During John Calvin's reign in Geneva, reportedly it was considered a no-no to laugh during Calvin's preaching, and to do so was met with stiff consequences:
"To laugh during a sermon was a matter which drew after it three days' imprisonment, and the necessity of publicly asking pardon."
--"Lives of Calvin" The London Quarterly Review, American Edition, Volume XXXV No.1, p. 286
Was there a 'grace' period or was it straight in the 'sin bin'? ;-)
Posted by: Andrew Barker | 2014.01.19 at 09:56 AM
And then there are those believers in Sovereign Grace as well as the Lord of Sovereign Grace (it is His unconditional favor, after all) who believe humor is part/factor/element/characteristic of the being of God and of man and of life, too, even under the terrible conditions of the Fall. There was a Puritan preacher I came across in my studies who would actually stop his sermons and tell funny stories, but that was long ago and memory fails. In any case, I use humor as the Lord leads, and He does lead to use that element of communication.
Posted by: dr. james willingham | 2014.01.20 at 09:21 AM
The point being, Dr. Willingham, that Calvin sent those who expressed joy in church to prison. The oppression he exercised on Christians in Geneva could not have come from the Holy Spirit's guidance.
Posted by: Max | 2014.01.20 at 03:22 PM
Those lovely Puritans also thought it was funny to publicly whip and torture Baptists, Quakers, and anyone else they deemed a dissenter.
Posted by: Ryan | 2014.01.20 at 03:43 PM