Day 104 — Book 1, Chapter 14, §1

New chapter, new subject — but the same old question: how does a dull mind come to know the true God? Calvin's answer in §1: God gave us a history (Moses's creation narrative) so that we would not slide into pagan fictions. And then — a surprise — he turns on a mocker: "Why did God wait so long to create?" Watch how fast he shuts that door.

This section is a lesson in sentence shapes that carry an argument: a fat concession-result-purpose sentence (S1), a taunt quoted in indirect speech (S6), a fronted question (S7), two should-inversions (S8, S17), an as … so … image with a parenthesis inside (S12), and two rejected as if pictures (S19).

Second — whose voice is it? S6 (the jeer), S17 (the expostulation), S19 (the as ifs) all contain positions Calvin does NOT hold. Mark the quotation boundaries before you answer any comprehension question.

Third — text traps. ⚠️ S2 starts with a lowercase the (a lost word); tolerable (S2) = bearable, not good; affect to V (S19) = pretend to V, not influence; shrewd (S9) = sharp; the page break falls inside S8 (at-|tempt = attempt).

Today's 3 Big Points

1. Concession + result + purpose in one sentence, and so/such … that with inversion: Although …; yet so sluggish and grovelling is our intellect, that it was necessary …, in order that … might not … (S1); such is our imbecility (S12). ⚠️ Read the frame (Although A; yet B) before the details. Formula 1.
2. Inversion family: Should + S + V (S8, S17), nor would it be (S8), Justly does Augustine (S14), Similar is the madness (S18), plus the fronted object clause Why God delayed so long it is neither fit nor lawful to inquire (S7). ⚠️ Un-invert before you translate. Formula 2.
3. Comparison and counterfactual frames: as … so … (S12), just as … as (S15), how much better it had been … than … (S13), double as if (S19), adj + enough to V (S19). ⚠️ as if = a picture Calvin REJECTS. Formula 3.

Although Isaiah justly charges the worshipers of false gods with stupidity, in not learning from the foundations of the earth, and the circle of the heavens, who the true God is (Isa. 40:21); yet so sluggish and grovelling is our intellect, that it was necessary he should be more clearly depicted, in order that the faithful might not fall away to Gentile fictions. the idea that God is the soul of the world, though the most tolerable that philosophers have suggested, is absurd; and, therefore, it was of importance to furnish us with a more intimate knowledge in order that we might not wander to and fro in uncertainty. Hence God was pleased that a history of the creation should exist—a history on which the faith of the Church might lean without seeking any other God than Him whom Moses sets forth as the Creator and Architect of the world. First, in that history, the period of time is marked so as to enable the faithful to ascend by an unbroken succession of years to the first origin of their race and of all things. This knowledge is of the highest use not only as an antidote to the monstrous fables which anciently prevailed both in Egypt and the other regions of the world, but also as a means of giving a clearer manifestation of the eternity of God as contrasted with the birth of creation, and thereby inspiring us with higher admiration. We must not be moved by the profane jeer, that it is strange how it did not sooner occur to the Deity to create the heavens and the earth, instead of idly allowing an infinite period to pass away, during which thousands of generations might have existed, while the present world is drawing to a close before it has completed its six thousandth year. Why God delayed so long it is neither fit nor lawful to inquire. Should the human mind presume to do it, it could only fail in the attempt, nor would it be useful for us to know what God, as a trial of the modesty of our faith, has been pleased purposely to conceal. It was a shrewd saying of a good old man, who when some one pertly asked in derision what God did before the world was created, answered he made a hell for the inquisitive (August. Confess., lib. 11 c. 12). This reproof, not less weighty than severe, should repress the tickling wantonness which urges many to indulge in vicious and hurtful speculation. In fine, let us remember that that invisible God, whose wisdom, power, and justice, are incomprehensible, is set before us in the history of Moses as in a mirror, in which his living image is reflected. For as an eye, either dimmed by age or weakened by any other cause, sees nothing distinctly without the aid of glasses, so (such is our imbecility) if Scripture does not direct us in our inquiries after God, we immediately turn vain in our imaginations. Those who now indulge their petulance, and refuse to take warning, will learn, when too late, how much better it had been reverently to regard the secret counsels of God, than to belch forth blasphemies which pollute the face of heaven. Justly does Augustine complain that God is insulted whenever any higher reason than his will is demanded. (Lib. de Gent.). He also in another place wisely reminds us that it is just as improper to raise questions about infinite periods of time as about infinite space. (De Civit. Dei.). However wide the circuit of the heavens may be, it is of some definite extent. But should any one expostulate with God that vacant space remains exceeding creation by a hundred-fold, must not every pious mind detest the presumption? Similar is the madness of those who charge God with idleness in not having pleased them by creating the world countless ages sooner than he did create it. In their cupidity they affect to go beyond the world, as if the ample circumference of heaven and earth did not contain objects numerous and resplendent enough to absorb all our senses; as if, in the period of six thousand years, God had not furnished facts enough to exercise our minds in ceaseless meditation. Therefore, let us willingly remain hedged in by those boundaries within which God has been pleased to confine our persons, and, as it were, enclose our minds, so as to prevent them from losing themselves by wandering unrestrained.

          ─── I. WHY GOD GAVE US A HISTORY (S1–S5) ───
[PROBLEM]    S1-2    pagans are inexcusable (Isa 40:21) BUT our intellect is too dull;
                     even the "best" philosophy (world-soul) is absurd
[REMEDY]     S3      God provided a history of creation (Moses)
[BENEFITS]   S4-5    dated succession of years; antidote to monstrous myths; God's
                     eternity vs. creation's birth → admiration
          ─── II. THE MOCKER ANSWERED (S6–S10) ───
[JEER]       S6      "Why did God not create sooner?" (the quoted taunt)
[VERDICT]    S7-8    neither fit nor lawful to ask; you would fail; God conceals it
[STORY]      S9-10   the old man's retort (Aug. Conf. 11.12) = a weighty, severe reproof
          ─── III. THE MIRROR AND ITS LIMITS (S11–S20) ───
[MIRROR]     S11-12  God set before us in Moses as in a mirror; Scripture = spectacles
[WARNING]    S13     the petulant will learn, too late
[AUGUSTINE]  S14-16  no reason higher than God's will; infinite time ≈ infinite space
[SPACE]      S17-18  complaining about empty space / earlier creation = presumption, madness
[CONCLUSION] S19-20  the world is more than enough; stay inside the boundaries God set

Examiner's Eye.

① ⚠️ Whose view? "Calvin says it is strange that God did not create sooner." ✗ S6: that is the profane jeer. Calvin's answer is S7.

② ⚠️ Scope-overreach. "Calvin forbids all inquiry into the cosmos." ✗ S19–S20: creation supplies endless material for meditation; what is forbidden is cupidity that affects to go beyond the world.

③ ⚠️ Augustine's retort (S9). "Calvin teaches that God made hell for the curious." ✗ S9 calls it a shrewd saying, used as a reproof (S10); it is a rebuke, not a doctrine.

④ ⚠️ most tolerable (S2). "Calvin approves the world-soul idea." ✗ though the most tolerable … is absurd.

⑤ ⚠️ Direction-flip. "Scripture's history replaces the natural knowledge of God." ✗ S12: Scripture is the spectacles; the eye (natural knowledge) is dimmed, not absent.

Formula 1 — Concession + result with so + adjective inversion, and the negative purpose clause.

Although A; yet so ADJ is S, that S' V'              (S1)   = A, but S is so ADJ that …
in order that S might not V                          (S1, S2)
for as [A], so (such is our N) [B]                   (S12)

⚠️ Traps. (a) Read the frame Although A; yet B first — the concession is Calvin's, the pivot is the point. (b) so ADJ is S = fronted so ADJ; un-invert to S is so ADJ. (c) in order that … might not = negative purpose (lest). (d) A parenthetical (such is our imbecility) is not part of the if clause — strip it to find the skeleton. Drill: "우리의 지성은 너무 둔하고 땅에 붙어 있어서 하나님께서 더 분명히 그려지셔야 했다." → So sluggish and grovelling is our intellect that it was necessary he should be more clearly depicted.

Formula 2 — The inversion family.

Should S V, S would V                                (S8, S17) = If S should V, …
nor would it be ADJ to V                             (S8)      = and it would not be ADJ to V
Justly does S V                                      (S14)     = S justly V-s
Similar is the N of those who …                      (S18)     = The N of those who … is similar
[Why …] it is neither fit nor lawful to inquire      (S7)      = It is neither fit nor lawful to inquire why …

⚠️ Traps. (a) Should fronted = if … should with if deleted. (b) After nor, Justly, a fronted complement: auxiliary/verb before subject. (c) A fronted object clause (S7) leaves the dummy it in place — there is no ?. Drill: "누군가 하나님께 불평하려 한다면, 모든 경건한 마음은 그 주제넘음을 혐오해야 하지 않겠는가?" → Should any one expostulate with God, must not every pious mind detest the presumption?

Formula 3 — Comparison and counterfactual frames.

just as ADJ to V1 as (to V2)                         (S15)     = exactly as ADJ to V1 as to V2
how much better it had been to V1 than to V2         (S13)    = how much better it would have been …
as if S did not V … ; as if S had not V-pp …         (S19)    = rejected pictures (present / past)
ADJ + enough to V   |   N + enough to V              (S19)    = sufficiently ADJ to V

⚠️ Traps. (a) just as … as has a gapped second half (as [to raise questions] about …). (b) had been inside a future will learn = retrospective hindsight. (c) as if = rejected; Calvin affirms the opposite. (d) enough follows the adjective (numerous … enough). Drill: "그들은 마치 하늘과 땅이 우리의 감각을 사로잡을 만큼 충분하지 않은 듯이 말한다." → They speak as if heaven and earth did not contain objects numerous enough to absorb all our senses.

What is at stake. Ch. 14 opens Calvin's treatment of creation as the arena of knowing God (I.14–I.15), and §1 sets the rule: the history in Genesis is given to protect a mind that cannot reliably read the creation on its own (S1, S12; cf. I.5.1 theatrum gloriae, I.6.1 spectacles). The same sentence that tells us creation should lead us to God (Isa 40:21) tells us why it does not — sluggish, grovelling intellect.

The jeer and the answer. "Why not sooner?" was the standard pagan and Manichean taunt (Augustine, Confessions 11.10–14; De Genesi contra Manichaeos 1.2). Calvin takes Augustine's own move: no before creation (time is created), and no right to demand a cause higher than God's will. ⚠️ In Confessions 11.12 Augustine reports the quip "he was making hell for the curious" and declines to use it; Calvin quotes it as a shrewd rebuke. Don't over-read it.

Space and time (S15–S18). The parallel infinite time / infinite space is Augustinian (De Civitate Dei 11.5). Calvin's version stresses piety, not physics: asking to go beyond the boundaries is presumption. ⚠️ Not a ban on astronomy — compare his own praise of astronomers in Ch. 5 (Days 14–16, Galen) and, later, his insistence in the Genesis commentary that Moses writes for common people.

Chronology. six thousandth year (S6, S19) is 16th-century biblical chronology (≈ 5,500–6,000 years). ⚠️ It reports Calvin's era's reckoning, not a Reformed doctrine of the earth's age.

Reception. Later Reformed orthodoxy kept the shape: the Belgic Confession art. 12 and Westminster Confession 4.1 (creation "in the space of six days") treat creation as God's free act; Barth (CD III/1) reads the Genesis saga as the external basis of the covenant — a different idiom, kin not copy.

⚠️ Over-reading guardrails (4). (1) S6's jeer is not Calvin's view. (2) S9's quip is a rebuke, not a doctrine. (3) S19's as ifs are rejected pictures. (4) S20 forbids roaming without restraint, not the study of creation.

1. Isaiah 40:21–22 — S1. "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? … the circle of the earth." Cited by reference (Isa. 40:21). Calvin: even Isaiah's rhetorical indictment presupposes a creation that ought to teach — and then explains why it does not.
2. Ephesians 4:14 — S2. wander to and fro in uncertainty ← tossed to and fro (κλυδωνιζόμενοι). Echo, not cited.
3. Genesis 1:1–2:3 — S3–S4. the history of Moses — the creation narrative itself; Creator and Architect = Elohim bārā'. Named (Moses).
4. 1 Corinthians 13:12 / 2 Corinthians 3:18 — S11. as in a mirror (ἔσοπτρον / κατοπτριζόμενοι). Echo of the mirror word, not cited; Calvin's own use of speculum is I.5.1.
5. Romans 1:21 — S12. turn vain in our imaginations ← ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν. Echo; Calvin turns Paul's verdict on the pagans onto us.
6. Deuteronomy 29:29 — S13. the secret counsels of God ← the secret things belong unto the LORD our God. Echo, not cited.
7. Psalm 59:7 — S13. belch forth ← behold, they belch out with their mouth (יַבִּיעוּן). ⚠️ The same Hebrew root (נבע) is used of the heavens' pouring forth speech in Ps 19:2 — a lexical coincidence I flag, not a Calvin claim.
8. Romans 9:20 — S17. expostulate with God ← who art thou that repliest against God? (ἀνταποκρινόμενος). Echo, not cited.
9. Acts 17:26 — S20. boundaries within which God has been pleased to confine our persons ← having determined … the bounds of their habitation. Echo, not cited.

① Grammar. Choose the INCORRECT sentence (in Calvin's English).

① Should the human mind presume to do it, it could only fail in the attempt. ② Similar is the madness of those who charge God with idleness. ③ Justly does Augustine complains that God is insulted. ④ Calvin shows how much better it had been to regard the secret counsels of God than to belch forth blasphemies.

Answer: ③. does Augustine complains → does Augustine complain (after do-support the main verb is bare). ① Should-inversion; ② complement-front inversion; ④ how much better it had been … than …. Examiner's intent: Formula 2; ③ hides an agreement slip inside an inversion.

② Comprehension. Which best states Calvin's answer to the question "Why was the world not created sooner?" (S6–S10, S14–S18)?

① God's delay shows that the world is eternal and uncreated. ② The question is neither fit nor lawful; the human mind would fail in it, and God has purposely concealed the answer as a test of humility. ③ Calvin teaches that God made hell for the curious, and the quip is his settled doctrine. ④ Calvin forbids any study of the heavens as presumptuous curiosity.

Answer: ②. ① direction-flip (S5: eternity of God as contrasted with the birth of creation). ③ scope-overreach (S9 a shrewd saying; S10 reproof). ④ scope-overreach (S19: creation gives facts enough to exercise our minds in ceaseless meditation). Examiner's intent: S7–S8 verdict + S9's status as a quip.

③ Composition. Using Formula 3, render into Calvin's English: "그들은 마치 하늘과 땅이 우리의 모든 감각을 사로잡을 만큼 수많고 찬란한 대상들을 담고 있지 않은 듯이 세상 너머로 나아가려 한다."

Model answer: They affect to go beyond the world, as if heaven and earth did not contain objects numerous and resplendent enough to absorb all our senses. Examiner's intent: affect to V, as if + past, adj + enough to V.

One-line summary. Because our intellect is too sluggish to learn God from creation alone, God gave us Moses's history of creation as a mirror (and Scripture as spectacles) — and the mocker's "why not sooner?" is answered by refusing the question (neither fit nor lawful), by Augustine's parallel of infinite time and space, and by pointing to the more-than-enough in the world God actually made. Grammar: concession + result inversion + negative purpose (S1, S12) · the Should-inversion family (S8, S14, S17, S18) · comparison and as if frames (S12, S13, S15, S19).

Homework (10 minutes).

1. Structure restoration. Un-invert S1 (so sluggish and grovelling is our intellect), S8 (Should the human mind presume) and S18 (Similar is the madness) into their base patterns; write each as its own sentence.
2. Composition. Render: "하나님께서 창조 역사를 우리에게 주신 것은 신자들이 이방의 허구로 빠져 나가지 않게 하시려는 것이다." (Use in order that … might not.)
3. Preview. Tomorrow: Day 105 — Book 1, Chapter 14, §2 — why creation took six days and what the order of creation shows about God's fatherly goodness to Adam.

Where we stopped: Book 1, Ch. 14, §1 끝. 다음은 Book 1, Ch. 14, §2.