Calvin and praying for "all people who dwell on earth".(John Calvin)(Critical essay)

 
  John Calvin's teaching that Christians should pray "for all people 
  who dwell on earth" is based on his interpretation of 1 Tim 2:1-2 and 
  related to the Lord's Prayer. It is also illustrated clearly in his 
  daily practice of leading public worship. 

Everyone knows at least one thing about John Calvin: he taught double predestination. And that is enough to damn him, so one need not pay him any further attention. Or if someone is generous and willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and concede that Calvin might have some good ideas, she or he is very unlikely to think that prayer would be one of those topics. After all, does not predestination exclude any meaningful prayer?

The fact is, however, that Calvin was a pastor, not a philosopher; he was a devout student of the Bible, not willing to skip or add anything. Since the Bible has something to say about predestination, so does Calvin; since the Bible has something to say about prayer, so does Calvin. In his view, combining predestination and prayer works; if it does not satisfy a philosopher, so be it. Calvin the biblical theologian was also Calvin the pastor who led or participated in worship almost daily, so he also had to practice praying. (1)

The fascinating surprise is that from his earliest years as a reformer to the end of his life, Calvin taught plainly that Christians must pray for all people who live on earth. The exposition of the Lord's Prayer in his 1536 Institutes of the Christian Religion states this very clearly.

 
  The prayer of the Christian ought then to be conformed to this rule 
  in order that it may be in common and embrace all who are his 
  brothers in Christ: not only those whom he presently sees and 
  recognizes as such, but all people who dwell on earth. For what the 
  Lord has determined regarding them is beyond our knowing, except 
  that we ought to wish and hope for the best for them. (2) 

Calvin goes on to say that "we ought to have in special affection those who are members of the household of faith" but this, while it is important, is hardly surprising. Note that Mr. Predestination expresses trust in God beyond any human wisdom. We do not know God's will for those people who are not believers now, but we do know our job, which is to pray for good for them, not to make judgments about individuals.

Scripture teaches that there are reprobates, as Calvin explained in the next edition of the Institutes, but who they are is known only to God unless God gives some special revelation, as in the cases of Cain or Esau or Judas. (There is no discussion of predestination per se in 1536; it was added in 1539 when Calvin was working on his commentary on Romans. (3)) Teaching and practice are not necessarily consistent for all people, however, so it is significant that Calvin himself practiced what he preached about predestination. When one of his colleagues identified the recently deceased Duc de Guise, the leading persecutor of Protestants in France, as reprobate, Calvin rebuked the preacher; without special revelation this was not a judgment a human being could make. (4)