Day 129 — Book 1, Chapter 15, §4

Yesterday the image lived in the soul and Osiander got demolished. Today Calvin answers a harder question: what exactly is the image? And his answer is a surprise — he doesn't look at Adam; he looks at the repair shop. Look at S2: the image cannot be better known than from the remedy provided for the corruption of nature. Read the ruin, read the restoration, and you can reconstruct the original. That is the engine of the whole section.

Why examiners love it. (1) A concession with a hinge: although we grant that the image… was not utterly effaced… it was, however, so corrupted, that… (S4) — two half-truths, and the wrong answers choose one of them. (2) Absolute constructions at the spots where Calvin summarizes: This being established (S14), His object being to extol (S18). (3) The as… so… summary (S19) where one clause carries three periods of history: shone, ruined, partly restored.

Today's 3 Big Points

1. Concession + hinge — S4 although we grant… it was, however, so corrupted, that…; S5 although Paul… commends… he does not, however, contradict; S11 though I admit… this principle cannot be overthrown. Formula 1.
2. Absolute constructions — S14 This being established, … vanishes; S18 His object being to extol…, he… shows; plus S19 nothing remaining but a ruin. Formula 2.
3. Correlatives and limiters: as… , so…, so… as to, in so far as, inasmuch as, not A but B — S19, S13, S22, S25, S18. Formula 3.

Text traps. ⚠️ fearful (S4) = dreadful. ⚠️ quickening (S5) = life-giving. ⚠️ after God (S7) = according to God. ⚠️ comprehends (S8, S16, S22) = includes. ⚠️ imagination (S14) = fancy. ⚠️ civil order (S15) = social order. ⚠️ consists (S21) = lies in. ⚠️ probability (S23) = plausibility. ⚠️ end (S5) = goal. ⚠️ estate (S3) = state.

But our definition of the image seems not to be complete until it appears more clearly what the faculties are in which man excels, and in which he is to be regarded as a mirror of the divine glory. This, however, cannot be better known than from the remedy provided for the corruption of nature. It cannot be doubted that when Adam lost his first estate he became alienated from God. Wherefore, although we grant that the image of God was not utterly effaced and destroyed in him, it was, however, so corrupted, that any thing which remains is fearful deformity; and, therefore, our deliverance begins with that renovation which we obtain from Christ, who is, therefore, called the second Adam, because he restores us to true and substantial integrity. For although Paul, contrasting the quickening Spirit which believers receive from Christ, with the living soul which Adam was created (1 Cor. 15:45), commends the richer measure of grace bestowed in regeneration, he does not, however, contradict the statement, that the end of regeneration is to form us anew in the image of God. Accordingly, he elsewhere shows that the new man is renewed after the image of him that created him (Col. 3:19). To this corresponds another passage, “Put ye on the new man, who after God is created,” (Eph. 4:24). We must now see what particulars Paul comprehends under this renovation. In the first place, he mentions knowledge, and in the second, true righteousness and holiness. Hence we infer, that at the beginning the image of God was manifested by light of intellect, rectitude of heart, and the soundness of every part. For though I admit that the forms of expression are elliptical, this principle cannot be overthrown—viz. that the leading feature in the renovation of the divine image must also have held the highest place in its creation. To the same effect Paul elsewhere says, that beholding the glory of Christ with unveiled face, we are transformed into the same image. We now see how Christ is the most perfect image of God, into which we are so renewed as to bear the image of God in knowledge, purity, righteousness, and true holiness. This being established, the imagination of Osiander, as to bodily form, vanishes of its own accord. As to that passage of St Paul (1 Cor. 11:7), in which the man alone to the express exclusion of the woman, is called the image and glory of God, it is evident from the context, that it merely refers to civil order. I presume it has already been sufficiently proved, that the image comprehends everything which has any relation to the spiritual and eternal life. The same thing, in different terms, is declared by St John when he says, that the light which was from the beginning, in the eternal Word of God, was the light of man (John 1:4). His object being to extol the singular grace of God in making man excel the other animals, he at the same time shows how he was formed in the image of God, that he may separate him from the common herd, as possessing not ordinary animal existence, but one which combines with it the light of intelligence. Therefore, as the image of God constitutes the entire excellence of human nature, as it shone in Adam before his fall, but was afterwards vitiated and almost destroyed, nothing remaining but a ruin, confused, mutilated, and tainted with impurity, so it is now partly seen in the elect, in so far as they are regenerated by the Spirit. Its full lustre, however, will be displayed in heaven. But in order to know the particular properties in which it consists, it will be proper to treat of the faculties of the soul. For there is no solidity in Augustine’s speculation, that the soul is a mirror of the Trinity, inasmuch as it comprehends within itself, intellect, will, and memory. Nor is there probability in the opinion of those who place likeness to God in the dominion bestowed upon man, as if he only resembled God in this, that he is appointed lord and master of all things. The likeness must be within, in himself. It must be something which is not external to him but is properly the internal good of the soul.

[PROBLEM]      S1–S3     Definition incomplete → learn the faculties from the remedy; Adam fell, alienated
[DAMAGE]       S4        Image not wholly effaced, but "fearful deformity" → Christ, second Adam, restores
[SCRIPTURE]    S5–S10    1 Cor 15:45 doesn't conflict; Col 3 / Eph 4: knowledge + righteousness + holiness
                         → at creation: light of intellect, rectitude of heart, soundness of every part
[PRINCIPLE]    S11–S13   Wording elliptical, yet the leading feature of renewal held first place in creation;
                         Christ = most perfect image; we are renewed into it (2 Cor 3:18)
[REFUTATION]   S14–S18   Osiander's bodily form vanishes; 1 Cor 11:7 = civil order; John 1:4 confirms
[SUMMARY]      S19–S20   Image = entire excellence; shone in Adam, ruined, partly seen in elect, full in heaven
[REJECTIONS]   S21–S25   Next: the faculties. Not Augustine's Trinitarian mirror, not dominion — it is internal

Examiner's Eye. ① Direction flip: "the image was wholly destroyed" (S4: not utterly effaced) vs. "the image is intact" (S4: fearful deformity). ② Scope overreach: "the image consists only of knowledge" (S9–S10: also righteousness/holiness; and every part). ③ Who said it: "Calvin follows Augustine's triad as the image" — S22 rejects it. ④ Scope: "1 Cor 11:7 limits the image to men" — S15: civil order only. ⑤ Time frame: "the image is now fully restored in believers" — S19–S20 partly… full lustre in heaven.

Formula 1 — Concession with a hinge (although A … , however, B)

although/though + S + V (concession),  S + V … , however, … (the real point)
   S4:  although we grant that the image was not utterly effaced, it was, however, so corrupted, that…
   S5:  although Paul commends the richer measure of grace, he does not, however, contradict…
   S11: though I admit that the forms of expression are elliptical, this principle cannot be overthrown

⚠️ Trap: however mid-clause is not a sentence break; it echoes the although. ⚠️ Trap: do not choose the concession as the author's point. Drill: Although the fall did not annihilate the image, __, however, ____. → …the ruin it left behind is such that only Christ can restore it.

Formula 2 — Nominative absolute (own subject, no finite verb)

[Noun + V-ing / V-ed / being + complement],  main clause with a DIFFERENT subject.
   S14: This being established, the imagination of Osiander vanishes of its own accord.
   S18: His object being to extol the singular grace of God, he … shows how …
   S19: … nothing remaining but a ruin, confused, mutilated, and tainted with impurity …

⚠️ Trap: subject of the absolute ≠ subject of main clause; adding a second subject-pronoun (This being established, it… ✘ if it = this) breaks the form. Sense: cause / time / attendant circumstance. Drill: The image being renewed in Christ, ______. → …the believer is no longer a ruin but a work in progress.

Formula 3 — Correlatives and limiters

as … , so …                    (S19)  ·  so + adj/pp + as to V   (S13)
inasmuch as = because          (S22)  ·  in so far as = to the degree that  (S19)
not A, but B                   (S18, S25)  ·  Nor + aux + S      (S23)

⚠️ Trap 1: as… , so… — the main clause is after so, everything before is the as-block. ⚠️ Trap 2: inasmuch as is a reason clause; in so far as is a degree clause — don't swap. ⚠️ Trap 3: after Nor, invert: Nor is there probability… (✘ Nor there is). Drill: As Adam bore the image in integrity, so __ in so far as ____. → …the elect now bear it in part, in so far as the Spirit has regenerated them.

What's at stake. The doctrine of the image (imago Dei) in Calvin's Institutes sits between two cliffs. Roman scholasticism (image vs. likeness, the donum superadditum) says the fall removed a supernatural addition and left nature intact; the radical Protestant fear is that the fall obliterated everything. Calvin says: not utterly effaced, but a fearful deformity (S4). The image survives as a ruin (cf. S19) and is renewed in Christ. This is why he reads the image through the restoration (S2, S5–S13).

Method: from renewal to creation. Calvin reasons backward from Col 3:10 and Eph 4:24 to Adam's state. He openly concedes the inference is not word-for-word (elliptical, S11) and rests it on a principle: the main thing in the repair was the main thing at the start. Later Reformed theology develops this as the distinction between the image in the narrow sense (knowledge, righteousness, holiness — lost and restored) and the broad sense (rational, moral nature — marred but retained); Calvin's own wording here is looser than that later scheme, so don't project the textbook distinction back as his.

Edition history. The anti-Osiander material belongs to the later editions (Osiander's De imagine Dei appeared in 1550, so it cannot predate the 1550s); Calvin's contemporaries debated whether the image included bodily form. The passages against Augustine's mental triad are among Calvin's rare open departures from Augustine—done respectfully (no solidity, not heresy).

Lineage. Augustine (De Trinitate IX–XV) finds vestigia of the Trinity in the mind: memory, understanding, will. Medieval thought (Lombard, Aquinas) develops it. Calvin keeps the Trinity, rejects the psychological mapping as proof of the image. The "dominion" view (S23) is attributed to some earlier exegetes; the text names no one, so don't name a name beyond that. Later: Barth (CD III/1) rejects the image as a possession and makes it relational; Brunner's "formal vs. material image" echoes the narrow/broad scheme; Reformed dogmatics (Bavinck, Hoekema) builds on the Christ-image theme of S4/S13.

Guardrail (over-reading). ① Calvin does not say the image is nothing but the soul's faculties — S10 says soundness of every part, S24 says within, but §3 S26 allows rays of glory in the body. ② He does not deny the Trinity or Augustine's orthodoxy. ③ S19 now partly seen in the elect does not mean sanctified perfection—S20 postpones the full lustre.

1. 1 Cor 15:45 — quickening Spirit vs. living soul (S5). Calvin shows the "richer measure" does not abolish the aim of renewal.
2. Col 3:10 (printed 3:19) — renewed after the image of him that created him (S6). The renewal-to-creation inference; Gk. ἀνακαινούμενον… εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατ’ εἰκόνα.
3. Eph 4:24 — Put ye on the new man, who after God is created (S7). righteousness and holiness (δικαιοσύνη… ὁσιότης) → S9–S10.
4. 2 Cor 3:18 — beholding the glory of Christ with unveiled face, we are transformed into the same image (S12; Gk. κατοπτριζόμενοι, μεταμορφούμεθα). Mirror image ties back to S1.
5. Col 1:15 / 2 Cor 4:4 — Christ as the image of God (S13, implicit). Calvin puts the human image in participation, not identity.
6. 1 Cor 11:7 — image and glory of God for man (S15), read as civil order, not essence.
7. John 1:4 — the light of man (S17–S18). Calvin reads light as another term for image and links to S10's light of intellect.
8. Gen 1:26–27 — the underlying text; S23 rejects reading dominion as the likeness.
9. 1 John 3:2 / 1 Cor 15:49 (echo, S20) — full lustre in heaven.

How Calvin uses Scripture: cumulative and cross-referential — three Pauline texts + John, all pointing the same way; each verse is filtered through the principle of S11.

① Grammar — which one is ungrammatical?

(A) Although we grant that the image was not utterly effaced, it was, however, so corrupted that what remains is fearful deformity. (B) This being established, the imagination of Osiander vanishes of its own accord. (C) As the image of God constitutes the entire excellence of human nature, so it is now partly seen in the elect. (D) Nor there is probability in the opinion of those who place likeness to God in dominion.

Answer: (D). Rationale: Formula 3 — after the negative coordinator Nor, the auxiliary comes first: Nor is there probability… (S23). (A) is S4 (Formula 1), (B) is S14 (Formula 2), (C) is S19 (Formula 3).

② Comprehension — which statement is consistent with §4?

(A) Calvin says the image of God was completely destroyed in Adam's fall, so nothing of it can be known except through Christ. (B) Calvin says the image is best understood through its renewal in Christ, and that what survived the fall is a fearful deformity. (C) Calvin says Augustine's triad of memory, intellect and will is the most solid proof that the soul mirrors the Trinity. (D) Calvin says that 1 Cor 11:7 shows only men bear the image of God.

Answer: (B). Rationale: (A) scope overreach / direction flip — S4 not utterly effaced. (C) direction flip — S22 no solidity. (D) scope overreach — S15 limits the verse to civil order. (B) combines S2 and S4.

③ Composition — apply Formula 1 and 2:

Combine into one sentence with a concession: The image was not entirely destroyed. What remains is a ruin. Then write an absolute-construction sentence from His aim was to praise God's grace. John shows that man was made in God's image.

Model answer: Although the image was not entirely destroyed, what remains is, however, a ruin. And: His aim being to praise God's grace, John shows that man was made in God's image. Rationale: although A… , however, B (S4); His object being to V, he shows… (S18).

One-line summary: The image is best known from its repair in Christ, the second Adam (S2, S4, S13): not utterly effaced, but a fearful deformity, it was originally knowledge, righteousness and holiness — light of intellect, rectitude of heart, soundness of every part (S9–S10) — so Osiander's bodily form vanishes (S14), 1 Cor 11:7 is about civil order (S15), the image is partly seen in the elect and fully in heaven (S19–S20), and neither Augustine's triad nor dominion locates it (S22–S23) — in concession-with-hinge frames (although… however…), absolute constructions (This being established, His object being), and correlatives (as… , so… in so far as).

Homework (10 min).

1. Structure restoration. Restore S14: This being established, the imagination of Osiander… vanishes → Since this has been established, Osiander's fancy about bodily form falls away. Then restore S9's ellipsis: In the first place, he mentions knowledge, and in the second, true righteousness and holiness → …and in the second [place] he mentions true righteousness and holiness.
2. Composition. Write one although… , however, … sentence about what survived the fall, and one as… , so… in so far as… sentence.
3. Preview (tomorrow). Printed §5 begins But before I proceed further, it is necessary to advert to the dream of the Manichees, which Servetus has attempted in our day to revive. — watch the verb advert to and the argument about Gen 2:7 (the breath of life) — is the soul a piece of God?

Where we stopped: Book 1, Ch. 15, §4 끝. 다음은 Book 1, Ch. 15, §5.