John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -
PROF. M. M. NINAN
the creeds (the credo),
the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) and
the sacraments of which he accepted only two, as Luther did, namely baptism and the Eucharist,
as well as a chapter on Christian Liberty and Political Theology.
In the more personal last chapter “Christian freedom” Calvin dealt with the city’s organization and
also split the civilian government in three parts :
The magistrate or civil authority, defender and keeper of the laws,
The law,
The people governed by the laws and law abiding.
One exception to the obedience to the magistrate was allowed when his legislation was against God’s
laws. Calvin advocated passive resistance.
Jean Calvin’s Institutes was essentially a textbook for Christian education.
This was simply a general summary of the Protestant theological position, in contrast to the Roman
Catholic Theology, and an expansion of Luther’s catechisms. The work was an apologia or defense of
his faith and a statement of the doctrinal position of the reformers. He also intended it to serve as an
elementary instruction book for anyone interested in the reformation faith. . Calvin's teachings
emphasized the sovereignty of the scriptures and divine predestination—a doctrine holding that God
chooses those who will enter Heaven based His omnipotence and grace. The book was the first
expression of his theology.
Calvin updated the work and published new editions throughout his life.
Soon after publishing it, Calvin began his ministry in Geneva, Switzerland.In Basel in 1536 Calvin
published Institutes of the Christian Religion, a six-chapter catechism and he continuously revised it
and the book grew to 80 chapters by its final edition in 1559. It is widely regarded as the clearest,
most systematic treatise of the Reformation. Here is the description Given by the translator Henry
Beveridge (who died in 1929) which was first published in 1845.
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Method and Arrangement,or Subject of the Whole Work
[From an Epitome of the Institutions, by Gaspar Olevian.]
http://www.reformed.org/master/index.html?mainframe=/books/institutes/
The subject handled by the author of these Christian Institutes is twofold:
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 adopts the arrangement of the Apostles' Creed, as that with which all
Christians are most familiar.
For as the Creed consists of four parts,
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