Day 105 — Book 1, Chapter 14, §2

Yesterday Calvin said: God gave us a history because our minds are too dull to read creation alone. Today he asks the follow-up a clever student would ask: why a history of six days? Why not one flash? And why does the ORDER matter? His answer is the most pastoral paragraph in the chapter: the six days are a teaching device, and the order is a father's preparation — he furnished the house before he brought the child home.

This section is a lesson in how a long argument is packed into short, stacked clauses: a not … but … contrast (S1), a tmesis in what direction soever plus an indirect how-clause (S3), a stern until that ends an objection (S4), a counterfactual with two fronted Hads (S6), and a long But now that … subordinate clause carrying three parallel verbs (S7).

Second — whose voice is it? In S4 the objection (inconsistent with the power of God) belongs to Calvin's opponents; Calvin only reports it and says when it dies out. In S6 the Had he placed him… picture is a rejected counterfactual — God did not do that. Mark the boundaries before you answer any comprehension question.

Third — text traps. ⚠️ S3 holy = how (OCR). soever is split off from in what direction. provident (S7) = foreseeing, providing ahead (not religious). touch (S8) = touch on, treat briefly. express image (S9) = Heb 1:3, not "a quick picture".

Today's 3 Big Points

1. Counterfactual + actuality: Had he placed him …; had he given life before light, he might have seemed … (S6) → But now that he has arranged …, has replenished …, and produced …, he has shown … (S7). ⚠️ Had at the head of the clause = if … had. But now that = since in fact. Formula 1.
2. Word-order traps inside a clause: in what direction soever they turn (tmesis, S3); how fleeting our attention is (S–V after how, S3); objection is taken to … until … (S4); ponder on / touch as verbs of treatment (S5, S8). ⚠️ Indirect questions keep S–V order. Formula 2.
3. Contrast and purpose frames: not in one moment, but in six days (S1); that we may have no reluctance to V (S2); in not creating … until he had … (S5); not of A, but that B (S9); in order that we may not V (S9). ⚠️ Parallelism is the first thing Calvin bends. Formula 3.

With the same view Moses relates that the work of creation was accomplished not in one moment, but in six days. By this statement we are drawn away from fiction to the one God who thus divided his work into six days, that we may have no reluctance to devote our whole lives to the contemplation of it. For though our eyes, in what direction soever they turn, are forced to behold the works of God, we see how fleeting our attention is, and holy quickly pious thoughts, if any arise, vanish away. Here, too, objection is taken to these progressive steps as inconsistent with the power of God, until human reason is subdued to the obedience of faith, and learns to welcome the calm quiescence to which the sanctification of the seventh day invited us. In the very order of events, we ought diligently to ponder on the paternal goodness of God toward the human race, in not creating Adam until he had liberally enriched the earth with all good things. Had he placed him on an earth barren and unfurnished; had he given life before light, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest. But now that he has arranged the motions of the sun and stars for man’s use, has replenished the air, earth, and water, with living creatures, and produced all kinds of fruit in abundance for the supply of food, by performing the office of a provident and industrious head of a family, he has shown his wondrous goodness toward us. These subjects, which I only briefly touch, if more attentively pondered, will make it manifest that Moses was a sure witness and herald of the one only Creator. I do not repeat what I have already explained—viz. that mention is here made not of the bare essence of God, but that his eternal Wisdom and Spirit are also set before us, in order that we may not dream of any other God than Him who desires to be recognised in that express image.

          ─── I. WHY SIX DAYS? (S1–S4) ───
[CLAIM]      S1      Moses: creation took six days, not one moment  ("with the same view" = same purpose as §1)
[PURPOSE]    S2      so we are drawn from fiction to the ONE God, and not shrink from lifelong contemplation
[DIAGNOSIS]  S3      our eyes see his works everywhere, but attention is fleeting; pious thoughts vanish
[OBJECTION]  S4      "stages are unworthy of God's power" — answered by faith's obedience; the seventh day invites rest
          ─── II. WHY THIS ORDER? (S5–S7) ───
[THESIS]     S5      the very order shows paternal goodness: Adam created only after the earth was enriched
[COUNTER]    S6      (rejected picture) Adam first on a barren earth, life before light → God seems careless
[ACTUAL]     S7      But now: sun, stars, air, earth, water, creatures, fruit — a provident head of a family
          ─── III. VERDICT (S8–S9) ───
[VERDICT]    S8      pondered more closely, this proves Moses a sure herald of the one only Creator
[REMINDER]   S9      (not repeated) Wisdom and Spirit also appear → no other God than the one in the express image

Examiner's Eye.

① ⚠️ Whose view? "Calvin teaches that six days are inconsistent with God's power." ✗ S4: that is the objection that human reason raises — and Calvin says it lasts only until human reason is subdued to the obedience of faith.

② ⚠️ Counterfactual or fact? "Calvin says God placed Adam on a barren earth." ✗ S6 is Had he … = if he had — a rejected picture. The fact is S7 (But now that …).

③ ⚠️ What is I do not repeat? "S9 introduces a new teaching about Wisdom and Spirit." ✗ what I have already explained — S9 reminds; the explanation was given earlier (Ch. 13).

④ ⚠️ Scope. "Adam was created last because man is least important." ✗ S5: paternal goodness — last because everything was first made ready for him.

Formula 1 — Counterfactual with Had inversion, then But now that (fact).

Had S V-pp; had S V-pp, S might have V-pp            (S6)  = If S had V-pp; if S had V-pp, S might have V-pp
But now that S has V-pp, has V-pp, and V-pp, S has V-pp   (S7)  = But since in fact S has …

⚠️ Traps. (a) Fronted Had = if … had, no question mark. (b) A semicolon can join two if-clauses before one result clause. (c) now that = since; the But now contrasts reality with the rejected picture. (d) In a list of perfects the auxiliary can be gapped: has arranged, has replenished, and [has] produced. (e) Resolve he / him / his before translating. Drill: "만일 그분이 인간을 빛보다 먼저 지으셨다면, 인간에게 무관심한 분처럼 보였을 것이다." → Had he made man before light, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest.

Formula 2 — Word-order traps inside a clause.

in what direction soever S V   (tmesis)              (S3)  = in whatsoever direction S V
we see how ADJ S is, and how ADV S V                 (S3)  = indirect question, S–V order
objection is taken to X … until S is V-pp and V-s    (S4)  = people object to X until S …
These subjects, which I only briefly touch, if more attentively pondered, will make it manifest that …   (S8)

⚠️ Traps. (a) soever is a split-off suffix. (b) After how, keep S–V order (how fleeting our attention is). (c) until can govern two coordinated verbs with a single subject (passive + active). (d) Elliptical if + p.p. hides the subject and be. Drill: "우리는 우리의 관심이 얼마나 덧없는지 본다." → We see how fleeting our attention is.

Formula 3 — Contrast, purpose, and until frames.

not in X, but in Y                                    (S1)
that S may have no N to V                             (S2)   = so that S may not be reluctant to V
in not V-ing N until S had V-pp                       (S5)   = by not V-ing N until S had V-pp
mention is made not of A, but that B                  (S9)   = … not of A, but of the fact that B
in order that S may not V                             (S9)

⚠️ Traps. (a) not … but → the weight is on the second element. (b) After a comma, bare that … may = purpose. (c) in not V-ing = in that he did not (ground), not place. (d) until … had V-pp — the later event is the earlier-completed one. (e) not of A, but that B is non-parallel; mentally insert of the fact. Drill: "하나님은 땅을 모든 좋은 것으로 가득 채우시기 전에는 아담을 창조하지 않으셨다." → He did not create Adam until he had enriched the earth with all good things.

What is at stake. §2 is the second half of a two-part argument that began in §1: God gave a history (§1) and he gave it in a form that teaches (§2). Two features of the Genesis account — the six days and the order of creation — are read pastorally: the days are given to us (S2) and the order shows God's care for us (S5–S7). Calvin's Genesis commentary pursues the same line (accommodation: Moses speaks in a way that is suited to our capacity). ⚠️ I flag: the exact wording there I do not quote; cross-check in the commentary on Gen 1–2.

Six days vs. a moment. Augustine (De Genesi ad litteram; De Civitate Dei 11) read the days as one simultaneous act narrated in an order for our understanding; Calvin keeps six real days — and — as far as I recall from his Genesis commentary, which I flag for checking — does not follow Augustine's simultaneous-creation reading. In the Institutes he doesn't argue the point; he gives the purpose (S2) and the objection (S4). The objection — an omnipotent God does not need steps — is old (Manichean and philosophical). Calvin's reply is not a denial of God's power but a re-framing: the steps are for our sake.

The Sabbath (S4). the calm quiescence … the sanctification of the seventh day — Gen 2:2–3; Ex 20:11; Heb 4. Calvin reads God's rest as invitation — not weariness (cf. Isa 40:28) and not mere command. ⚠️ Later Reformed treatments of the Sabbath (Book 2.8, the Fourth Commandment) go further; today's phrase is only the creation side.

The order (S5–S7). Light → … → luminaries → living creatures → fruit → man — a sequence of preparation, read as the paterfamilias furnishing a house. This is the same pattern as Ps 8; Ps 104 (God provides; man goes out to work in the evening, vv. 14–23); and the Reformed reading of Gen 1:28–30. Link forward: I.14.20–22 (the use of creation; trust, prayer, love) and Ch. 16 (providence) — provident (S7) is the seed.

S9 and the Trinity. Wisdom and Spirit (Prov 8; Gen 1:2; John 1:1–3; Col 1:15–17; Heb 1:2–3) — the Word and the Spirit are present at creation. Calvin does not re-argue it (I do not repeat); he reminds — against the bare-essence God of philosophers and the world-soul of §1.

Reception. Belgic Confession art. 12 and Westminster Confession 4.1 (creation in the space of six days) keep the shape; Barth (CD III/1) reads Gen 1 as saga and the external basis of the covenant; S5–S7 are about God's care, not about the age of the earth.

⚠️ Over-reading guardrails (4). (1) S4's objection is not Calvin's. (2) S6's picture is rejected; S7 is the fact. (3) for man's use is a pastoral reading; Calvin does not say the creation exists only for man (cf. Ps 104, where creatures are provided for in their own right). (4) S9 is a reminder, not new doctrine; and six days here is not an argument about the earth's age.

1. Genesis 1:1–2:3 — S1, S2, S4, S7. The whole narrative: six days and a seventh. Named (Moses). Calvin uses the form of the account (days, order) as the evidence.
2. Exodus 20:11; 31:17 — S4. In six days the LORD made heaven and earth … and rested the seventh day … and was refreshed (וַיִּנָּפַשׁ). quiescence. Echo, not cited.
3. Genesis 2:2–3 — S4. the sanctification of the seventh day (וַיְקַדֵּשׁ — and he hallowed). Echo.
4. Hebrews 4:3–11 — S4. calm quiescence … welcome: There remaineth therefore a rest (σαββατισμός, v. 9; κατάπαυσις, vv. 10–11). Echo, not cited.
5. Romans 1:5 (16:26) — S4. the obedience of faith (ὑπακοὴν πίστεως) — verbatim phrase. Calvin applies Paul's phrase to reason submitting to the creation account.
6. Genesis 1:14–19 — S7. arranged the motions of the sun and stars for man's use ← lights … for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. Echo.
7. Genesis 1:20–25, 29–30 — S7. replenished the air, earth, and water, with living creatures / all kinds of fruit … food ← every herb bearing seed … for meat. Echo.
8. Genesis 2:8–9 — S5, S7. The garden planted before Adam is placed in it. Echo.
9. Psalm 8:3–8; Psalm 104:14–23 — S5–S7. The same creation-for-man vocabulary (David's wonder; God's provision). Echo, not cited.
10. Proverbs 8:22–31; John 1:1–3; Genesis 1:2 — S9. eternal Wisdom and Spirit set before us. Echo (back-reference to Ch. 13).
11. Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15 — S9. express image (χαρακτήρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως / εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀορατοῦ). Echo — Calvin's phrase desires to be recognised in that express image = God's self-disclosure in the Word.

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

① Had he placed him on an earth barren and unfurnished, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest. ② We see how fleeting our attention is, and how quickly pious thoughts vanish away. ③ But now that he has arranged the motions of the sun and stars, he has shown his wondrous goodness toward us. ④ Had he given life before light, he would seem to pay little regard to his interest.

Answer: ④. The counterfactual Had he V-pp requires would/might have V-pp in the result clause: he might have seemed (as in S6), not would seem. ① S6 pattern; ② S–V order after how; ③ now that = since (S7). Examiner's intent: Formula 1; ④ hides a tense mismatch inside a correctly inverted Had.

② Comprehension. Which best states Calvin's argument from the order of creation (S5–S7)?

① Adam was created last because man is the least important of God's works. ② By making Adam only after he had filled the earth with good things, God acted like a provident head of a family and showed paternal goodness. ③ The six days show that God lacked the power to create everything at once. ④ In S9 Calvin introduces for the first time the teaching that Wisdom and Spirit are set before us in Genesis.

Answer: ②. ① direction-flip (S5: paternal goodness — last, because first prepared). ③ scope-overreach — S4's inconsistent with the power of God is the objection of human reason, held only until reason is subdued. ④ scope-overreach (S9: I do not repeat what I have already explained). Examiner's intent: S5–S7 thesis; separating the objector's voice from Calvin's.

③ Composition. Using Formula 1, render into Calvin's English: "만일 그분이 빛보다 먼저 생명을 주셨다면, 아담의 유익을 거의 돌보지 않으시는 분처럼 보였을 것이다. 그러나 이제 그분이 그를 위하여 모든 것을 마련하셨으므로, 그분은 놀라운 선하심을 나타내셨다."

Model answer: Had he given life before light, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest. But now that he has furnished all things for him, he has shown his wondrous goodness. Examiner's intent: Had inversion + might have V-pp; But now that as since. (Any equivalent counterfactual + now that accepted.)

One-line summary. Moses' six days are given for our sake — to draw us from fiction and keep us contemplating, against our fleeting attention and reason's objection that stages are unworthy of God's power — and the very order of creation (the house furnished before Adam arrives) shows God as a provident father and Moses as a sure herald of the one Creator whose Wisdom and Spirit were already set before us. Grammar: Had-inversion counterfactual + But now that (S6–S7) · tmesis in what direction soever and S–V order after how (S3) · non-parallel not of A, but that B and until frames (S4, S5, S9).

Homework (10 minutes).

1. Structure restoration. Un-invert S6 (Had he placed him …; had he given life before light, …) into two full if-clauses; then write S3's in what direction soever they turn as in whatsoever direction they turn.
2. Composition. Render: "하나님은 우리가 그분의 창조 사역을 평생 묵상하는 일을 꺼리지 않도록 그 일을 엿새로 나누셨다." (Use that we may have no reluctance to ….)
3. Preview. Tomorrow: Day 106 — Book 1, Chapter 14, §3 — Calvin turns from the visible world to angels: why Moses' silence about them does not forbid a treatment of them, and what we should learn from them.

Where we stopped: Book 1, Ch. 14, §2 끝. 다음은 Book 1, Ch. 14, §3 (angels).