Calvin on human depravity

More from Calvin’s commentary on Romans 9:

Did Calvin believe that the image of God in man had been completely obliterated through his fall into sin? This will be a caricature of what will later be called “total depravity.” Calvin, however, presents a more nuanced view here:

It is true that we are all born blind, but still, amidst the darkness of corrupt and depraved nature, some sparks of continue to shine, so that men differ from brute beasts. Now, if any man, elated by proud confidence in his own opinion, refuses to submit to God, he will seem—apart from Christ—to be wise, but the brightness of Christ will strike him with dismay; for never does the vanity of the human mind begin to be discovered, until heavenly wisdom is brought into view.

JTR