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Christianity Today, July, 2009 |

My Top 5 Books on Calvin

Michael Horton, editor in chief of Modern Reformation | posted 7/10/2009 10:53AM

Institutes of the Christian Religion
by John Calvin

There's no better entry point into Calvin's teaching than this richly edifying work by the man himself. It is a summary of the Christian faith written ...

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Anonymous

Posted: July 16, 2009 4:23 PM

James wrote: "i have read very little about Calvin, and read virtually nothing BY Calvin." So, let's get this straight, James. Anything you think you know about John Calvin and his life and ministry did NOT come through your own careful evaluation of his writings, right? You get your "facts" about Calvin through the filters of hearsay, speculation and even, potentially, gossip, and, of course, the "learned" opinions of others. That's both frightening and the worst kind of ignorance, not to mention blatant arrogance!

Michael Servetus

Posted: July 15, 2009 3:33 AM


I'm surprised you didn't list the Spanish physician Michael Servetus to your reading list. Though he was a Christian, his opinion on Calvin might be somewhat different. But we all know what Calvin enjoyed doing to those who challenged him.

James

Posted: July 13, 2009 5:42 PM

Frankq, you are fairly close to correct...i have read very little about Calvin, and read virtually nothing BY Calvin. You're right, i've gone mostly on what i've heard from others, but aside from all that, have been writing more regarding the Protest-ing mindset that fostered Calvin, and others like him, as well as the movement they spawned and is still encouraged today. In a nutshell, it has been a legacy of division and not unity. Pride rather than humility. As a great thinker once said, "Nobody wants a pope, but everyone wants to BE the pope." Well-intentioned as Protest-ing might be, I think that quote sums it up pretty well. I doubt most modern Christians give "authority" much thought, but a lack of submitting to it is at the foundational core of all theological disagreements. (imho)

Frankq

Posted: July 13, 2009 12:24 PM


Xcellent list. james and Peter E. just proved they've never read anything and are completely ignorant on Calvin and his life. That's the "true shame". Listen to Horton and pick these books up, lest people think you're ignorance isn't superficial.

J	Posted: July 13, 2009 3:05 AM

And bad history continues to be alive and well on CT's comment threads... Calvin's anthropology is simply Augustinian -- the flip-side of that coin (Pelagianism) was declared heretical over and over again through out church history, even at Trent. Furthermore, one could hardly say that Calvin was the single earthly authority in Geneva. If one bothered to actually read history, one would see that Calvin's years at Geneva were wrought with difficulty -- to the point that after he was dismissed, he *didn't want to go back*! All he wanted to do was study and preach, which he did during what he considered his best years...in Strasbourg!! So much for the Tyrant of Geneva... Take Dr. Horton's advice: read Muller's "The Unaccommodated Calvin". A good list.

james

Posted: July 11, 2009 8:56 PM


Ya, and the ironic thing is that though he rebelled against having any sort of single earthly authority in the Church, he became just that in Geneva. In addition to practically re-writing Christianity in his own mold, he helped foster a "Protest-ing" spirit which thrives today in modern Christendom. Not exactly what Christ died for, imho.

Pete E.

Posted: July 11, 2009 2:41 AM

John Calvin did more to undermine historic Christianity than anyone preceding him. His divisive Theology and atrocious Anthropology added sheer poison to the already toxic errors of Luther, leading to the greatest and most destructive series of schisms Christendom has ever known. His "church", one which is not reformed and always reforming - but broken and continually breaking, is the true shame of Western Civilization.

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