Don and Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro in their book, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret, address the frequent misquoting of John Calvin (by Ian Cron and others). Numerous Enneagram authors and enthusiasts, like Ian Cron, have advocated the pursuit of self-knowledge via the enneagram by appealing to highly respected Christian sources…like Calvin and Augustine.
Per Ian Cron, coauthor of The Road Back to You, “How did Calvin put it, ‘Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God” (p.15). This has been quoted by many-an-enneagram enthusiast. Which is very concerning (for two major reasons)!
Firstly, we should always test what we hear alongside the original source. Therefore, instead of readily accepting Cron’s words about Calvin, let’s check-out the original source for Calvin’s words. Wouldn’t that be responsible?
Secondly, nowhere in the Scriptures does God advocate for us to look within for Him. Looking into the heart is like being in a deep pit and looking down for a rope. We need to look to Him, not within.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
Matthew 15:18-20
Here is Chapter 1 from Calvin’s Institutes:
“the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards;” (Chapter 1 of Calvin’s Institutes).
Therefore, to answer the question posed in the title of this post: No, John Calvin did not say that in order to know God, we need to look within. When we examine John Calvin’s own words we find a DIFFERENT message. As the Veinots and Marcia explain on p.42 of their timely book, “in short, Calvin asserted that we are sinners in need of a savior!” Calvin’s words are being utilized incorrectly.
Calvin’s Institutes: https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes/institutes.iii.ii.html
Friends, in lieu of readily believing secondary voices, everyone should prioritize going to the source and testing whether the secondhand information is tenable. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Hold Fast Apologetics 