Clara’s Reviews > Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volumes 1-2 > Status Update
Clara
is 5% done
“…if it be asked what cause induced [God] to create all things at first, and now inclines him to preserve them, we shall find that there could be no other cause than his own goodness. But if this is the only cause, nothing more should be required to draw forth our love toward him; every creature, as the psalmist reminds us, participating in his mercy. ‘His tender mercies are over all his works’ (Ps 145:9).”
— Jan 17, 2022 09:54PM
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Clara
is on page 734 of 1822
“…Christ has been so imparted to you with all his benefits that all his things are made yours, that you are made a member of him, indeed one with him, his righteousness overwhelms your sins… We ought not to separate Christ from ourselves or ourselves from him. Rather we ought to hold fast bravely with both hands to that fellowship by which he has bound us to himself.”
— Mar 23, 2022 06:49PM
Clara
is on page 540 of 1822
Book II, ch. 16 is in top 3 chapters. Calvin quoting Augustine: “The fact that we were reconciled through Christ’s death must not be understood as if his Son reconciled us to him that he might now begin to love those whom he had hated. Rather, we have already been reconciled to him who loves us, with whom we were enemies on account of sin… Thus in a marvelous and divine way he loved us even when he hated us.”
— Mar 03, 2022 05:00PM
Clara
is on page 416 of 1822
Calvin on the 10 Commandments gave me much to consider. Does the Lord’s prohibition of a vice inherently command its corresponding virtue (and vice versa)? In commanding us never to covet that which belongs to our neighbor, does the Most High truly enjoin us that “whatever we conceive, deliberate, will, or attempt is to be linked to our neighbor’s good and advantage”? The law is impossible outside of Christ!
— Feb 26, 2022 05:07PM
Clara
is on page 348 of 1822
“…Adam would never have dared oppose God’s authority unless he had disbelieved in God’s Word. Here, indeed, was the best bridle to control all passions: the thought that nothing is better than to practice righteousness by obeying God’s commandments; then, that the ultimate goal of the happy life is to be loved by him” (2.1.4).
— Feb 16, 2022 05:06PM
Clara
is on page 228 of 1822
Book 1 ch. 16 and 17 on God’s providence blew my mind. Calvin is so devotional and unlike his popular portrayal. He leads us to worship!
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“…When that light of divine providence has once shone upon a godly man, he is then relieved and set free not only from the extreme anxiety and fear that were pressing him before, but from every care. …He fearlessly dares commit himself to God.”
— Feb 09, 2022 08:42AM
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“…When that light of divine providence has once shone upon a godly man, he is then relieved and set free not only from the extreme anxiety and fear that were pressing him before, but from every care. …He fearlessly dares commit himself to God.”
Clara
is on page 159 of 1822
THE TRINITY. “Here…we ought to play the philosopher soberly… For how can the human mind measure off the measureless existence of God according to its own little measure…? Indeed, how can the mind by its own leading come to search out God’s essence when it cannot even get to its own? Let us then willingly leave to God the knowledge of himself.”
— Jan 26, 2022 12:01PM
Clara
is 7% done
“We should consider that the brightness of the divine countenance, which even an apostle declares to be inaccessible (1 Tim 6:16), is a kind of labyrinth—a labyrinth to us inextricable, if the word do not serve us as a thread to guide our path; and that it is better to limp in the way, than run with the greatest swiftness out of it.” (1.6.3)
— Jan 19, 2022 08:11AM
Clara
is 4% done
Extensive front matter: prefaces from various editions and notes to readers (all written by Calvin), as well as his letter pleading in defense of the Reformers/Protestants to King Louis I (which seems to have taken no effect). The latter offers concise critiques of early modern Catholicism—still helpful today.
McNeill-Battles edition lost in the mail, so reading from Beveridge (1845) edition to stay on track.
— Jan 15, 2022 03:46PM
McNeill-Battles edition lost in the mail, so reading from Beveridge (1845) edition to stay on track.
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Scott
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Jan 18, 2022 05:44AM
". . . God could not be conceived as needing anything; he could not have created the world to recieve something from it but only to give and communicate himself . . . The God of all is good and excellent by nature. For a good being would be envious of no one, so he envies nobody's existence but rather wishes everyone to exist in order to exercise his kindness." Bavinck, stealing from Calvin, who stole from Paul and Moses
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What a literary heritage. I hope that one day I write something and someone points out that I borrowed ideas from Calvin and Bavinck and Paul and Moses.