Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume Set)
by John Calvin
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 159)
Once I became a Christian, this book was immensely helpful in teaching me to think carefully and thoroughly about the Christian faith, instead of being satisfied with a few platitudes, some assumed familial traditions, and a load of cultural baggage.
This book is the foundation of what is referred to as the Reformed branch of the church. It convinced me that Scripture reveals a view of the church that is well described by so-called Reformed doctrine. After encountering this book, I can say ...more
This book is the foundation of what is referred to as the Reformed branch of the church. It convinced me that Scripture reveals a view of the church that is well described by so-called Reformed doctrine. After encountering this book, I can say ...more
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Read in January, 1994
I am currently going through this work for the second time, and find Calvin's prodigious mind and precocious arguments to be very encouraging and enlightening. In an age when many in the church are abandoning the authority of Scripture, it is refreshing to read, from the pen of this great theologian, "Let this point therefore stand: that those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture, and that Scripture indeed is self-authenticated...therefore, illumined by his po...more
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Read in August, 2003
Calvin's Institutes is a crucial reformation text. It's historic place in theological literature is alone enough to recommend it, but I will add a little comment.
This was the first book I ever read that was written during the Reformation. I am very glad that I did. I don't think I have learned more from one book in my entire life, excluding the Bible itself. Calvin is wonderfully deep in thought and warm in devotional spirit, even if his temper runs over at points. McNeill's translation...more
This was the first book I ever read that was written during the Reformation. I am very glad that I did. I don't think I have learned more from one book in my entire life, excluding the Bible itself. Calvin is wonderfully deep in thought and warm in devotional spirit, even if his temper runs over at points. McNeill's translation...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Christ's disciples
This book, a Christian Classic, is highly devotional in its entirety. Many think of this book, never having read it, as being too heavy for the layman, but I would beg too differ since it covers a vast array of Christian doctrine and is so divided in sections that one can easily traverse it for devotional purposes. It is not written in the academic/scientific fashion that most of are classroom textbooks are in this day and age, but is written from the heart of this significant saint and draws ...more
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This is another long-term project... I found both volumes on the sale rack at Half-Price Books, for a buck each. Couldn't pass that up! So I'm going to learn Calvinism from Calvin himself. Should be interesting. The first part is a discourse on how man cannot examine himself (spiritually and psychologically, I imagine) without realizing God sustains him. Mosiah 2:21, baby! (Calvin even calls it "rivers" from God. Not bad for an apostate.)
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I'm not really sure if I could say I have really read this book. I mean, there is not really an end to reading Calvin. However, I would say that I did not quite realize that Calvin is quite different from Calvinism - and much better. Calvin's text of course is a child of the 16th century, but he is an extremely interesting thinker, one to whom you need to go back to again and again if you want to understand theology.
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Every Christian should read Calvin for him/herself. The fact is you may be surprised what you find or don't find in his writings. He was one of the greatest thinkers of the Reformation age and, sadly, is renowned for one theological point that he really doesn't make that big a deal about. His followers on the other hand....
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I know Calvin gets a lot of crap from the Christian community these days, but frankly, this is an incredible series. It's one of those books that I can't put down because I want to know what else he has to say, but I'm forced to put it down because I have to process what he says. Wonderful stuff!
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Will I ever finish this book? I don't know, but I have a 25 page per week plan. It's relatively easy to read, hard to carry around because it's huge.
I am learning the definitions of words like jejune and bitumen.
I am learning the definitions of words like jejune and bitumen.
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I keep starting this and then stopping after Chapter 2. But I borrowed it from one of the pastors at church so I do need to finish it. But it may be a long time . . .
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Read in January, 1997
John Calvin's monumental work. Essential to any study of Calvin's theology or Reformed theology.
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This guy knows what he believes and he knows how to write down, and you have to admire that.
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I have been using this for reference in my studies.
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Read in January, 2006
calvin is great
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