Blogging The Institutes

The blogs covering ICR 2.16.2 - 3.2.6 are not avaialble. They will be posted at a later date

In sections 8-12 Calvin seeks to explain a confusing part of the Apostle's Creed: Christ's descent into hell. Calvin wants us to understand and not despise this mysterious summary of our redemption. Dropping it from our creed means we lose an important component of the benefit of Christ's death...

We all know that "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." But Calvin draws our attention to another biblical teaching: "All of us...have in ourselves something deserving of God's hatred." So why does God loves us nonetheless? Because in his kindness and free grace he "wills not to...

Rather than summarizing each section today, I want to draw our attention to 2.16.2, where Calvin seeks to show the importance of being both clear and specific regarding the nature of the wrath of God which rests upon each of us on account of our righteousness. Calvin's point is that the clearer our...

Jesus the Christ has the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king-but we must not only know these names but must also press through to see their purpose and use. In these sections Calvin looks at what it means for Christ to be prophet and king. As prophet (section 2) the Anointed Messiah...

In these sections Calvin looks at some of the arguments of Michael Servetus (1511-1553), a famous Spanish theologian and physician of the time who sought to refute the doctrine of the Trinity. (As readers undoubtedly know, Servetus ended up being burned at the stake in Geneva. For a brief overview...

Chapter 14 delves us deeper into Trinitarian theology and Christology, dealing with one of the most controversial matters of the early church, the two natures and one person of Christ. Calvin begins in paragraph 1 with an entirely lucid statement of the true doctrine. He first warns against any...

These three paragraphs are mainly given to the refutations of heresies and errors pertaining to Christ's true humanity. Just as important as Calvin's refutations are his observations regarding the cause of these errors. With both the Marcionites and the Manichees, the false teaching relies on...

Paragraph 6 continues Calvin's diatribe against Osiander's doctrine of Christ becoming man apart from the need for our salvation. Here, Osiander argues that man was originally made in God's image because God intended to conform mankind to Christ. Thus Christ needed to become man - providing us a...

Coming soon!!!