Speaking of the visible church as our “mother,” Calvin writes this in his Institutes:
There is no other way to enter into life unless this mother conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly, unless she keep us under her care and guidance…. Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all our lives. Furthermore, away from her bosom one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation…. God’s fatherly favor and the especial witness of spiritual life are limited to his flock, so that it is always disastrous to leave the church.
One thing that is highly evident from Calvin’s remarks here is that he was not an American. With our rugged individualism and tendency to treat the church like an optional part of Christian life, we would do well to move back towards a Calvin’s high ecclesiology. If he is right, then our eternal salvation is at stake!
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Calvin, for all his exegetical brilliance, is engaged in overstatements here. The new birth in Scripture is not presented as a work of the church. It’s of God through the Spirit because of Christ atoning. Wholly Trinitarian.
Look, TC, I’m not disagreeing with you, and I don’t think Calvin would either. But I’m not going to say that this is mere “overstatement.” I don’t think we give quite enough weight to the role of the Church in the bringing about of new life in people. Is it possible for people to come to saving faith apart from the Church? Yes. Is that normal? No. God intends the Church to be his agent of bringing people into the Kingdom.