The Concept of Equity in Calvin's Ethics

Daniel M. Kolos is president of Benben Books, a company publishing
scholarly works.

In 1559, John Calvin gave notice that he had arrived at the core of
religion. For three centuries, this core was thought to be the doctrine
of predestination. For the past century, however, theologians have
argued that Calvin’s doctrine is union with Christ. If his theology
took so long to solve or clarify, could his ethics be less difficult to
understand?

Guenther Haas looks at ethics as role-modeling the life of Christ. He
embarks on the transition from union with Christ to equity. Haas has
correctly identified the key to Calvin’s social conscience. That
equity is central to Calvin’s thoughts is evidenced by his frequent
use of this word in his writings. While Christ’s words emphasize the
importance of the first two commandments, Calvin’s social ethic rests
on the last six commandments. For Calvin, the transition consists in
using the first two to interpret the last six. Haas breaks away from the
Barthian interpretation of Calvin in order to present his ethics as a
suitable alternative to that of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.

Haas’s assumption that the separation of the church and state can be
ethically reconciled is problematic. So too is his discussion of the use
of usury by Jews versus Christians. Haas claims the Jews did not have to
practise usury while Christians, due to economic shifts, had no choice
and in fact balanced their usury with charity. He tacitly accepts the
new economic reality rather than, as Carl Polanyi has done, railing
against it as the intrinsic source of inequality and a destroyer of
ethics.

As Haas puts it himself, this book is a first salvo in a
reconsideration of Calvin’s concept of equity, not a definitive work.