The Institutes of the Christian Religion

By Calvin, John

Book Id: WPLBN0000694953
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 4.88 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	The Institutes of the Christian Religion
Author:	Calvin, John
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Religion, Christianity, Literature
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Historic Publication Date:
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Citation APA MLA Chicago Calvin, B. J. (n.d.). The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
Religion and Christian Theology Collection

Excerpt
Excerpt: It was Calvin preeminently who set the pattern for the exercise of that sobriety which guards the science of exegesis against those distortions and perversions to which allegorizing methods are ever prone to subject the interpretation and application of Scripture. The debt we owe to Calvin in establishing sound canons of interpretation and in thus directing the future course of exegetical study is incalculable. It is only to be lamented that too frequently the preaching of Protestant and even Reformed communions has not been sufficiently grounded in the hermeneutical principles which Calvin so nobly exemplified. One feature of Calvin?s exegetical work is his concern for the analogy of Scripture. He is always careful to take account of the unity and harmony of Scripture teaching. His expositions are not therefore afflicted with the vice of expounding particular passages without respect to the teaching of Scripture elsewhere and without respect to the system of truth set forth in the Word of God. His exegesis, in a word, is theologically oriented. It is this quality that lies close to that which was par excellence his genius. However highly we assess Calvin?s exegetical talent and product, his eminence as an exegete must not be allowed to overshadow what was, after all, his greatest gift. He was par excellence a theologian. It was his systematizing genius preeminently that equipped him for the prosecution and completion of his masterpiece.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents About This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. ii Title Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 1 Prefaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 PREFACE TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 THE PRINTERS TO THE READERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATOR?S PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 5 p. 8 PREFATORY ADDRESS TO HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, THE MOST MIGHTY AND ILLUSTRIOUS MONARCH, FRANCIS, KING OF THE FRENCH, HIS SOVEREIGN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE EPISTLE TO THE READER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 21 SUBJECT OF THE PRESENT WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 22 EPISTLE TO THE READER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 23 p. 24 METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT,OR SUBJECT OF THE WHOLE WORK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GENERAL INDEX OF CHAPTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 27 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 30 BOOK FIRST. - OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE CREATOR . . . . . p. 30 ARGUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 30 p. 30 CHAPTER 1. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF OURSELVES MUTUALLY CONNECTED. ?NATURE OF THE CONNECTION. . . . . p. 32 CHAPTER 2. - WHAT IT IS TO KNOW GOD,?TENDENCY OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 34 CHAPTER 3. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD NATURALLY IMPLANTED IN THE HUMAN MIND.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 36 CHAPTER 4. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD STIFLED OR CORRUPTED, IGNORANTLY OR MALICIOUSLY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 39 CHAPTER 5. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD CONSPICUOUS IN THE CREATION, AND CONTINUAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD.. . . . p. 49 CHAPTER 6. - THE NEED OF SCRIPTURE, AS A GUIDE AND TEACHER, IN COMING TO GOD AS A CREATOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 52 CHAPTER 7. - THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT NECESSARY TO GIVE FULL AUTHORITY TO SCRIPTURE. THE IMPIETY OF PRETENDING THAT THE CREDIBILITY OF SCRIPTURE DEPENDS ON THE JUDGMENT OF THE CHURCH.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .