 Section 1 of Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Gregory Wagenfuhr. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1 by John Calvin. Translated by Henry Beverage. Preparatory Material and Introduction. Preparatory Material. A New Translation by Henry Beverage, Esquire. The Institution of the Christian Religion, written in Latin by Master John Calvin, and translated into English according to the author's last edition. Seen and allowed according to the order appointed in the Querias Maestias in Yonctions. Introduction by the Reverend John Murray, M-A-T-H-M. The publication in English of another edition of the Opus Magnum of Christian Theology is an event fraught with much encouragement. Notwithstanding the decadence so patent in our present-day world and particularly in the realm of Christian thought and life, the publishers have confidence that there is sufficient interest to warrant such an undertaking. If this faith is justified, we have reason for Thanksgiving to God. For what would be a better harbinger of another Reformation than widespread recourse to the earnest and sober study of the Word of God, which would be evidenced by the readiness carefully to peruse the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Dr. B. B. Warfield in his admirable article on the literary history of the Institutes has condensed for us the appraisal-accorded Calvin's work by the critics, who have been most competent to judge. Among these tributes none expresses more adequately and none with comparable terceness the appraisal which his Calvin's do than that of the learned Joseph Scaliger, Solis Inter Theologus Calvinus. It would be a presumptuous undertaking to try to set forth all the reasons why Calvin holds that position of eminence in the history of Christian theology. By the grace and in the overruling providence of God, there was the convergence of multiple factors, and all of these it would be impossible to trace in their various interrelations and interactions. One of these, however, calls for special mention. Calvin was an exegete and biblical theologian of the first rank. No other one factor comparably served to equip Calvin for the successful prosecution of his greatest work, which in 1559 received its definitive addition. The attitude to Scripture entertained by Calvin and the principles which guided him in its exposition are nowhere stated with more simplicity and fervor than in the epistle dedicatory to his first commentary, the commentary on the epistle to the Romans. Such veneration, he says, We ought indeed to entertain for the word of God that we ought not pervert it in the least degree by varying expositions, for its majesty is diminished. I know not how much. Especially when not expounded with great discretion and with great sobriety. And if it be deemed a great wickedness to contaminate anything that is dedicated to God, he surely cannot be endured who, with impure or even with unprepared hands, will handle that very thing, which of all things is the most sacred on earth. It is therefore an audacity closely allied to a sacrilege rashly to turn Scripture in any way we please and to indulge our fancies as in sport, which has been done by many in former times. 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 ex-positions 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 truths set forth in the Word of God. His ex-Jesus, 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 exegety 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. When we say that he was par excellence a theologian, we must dissociate from our use of this word every notion that is suggestive of the purely speculative. No one has ever fulminated with more passion and eloquence against, quote, vakas and meteoric speculation, end quote, then has Calvin. And no one has ever been more keenly conscious that the theologian's task was the humble and at the same time truly noble one of being a disciple of the scripture. No man, he declares, quote, can have the least knowledge of true and sound doctrine without having been a disciple of the scripture. Hence originates all true wisdom when we embrace with reverence the testimony which God hath been pleased therein to deliver concerning himself, for obedience is the source, not only of an absolutely perfect and complete faith, but of all right knowledge of God, end quote. In the words of William Cunningham, quote, in theology there is of course no room for originality, properly so called, for its whole materials are contained in the actual statements of God's word. And he is the greatest and best theologian who has most accurately apprehended the meaning of the statements of scripture, who by comparing and combining them has most fully incorrectly brought out the whole mind of God on all the topics on which the scriptures give us information, who classifies and digest the truth of scriptures in the way best fitted to commend them to the apprehension and acceptance of men, and who can most clearly and forcibly bring out their scriptural evidence and most skillfully and effectively defend them against the assaults of the adversaries. Calvin was far above the weaknesses of aiming at the invention of novelties in theology or of wishing to be regarded as the discoverer of new opinions, end quote. As we bring even elementary understanding to bear upon our reading of the institutes, we shall immediately discover the profound sense of the majesty of God, veneration for the word of God, and the jealous care for faithful exposition and systematization, which were marked features of the author. And because of this, we shall find the institutes to be suffused with the warmth of godly fear. The institutes is not only the classic of Christian theology, it is also a model of Christian devotion. For what Calvin sought to foster was that, quote, pure and genuine religion, end quote, which consists in, quote, faith united with the serious fear of God, such fear as may embrace voluntary reverence and draw along with it legitimate worship, as is prescribed in the law, end quote. The present edition is from the translation made by Henry Beverage in 1845 for the Calvin Translation Society. The reader may be assured that the translation faithfully reflects the teaching of Calvin, but must also bear in mind that no translation can perfectly convey the thought of the original. It may also be added that a more adequate translation of Calvin's institutes into English is a real desideratum. In fulfilling this need, the translator or translators would perform the greatest service if the work of translation were supplemented by footnotes in which, at crucial points, where translation is difficult or most accurate translation impossible, the Latin text would be reproduced and comment would be made on its more exact import. Furthermore, footnotes which would supply the reader with references to other places in Calvin's writings where he deals with the same subject would be an invaluable help to students of Calvin and to the cause of truth. Admittedly, such work requires linguistic skill of the highest order, thorough knowledge of Calvin's writings and deep sympathy with his theology. It would also involve prodigious labor. We may hope that the seed being sown by the present venture may bear fruit someday in such a harvest. John Murray, Professor of Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, End of Section 1. Section 2 of Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1. This is a LibriVox recording. LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1 by John Calvin. Translated by Henry Beverage. Printers note an original translator's preface. The printers to the readers, whereas some men have thought and reported it to be very great negligence in us for that we have so long kept back from you this. Being so profitable a work for you, namely before the Master John Dawes had translated and delivered it into our hands more than a 12-month past, you shall understand for our excuse in that behalf that we could not well imprint it sooner. For we have been by diverse necessity, causes constrained with our earnest entreatance to procure and other freed, or ours to translate it whole again. This translation, we trust, you shall well allow, for it hath not only been faithfully done by the translator himself, but also hath been wholly perused by such men whose enginement and credit all the godly learned in England. Well know, I esteem. But since it has now come forth, we pray you accept it and see it. If any faults have passed us by oversight, we beseech you, let us have your patience as you have had our diligence. The Institutes of Christian Religion written in Latin by M. John Calvin and translated into English according to the author's last edition with sundry tables to find the principal matters entreated of in this book, and also the declaration of places of Scripture therein expounded by Thomas Norton. Whereon to there are newly added in the margin of the book notes containing in briefs the substance of the matters handled in each section. Printed at London by Arnold Hatfield for Bonham Norton, 1599. The original translator's preface prefixed to the fourth edition, 1581, and reprinted verbatim in all the subsequent editions. Thomas Norton, the translator to the reader. Good reader, here is now offered you the fourth time printed in English M. Calvin's book of the Institution of Christian Religion, a book of great labor to the author and of great profit to the Church of God. M. Calvin first wrote it when he was a young man, a book of small volume, and since that season he has at sundry times published it with new increases. Still protesting at every edition himself to be one of those proficient and proficient scribbund. Which with their writing do grow in profiting and with their profiting do proceed in writing. At length, having in many of his other works traveled about exposition of sundry books of the scriptures and in the same finding occasion to discourse of sundry common places and matters of doctrine, which being handled according to the occasions and texts that were offered him and not in any other method were not so ready for the reader's use. He therefore entered into this purpose to enlarge this book of institutions and therein to treat all of those titles and common places largely with this intent that whatsoever any occasion fell in his other books to treat of any such cause he would not newly amplify his books on commentaries and expositions therewith. But refer his reader wholly to this storehouse and treasurer of that sort of divine learning. As age and weakness grew upon him so he hastened his labor and according to his petition to God he in manner ended his life with his work for he lived not long after. So great a jewel was meet to be made most beneficial that is to say applied to most common use. Therefore in the very beginning of the Queen's Majesty's most blessed reign I translated it out of Latin into English for the commodity of the Church of Christ at the special request of my dear friends of worthy memory. Reginald Wolff and Edward Witchchurch the one Her Majesty's printer for the Hebrew, Greek and Latin tongues the other Her Highness's printer of the books of common prayer I performed my work in the house of my said friend Edward Witchchurch a man well known of upright heart and dealing an ancient zealous gospeler as plain and true a friend as ever I knew living and as desirous to do anything to common good especially by the advancement of true religion. At my first set edition of this book I considered how the author thereof had of long time purposefully labored to write the same most exactly and to pack great plenty of matter in small room of words. Yea, and those so circumspectfully and precisely ordered to avoid the cavalations of such as for enmity to the truth therein contained would gladly seek and abuse all advantages which might be found by any oversight impending of it that the sentences were thereby become so full as nothing might well be added without idle superficiality and again so highly paired that nothing could be diminished without taking away some necessary substance of matter therein expressed. This manner of writing beside particular terms of arts and figures and the difficulty of the matters themselves being throughout interlaced with the school men's controversies made a great hardness in the author's own book that the tongue were in otherwise he is both plentiful and easy in so much that it suffices not to read him once unless you can be content to read in vain. This consideration encumbered me with great doubtfulness for the whole order and frame of my translation. If I should follow the words I saw that of necessity the hardness in the translation must needs be greater than it was in the tongue if I should leave the course of words and grant myself liberty after the natural manner of my own tongue to say that in English which I conceived to be his meaning in Latin I plainly perceive how hardly I might escape error and on the other side in this matter of faith and religion how perilous it was to err for I durst not presume to warrant myself to have his meaning without his words and they that wet to translate well and faithfully especially in matters of religion do know that not the only grammatical construction of words suffices but the very building in order to observe all advantages of vehemence or grace by placing or accent of words make it much to the true setting forth of a writer's mind. In the end I rested upon this determination to follow the words so near as the phrase of the English tongue would suffer me which purpose I so performed that if the English book were printed in such paper and letter as the Latin is it should not exceed the Latin in quantity thereby beside all other commodities that a faithful translation of so good a work may bring. This one benefit is moreover provided for such as are desirous to attain some knowledge of the Latin tongue which is at this time to be wished in many of those men whose profession this book most fitly serveth that they shall not find any more English than shall suffice to construe the Latin with all except in such a few places where the great difference of the phrases of the languages enforced me so that comparing one with the other they shall benefit in good manner and furnish themselves with understanding of that speech wherein the greatest treasures of knowledge are disclosed in doing hereof I did not only trust my own wit or ability but examined my whole doing from sentence to sentence throughout the whole book with conference and overlooking of such learned men as my translation being allowed by their judgment both satisfied my own conscience that I had done truly and their approving of it might be a good warrant to the reader that nothing should herein be delivered him but sound unmingled and uncorrupted doctrine even in such sort as the author himself had first framed it all that I wrote the grave, learned, and virtuous man M. David Whitehead whom I name with honorable remembrance did amongst other things compare with the Latin examining every sentence throughout the whole book beside all this I privately required many and generally all men with whom I ever had any talk of this matter that if they found anything either not truly translated or not plainly Englished they would inform me thereof promising either to satisfy them or to amend it not been advertised by any men of anything which they would require to be altered neither had I myself by reason of my profession being otherwise occupied any leisure to peruse it and that is the cause why not only at the second and third time but also at this impression you have no change at all in the work but altogether as it was before indeed I perceived many men well-minded and studious of this book to require a table for their ease and furtherance their honest desire I have fulfilled in the second edition and have added there to a plentiful table which is also here inserted which I have translated out of the Latin wherein the principle matters discoursed in this book are named by their due titles in order of alphabet and under every title is set forth a brief sum of the whole doctrine taught in this book concerning the matters belonging to that title are commonplace and therewith is added the book chapter and section or division of the chapter where the same doctrine is more largely expressed and proved and for the reader finding thereof I have caused the number of the chapters to be set upon every leaf of the book and quoted the sections also by their due numbers the usual figures of algorithm and now at this last publishing my friends by whose charge it is now newly imprinted in a roman letter and smaller volume with divers other tables which since my second edition were gathered by M. Marlate to be translated in here and added for your benefit moreover whereas in the first edition the evil manner of my scribbling hand the interlining of my copy and some other causes well known among the workmen of that facility made very many faults to pass the printer I have in the second impression caused the book to be composed by the printed copy and corrected by the written whereby it must needs be that it was much more truly done than the other was as I myself do know above 300 faults amended and now with this last printing the composing after a printed copy bring a some ease and the diligence used about the correction having been right faithfully looked into it it cannot be much more truly set forth this is also performed that the volume being smaller with a letter fair and legible it is of more easy price that it may be of more common use and so to more large communicating of so great a treasure to those that desire Christian knowledge for instruction of their faith and guiding of their duties thus on the printers behalf and mine your ease and commodity good readers provided for now rest of your own diligence for your own profit in studying it to spend many words in commending the work itself are needless yet thus much I think I may both not unruly and not family say though many great learned men have written books of common places of our religion as melanchthon and char serious and others whose works are very good and profitable to the church of God yet by consenting judgment of those that understand the same there is none to be compared to this work of Calvin both words substantial sufficiency of doctrine and the sound declaring of truth in articles of our religion and learned confirmation of the same and the most deep and strong confusion of all old and new heresies so that the holy scriptures accepted this is one of the most profitable books for all students of Christian divinity where in good readers as I am glad for the glory of God and for your benefit that you may have this profit of my travel so I beseech you let me have this use of your kindness that my doings may be construed to such good end as I have meant them and that if any thing mislike you by reason of hardness or any other cause that may seem to be my default you would not forthwith condemn the work but read it after in which doing you will find as many have confessed to me that they have found by experience that those things which at the first reading shall displease your hardness shall be found so easy as so hard matter would suffer and for the most part more easy than some other phrase which should be greater looseness and smooth sliding away to see your understanding I confess indeed it is not finally and pleasantly written nor careth with it such delightful grace of speech as some great wise men have bestowed upon some foolisher things yet it contain a sound set forth with faithful plainness without wrong done to the author's meaning and so if you accept and use it you shall not fail to have great profit thereby and I shall think my labor very well employed. Thank you very much. Sire, when I first engaged in this work nothing was farther from my thoughts than to write what should afterwards be presented to your majesty. My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to true godliness and I toiled at the task chiefly for the sake of my countrymen the French multitudes of whom I perceived to be hungry and thirsting after Christ while very few seemed to have been duly imbued with even a slender knowledge of him that this was the object which I had in view is apparent from the work itself which is written in a simple and elementary form adapted for instruction but when I perceived that the fury of certain bad men had risen to such a height in your realm that there was no place in it for sound doctrine I thought it might be of service if I were in the same work both to give instruction to my countrymen and also lay before your majesty a confession from which you may learn what the doctrine is that so inflames the rage of these madmen who are this day with fire and sword troubling your kingdom for I fear not to declare that what I have here given may be regarded as a summary of the very doctrine which they vociferate ought to be punished with confiscation exile imprisonment and flames as well as exterminated by land and sea I am aware indeed how in order to render our cause as hateful to your majesty as possible they have filled your ears and mind with atrocious insinuations but you will be pleased of your clemency to reflect that neither in word nor deed could there be any innocence where it's sufficient merely to accuse when anyone with the view of exciting prejudice this doctrine of which I am endeavoring to give your majesty an account has been condemned by the suffrages of all the estates and was long ago stabbed again and again by partial sentences of courts of law he undoubtedly says nothing more than that it has been sometimes violently oppressed by the power and faction of adversaries and sometimes fraudulently and insidiously overwhelmed by lies, cavals, and calamity while a cause is unheard it is violence to pass sanguinary sentences against it it is fraud to charge it contrary to its desserts with sedition and mischief that no one may suppose we are unjust and thus complaining you yourself, most illustrious sovereign can bear us witness with what lying calamities it is daily traduced in your presence as aiming at nothing else than to rest the sceptres of kings out of their hands turn all tribunals and seats of justice to subvert all order and government to disturb the peace and quiet of society to abolish all laws destroy the distinctions of rank and property and in short turn all things upside down and yet that which you hear is but the smallest portion of what is said for among the common people are disseminated certain horrible insinuations insinuations which if well founded would justify the whole world in condemning the doctrine with its authors to a thousand fires and gibets who can wonder that the popular hatred is inflamed against it when credit is given to those most iniquitous accusations see why all ranks unite with one accord in condemning our persons and our doctrine carried away by this feeling those who sit in judgment merely give utterance to the prejudices which they have imbibed at home and think they have duly performed their part if they do not order punishment to be afflicted on anyone until convicted either on his own confession or on legal evidence but of what crime convicted of that condemned doctrine is the answer but with what justice condemned the very essence of the defense was not to abjure the doctrine itself but to maintain its truth on this subject however not a whisper is allowed justice then most invincible sovereign entitles me to demand that you will undertake a thorough investigation of this cause which has hitherto been tossed about in any kind of way and handled in the most irregular manner without any order of law and with passionate heat rather than judicial gravity let it not be imagined that I am here framing my own private defense with the view of obtaining a safe return to my native land though I cherish towards it the feelings which become me as a man still as matters now are I can be absent from it without regret the cause which I plead is the common cause of all the godly and therefore the very cause of Christ a cause which throughout your realm now lies as it were in despair torn and trampled upon in all kinds of ways and that more through the tyranny of certain Pharisees and from yourself but it matters not to inquire how the thing is done the fact that it is done cannot be denied for so far have the wicked prevailed that the truth of Christ if not utterly routed and dispersed lurks as if it were ignobally buried while the poor church either wasted by cruel slaughter or driven into exile or intimidated and terror struck scarcely ventures to breathe still her enemies press on her wanted rage and fury over the ruins which they have made strenuously assaulting the wild which is already giving way meanwhile no man comes forth to offer his protection against such furies any who would be thought most favorable to the truth merely talk of pardoning the error and imprudence of ignorant men for so those modest personages speak giving the name of error and imprudence to that which they know to be the infallible truth of God and of ignorant men to those whose intellect they see that Christ has not despised seeing he has deigned to entrust them with the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom thus all are ashamed of the gospel your duty most serene prince is not to shut either your ears or mind against a cause involving such mighty interests as these how the glory of God is to be maintained on the earth in violet how the truth of God is to preserve its dignity how the kingdom of Christ is to continue amongst us compact and secure the causes worthy of your ear worthy of your investigation worthy of your throne the characteristic of a true sovereign is to acknowledge that in the administration of his kingdom he is a minister of God he who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory acts the part not of a king but a robber he moreover deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the scepter of God that is by his divine word for the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared that where there is no vision the people perish Proverbs 29 18 let not a contemptuous idea of our insignificance dissuade you from the investigation of this cause we indeed are perfectly conscious how poor and abject we are in the presence of God we are miserable sinners and in the sight of men most despised we are, if you will the mere dregs and offscourings of the world or worse if worse can be named so that before God there remains nothing of which we can glory save only his mercy by which without any merit of our own we are admitted to the hope of eternal salvation and before men not even this much remains since we can glory only in our infirmity a thing which in the estimation of men is the greatest ignominy even tacitly to confess but our doctrine must stand sublime above all the glory of the world and invincible by all its power because it is not ours but that of the living God and his anointed whom the father has appointed king both from sea to sea and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth and so rule as to smite the whole earth and its strength of iron and brass its splendor of gold and silver with the mere rod of his mouth and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel according to the magnificent predictions of the prophets respecting his kingdom Daniel 2.34 Isaiah 11.4 Psalm 2.9 and indeed clamorously maintain that our appeal to the word of God is a mere pretext that we are in fact its worst corruptors how far this is not only malicious calumny but also shameless affrontery you will be able to decide of your own knowledge by reading our confession here however it may be necessary to make some observations which may dispose or at least assist you to read and study it with attention when Paul declared that all prophecy ought to be according to the analogy of faith Romans 12.6 he laid down the surest rule for determining the meaning of scripture let our doctrine be tested by this rule and our victory is secure for what accords better and more aptly with faith than to acknowledge ourselves divested of all virtue that we may be clothed by God devoid of all goodness that we may be filled by him the slaves of sin that give us freedom blind that he may enlighten lame that he may cure and feeble that he may sustain us to strip ourselves of all ground of glorifying that he alone may shine forth glorious and we be glorified in him when these things and others to the same effect are said by us they interpose and quarrelously complain that in this way we overturn some blind light of nature but we read not of any having been blamed for drinking too much of the fountain of living water on the contrary those are severely reprimanded who have hewed them out cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water Jeremiah 2.6 we read not of any having been blamed for drinking too much of the fountain of living water on the contrary those are severely reprimanded that can hold no water Jeremiah 2.13 again what more agreeable to faith than to feel assured that God is a propitious father when Christ is acknowledged as a brother and propitiator than confidently to expect all prosperity and gladness from him whose ineffable love towards us was such that he spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all Romans 8.32 then to rest in the sure hope of eternal life whenever Christ in whom such treasures are hid is conceived to have been given by the father here they attack us and loudly maintain that this sure confidence is not free from arrogance and presumption but as nothing is to be presumed of ourselves so all things are to be presumed of God nor are we stripped of being glory for any other reason than that we may learn to glory in the Lord why go farther take but a cursory view most valiant king of all the parts of our cause and count us of all wicked men the most iniquitous if you do not discover plainly that therefore we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God first Timothy 4.10 because we believe it to be life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent John 17.3 for this hope some of us are in bonds some beaten with rods some made a gazing stock some proscribed some most cruelly tortured some obliged to flee we are all pressed with straits loaded with dire execrations lacerated by slanders and treated with the greatest indignity look now to our adversaries I mean the priesthood at whose beck and pleasure others ply their enmity against us and consider with me for a little what zeal they are actuated the true religion which is delivered in the scriptures in which all ought to hold they readily permit both themselves and others to be ignorant of to neglect and despise and they deem it of little moment what each man believes concerning God and Christ or disbeliefs provided he submits to the judgment of the church with what they call implicit faith nor are they greatly concerned though they should see the glow of God dishonored by open blasphemies provided not a finger is raised against the primacy of the apostolic sea and the authority of the holy mother church why then do they war for the mass purgatory pilgrimage and similar follies with such fierceness and acerbity that though they cannot prove one of them from the word of God they deny godliness can be safe without faith in these things faith drawn out if I may so express it to its utmost why just because their belly is their God and their kitchen their religion and they believe that if these were away they could not only not be Christians but not even men for although some wallow in luxury and others feed on slender crusts still they all live by the same pot which without that fuel might not only cool but altogether freeze he accordingly who is most anxious about his stomach proves the fiercest champion of his faith in short the object on which all to a man are bent is to keep their kingdom safe or their belly filled not one gives even the smallest sign of sincere zeal nevertheless they cease not to assail our doctrine and to accuse and defame it in what terms they may in order to render it either hated or suspected they call it new and of recent birth they warp at it as doubtful and uncertain they bid us tell by what miracles it has been confirmed they ask if it be fair to receive it against the consent of so many holy fathers and the most ancient custom they urge us to confess either that it is schismatical in giving battle to the church or that the church must have been without life during the many centuries in which nothing of the kind was heard lastly they say there is little need of argument for its quality may be known by its fruits namely the large number of sex the many seditious disturbances and the great licentiousness which it has produced no doubt it is a very easy matter for them in presence of an ignorant and credulous multitude to insult over an undefended cause but were an opportunity of mutual discussion afforded that acrimony which they now pour out upon us in frothy torrents with as much importance as impunity would assuredly boil dry 1. First in calling it new they are exceedingly injurious to God whose sacred word deserved not to be charged with novelty to them indeed I very little doubt it is new as Christ is new and the gospel new but those who are acquainted with the old saying of Paul that Christ Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification for 25 will not detect any novelty in us that it long lay buried and unknown is the guilty consequence of man's impiety but now when by the kindness of God it is restored to us it ought to resume its antiquity just as the returning citizen resumes his rights 2. It is owing to the same ignorance that they hold it to be doubtful and uncertain for this is the very thing of which the Lord complains by the prophet the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his masters crib but Israel doth not know my people doth not consider Isaiah 1 3 but however they may sport with its uncertainty had they to seal their own doctrine with their blood and at the expense of life it would be seen what value they put upon it very different is our confidence a confidence which is not appalled by the terrors of death and therefore not even by the judgment seat of God 3 in demanding miracles of us they act dishonestly for we have not coined some new gospel but retain the very one the truth of which is confirmed by all the miracles which Christ in the apostles ever wrought but they have a peculiarity which we have not they can confirm their faith by constant miracles down to the present day way rather they allege miracles which might produce wavering in minds otherwise well disposed they are so frivolous and ridiculous so vain and falls but were they even exceedingly wonderful they could have no effect against the truth of God whose name ought to be hallowed always and everywhere whether by miracles or by the natural course of events the deception would perhaps be more specious if scripture did not admonish us of the legitimate end of miracles mark tells us mark 16 20 that the signs which followed the preaching of the apostles were wrought in confirmation of it so luke also relates that the lord gave testimony to the word of his grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by the hands of the apostles acts 14 3 very much to the same effect are those words of the apostle that salvation by a preached gospel was confirmed bearing witness with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles Hebrews 2 4 those things which we are told are seals of the gospel shall we pervert to the subversion of the gospel what was destined only to confirm the truth shall we misapply to the confirmation of lies the proper course therefore is in the first instance to ascertain and examine the doctrine which is said by the evangelist to proceed then after it has been proved but not till then it may receive confirmation from miracles but the mark of sound doctrine given by our savior himself is its tendency to promote the glory not of men but of God John 7 18 and chapter 8 verse 50 our savior having declared this to be test of doctrine we are in error if we regard as miraculous works which are used for any other purpose than to magnify the name of God and it becomes us to remember that Satan has his miracles which although they are tricks rather than true wonders are still such as to delude the ignorant and unwary magicians and enchanters have always been famous for miracles and miracles of an astonishing description have given support to idolatry these however do not make us converts to the superstitions either of magicians or idolaters in old times too the donatists used their power of working miracles as a battering ram with which they shook the simplicity of the common people we now give to our opponents the answer which Augustine then gave to the donatists the Lord put us on our guard against those wonder workers when he foretold that false prophets would arise who by lying signs and diverse wonders would if it were possible to see the very elect Matthew 2424 Paul too gave warning that the reign of antichrist would be with all power and signs and lying wonders 2nd Thessalonians 2 9 but our opponents tell us that their miracles are wrought not by idols not by sorcerers not by false prophets but by saints as if we did not know it to be one of Satan's wiles to transform himself into an angel of light 2nd Corinthians 1114 the Egyptians in whose neighborhood Jeremiah was buried anciently sacrificed and paid other divine honors to him did they not make an idolatrous abuse of the holy prophet of God and yet in recompense for so venerating his tomb they thought that they were cured of the bite of serpents what then shall we say but that it has been and always will be a most just punishment of God to send on those who did not receive the truth in the love of it strong delusion that they should believe a lie 2nd Thessalonians 2 11 we then have no lack of miracles sure miracles that cannot be gainsaid but those to which our opponents lay claim are mere delusions of Satan in as much as they draw off the people from the true worship of God to vanity 4 it is a calamity to represent us as opposed to the fathers I mean the ancient writers of a purer age as if the fathers were supporters of their impiety were the contest to be decided by such authority to speak in the most moderate terms the better part of the victory would be ours while there is much that is admirable and wise in the writings of those fathers and while in some things it has fared with them as with ordinary men these pious sons forsooth with the peculiar acuteness of intellect and judgment and soul which belongs to them adore only their slips and errors while those things which are well said they either overlook or disguise or corrupt so that it may be truly said their only care has been to gather dross among gold then with dishonest clamor they assail us as enemies and despisers of the fathers so far are we from despising them that if this were the proper place it would give us no trouble to support the greater part of the doctrines which we now hold by their suffrages still in studying their writings we have endeavored to remember 1 Corinthians 3 21 to 23 that all things are ours to serve not lorded over us but that we are Christ's only and must obey him in all things without exception he who does not draw this distinction will not have any fixed principles in religion for those holy men were ignorant of many things are often opposed to each other and are sometimes at variance with themselves it is not without cause remark our opponents we are thus warned by Solomon remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set Proverbs 22 28 but the same rule applies not to the measuring of fields and the obedience of faith the rule applicable to the latter is also thy known people and thy father's house Psalm 45 10 but if they are so fond of allegory why do they not understand the apostles rather than any other class of fathers to be meant by those whose landmarks it is unlawful to remove this is the interpretation of Jerome whose words they have quoted in their cannons but as regards those to whom they apply the passage if they wish the landmarks to be fixed why do they whenever it suits their purpose so freely overleap them among the fathers there are two the one of whom said our God neither eats nor drinks and therefore has no need of chalices and salvers and the other sacred rites do not require gold and things which are not bought with gold please not buy gold they step beyond the boundary therefore when in sacred matters they are so much delighted with gold however ivory marble gems and silks that unless everything is overlaid with costly show or rather insane luxury they think God is not duly worshiped it was a father who said he ate flesh freely on the day in which others abstained from it because he was a Christian they overleap the boundaries therefore when they doomed to perdition every soul that during lent shall have tasted flesh there are two fathers the one of whom said a monk not laboring with his own hands is no better than a violent man and a robber and the other monks however assiduous they may be in study, meditation and prayer must not live by others this boundary too they transgressed when they placed lazy gormandizing monks in dens and stews to gorge themselves on other men's substance it was a father who said it is a horrid abomination to see in Christian temples a painted image either of Christ or of any saint nor was this pronounced by the voice of a single individual but an ecclesiastical council also decreed let not that is worshiped be depicted on walls very far are they from keeping within these boundaries when they leave not a corner without images another father counseled that after performing the office of humanity to the dead in their burial we should leave them at rest these limits they burst through when they keep up a perpetual anxiety about the dead it is a father who testifies that the substance of bread and wine in the Eucharist does not cease but remains just as the nature and substance of man remains united to the Godhead in the Lord Jesus Christ this boundary they pass in pretending that as soon as the words of our Lord are pronounced the substance of bread and wine ceases and is transubstantiated into body and blood they were fathers who as they exhibited only one Eucharist to the whole church and kept back from it the profane and so they in the severest terms censured all those who being present did not communicate how far have they removed these landmarks in filling not churches only but also private houses with their houses admitting all and sundry to be present each the more willingly the more largely he pays however wicked and impure he may be not inviting anyone to faith in Christ and faithful communion in the sacraments but rather vending their own work for the grace and merits of Christ there were two fathers the one whom decided that those were to be excluded altogether from partaking of Christ's sacred supper who contented with communion of the kind abstained from the other while the other father strongly contends that the blood of the Lord ought not to be denied to the Christian people who in confessing him are enjoined to shed their own blood these landmarks also they removed when by an unalterable law they ordered the very thing which the former father punished with excommunication and the letter condemned for a valid reason it was a father who pronounced rashness in an obscure question to decide in either way without clear and evident authority from Scripture they forgot this landmark when they enacted so many constitutions so many cannons and so many dogmatical decisions without sanction from the word of God it was a father who reproved montanus among other heresies for being the first who imposed laws of fasting they have gone far beyond this landmark also in enjoining fasting under the strictest laws it was a father who denied that the ministers of the church should be interdicted from marrying and pronounced married life to be a state of chastity and there were other fathers who assented to his decision these boundaries they overstepped in rigidly binding their priests to celibacy it was a father who thought that Christ only should be listened to from its being said hear him and that regard is due not to what others before us have said or done but only to what Christ the head of all has commanded this landmark they neither observed themselves nor allowed to be observed by others while they subject themselves and others to any master whatever rather than Christ there is a father who contends that the church ought not to prefer herself to Christ who always judges truly whereas ecclesiastical judges men are generally deceived having burst through this barrier also they hesitate not to suspend the whole authority of scripture on the judgment of the church all the fathers with one heart executed and with one mouth protested against contaminating the word of God with the subtleties, sophists and involving it in the brawls of dialecticians do they keep within these limits when the sole occupation of their lives is to entwine and entangle the simplicity of scripture with endless disputes and worse than sophisticial jargon so much so that were the fathers to rise from their graves and listen to the brawling art which bears the name of speculative theology there is nothing they would suppose it less to be than a discussion of a religious nature but my discourse would far exceed its just limits where I to show in detail how petulently these men shake off the yoke of the fathers while they wish to be thought their most obedient sons months, nay, years would fail me and yet so deplorable and desperate is there a frontery that they presume to chastise us for overstepping the ancient landmarks five then again it is to no purpose they call us to the bar of custom to make everything yield to custom would be to do the greatest injustice where the judgments of mankind correct custom would be regulated by the good but it is often far otherwise in point of fact for whatever the many are seen to do forthwith obtains the force of custom but human affairs have scarcely ever been so happily constituted as that the better course pleased the greater number hence the private vices of the multitude have generally resulted in public error or rather that common consent in vice which these worthy men have to be law anyone with eyes may perceive that it is not one flood of evils which has deluged us that many fatal plagues have invaded the globe that all things rush headlong so that either the affairs of men must be altogether disparate of or we must not only resist but boldly attack prevailing evils the cure is prevented by no other cause than the length of time during which we have been accustomed to the disease but be it so that public error must have a place in human society still in the kingdom of God we must look and listen only to his eternal truth against which no series of years no custom no conspiracy complete prescription thus Isaiah formerly taught the people of God say he not a confederacy to all to whom this people shall say a confederacy i.e. do not unite with the people in impious consent neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid sanctify the lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread Isaiah 812 now therefore let them if they will object to us both past ages and present examples if we sanctify the lord of hosts we shall not be greatly afraid though many ages should have consented to like ungodliness or the wrong who take a vengeance to the third and fourth generation or the whole world should lead together in the same iniquity he taught experimentally what the end is of those who sin with the multitude when he destroyed the whole human race with a flood saving Noah with his little family who by putting his faith in him alone condemned the world Hebrews 117 in short depraved custom is just a kind of general pestilence in which men perish not the less that they fall in a crowd it were well more over to ponder the observation of Cyprian that those who sin in ignorance though they cannot be entirely exculpated seem however to be in some sense excusable whereas those who obstinately reject the truth when presented to them by the kindness of God have no defense to offer 6. their dilemma does not push us so violently to oblige us to confess either that the church was a considerable time without life or that we have now a quarrel with the church the church of Christ assuredly has lived and will live as long as Christ shall reign at the right hand of the Father by his hand it is sustained by his protection defended by his mighty power preserved in safety for what he once undertook he will undoubtedly perform he will be with his people always even to the end of the world Matthew 28 20 with the church we wage no war since with one consent in common with the whole body of the faithful we worship and adore one God and Christ Jesus the Lord as all pious have always adored him but they themselves are not a little from the truth in not recognizing any church but that which they behold with the bodily eye and in endeavoring to circumscribe it by limits within which it cannot be confined the hinges on which the controversy turns are these first in their contending that the form of the church is always visible and apparent and secondly in their placing this form in the sea of the church of Rome and its hierarchy we on the contrary maintain both that the church may exist without any apparent form and moreover that the form is not ascertained by that external splendor which they foolishly admire but by a very different mark namely by the pure preaching of the word of God and the due administration of the sacraments they make an outcry whenever the church cannot be pointed to with the finger but how oft was it the fate of the church among the Jews to be so defaced that no comeliness appeared what do we suppose to have been the splendid form when Elijah complained that he was left alone first Kings 1914 how long after the advent of Christ did it lie hid without form how often since has it been so oppressed by wars seditions and heresies that it was nowhere seen in splendor had they lived at that time would they have believed that there was any church but Elijah learned that there remained 7000 men who had not bowed the knee to bail nor ought we to doubt that Christ has always reigned on earth ever since he ascended to heaven had the faithful at that time required some discernible form must they not have forthwith given way to despondency and indeed Hillary accounted it a very great fault in his day that men were so possessed with a foolish admiration of episcopal dignity as not to perceive the deadly hydra lurking under that mask his words are one advice I give beware of antichrist for unhappily a love of walls has seized you unhappily the church of God which you venerate exists in houses and buildings unhappily under these you will find the name of peace is it doubtful that in these antichrist will have his seat safer to me are mountains and woods and lakes and dungeons and world pools since in these prophets dwelling or immersed did prophesy and what is it at the present day that the world venerates in its horned bishops unless that it imagines those who are seen presiding over celebrated cities to be holy prelates of religion away then with this absurd mode of judging let us rather reverently admit that as God alone knows who are his so he may sometimes withdraw the external manifestation of his church from the view of men this I allow is a fearful punishment which God sends on the earth but if the wickedness of men so deserves why do we strive to oppose the just vengeance of God it was thus that God in past ages punished the ingratitude of men for after they had refused to obey his truth and had extinguished his light he allowed them when blinded by sense both to be deluded by lying vanities and plunged in thick darkness so that no face of a true church appeared meanwhile however though his own soul were dispersed and concealed amidst errors and darkness he saved them from destruction no wonder for he knew how to preserve them even in the confusion of Babylon and the flame of the fiery furnace but as to the wish that the form of the church should be ascertained by some kind of vain pomp how perilous it is I will briefly indicate rather than explain that I may not exceed all bounds what they say is that the chief who holds the apostolic sea and the priests who are anointed and consecrated by him provided they have the insignia of fillets and miters represent the church and ought to be considered as in the place of the church and therefore cannot err why so because they are pastors of the church and consecrated to the Lord and were not Aaron and other prefects of Israel pastors but Aaron and his sons though already set apart to the priesthood urged notwithstanding when they made the calf Exodus 32.4 why according to this view should not the 400 prophets who lied to Ahab represent the church 1 Kings 22.11 etc the church however stood on the side of Micaiah he was alone indeed and despised but from his mouth the truth proceeded did not the prophets also exhibit both the name and face of the church when with one accord they rose up against Jeremiah and with menaces boasted of it as a thing impossible that the law should perish from the priest or counsel from the wise or the word from the prophet Jeremiah 18.18 in opposition to the whole body of the prophets Jeremiah is sent alone to declare from the Lord Jeremiah 4.9 that a time would come when the law would perish from the priest counsel from the wise or from the prophet was not like splendor displayed in that counsel when the chief priests scribes and Pharisees assembled to consult how they might put Jesus to death let them go then and cling to the external mask while they make Christ and all the prophets of God schismatics and on the other hand make Satan's ministers the organs of the Holy Spirit but if they are sincere let them answer me in good faith and among whom do they think the church resided after the counsel of Basil degraded and deposed Eugenius from the Popedom and substituted Amadeus in his place do their utmost they cannot deny that that counsel was legitimate as far as regards external forms and was summoned not only by one pontiff but by two Eugenius with the whole herd of cardinals and bishops who had joined him in plotting the dissolution of the counsel condemned of contumacy, rebellion and schism afterwards however aided by the favor of princes he got back his Popedom safe the election of Amadeus duly made by the authority of a general holy synod went to smoke only he himself was appeased with a cardinal's cap like a piece of awful thrown to a barking dog out of the lap of these rebellious and contumatious schismatics preceded all future popes, cardinals bishops, abbots and presbyters here they are caught and cannot escape for on which party will they bestow the name of church will they deny it to have been a general counsel though it lacked nothing as regards external majesty having been solemnly called by two bulls consecrated by the legate of the roman sea as its president constituted regularly in all respects and continuing in possession of all its honors to the last will they admit that Eugenius and his whole train through whom they have all been consecrated were schismatical let them then either define the form of the church differently or however numerous they are we will hold them all to be schismatics in having knowingly and willingly received ordination from heretics but had it never been discovered before that the church is not tied to external pomp we are furnished with a lengthened proof of their own conduct in proudly vending themselves to the world under the specious title of church notwithstanding that they are the deadly pests of the church I speak not of their manners and of those tragical atrocities with which their whole life teams since it is said that they are Pharisees who should be heard not imitated by devoting some portion of your leisure to our writings you will see not obscurely that their doctrine to which they say it is owing that they are the church is a deadly murderer of souls the firebrand ruin and destruction of the church seven lastly they are far from candid when they invidiously number up the disturbances, tumults and disputes which the preaching of our doctrine has brought in its train and the fruits which in many instances it now produces for the doctrine itself is recharged with evils which ought to be ascribed to the malice of Satan it is one of the characteristics of the divine word that whenever it appears Satan ceases to slumber and sleep this is the surest and most unerring test for distinguishing it from false doctrines which readily betray themselves while they are received by all with willing ears and welcomed by an applauding world accordingly for several ages during which all things were immersed in profound darkness almost all mankind were mere jest and sport to the God of this world who like any sardinopolis idled and luxuriated undisturbed for what else could he do but laugh and sport while in tranquil and undisputed possession of his kingdom but when light beaming from above somewhat dissipated the darkness when the strong man arose and aimed a blow at his kingdom then indeed he began to shake off his wanted torpor and rush to arms and first he stirred up the hands of men that by them he might violently suppress the dawning truth but when this availed him not he turned to snares exciting dissensions and disputes about doctrine by means of his catabaptists and other portentous miscreants that he might thus obscure and at length extinguish the truth and now he persists in assailing it with both engines endeavoring to pluck up the true seed by the violent hand of man and striving as much as in him lies to choke it with his tears that it may not grow and bear knit but it will be in vain if we listen to the admonition of the Lord who long ago disclosed his wiles that we might not be taken unawares and armed us with full protection against all his machinations but how malignant to throw upon the word of God itself the blame either of the seditions which wicked men and rebels or of the sects which imposters stir up against it the example, however, is not new Elijah was interrogated whether it were not he that troubled Israel Christ was seditious according to the Jews and the apostles were charged with the crime of popular commotion what else do these who in the present day impute to us offenses, tumults and contentions which break out against us Elijah, however, has taught us our answer, 1 Kings 18 17 and 18 it is not we who disseminate errors or stir up tumults but they who resist the mighty power of God but while this single answer is sufficient to rebut the rash charges of these men it is necessary, on the other hand to consult for the weakness of those who take the alarm of such scandals and not unfrequently waver in perplexity but that they may not fall away in this perplexity and forfeit their good degree let them know that the apostles in their day experienced the very things which now befall us there were then unlearned and unstable men who, as Peter tells us 2 Peter 3 16 rested the inspired writings of Paul to their own destruction there were despisers of God who, when they heard that sin abounded in order that grace might more abound immediately inferred we will continue in sin that grace may abound Romans 6 1 when they heard that believers were not under the law but under grace for with sung out we will sin because we are not under the law but under grace Romans 6 15 there were some who charged the apostle with being the minister of sin especially to pull down the churches which he had reared some preached the gospel through envy and strife not sincerely Philippians 1 15 maliciously even thinking to add affliction to his bonds elsewhere the gospel made little progress all sought their own not the things which were Jesus Christ others went back like the dog to his vomit or the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire great numbers perverted their spiritual freedom to carnal licentiousness false brethren crept in to the imminent danger of the faithful among the brethren themselves various quarrels arose what then were the apostles to do were they either to dissemble for the time or rather to lay aside and abandon that gospel which they knew to be the seed bed of so many stripes the source of so many perils the occasion of so many scandals the straits of this kind they remembered that Christ was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence set up for the fall and rising again of many and for a sign to be spoken against Luke 234 and armed with this assurance they proceeded boldly through all perils from tumults and scandals it becomes us to be supported by the same consideration since Paul declares that it is a never-failing characteristic of the gospel to be a saver of death unto death in them that perish 2 Corinthians 2 16 although rather destined to us for the purpose of being a saver of life unto life and the power of God for the salvation of believers this we should certainly experience it to be did we not by our ingratitude corrupt this unspeakable gift of God and turn to our destruction what ought to be our only saving defense but to return sire be not moved by the absurd insinuations with which our adversaries are striving to frighten you into the belief that nothing else is wished and aimed at by this new gospel for so they term it then opportunity for sedition and impunity for all kinds of vice our God is not the author of division but of peace and the son of God who came to destroy the works of the devil is not the minister of sin we too are undeservedly charged with desires of a kind for which we have never given even the smallest suspicion we forsooth meditate the subversion of kingdoms we whose voice was never heard in faction and whose life while passed under you is known to have been always quiet and simple even now when exiled from our home we nevertheless cease not to pray for all prosperity to your person and your kingdom we forsooth are aiming after an unchecked indulgence in vice in whose manners though there is much to be blamed there is nothing which deserves such an imputation nor thank God have we profited so little in the gospel that our life may not be to those slanderers an example of chastity, kindness, pity temperance, patience moderation or any other virtue it is plain indeed that we fear God sincerely and worship him in truth since whether by life or by death we desire his name to be hallowed and hatred herself has been forced to bear testimony to the innocence and civil integrity of some of our people on whom death was inflicted for the very thing which deserved the highest praise but if any under pretext of the gospel excite two malts none such have as yet been detected in your realm if any use the liberty of the grace of God as a cloak for licentiousness I know of numbers who do there are laws and legal punishments by which they may be punished up to the measure of their desserts only in the meantime let not the gospel of God be evil spoken of because of the iniquities of evil men sire that you may not lend too credulous an ear to the accusations of our enemies their virulent injustice has been set before you at sufficient length I fear even more than sufficient since this preface has grown almost to the bulk of a full apology my object however was not to frame a defense but only with a view to the hearing of our cause to malify your mind now indeed turned away and estranged from us I add even inflamed against us but whose good will we are confident we should regain would you but once with calmness and composure read this our confession which we desire your majesty to accept instead of a defense but if the whispers of the malevolent so possess your ear that the accused are to have no opportunity of pleading their cause if the vindictive furies with your connivance are always to rage with bonds scourging tortures maimings and burnings we indeed like sheep doomed to slaughter shall be reduced to every extremity yet so that in our patients we will possess our souls and wait for the strong hand of the lord which doubtless will appear in its own time and show itself armed both to rescue the poor from affliction and also to take vengeance on the despisers who are now exalting so securely most illustrious king may the lord the king of kings establish your throne in righteousness and your scepter in equity Basil 1st August 1536 End of Section 3 Section 4 of Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 1 This is the LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 1 by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage The Epistle to the Reader Prefixed to the 2nd edition published at Strasburg in 1539 In the 1st edition of this work having no expectation of the success which God has in his goodness been pleased to give it I had for the greater part performed my office perfunctually as his usual and trivial undertakings but when I perceived that almost all the godly had received it with a favor which I had never dared to wish far less hope for being sincerely conscious that I had received much more than I deserved I thought I should be very ungrateful if I did not endeavor at least according to my humble ability to respond to the great kindness which had been expressed towards me and which spontaneously urged me to diligence I therefore asked no other favor from the studios for my new work than that which they have already bestowed upon me beyond my merits I feel so much obliged that I shall be satisfied if I am thought not to have made a bad return for the gratitude I owe this return I would have made much earlier had not the Lord for almost two whole years exercised me in an extraordinary manner but it is soon enough if well enough I shall think it has appeared in good season when I perceive that it produces some fruit I may add that my object in this work was to prepare and train students of theology for the study of the sacred volume so that they might both have an easy introduction to it and be able to proceed in it with unfaltering step seeing I have endeavor to give such a summary of religion in all its parts and have digested it into such an order as may make it not difficult for anyone who is rightly acquainted with it to ascertain both what he ought to principally to look for in scripture and also to what head he ought to refer whatever is contained in it having thus, as it were, paved the way I shall not feel it necessary in any commentaries on scripture which I may afterwards publish to enter into long discussions of doctrine or dilate on common places and will therefore always compress them this way the pious reader will be saved much trouble and weariness provided he comes furnished with a knowledge of the present work as an essential prerequisite as my commentary on the epistle to the Romans will give a spesmo this plan I would much rather let it speak for itself than declare it in words farewell dear reader and if you derive any fruit from my labor give me the benefit of your prayers to the Lord Strasburg 1st of August 1539 subject of the present work prefix to the French edition published at Geneva in 1545 in order that my readers may be better able to profit by my present work I am desires briefly to point out the advantage which they may derive from it for by so doing I will show them the end at which they ought to aim and to which they ought to give their attention in reading it although the holy scriptures contain a perfect doctrine to which nothing can be added our Lord having been pleased therein to unfold the infinite treasures of his wisdom still every person not intimately acquainted with them stands in need of some guidance and direction as to what he ought to look for in them that he may not wander up and down but pursue a certain path and so attain the end to which the Holy Spirit invites him hence it is the duty of those who have received from God more light than others to assist the simple in this matter and as it were lend them their hand to guide and assist them in finding the sum of what God has been pleased to teach us in his word now this cannot be better done in writing than by treating in succession of the principal matters in Christian philosophy for he who understands these will be prepared to make more progress in the school of God in one day than any other person in three months in so much as he in a great measure knows to what he should refer each sentence and has a rule by which to test whatever is presented to him seeing then how necessary it was in this manner to aid those who desire to be instructed in the doctrine of salvation I have endeavored accordingly to the ability which God has given me to employ myself in so doing and with this view have composed the present book and first I wrote it in Latin that it might be serviceable to all studious persons of what nations so ever they might be afterwards desiring to communicate any fruit which might be in it to my French countrymen to get it into our own tongue I dare not bear too strong a testimony in its favor and declare how profitable the reading of it will be lest I should seem to prize my own work too highly however I may promise this much that it will be a kind of key opening to all the children of God a right and ready access to the understanding of the sacred volume wherefore should our Lord give me a fourth means and opportunity of composing some commentaries I will use the greatest possible brevity as there will be no occasion to make long digressions seeing that I have in a manner deduced at length all the articles which pertain to Christianity and since we are bound to acknowledge that all truth and sound doctrine proceed from God I will venture boldly to declare what I think of this work acknowledging it to be God's work rather than mine to him indeed the praise do it must be ascribed my opinion of the work then is this I exhort all who reverence the word of the Lord to read it and diligently imprint it on their memory if they would in the first place have a summary of Christian doctrine and in the second place an introduction to the profitable reading of the Old and New Testament when they have done so they will know by experience that I have not wished to impose upon them with words should anyone be unable to comprehend all that is contained in it he must not however give it up and despair but continue always to read on hoping that one passage will give them a more familiar exposition of another I would recommend that recourse be had to scripture in considering the proofs which I adduce from it and of section 4 recorded by Lyle Wilson Haymarket, Virginia May 2009 section 5 of institutes of the Christian religion book 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org institutes of the Christian religion book 1 by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage epistle to the reader and method and arrangement or subject of the whole book epistle to the reader prefix to the last edition revised by the author in the first edition of this work having not the least expectation of the success which God in his boundless goodness has been pleased to give it I had for the greater part performed my task in a perfunctory manner as is usual in trivial undertakings but when I understood that it had been received by almost all the pious with a favor which I'd never dared to ask far less hope for the more I was sincerely conscious that the reception was beyond my desserts the greater I thought my ingratitude would be if to the very kind wishes which had been expressed towards me and which seemed of their own accord to invite me to diligence I did not endeavor to respond at least according to my humble ability this I attempted not only in the second edition but in every subsequent one of the work has received some improvement but though I did not regret seriously expended I never felt satisfied until the work was arranged in the order in which it now appears now I trust it will approve itself of the judgment of all my readers as a clear proof of the diligence with which I have labored to perform this service to the church of God I may be permitted to mention that last winter when I thought I was dying of cordon aegu the more the disorder increased the less I spared myself in order that I might leave this book behind me and thus make some return to the pious for their kind urgency I could have wished to give it sooner but it is soon enough if good enough I shall think it has appeared in good time when I see it more productive of benefit than formally to the church of God this is my only wish and truly it would fare ill with me I am not contented with the approbation of God alone I were unable to despise the foolish and perverse censors of ignorant as well as the malicious and unjust censors of ungodly men for although by the blessing of God my most ardent desire has been to advance his kingdom and promote the public good although I feel perfectly conscious and take God and his angels to witness that ever I have been to discharge the office of teacher in the church my only object has been to do good to the church by maintaining the pure doctrine of godliness yet I believe there never was a man more assailed, stung and torn by a column knee as well as by the declared enemies of the truth of God as by many worthless persons who have crept into his church as well by monks from their cloisters to spread infection wherever they come as by other miscreants not better than they after this letter to the reader was in the press I had undoubted information that at Augsburg where the imperial diet was held a rumor of my defection to the papacy was circulated and entertained in the courts of the princes more readily than might have been expected this forsooth is the return made by those who certainly are not unaware of numerous proofs of my constancy proofs which while they rebut the foul charge ought to have defended me against it with all humane and impartial judges but the devil with all his crew is mistaken if he imagines that by assailing me with vile falsehood he can either cool my zeal or diminish my exertions I trust that God in his infinite goodness will enable me to persevere with unravelled patients in the course of his holy vocation of this I give the pious reader a new proof of the present addition I may further observe that my object in this work has been so to prepare and train candidates for the sacred office for the study of the sacred volume that they may both have an easy introduction to it and be able to prosecute it with unfaltering step for my mistake not I have given a summary of religion in all its parts and digested it in order which we will make it easy for anyone who rightly comprehends it to ascertain both what he ought to chiefly look for in scripture and also to what head he ought to refer whatever is contained in it having thus as it were paved the way as it will be unnecessary in any commentaries on scripture which I may afterwards publish to enter into long discussions of doctoral points and enlarge on common places I will compress them into narrow compass in this way much trouble and fatigue will be spared to this pious reader provided he comes prepared with a knowledge of the present work as an indispensable prerequisite the system here followed being set forth as in a mirror in all my commentaries I think it better to let it speak for itself than to any verbal explanation of it farewell kind reader if you derive any benefit from my labors aid me with your prayers to our heavenly father Geneva 1st of August 1559 the zeal of those whose cause I undertook has swelled a short deference into a book I profess to be one of those who by profiting right and by writing prophet Augustine epistle 7 method and arrangement of subject of the whole work from an epitome of institutions by gasper ovean the subject handled by the author of these Christian institutes is two fold the former the knowledge of God which leads to a blessed immortality and the latter which is subordinate to the former the knowledge of ourselves with this view the author simply helps the arrangement of the apostles creed as that which with all Christians are most familiar for as the creed consists of four parts the first relating to God the father the second to the son the third to the Holy Spirit and the fourth to the church so the author in fulfillment of his task divides his institutes into four parts corresponding to those of the creed each these parts it would now be proper to explain separately first the first article of the apostles creed is concerning God the father the creation preservation and government of the universe as implied in his omnipotence accordingly the first book of the institutes treats of the knowledge of God considered as the creator preserver and governor of the world and everything thing contained in it it shows both where in the true knowledge of the creator consists and what the end of this knowledge is chapter one and two that is is not learned at school but that every one is self-taught it from the womb chapter three such however is man's depravity that he stifles and corrupts this knowledge partly by ignorance by wicked design and hence does not by means of it either glorify God as he ought or attain to happiness chapter four this inward knowledge is aided from without namely by the creatures in which as in a mirror the perfections of God may be contemplated that man does not properly avail himself of this assistance and hence to those whom God is pleased to make himself more intimately known for salvation he communicates his written word this leads to consideration of the holy scriptures in which God has revealed that not the father only but along with the father the son and holy spirit is that creator of heaven and earth consequence of our innate depravity we were unable either from an innate natural knowledge or the beautiful world to know so as to glorify here the author treats of the manifestation of God in scripture and in connection with it of the one divine essence in three persons but last man should lay the blame of his voluntary blindness on God the author shows in what state man was created at first introducing dissertations on the image of God free will and original righteousness the subject of creation being thus disposed of the preservation and government of the world is considered in the three last chapters which contain a very full discussion of the doctrine of divine providence to as man by sinning forfeited the privileges conferred on him at his creation recourse must be had to Christ accordingly the next article and in Jesus Christ his only son etc in like manner the second book of the institutes treats of the knowledge of God considered as a redeemer in Christ and showing man his falls conducts him to Christ the mediator here the subject of original sin is considered and it is shown that man has no means within himself by which he can escape from guilt and the impending curse that contrary until he is reconciled and renewed everything that proceeds from him is of the nature of sin this subject is considered as far as the sixth chapter man being thus utterly undone in himself and incapable of working out his own cure by thinking a good thought or doing what is acceptable to God must seek redemption without himself that is in Christ the end for which the law was given was not to secure worshipers for itself but to conduct them unto Christ this leads to the exposition of the moral law Christ was known to the Jews under the law as the author of salvation but is more fully revealed under the Gospel in which he was manifested to the world hence arises the doctrine concerning the similarity and difference of the two testaments the old and the new the law and the Gospel these topics occupy as far as the 12th chapter it is next shown that in order to secure a complete salvation it was necessary that the eternal son of God should become man and assume a true human nature it is also shown in what way those two natures constitute one person in order to purchase a full salvation by his own merits and effectually apply it Christ was appointed to the office of prophet, priest and king the mode in which Christ performs these offices is considered and also whether in point of fact he did accomplish the work of redemption here an exposition is given of the articles related to Christ's death, resurrection and ascension into heaven in conclusion it is proved that Christ is rightly and properly wanted to have merited divine grace and salvation for us three so long as Christ is separated from us we have no benefit from him we must be engrafted in him like branches in a vine hence the creed after treating of Christ proceeds to its third article I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit being the bond of union between us and Christ in like manner the third book institutes treats of the Holy Spirit which unites us to Christ and in connection with it a faith by which we embrace Christ with the double benefit that is that of gratuitous righteousness which he imputes to us and regeneration which he begins in us by giving us repentance in order to show that the worthlessness of a faith which is not accompanied with a desire of repentance the author before proceeding to a full discussion of justification treats at length from chapter 3-10 of repentance and the constant study of it repentance which Christ when apprehended by faith begets in us by his spirit chapter 11 treats of the primary and peculiar benefit of Christ when united to us by the Holy Spirit that is justification this subject is continued to the 20th chapter which treats of prayer the hand as it were to receive the blessings which faith knows to be treasured up for it with God according to the word of promise but as the Holy Spirit who creates and preserves our faith does not unite all men to Christ who is the sole author of salvation chapter 21 treats of the eternal election of God to which it is only that we in whom he foresaw no good which he had not previously bestowed are given to Christ and united to him by the effectual calling of the gospel this subject is continued to the 25th chapter which treats of complete regeneration and facility namely the final resurrection to which we must raise our eyes seeing that in regarding through fruition the happiness of the godly is only begun in this world 4 since the Holy Spirit does not engraft all men into Christ or in do them with faith and those whom he does so in do he does not ordinarily in do without means but uses for that purpose the preaching of the gospel and the dispensation of the sacraments together with the administration of all kinds of discipline the creed contains the following article in the Holy Catholic Church namely that church which lying in eternal death the father by gratuitous election freely reconciled to himself in Christ and in do it with the Holy Spirit that being engrafted into Christ it might have communion with him as its proper head whence flow perpetual remission of sins and full restoration to eternal life interestingly the church is treated of in the first 14 chapters of the fourth book which thereafter treats of the means which the Holy Spirit employs in calling us effectually from spiritual death and preserving the church in other words baptism and the Lord supper these means are as it were the royal scepter of Christ by which through the ecophasy of his spirit he commences his spiritual reign in the church advances it from day to day and after this life without the use of means this subject is continued to the 20th chapter and because civil governments are in this life the hospitable entertainers hospitia of the church though civil government is distinct from the spiritual kingdom of Christ the author shows how great blessings they are but most of the church is bound gratefully to acknowledge until we are all called away from this tabernacle to the heavenly inheritance where God will be all in all such is the arrangement of the institutes which may be thus summed up man being first created upright but afterwards being not partially but totally ruined finds his entire salvation to whom being united by the Holy Spirit freely given without any foresight of future works he thereby obtains a double blessing that is full imputation of righteousness which goes along with us even to the grave and the commencement of sanctification which daily advances till at length it is perfected in the day of regeneration or resurrection of the body in order that the great mercy of God may be celebrated in the heavenly mansions throughout eternity End of Section 5 Recording by Lyle Wilson, Haymarket, Virginia Institute of the Christian Religion Book 1 by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage Book 1 of the Knowledge of God the Creator Argument The first book treats of the knowledge of God the Creator but as it is in the creation of man that the divine perfections are best displayed so man also is made the subject of discourse thus the whole book divides itself into two principal heads the former relating to the knowledge of God and the latter to the knowledge of man in the first chapter these are considered jointly and in each of the following chapters separately occasionally however intermingled with other matters which refer to one or other of the heads Exempli Grazia the discussions concerning scripture and images falling under the former head and the other three concerning the creation of the world the holy angels and devils falling under the latter the last point discussed the method of the divine government relates to both with regard to the former head vis the knowledge of God it is shown in the first place what the kind of knowledge is which God requires and in the second place chapters three to nine where this knowledge must be sought namely not in man because although naturally implanted in the human mind it is stifled partly in ignorance partly by evil intent chapters three and four not in the frame of the world because although it shines most clearly there we are so stupid that these manifestations however perspicuous pass away without any beneficial result chapter five but in scripture chapter six which is treated of chapter seven to nine in the third place it is shown what the character of God is chapter ten in the fourth place how impious it is to give a visible form to God here images the worship of them and its origin are considered chapter eleven in the fifth place chapter twelve lastly chapter thirteen treats of the unity of the divine essence and the distinction of three persons with regard to the latter head vis the knowledge of man first chapter fourteen treats of the creation of the world and of good and bad angels these all having reference to man and then chapter fifteen taking up the subject of man himself examines his nature and his powers the better to illustrate the nature both of God and man the three remaining chapters vis sixteen to eighteen proceed to treat of the general government of the world and particularly of human actions in opposition to fortune and fate explaining both the doctrine and its use in conclusion it is shown that though God employs the instrumentality of the wicked he is pure from sin and from taint of every kind end of section six recording by David Lawrence April 2009 in Brampton, Ontario section seven of institutes of Christian religion book one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Laura Wright institutes of the Christian religion book one by John Calvin translated by Henry Beverage chapter one the knowledge of God and of ourselves mutually connected nature of the connection sections one the sum of true wisdom vis the knowledge of God and of ourselves effects of the latter two effects of the knowledge of God in humbling our pride unveiling our hypocrisy demonstrating the absolute perfections of God and of our own utter helplessness three effects of the knowledge of God illustrated by the examples one of holy patriarchs two of holy angels three of the sun and moon one our wisdom in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts the knowledge of God and of ourselves but as these are connected together by many ties it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other for in the first place no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves because it is perfectly obvious that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone in the second place those blessings which unceasingly distill to us from heaven are like streams conducting us to the fountain here again the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty in particular the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us to turn our eyes upwards not only that while hungry and famishing we may then ask what we want but being aroused by fear may learn humility for as there exists in man something like a world of misery and ever since we were stripped of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God thus our feeling of ignorance vanity want weakness in short depravity and corruption reminds us that in the Lord and none but he dwell the true light of wisdom solid virtue exuberant goodness we are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God and indeed we cannot aspire to him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves for what man is not disposed to rest in himself who in fact does not thus rest so long as he is unknown to himself that is so long as he is contented with his own endowments and unconscious or unmindful of his misery every person therefore on coming to the knowledge of himself is not only urged to seek God but is also led as by the hand to find him 2. on the other hand it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God and come down after such contemplation to look into himself for such is our innate pride we always seem to ourselves just and upright and wise and holy until we are convinced by clear evidence of our injustice vileness, folly and impurity convinced however we are not if we look to ourselves only and not to the Lord also he being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced for since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself and since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye to which nothing but black had been previously presented deems an object of whitish to be perfectly white nay the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the powers of the mind if at midday we either look down to the ground or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight but when we look up to the sun and gaze at it unveiled the sight which did excellently well the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence as to oblige us to confess that our cuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun thus too it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities so long as we do not look beyond the earth we are quite pleased with our own righteousness wisdom and virtue we address ourselves in the most flattering terms and seem only less than demigods but should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God and reflect what kind of being he is and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness and wisdom and virtue to which as a standard we are bound to be conformed what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest inequity what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom expressed by its extreme folly and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impudence so far are those qualities in us which seem most perfect from corresponding to the divine purity three hence that dread and amazement with which as scripture uniformly relates holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God when we see those who previously stood firm and secure so quaking with terror that the fear of death takes hold of them nay, they are in a manner swallowed up and annihilated the inference to be drawn is that men are never duly touched and impressed with the conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God frequent examples of this consternation occur both in the book of judges and the prophetical writings so much so that it was a common expression among the people of God we shall die for we have seen the lord hence the book of Job also in humbling men under a conviction of their folly, feebleness and pollution always derives its chief argument from descriptions of the divine wisdom virtue and purity nor without cause we see Abraham the reddier to acknowledge himself but dust and ashes the nearer he approaches to behold the glory of the lord and Elijah unable to wait with unveiled face for his approach so dreadful as the sight and what can man do man who is but rottenness and a worm when even the cherubim themselves must veil their faces in very terror to this undoubtedly the prophet Isaiah refers when he says Isaiah 24 23 the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the lord of hosts shall reign i.e. when he shall exhibit his refulgence and give a nearer view of it the brightest objects will in comparison be covered with darkness but though the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are bound together by a mutual tie this arrangement requires that we treat of the former in the first place and then descend to the latter end of section 7