Notes on John Calvin’s (1509–1564) Awe-Inspiring (or “Horrible”) Decree

PRIMARY SOURCES:

In John Calvin’s Institutes, he famously said, “The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess [Lat. Decretum quidem horribile, fateor; Fr. Je confesse que ce décret nous doit épouvanter]…” Here is the Battles translation of the entire context:

Again I ask: whence does it happen that Adam’s fall irremediably involved so many peoples, together with their infant offspring, in eternal death unless because it so pleased God? Here their tongues, otherwise so loquacious, must become mute. The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess.¹⁷ Yet no one can deny that God foreknew what end man was to have before he created him, and consequently foreknew because he so ordained by his decree. If anyone inveighs against God’s foreknowledge at this point, he stumbles rashly and heedlessly. What reason is there to accuse the Heavenly Judge because he was not ignorant of what was to happen? If there is any just or manifest complaint, it applies to predestination. And it ought not to seem absurd for me to say that God not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and in him the ruin of his descendants, but also meted it out in accordance with his own decision. For as it pertains to his wisdom to foreknow everything that is to happen, so it pertains to his might to rule and control everything by his hand. And Augustine also skillfully disposes of this question, as of others: “We most wholesomely confess what we most correctly believe, that the God and Lord of all things, who created all things exceedingly good [cf. Gen. 1:31], and foreknew that evil things would rise out of good, and also knew that it pertained to his most omnipotent goodness to bring good out of evil things rather than not to permit evil things to be …, so ordained the life of angels and men that in it he might first of all show what free will could do, and then what the blessing of his grace and the verdict of his justice could do.”¹⁸
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17 “Decretum quidem horribile, fateor.” VG: “Je confesse que ce décret nous doit épouvanter.” Cf. “horribilis Dei maiestas,” III. xx. 17. Calvin is awestruck but unrelenting in his declaration that God is the author of reprobation. The theme is pursued in his treatise On the Eternal Predestination of God (cf. CR VIII. 316 ff.; tr. H. Cole, Calvin’s Calvinism, pp. 128 ff.).
18 Augustine, On Rebuke and Grace x. 27 (MPL 44. 932; tr. NPNF V. 482 f.). Calvin affirms Adam’s original free will (cf. I. xv. 8), yet insists that Adam’s fall was willed by God, thus demonstrating the feebleness of man’s will and the power of divine grace and judgment. Cf. Cadier, Institution III. 427, note 2.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 2:955–56; 3.23.7; italics original.

The Latin says:

Decretum quidem horribile, fateor: inficiari tamen nemo poterit quin praesciverit Deus, quem exitum esset habiturus homo, antequam ipsum conderet, et ideo praesciverit, quia decreto suo sic ordinarat.

John Calvin, Institutio Christianae Religionis, vol. 2 (Berolini: Gustavum Eichler, 1834), 151; 3.23.7. The French says:

Je confesse que ce decret nous doit espovanter: toutesfois on ne peut nier que Dieu n’ait preveu devant que creer l’homme, à quelle fin il devoit venir: et ne l’ait preveu, pource qu’il l’avoit ainsi ordonné en son conseil.

Jean Calvin, Institution de La Religion Chrétienne (Genève: E. Beroud & C., 1888), 442; 3.23.7.

Norton translates it this way:

It is a terrible decree, I graunt: yet no man shall be able to deny, but that God foreknew what end man should have, ere he created him, and therefore foreknew it because he had so ordained by his decree.

John Calvin, The Institution of the Christian Religion, trans. Thomas Norton (London: Bonham Norton, 1599), 258; 3.23.7.

Allen has it as:

It is an awful decree, I confess; but no one can deny that God foreknew the future final fate of man before he created him, and that he did foreknow it because it was appointed by his own decree.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. John Allen, vol. 2 (Hezekiah Howe; Philip H. Nicklin, 1816), 450; 3.23.7.

Beveridge translates it as:

The decree, I admit, is dreadful; and yet it is impossible to deny that God foreknew what the end of man was to be before he made him, and foreknew, because he had so ordained by his decree.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans., Henry Beveridge, 3 vols. (The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 2:568–69; 3.23.7.

Related to this is what Calvin says in Institutes, 3.20.17. Battles translates this portion as follows:

For as soon as God’s dread majesty²⁸ comes to mind, we cannot but tremble and be driven far away by the recognition of our own unworthiness, until Christ comes forward as intermediary, to change the throne of dreadful glory into the throne of grace.
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28 “Horribilis Dei maiestas.” Cf. III. xxiii. 7: “decretum … horribile.”

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, 2 vols., The Library of Christian Classics (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 2:874–75; 3.20.17.

The Latin says:

Nam simulac in mentem venit horribilis Dei maiestas, fieri non potest quin expavescamus, ac nos indignitatis propriae agnitio procul abigat, donec medius occurrat, Christus, qui solium formidabilis gloriae in solium gratiae commutet: sicuti etiam docet Apostolus (Heb. 4:16.).

John Calvin, Institutio Christianae Religionis, vol. 2 (Berolini: Gustavum Eichler, 1834), 100; 3.20.17.

The French says:

Et de fait, quand l’horrible majesté de Dieu nous vient en pensée, il est impossible que nous ne soyons espovantez, et que le sentiment de nostre indignité ne nous effarouche et dechasse bien loin, jusques à ce que Jesus Christ vienne en avant, et se rencontre au milieu pour changer le throne de gloire espovantable en throne de grace: comme l’Apostre nous exhorte d’y oser comparoistre avec toute fiance, pour obtenir misericorde et trouver grace, afin d’estre aidez au besoin (Hebr. 4:16).

Jean Calvin, Institution de La Religion Chrétienne (Genève: E. Beroud & C., 1888), 404; 3.20.17. Thomas Norton translates it as:

For so soone as the terrible majestie of God commeth in our minde, it is impossible but that we should tremble for feare, and the acknowledging of our owne uuworthinesse should drive us farre away, till Christ come meane betweene us and him, which may change the throne of dreadfull glory into the throne of grace: as also the Apostle teacheth that we may be bold to appeare with all confidence which shall obtaine mercy and find grace in helpe comming in fit season (Heb 4:15).

John Calvin, The Institution of the Christian Religion, trans. Thomas Norton (London: Bonham Norton, 1599), 235; 3.20.17.

Allen translates it this way:

For as soon as we reflect on the terrible majesty of God, we cannot but be exceedingly afraid, and driven away from him by a consciousness of our unworthiness, till we discover Christ as the Mediator, who changes the throne of dreadful glory into a throne of grace: as the apostle also exhorts us to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. John Allen, vol. 2 (New-Haven; Philadelphia: Hezekiah Howe; Philip H. Nicklin, 1816), 365; 3.20.17.

Finally, Beveridge translates it as:

For it is impossible to think of the dread majesty of God without being filled with alarm; and hence the sense of our own unworthiness must keep us far away, until Christ interpose, and convert a throne of dreadful glory into a throne of grace; as the Apostle teaches that thus we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,” (Heb. 4:16.)

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans., Henry Beveridge, 3 vols. (The Calvin Translation Society, 1845), 2:477–78; 3.20.17.

SECONDARY SOURCE COMMENTS:

The following authors address the matter of the “horrible decree”:

But again it is said, that Calvin himself did relent in view of the decree, when he confessed it to be decretum horribile, a “horrible decree” (Inst. iii. 23. 7). Dr. Schaff, with many others, has expressed great satisfaction with this confession, as in evidence that Calvin in this relenting showed that his heart was so much better than his head, in asserting itself in spite of his hard theology. But they all might have been saved from this waste of condolence by reflecting that the Latin horribilis has a wider use than the English word “horrible” of similar sound. Cicero and Cæsar sometimes use it to express what is frightful and horrible, in the sense of a horrible massacre, but it is also used by Petronius and others to signify what is very great, astonishing, sacred, awful, venerable. There is hardly a tyro in Latin who has not learned that it is unwise to render a Latin word into English by using an English word of similar sound. So Lucretius uses the Latin word horror, in describing the worship of the gods as originating in the “Mortalibus insitus horror,” not meaning the English “horror,” but the “astonishment” awakened in the minds of men. Accordingly, Allen does not translate decretum horribile as though it represented the action of God towards infants as comparable to the action of Herod in the horrible massacre of the children of Bethlehem, as some have said it did, but he gives the true sense of Calvin as an “awful decree,” something astonishing, sacred, dreadful, in the reverential sense; as Jacob, when he awoke from his vision of the Lord, exclaimed, “How dreadful is this place.” So Calvin looked with reverential awe upon the divine decree, in which was mirrored the certainty of all events, and, instead of any relenting of heart as against what was true in the head, he was filled with heartfelt adoration. Dr. Schaff is as unfortunate in his judgment of Calvin in this respect as when, in the Evangelist of November 14, 1889, he asserted that the Gallican, Belgic, Second Helvetic, First Scotch, and Dort symbols are silent on the decree of reprobation and preterition, which statement was proved to be an error from the “Creeds of Christendom,” edited by himself.

That Calvin’s view of the decretum horribile is the one here given is shown by his language respecting it in other places; as when, in the next section, he says, “Predestinatio occultæ quidem,” using occultæ instead of horribile, meaning that which is “concealed,” “mysterious,” representing that the divine decree is in its depth beyond the human understanding.

O. T. Lanphear, “Some Misapprehensions Concerning Calvin,” Bibliotheca Sacra 53, no. 211 (1896): 412–13; italics original.

decretum horribile: terrifying decree; a much-abused term from Calvin. It does not translate “horrible decree” and in no way implies that the eternal decree is somehow unjust or horrifying, but only that the decree is awesome and terrifying, particularly to those who are not in Christ.

Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2017), 88; italics original.

Of the doctrine of reprobation he uses words, often quoted against him: “It is an awful decree, I confess,” with the variant renderings of “a dreadful decree,” and “a horrible decree.” The actual words of Calvin—decretum horrible—are capable of a better translation. The Latin horribilis is a derivative of the verb horreo, meaning “to tremble,” or “to stand in awe.” The words of Calvin could, therefore, be appropriately translated “an awe-inspiring decree.” And that eminently suits the subject.

R. A. Finlayson, “John Calvin’s Doctrine of God,” in Puritan Papers: 1963–1964, ed. J. I. Packer, vol. 3 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001), 133; italics original.

Arminians, including Cottrell and Pinnock in the present volume, have often observed that Calvin described reprobation as he understood the Bible’s teaching about it as a “horrible decree”: “The decree indeed is horrible, I confess,” he writes (“Decretum quidem horribile, fateor.”) (Institutes, 3.23.7). (His French version of the Institutes reads here: Je confesse que ce décret nous doit épouvanter.) Arminians apparently think or at least want to convey the notion that his word horribile carries the negative connotation that it does today of “vile” or “repulsive” and that Calvin was describing reprobation as a “vile decree.” But both the Latin horribile and the French épouvanter mean “dreadful” here in the sense of “awesome” as is evident from his phrase, horribilis Dei maiestas (“God’s dread [or “awesome”] majesty”) in Institutes, 3.20.17. Therefore, John T. McNeill writes in the Battles translation of the Institutes, 1, 955, fn 17: “Calvin is awestruck but unrelenting in his declaration that God is the author of reprobation.”

Robert L. Reymond, “Chapter 10: Responses to Clark H. Pinnock: Response by Robert L. Reymond,” in Perspectives on Election: Five Views, ed. Chad Owen Brand (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 330, n. 22; italics original.

John Calvin set the theological trajectory for later Reformed theology by repeatedly teaching it. He called it a decretum horribile⁵—not a horrible decree, but a horrifying or fearsome decree.
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5 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), 3:23:7 (p. 955). The McNeill-Battles translation renders it “the decree is dreadful.”

Curt Daniel, The History and Theology of Calvinism (EP Books, 2019), 398; italics original.

People sometimes claim that Calvin referred to reprobation as God’s “horrible” decree. However, this is inaccurate for two reasons. First, in the source cited, Calvin refers to God’s decree of the fall of all mankind, not to reprobation. Second, horribile is best understood to mean “inspiring dread or awe.”

Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology: Revelation and God, vol. 1 (Crossway, 2019), 1019; italics original. Assuming that the decree in view refers to reprobation, Schaff notes that, “This famous expression is often ignorantly applied to the whole doctrine of predestination, while Calvin only uses it of the decree of reprobation.” Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 8 (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 559, n. 1.

As to Calvin’s phrase decretum horribile, I would note that the latter word is not properly translated “horrible” here but should be understood as that which inspires dread and awe. Calvin used the same term to refer to the majesty of God which makes men tremble in fear.³² Calvin did not hate the decree any more than he hated the glory of God. Furthermore, to be precise Calvin did not use this phrase for reprobation, but for God’s decree of the fall of Adam, which cast not only the reprobate but all mankind into death.³³ He wrote, “Scripture proclaims that all mortals were bound over to eternal death in the person of one man…. Whence does it happen that Adam’s fall irremediably involved so many people, together with their infant offspring, in eternal death unless because it so pleased God?… The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess.”³⁴ Therefore, Calvin used the term decretum horribile to communicate the awe-inspiring majesty of God’s decision that man would fall. It is not a direct statement about God’s reprobation of some individuals to remain in that state and be condemned forever.
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32 Calvin, Institutes, 3.20.17. The Latin horribilis is a derivative of the verb horreo, meaning “to tremble” or “to stand in awe.” For support of the translation “awe-inspiring” or “dreadful” in the sense of awesome, see R. A. Finlayson, “Calvin’s Doctrine of God,” Able Ministers of the New Testament (London: Puritan and Reformed Studies Conference, 1964), 13; Edwin Palmer, “Believe It or Not: The Decree of Reprobation is Not Horrible,” Outlook 29, no. 10 (1979): 6–7; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids: AP & A, 1975), 3:260–61; Reid, Concerning Eternal Predestination, 20; Hunter, The Teaching of Calvin, 110; Engelsma, “The Reformed Doctrine of Reprobation,” 35; John McNeill, The History and Character of Calvinism (repr., New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), 211; Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 116; and the Battles translation of Calvin, Institutes, 3.23.7. Berkouwer thinks Klaas Schilder is closer to Calvin’s intention with the description: “dazzling, striking one dumb, and gainsaying all objections” (see Berkouwer’s A Half Century of Theology, ed. and trans. Lewis B. Smedes [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], 88; cf. Klaas Schilder, Heidelbergsche Catechismus, 4 vols. [Kampen: Kok, 1938–42], 4:91–93).
33 I am indebted to Donald Sinnema (personal communication) for this insight.
34 Calvin, Institutes, 3.23.7.

Joel R. Beeke, Debated Issues in Sovereign Predestination: Early Lutheran Predestination, Calvinian Reprobation, and Variations in Genevan Lapsarianism, Reformed Historical Theology 42, ed. Herman J. Selderhuis (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017), 89–90; italics original.

John Calvin said that the decree of reprobation was “horribilis,” to use his Latin term. Some theological novices have interpreted that to mean that Calvin said that the decree was a horrible one in the sense of being bad.

But, believe it or not, this is a superficial and incorrect reading of the Latin, and Calvin said no such thing. The Latin “horribilis” does not necessarily mean horrible in the bad sense. Far from it. It can also mean “full of awe.”

There is a group of English words that are similar in meaning, origin and development to the Latin “horribilis.” They are the words “dreadful,” “awful,” “terrible,” “fearful” and “horrible.” Originally all these words had the meaning that someone or something inspired awe—a feeling of majesty and overpowering greatness.

Take, for example, the word “terrible.” Today that word suggests that someone or something is extremely bad, unpleasant and disagreeable. When we say that a boy has a terrible temper, we mean that he flies off the handle easily, is easily provoked.

But that is not the meaning of terrible when the King James Version quotes Nehemiah as praying, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God” (Neh. 1:5). The King James Version does not mean that God is bad and unpleasant—like the devil. Rather, in 1611 the word “terrible” meant “awesome.” So the New International Version captures this idea when it says, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God.”

Similar examples. are seen in the following quotes from the King James Version (we have put the New International Version’s translation next to it, lest the reader think that the Bible is blasphemous):

1. Daniel 9:4. KJV: “O, Lord, the great and dreadful God.” NIV: “O Lord, the great and awesome God.” 2. Isaiah 64:3. KJV: “When thou didst terrible things.” NIV: “When you did awesome things.” 3. Psalm 66:3. KJV: “How terrible art thou in thy works.” NIV: “How awesome are your deeds.” 4. Job. 37:22. KJV: “with God is terrible majesty.” NIV: “God comes in awesome majesty.” 5. Psalm 99:3. KJV: “Let them praise thy great and terrible name.” NIV: “Let them praise your great and awesome name.” 6. Psalm 68:35. KJV: “O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy place.” NIV: “You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary.” Now the Latin word that Calvin uses to describe the divine decree of reprobation has meanings similar to these English words. The Latin word “horribilis” does not necessarily mean “horrible” in the modern sense of painful, repugnant, loathsome and abhorrent. Rather, the Latin word can mean “dreadful” in the sense of “awesome.”

Calvin uses “horribilis” to describe reprobation when he writes: “The decree is awesome” (“Decretum quidem horribile,” Institutes, III, xxiii, 7). He does not mean at all that God’s decrees and plans are abhorrent, loathsome and repugnant. But he uses “horribilis” in the same sense that he does in III, xx, 17, where he applies the adjective “horribilis” to the majesty of God. There Calvin is thinking of coming by prayer into the very presence of God. Instead of tripping in lightly and nonchalantly, Calvin thinks of how great God is and how unworthy we are to come into his awesome presence. Calvin says, “For as soon as God’s awesome majesty [horribilis Dei maiestas] comes to mind, we cannot but tremble and be driven far away by the recognition of our own unworthiness, until Christ comes forward as intermediary to change the throne of dreadful [formidabilis] glory into the throne of grace.” Far be it from Calvin to call God’s majesty or glory “horrible” or “abhorrent.”

And in exactly the same way does Calvin apply the Latin term “horribilis” to the decree of reprobation. Reprobation is a decree that causes one to tremble in wonder and adoration at the actions of the infinite, eternal, holy and wise Creator God.

So, contrary to what some who oppose the Biblical doctrine of reprobation would have us believe, believe it or not, Calvin did not teach that reprobation was a horrible decree. He said it was an “awesome decree.”

Edwin Palmer, “Believe It or Not: The Decree of Reprobation is Not Horrible,” Outlook 29, no. 10 (1979): 6–7.

In a copy of an edition of the Institutes, published in 1590, which I picked up some time ago, there are written on the fly-leaf the following comments upon this word. “Dr. A. Clarke says that Calvin justly calls decretum horribile, the horrible decree of sovereign eternal irrespective reprobation. Ans. I. The phrase is applied by Calvin to God’s permission of the fall of Adam. Inst. iii. 23, § 7. II. It is unfair to translate it, horrible decree. See Cicero, Quinct. Horribile est causam capitis dicere, horribilis priore loco dicere. It is a solemn thing, &c. See also Virgil, Georg. iii. 152. III. Dr. Clarke derives Elohim from Alaha (Arab.) cum sacro horrore ac veneratione coluit. Would it be fair to represent Dr. Clarke, in adopting this etymology, as teaching that God should always be worshipped with horror?”—Tr.

Isaak August Dorner, History of Protestant Theology Particularly in Germany: Viewed According to Its Fundamental Movement and in Connection with the Religious, Moral, and Intellectual Life, trans. George Robson and Sophia Taylor, 2 vols. (T. & T. Clark, 1871), 1:400, n. 1; italics original.

Iedereen bijna weet van Calvijn, dat hij den inhoud der openbaring aangaande de prae-destinatie, als goddelijke wilsdaad (besluitingsdaad, voltooid-tegenwoordig) ‘horribel’ noemde; al weet dan lang niet iedereen, hoe hij dat woord goed vertalen zal. Soms wordt het geinterpreteerd naar de gevoelswaarde van het woord ‘afschrikwekkend’, om niet te zeggen: ‘afschuwelijk’: men durft dan Calvijn zelf wel belasten met de anticalvinistische critiek op wat Calvijn zelf toch goddelijk, en dùs ook Gode-waardig noemt. Hoe verkeerd deze opvatting is, moge - we laten de rest nu maar rusten - een verwijzing naar de Vulgata, de in Calvijn's dagen bekende bijbelvertaling, laten zien. Daar is horribel gebruikt in Deut. 4:34 (verschrikkelijke gezichten, ‘groote verschrikkingen’, waarmee de Heere intusschen zijn volk verlóste); 2 Sam. 7:23 (opzienbarende dingen); 1 Kron. 16:25 (Jahwe boven alle goden te vreezen, vgl. Ps. 96:4), Ezech. 1:18 (onzekere vertaling, maar de Vulgata heeft: het horribele aanzien van wat hij bij Gods troon zag: de ‘levende wezens’, de ‘dieren’); Ez. 1:22 (horribel kristal!, verblindend kristal); Joël 2:31 (de ‘verschrikkelijke dag des Heeren’, in onze vertaling 3:4, groot en schrikwekkend); Zef. 2:11 (Jahwe horribel, gevreesd); Mal. 1:14 (de naam van Jahwe horribel, geducht); Mal. 4:5 (bij ons; bij anderen 3:23: de horribele, de doorluchtige, de ontzaglijke dag des Heeren). We zullen wel niet scheef gaan, als we de uitdrukking: ‘horribel decreet’ weergeven met: doorluchtig, met stomheid slaand, alle tegenspraak afsnijdend, om niet te zeggen: ‘numineus’ besluit.

Klaas Schilder, Heidelbergsche catechismus. Zondag 10 (Oosterbaan & Le Cointre, Goes 1953), 92.

Here is a Google Translation of Schilder’s words:

Almost everyone knows that Calvin described the content of the revelation concerning predestination—viewed as a divine act of will (an act of decree, in the perfect tense)—as "horrible"; though not everyone knows how best to translate that term. Sometimes it is interpreted according to the emotional connotation of "frightening," or even "abominable"—leading some to level anti-Calvinist criticisms against Calvin himself, regarding something that Calvin actually characterized as divine, and therefore worthy of God. How misguided this interpretation is can be demonstrated—leaving other points aside for the moment—by a reference to the Vulgate, the Bible translation familiar in Calvin’s day. In that text, horribilis is used in Deuteronomy 4:34 (referring to "terrible sights"—"great terrors"—through which the Lord nonetheless redeemed His people); 2 Samuel 7:23 (extraordinary or awe-inspiring things); 1 Chronicles 16:25 (Yahweh as one to be feared above all gods; cf. Psalm 96:4); Ezekiel 1:18 (a complex passage, but the Vulgate uses the term to describe the horribilis appearance of what was seen near God’s throne—the "living creatures"); Ezekiel 1:22 (horribilis crystal—that is, dazzling or blinding crystal); Joel 2:31 (the "terrible day of the Lord"—rendered in some translations as "great and dreadful"); Zephaniah 2:11 (Yahweh as horribilis—to be feared); and Malachi 1:14 (the name of Yahweh as horribilis—to be held in awe). 4:5 (in our version; in others, 3:23: the horrible, the illustrious, the awesome day of the Lord). We shall likely not go far astray if we render the expression ‘horrible decree’ as an illustrious, dumbfounding, and irrefutable—or, to use another term, ‘numinous’—decree.