The Rhetoric of Rest.- 6: Calvin on Deuteronomy 10:1-2. Smooth Stones, Teachable Hearts.- 7: Calvin on Deuteronomy 21:18-21. The Case of the Incorrigible Son. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.