A leading Calvin scholar provides an annotated guide to the reading of Calvin's Institutes, selecting passages critical to understanding Calvin's theology.

"Calvin is a cataract, a primeval forest, a demonic power, something directly down from the Himalayas, absolutely Chinese, strange, mythological; I lack completely the means, the suction cups, even to assimilate this phenomenon, not to speak of presenting it adequately ... I could gladly and profitably set myself down and spend all the rest of my life just with Calvin." -Karl Barth Sadly, despite Calvin's vast historical influence, few Christians actually read Calvin. Surprisingly, his prose is very easy and it is only the length that is daunting. This study guide by Douglas Wilson gives readers bite-sized pieces of the institutes to read, as well as simple discussion questions to help review and ponder the gems found in this profound, yet simple Christian classic.

The goal of Knowing God and Ourselves is to help students, especially beginning students, of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion to better understand what they are reading and to encourage them to persist in working through this important but challenging book. Calvin intended the Institutes to be a guide in reading Scripture and a theological companion to his commentaries. Above all, he wanted his readers to respond to biblical truth with love for God and obedient lives. The subtitle of this book is Reading Calvin's Institutes Devotionally. Reading the Institutes devotionally is not merely one way of reading Calvin's book. It is the only way to read it.

Calvin's Institutes is one of the most important theological works of the last millennium, but even seminarians and pastors have difficulty finishing it. The author guided students through Calvin's classic for more than forty-five years. His detailed outline and summary of it have been made available posthumously to all.

In this careful study of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Reformed theologian Yudha Thianto sets Calvin's writings in their historical context and outlines the significant aspects of his theology for those who would know more about Calvin's works and through it, the God who inspired them.

This volume translates selected works of John Calvin (1509-1564), the great reformer of Geneva, with special emphasis on his piety.

The Christian life, as Calvin describes it, is lived simultaneiously in the shadow of the cross and in the bright light of the resurrection. That the writer himself knew something of the cost of discipleship is clear from a consideration of his own experience.

An essential biography of the most important book of the Protestant Reformation John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a defining book of the Reformation and a pillar of Protestant theology. First published in Latin in 1536 and in Calvin's native French in 1541, the Institutes argues for the majesty of God and for justification by faith alone. The book decisively shaped Calvinism as a major religious and intellectual force in Europe and throughout the world. Here, Bruce Gordon provides an essential biography of Calvin's influential and enduring theological masterpiece, tracing the diverse ways it has been read and interpreted from Calvin's time to today. Gordon explores the origins and character of the Institutes, looking closely at its theological and historical roots, and explaining how it evolved through numerous editions to become a complete summary of Reformation doctrine. He shows how the development of the book reflected the evolving thought of Calvin, who instilled in the work a restlessness that reflected his understanding of the Christian life as a journey to God. Following Calvin's death in 1564, the Institutes continued to be reprinted, reedited, and reworked through the centuries. Gordon describes how it has been used in radically different ways, such as in South Africa, where it was invoked both to defend and attack the horror of apartheid. He examines its vexed relationship with the historical Calvin—a figure both revered and despised—and charts its robust and contentious reception history, taking readers from the Puritans and Voltaire to YouTube, the novels of Marilynne Robinson, and to China and Africa, where the Institutes continues to find new audiences today.

During the glory days of the French Renaissance, young John Calvin (1509-1564) experienced a profound conversion to the faith of the Reformation. For the rest of his days he lived out the implications of that transformation—as exile, inspired reformer, and ultimately the dominant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin's vision of the Christian religion has inspired many volumes of analysis, but this engaging biography examines a remarkable life. Bruce Gordon presents Calvin as a human being, a man at once brilliant, arrogant, charismatic, unforgiving, generous, and shrewd. The book explores with particular insight Calvin's self-conscious view of himself as prophet and apostle for his age and his struggle to tame a sense of his own superiority, perceived by others as arrogance. Gordon looks at Calvin's character, his maturing vision of God and humanity, his personal tragedies and failures, his extensive relationships with others, and the context within which he wrote and taught. What emerges is a man who devoted himself to the Church, inspiring and transforming the lives of others, especially those who suffered persecution for their religious beliefs.

This abridgement of Ford Lewis Battles' Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion will better acquaint readers with the seminal work in Reformed theology. In an easy-to-read, concise format, Donald McKim follows the main development of Calvin's thought, accentuating his contributions without lingering over matters whose importance has become outdated.