31 Days with John Calvin Day 9

Hence it is easy to understand that we must give diligent heed both to the reading and hearing of Scripture, if we would obtain any benefit from the Spirit of God, (just as Peter praises those who attentively study the doctrine of the prophets, (2 Pet. 1: 19,) though it might have been thought to be superseded after the gospel light arose,) and, on the contrary, that any spirit which passes by the wisdom of God’s Word, and suggests any other doctrine, is deservedly suspected of vanity and falsehood. Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority can the Spirit have with us if he be not ascertained by an infallible mark? And assuredly he is pointed out to us by the Lord with sufficient clearness; but these miserable men err as if bent on their own destruction, while they seek the Spirit from themselves rather than from Him.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.9.2

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 8

Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness. For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit, reject all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call the dead and deadly letter.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.9.1

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 7

In the second class of God’s works, namely those which are above the ordinary course of nature, the evidence of His perfections are in every respect equally clear. For in conducting the affairs of men, He so arranges the course of His providence, as daily to declare, by the clearest manifestations, that though all are in innumerable ways the partakers of his bounty, the righteous are the special objects of His favour, the wicked and profane the special objects of His severity.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.5.7

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 6

 

  Let each of us, therefore, in contemplating his own nature, remember that there is one God who governs all natures, and, in governing, wishes us to have respect to himself, to make him the object of our faith, worship, and adoration. Nothing, indeed, can be more preposterous than to enjoy those noble endowments which bespeak the divine presence within us, and to neglect him who, of his own good pleasure, bestows them upon us.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.5.6

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 5

 

Since the perfection of blessedness consists in the knowledge of God (cf. John 17:3), he has been pleased, in order that none might be excluded from the means of obtaining felicity, not only to deposit in our minds that seed of religion of which we have already spoken, but so to manifest his perfections in the whole structure of the universe, and daily place himself in our view, that we cannot open our eyes without being compelled to behold him. His essence, indeed, is incomprehensible, utterly transcending all human thought; but on each of his works his glory is engraven in characters so bright, so distinct, and so illustrious, that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead ignorance as their excuse.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.5.1

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 4

In this way, the vain pretext which many employ to clothe their superstition is overthrown. They deem it enough that they have some kind of zeal for religion, how preposterous so ever it may be,not observing that true religion must be conformable to the will of God as its unerring standard; that he can never deny himself, and is no spectra or phantom, to be metamorphosed at each individual’s caprice.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.4.3

 

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 3

It is most absurd, therefore, to maintain, as some do, that religion was devised by the cunning and craft of a few individuals, as a means of keeping the body of the people in due subjection, while there was nothing which those very individuals, while teaching others to worship God, less believed than the existence of a God. I readily acknowledge, that designing men have introduced a vast number of fictions into religion, with the view of inspiring the populace with reverence or striking them with terror, and thereby rendering them more obsequious; but they never could have succeeded in this, had the minds of men not been previously imbued will that uniform belief in God, from which, as from its seed, the religious propensity springs.  John Calvin – Institutes 1.3.2

 

 

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31 Days with John Calvin – Day 2

Jean Calvin French Reform… Buy From Art.com

All men of sound judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of Deity is indelibly engraved on the human heart. And that this belief is naturally engendered in all, and thoroughly fixed as it were in our very bones, is strikingly attested by the contumacy of the wicked, who, though they struggle furiously, are unable to extricate themselves from the fear of God. John Calvin Institutes  1.3.3

 

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31 Days with John Calvin

Other than Jesus Christ, and Augustine of Hippo (importance in that order), no one has had a more profound and lasting effect on the development of western civilization than John Calvin (or Jean.  He was French).

Jean Calvin French Reform… Buy From Art.com

July 10, will be Calvin’s 500th Birthday.  There is even a big celebration to commemorate the event, you can check it out here.  There is also a short bio of Calvin on the site.

In honor of Calvin’s birthday, I have decided to post a small section from Calvin’s magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, every day for the month of July.  Come August 1, I will return to the normal blogging schedule, which is posting when I think I have something of value to post.  That works out to be not very often.

As you read these “sound bytes” from the Institutes, keep in mind that Calvin is supremely concerned with ascribing to God all the glory and honor He is due.  Calvin had a high view of God as Sovereign and it is easy to see throughout his writings.

Here is the first quote.  It is taken from Volume 1 (it is a 2 volume work), Chapter 2 section1. 

 

Although our minds cannot conceive of God, without rendering some worship to Him, it will not, however, be sufficient to hold that He is the only being whom all ought to worship and adore, unless we are persuaded that He is the fountain of all goodness, and we must seek everything in Him, and in none but Him. John Calvin – Institutes 1.2.1

Where Social Media and Behavioral Disorders Converge

 

Another reason I refuse to use Twitter.  I already have a Facebook, a MySpace and this blog.  I really do not need one more thing.  Too much social media can be bad for you.  You can buy the shirt here.