Yes there is some diversity within classical Reformed theology on the Sabbath but it is diversity within unity. There is a Reformed view of the Sabbath. There is a fundamental unity that God has established a 1 in 7 pattern in creation. To that creational law was added typological and temporary Mosaic legislation but the Sabbath was not grounded in the Mosaic law and covenant but in creation, i.e., in the nature of things. The Sabbath principle, then, remained in force in the New Covenant. 

On Twitter Anthony Bradley pointed us to a webpage by Ra McLaughlin on the Sabbath. There is good material there but there are also a couple of items that warrant discussion. The one on which I want to focus in this post is the use of the expression “the continental tradition” with respect to the Sabbath. As reflected on this page, it is widely held that there are two distinct Reformed views of the Sabbath, the British or Westminster Standards position and “the Continental view.” It is sometimes argued that the so-called “Continental View” was Calvin’s. Thence people point to the relative brevity of Heidelberg Catechism on the Sabbath and finally one will likely read something about Cocceius on the Sabbath. The implication is usually that the so-called “Continental View” is less rigorous than the British view.

This way of speaking would be a surprise to the Continental Reformed tradition. Let’s define our terms. The adjective “continental” is a little slippery. It’s not always clear what is meant by it. Sometimes it refers to the Dutch Reformed churches. It might include the Germans, the French, and perhaps Geneva. Often, judging by usage, it seems to mean, “Reformed folk who don’t speak English” and are European. The unstated assumption behind this way of writing and speaking is that there were (and are) two distinct traditions, the European (mainly Dutch) and the British (and American). Such ways of speaking and thinking would have been foreign to the classical Reformed writers in the 16th and 17th centuries. Yes, they spoke their own vernacular languages but they all wrote and spoke Latin. They were quite conscious of belonging to single Reformed tradition. The British Reformed (Scots, English, Welsh, Irish) were reading the Dutch, German, French, and Swiss Reformed and vice versa. There was no consciousness in the classical period of a distinctly “British” or “Continental” view of anything. There was simply an international Reformed theology, piety, and practice.

Let’s consider four cases. I made this case at length in RRC so I won’t belabor (on Labor Day) here but much of what has been written about Calvin’s allegedly “continental” view of the Sabbath is simply not well grounded in the sources. What typically happens is that writers appeal to a passage or two from the 1559 Institutesand then call it a day. This way of reading Calvin is deeply flawed. The only way to understand Calvin properly is to read him the way he intended to be read. One must start with his biblical commentary, then go to a treatise (the Institutes or some other), and then to go to his sermons. When one reads Calvin holistically, in context, his view of the Sabbath is quite difficult to distinguish from what is alleged to be a distinctly (and harshly) British view.

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