asked by the Pastors a few weeks back to teach a survey Adult Ed class on Calvin's Institutes, just finished the 2nd class today. my notes are online at:
http://dakotacom.net/~rmwillia/lesson_plan.html
during my reading for today's class on Calvin's life, i become aware that Calvin may have had more than just the one son Jacques who was born and died within 2 months in 1542. The reason we know about Jacques was that he was baptized, one of the books i read mentioned that Calvin's other kids were born sickly and weakly and were not expected to live and therefore were not baptised.
I am coming up empty handed on the issue via google. and i need to get back to the library to find the book i read this in. Has anyone knowledge of this issue? it is not unusual in areas of high child mortality to delay naming/christening/baptism until you are confident that the child will live. But i dont know anyone who has discussed the issue theologically.
i found one page online at:
http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/tglojc/tglojc.pdf
that states that Calvin and Idelete had 3 children and only Jacques was baptized but no reasons given.
the issue is not if children are saved, but rather if there was a policy of not baptizing children who were expected to die within a few days of their birth.
see: http://spindleworks.com/library/gootjes/cd_17.htm
The issue of infant salvation was, therefore, used as an emotional argument against the reformed doctrine of election. it is clear that the Remonstrants here touched on a sensitive issue. It deeply affects parents when one of their children dies in infancy. At the time the Canons of Dort were written, this was a sorrow more parents had to suffer than today. The average recorded mortality rate in France around this time was between fifteen and thirty percent for babies born alive. Between the ages of one and five, about eighteen percent of the children died. To give one specific example, this time from England, a Mary Verney, who married in 1634, had six children. Two died in infancy, and two when aged four and eight, respectively. Only two of her children lived to reach adulthood. [10]
thanks for your help
feel free to repost this to other reformed groups.
http://dakotacom.net/~rmwillia/lesson_plan.html
during my reading for today's class on Calvin's life, i become aware that Calvin may have had more than just the one son Jacques who was born and died within 2 months in 1542. The reason we know about Jacques was that he was baptized, one of the books i read mentioned that Calvin's other kids were born sickly and weakly and were not expected to live and therefore were not baptised.
I am coming up empty handed on the issue via google. and i need to get back to the library to find the book i read this in. Has anyone knowledge of this issue? it is not unusual in areas of high child mortality to delay naming/christening/baptism until you are confident that the child will live. But i dont know anyone who has discussed the issue theologically.
i found one page online at:
http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/tglojc/tglojc.pdf
that states that Calvin and Idelete had 3 children and only Jacques was baptized but no reasons given.
the issue is not if children are saved, but rather if there was a policy of not baptizing children who were expected to die within a few days of their birth.
see: http://spindleworks.com/library/gootjes/cd_17.htm
The issue of infant salvation was, therefore, used as an emotional argument against the reformed doctrine of election. it is clear that the Remonstrants here touched on a sensitive issue. It deeply affects parents when one of their children dies in infancy. At the time the Canons of Dort were written, this was a sorrow more parents had to suffer than today. The average recorded mortality rate in France around this time was between fifteen and thirty percent for babies born alive. Between the ages of one and five, about eighteen percent of the children died. To give one specific example, this time from England, a Mary Verney, who married in 1634, had six children. Two died in infancy, and two when aged four and eight, respectively. Only two of her children lived to reach adulthood. [10]
thanks for your help
feel free to repost this to other reformed groups.