This article examines John Calvin’s theology on its own terms with the aim of appreciating the normative basis and implications of his political theory. Although the claim that Calvin’s account of civil government falls within the category of political ‘theology’ is less controversial, the normative implications of his theological ontology for political actors are more commonly contested. Calvin seminally wrote ‘on Civil Government’ in Book IV, Chapter xx of the Institutes of the Christian Religion. In contrast, his accounts of conscience and natural law are far less systemized.1 This article contends that this reticence is not due to lack of importance but rather, due to its foundational nature. Indeed, the opening statement of the Institutes is indicative of the coherence of the Reformer’s thoughts wherein any emerging polity is composed of what this article refers to as the ‘spheres-of-influence’ scheme—a normative system originating inward from the vertical relationship every human agent has with the divine, and then extending horizontally outwards to bind the collective in a common system of values. Such an ontology is predicated on the concepts of conscience and the divine image, which renders all persons, who possess this natural repository of moral knowledge, accountable to transcendent standards of virtue. It follows that when we overlay this ‘continuum’2 onto a constitutional framework, we place the priority, not on the individual rights of the citizen, but on the responsibilities of all political actors whereby others precede the self and the common good prevails over self-interest.

中文翻译：

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良心与宪政连续体：约翰·加尔文论公民政府

本文从约翰·加尔文神学本身的角度来审视其神学，目的是了解他的政治理论的规范基础和含义。尽管加尔文对公民政府的解释属于政治“神学”范畴的说法争议较少，但他的神学本体论对政治行为者的规范性含义却更普遍受到争议。加尔文在《基督教要义》第四卷第二十章中开创性地撰写了“论公民政府”。相比之下，他对良心和自然法的描述远没有那么系统化。1本文认为，这种沉默并不是因为缺乏重要性，而是因为其基础性质。事实上，各研究所的开场白表明了改革者思想的连贯性，其中任何新兴政体都是由本文所称的“势力范围”方案组成的——一种源于每个国家的垂直关系的规范体系。人类代理人与神灵之间存在着联系，然后横向向外延伸，将集体束缚在一个共同的价值观体系中。这种本体论以良心和神圣形象的概念为基础，这使得拥有道德知识自然宝库的所有人都对超越的美德标准负责。因此，当我们将这种“连续体”2覆盖到宪法框架上时，我们优先考虑的不是公民的个人权利，而是所有政治行为者的责任，即他人优先于自我，共同利益优先于自我-兴趣。