Treaty of scandals

"Traité des scandales" - is a theological work of John Calvin, published in 1550 in Geneva.

The subtitle of the treaty is: About the scandals that bother many today in reaching the true doctrine of the Gospel and the inferiority of others. At the turn of July and August 1550 a Latin version of the work was published, and in the autumn of that year its French translation was published. The work is directed at atheism.

The treaty was devoted to the Norman champion, who suffered a series of tragedies: his father, his wife, and his daughter died in turn. Calvin saw in this "great accumulation of scandals", exiled by Satan. For Calvin, the notion of "scandal" meant something in Greek - an obstacle to the road. Calvin understood the scandal as an opportunity for sin, such as the cause of doubt in God, rejection of religion, acceptance of atheism.

Calvin understood the scandal as "a stone of images and scandals." Such a scandal for the Jews, the activity of Jesus, who proclaimed peace, love and consent, led to intensification of unrest and conflict. For Calvin a similar scandal was also the reformation, which also caused social unrest, repression and wars. Calvin considered this as a result of Satan's "activity," which at all costs tries to discourage people from accepting "true faith" by spreading their confusion and fueling conflict and suffering. "True believers" should not discourage "evil deeds" that seek to undermine trust in God and encourage them to pride and revolt against God.

The treaty speaks of "miraculous difficulties," that is, of the paradoxical intensity of evil that accompanies the spread of "true faith." These difficulties become proof of the authenticity of the Reformation, just as they were testimony to the authenticity of the mission of Christ.

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