Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume Set)

The following comments pertain to Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume, hard cover version) edited by J. McNeill and translated by F. Battles. The Institutes are Calvin's Magnum Opus, a text that he revised and expanded significantly from its initial publication in 1536 to, this, its final version released in 1559. The Institutes is a true classic, widely recognized as the seminal work in Reformed/Protestant systematic theology - essential reading for Christians in the Reformed tradition and all serious students of theology.I confess at the outset, that although I have been familiar with Calvin and Calvinism for some time, this was my first dedicated reading of the Institutes (1500+ pages). Approaching the text in a detailed and diligent manner challenged some of my preconceptions regarding Calvin and increased my appreciation for the man and his work. Calvin is a powerful thinker and a capable writer who handles biblical, extra-biblical and classical sources with ease and insight. Though the Institutes has much strength, Calvin's handling of issues such as: providence, accommodation (i.e. God conveys truth in a manner suitable to limited human reason), and the noetic, or intellectual, effects of sin are especially worthwhile. I read this text in conjunction with Prof. David Calhoun's Covenant Theological Seminary course on the Institutes. Calhoun's course lectures are available on-line at no cost thru I tunes U under Covenant Theological Seminary.Throughout the Institutes Calvin makes many important observations - often chastising his predecessors and contemporaries for be overly speculative. These criticisms were probably a valuable corrective to ecclesiastical abuses and worship practices that had developed in medieval Church. And, while I agree with Calvin on many points, some of his interpretations are themselves speculative and subject to similar criticism. His assertions with regard to election and depravity are classic examples - while many Calvinists would likely disagree - the majority of Christians view his claims in these areas as unbiblical, and, if not heretical, at least overstated. Such interpretive issues have been a perennial challenge for Protestantism. That is, divorced from the interpretative tradition of the Church why should the opinion of one man, writing 1500 years after the fact, hold any particular sway? How can it override and revise the cumulative interpretative history and teaching of the Church established by Christ? Difficult questions, once tradition is removed there is no acknowledged public authority for resolving interpretative issues. One can just invoke the "It seems to me ..." clause and effectively become a church onto themselves.Regardless, of the ultimate truth, or falsity, of Calvin's teaching, his discussion of issues such as justification, salvation, freedom and predestination have played an important role in shaping subsequent Christian thought. I highly recommended the Institutes for students of Christian history and theology.

These have been around for almost 5 centuries now. They have been read by every generation. I love them and cannot recomend them enough.

Calvin was a thinker and a man of God. He wrote very much and often very helpfully. His commentaries are deliberate and his sermons are surprisingly (perhaps unsurprisingly when you think about it?) warm and often full of challenging spirit-given heralding of the truth. His Institutes are no less, although this translation is not as good as the 19th C Beveridge translation which can be found online and contains a noticeable bias in translation when compared side-by-side, to make Calvin say things sometimes in English he did not in the original.Nevertheless, there is much here in this printing also than can be read with great profit as a readily accessible book version. As a systematic theology it does a good job and it is highly recommended for every student of the Scriptures. However, Calvin didn't invent his theology, as is often mistakenly spoken. He perhaps in this book laid it out more systematically than others before him had, but it was there all along and believed all along by the Church. Calvin was only used of God to gather it in a more condensed form together, and even then it is only an aid by way of condensed reference to what the Scriptures themselves say clearly.It is worth noting as is inescapably the case that Calvin was a man of his times. Some things that related to the so-called Church of his day are either not as relevant or as the true Church has grown and been more clearly discernible, are not the focal concerns - especially with relation to the state. That being said, what he does say is thought-provoking even on that subject.W.

Calvin is insightful and indispensable for anyone who wants to study modern theology. I don't, however, mean to review this book on Calvin's merits, but only to lend 5 stars to the editors and commentators who made this edition. The notes are extensive, the indices are well compiled, the page-paper is smooth and of good quality, the typeface is pleasant, and the book itself is well constructed. This takes all the revisions Calvin made (from the Latin and French versions) and includes information concerning which revision is used or omitted in certain areas. The reason why this comes in two volumes whereas others can be condensed into one is because of the wealth of footnotes. If you're not interested in commentaries and other references, then they can easily be skipped; but for those who like to read other studies pertaining to Calvin's doctrines and gain a bit of insight into the earlier texts Calvin was drawing from, then these are very useful and well arranged.And I also need to note the clarity of the translation. While at times it may seem a bit archaic, in select areas it needs must be. If you look at other translations of the text, sometimes they're impossible for the modern English-speaker to interpret while hearing Calvin's voice. The translator and editors made an effort to use modern vernacular and avoid Latinate terms as much as is appropriate, in my opinion.

It would have been a good deal to get both volumes (what was advertised) at $16.49. They advertised both volumes for that price and that is why I chose this vendor rather than another. They are some kind of charity related organization so I don't want to be too harsh ---I don't even want to insinuate that it was in any way deliberate ---but it was careless. However, I got a decent book for the price but I had to order volume 1 for about $25.00. I think it is important to have an accurate description of what is being sold.

thank you very much

I ordered this a couple months ago, and was excited to get into reading it once I finished another big theology book that I had been working through.I started reading volume 1 over the past week, and noticed some footnotes referencing chapters in the second volume. So I went to reach for my second volume and to my utter surprise I found myself flipping through an EXACT replica of volume one. Everything, down to the page breaks, the number of pages, the dots on the i's.... are exaclty the same as volume 1 in the so-called "volume 2". The ONLY difference is that the cover for the second volume 1 says, "volume 2" on it's cover, albeit deceptively and erroneously.I would like to get the proper volume 2 at some point, but seeing as I didn't get to the second half of an over 1000 page 2 volume systematic theology within the short return window for amazon, it seems I'm stuck with a sort of testament to Amazon's failure to check product quality, rather than the full 2 volumes of Calvin's excellent work.If there is anyone out there with two volume 2s... and would like to do a sort of exchange, then please do get in touch!

The publishers made a mistake by binding the 2nd volume with the cover belonging to the 1st volume. I ended up with two volume 2s.

Easy to read!