Since its rise in the sixteenth century, Calvinism has carried with it a certain connotation of doom and gloom. With the doctrine of predestination and the severity of the punishments described for the unrepentant, it is easy to see why.
In this particular sermon, John Calvin uses clever rhetorical moves to capture the interest of his audience. The rhetorical move that he uses most in this sermon is pathos. He does this by relating himself and his audience to ancient Christians and the persecutions that they suffered, thus guilting his audience into reexamining their own lives.
He starts the sermon by quoting Paul..."Let us go forth from the city after the Lord Jesus, bearing his reproach." By starting his sermon in this manner, Calvin is grouping himself and his audience in the "us" that Paul established. He creates a tone of camaraderie with the ancient apostle and ascribes himself and his followers to his teachings.
Calvin moves away from the ancient to the present and discusses the persecution and reproaches that modern Christians ought to endure patiently. He reminds his audience that they don't even deserve the grace that God gives them, and that surely it should be no big deal to suffer some persecution. This is a move that flavors strongly of pathos--one could call it a guilt-trip.
Calvin finishes his sermon by again returning to the ancients and their sacrifices: "In ancient times vast numbers of people, to obtain a simple crown of leaves, refused no toil, no pain, no trouble..." Again, by calling up the ghosts of ancient saints, Calvin shows his audience what is expected of them in their present time. He appeals to their emotional ties with the scriptures and with the saints to encourage them to suffer persecutions willingly.
Your quote by Cecily White seems appropriate. The rhetorical strategy you outlined Calvin as using is frequent among others as well. I suppose its frequent because its effective. I think of how many times we are reminded at church of the sacrifices of the pioneers etc.
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