“Let Us Not Be Like Those … Who Want to Call God to Account.” John Calvin's Reading of Some Difficult Deaths

Abstract

The stories of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament and of Uzzah and Uriah in the Old Testament are fraught with difficulties: notably, the pastoral implications of divine judgement and/or allowing. A close reading of John Calvin's comments on these difficult passages shows that he consciously employs reading strategies to resolve the disturbing problems of the text - particularly as he faces the relationship and connection of God to the narrated deaths. The following examines his response.