Editor’s Message
Saturday, May 1, 2010 0:11
.
[Dear Readers - The May 2010 Christian Observer Editor's Message is presented by the Rev. Dr. Charles Wilson, Editor of the ARPTalk Blog and ...
Articles
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 0:01
.
Written by The Rt. Rev. John Butosi
[Editor's Note: The article's author, the Rt. Rev. John Butosi, entered into the presence of his Lord and Savior on 12 ...
Bible Study
Thursday, September 2, 2010 0:01
Devoted Things
The First Commandment
No other gods
Leviticus 27:28, 29
“But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of ...
As the sub-title indicates, The
Reformed Faith of John Calvin is a summary (not an abridgment) in one volume of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. In a succinct, systematic way, the book sets forth the essence of the great Reformer’s teachings in his Institutes on all the truths of the Christian Religion. Throughout, this sum of Calvin’s explanation and defense of the truths of the Christian faith is either expressed, or supported, by quotations of Calvin. The book is full of quotations from the Institutes (in the judgment of the author, the most important and vivid statements of Calvin),so that the reader hears Calvin himself. One who reads this book will know the Institutes and its comprehensive, powerful instruction in the Reformed faith—the faith of the sixteenth century Reformation of the church. The book is more than a summary. It also gives brief explanation of certain of Calvin’s teachings,offers analysis of Calvin’s doctrine, applies the Reformer’s teachings to contemporary doctrinal issues, and even, rarely, becomes so bold as to criticize Calvin’s doctrine. At every point, the book provides exact reference to the Institutes in the accepted scholarly fashion, so that the reader can readily compare the summary with Calvin’s own presentation, or, being stimulated, read further concerning a particular doctrine in Calvin’s great work. Many seminarians, pastors, elders, and laity, perhaps, even a theologian or two, although desirous of learning the content of the Institutes, are put off from reading it by the sheer size of the massive, two-volume work, or are hindered by the demands of their calling. This summary will supply their want and, it is hoped, motivate them to read the Institutes itself. David J. Engelsma is emeritus Professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament Studies at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary in Grandville, Michigan.
