Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin, translated by Robert White from the first French edition of 1541, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 883 pages, £19.00, obtainable from the F P Bookroom.
The translator’s Introduction to this volume reminds us that “the Institutes of the Christian Religion has gone through a number of translations into English, of which the first by Thomas Norton dates from 1561″. This was “replaced in the nineteenth century by the version of John Allen (1813) and later by that of Henry Beveridge (1845). These have now been largely superseded by the two-volume work published in 1960 in the Library of Christian Classics series, edited by John T McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles.”
All these translations, however, were from a later expanded version of the Institutes, which was completed in 1559. To understand the history and the background of the present work we need to go back to 1536, when the first edition was penned in Latin and presented to Francis I of France, in the hope it might persuade the King to protect the Huguenot Christians. This work was soon recognised as a masterly summary of biblical truth, and the demand for it led to further expanded editions.
The present edition is based on the second-earliest version and hence is briefer than later versions and is contained in one volume. It was also written in French in order “to satisfy the needs of those who, as yet, knew little of the gospel, but who ‘were hungering and thirsting for Christ’ and who ultimately ‘might be trained in true piety'”. Being written for such a readership and in Calvin’s native French, the language is more informal and relaxed in style than those editions written in scholarly Latin, as is well conveyed in Robert White’s translation.
Calvin’s Institutes follows the order of Apostle’s Creed, which falls into four major sections: (1) Knowledge of God and of Ourselves; (2) Christ and Salvation Accomplished; (3) The Holy Spirit and Salvation Applied; (4) The Church. In the present volume this is laid out in 17 chapters: The Knowledge of God; The Knowledge of Man and Free Will; The Law; Faith, with an Explanation of the Apostles’ Creed; Repentance; Justification by Faith and the Merits of Works; The Similarity and Difference between the Old and New Testaments; The Predestination and Providence of God; Prayer, with an Explanation of Our Lord’s Prayer; The Sacraments; Baptism; The Lord’s Supper; The Five Ceremonies Falsely Called Sacraments; Christian Freedom; The Power of the Church; Civil Government; and the Christian Life. Those chapters are also helpfully divided into sections with equally-helpful sub-headings within those sections. In addition to this, there is at the end of the volume a comparative table of the 1541 and the 1560 Institutes which is most useful for reference.
In order to get a flavour of this book it may be helpful to give here a couple of examples of Calvin’s treatment of subjects. First, on false faith, Calvin makes reference to Simon Magus: “It is said that Simon Magus believed, although he shortly afterwards gave proof of his unbelief (Acts 8:13,20-23). Given that Scripture testifies to the fact of his faith, we cannot agree with some that his faith was mere pretence, a matter of words having no reality in the heart. Rather we believe that, overcome by the majesty of the gospel, he had come to some sort of faith in it, recognising Christ as the author of life and salvation, so as willingly to accept Him as such. Thus our Lord declares in the eighth chapter of Luke that there are those who believe for a time, but in whom the seed of the Word is choked before it bears fruit, or else is parched and destroyed before taking root (Lk 8:13,14).
“We do not doubt that such people are touched by some taste for the Word, receiving it with some relish and being impressed by its power, so that in their hypocrisy they deceive not only men but their own hearts too. For they persuade themselves that their reverence for God’s Word is the truest form of piety there is, since they can conceive of no greater impiety on earth than that which openly reviles or scorns the Word. Yet however the gospel is received, it does not penetrate the heart and remain firmly planted there. And although it sometimes seems to send down roots, they have no life in them, for the human heart is so futile, is so full of different and deceitful hiding places, and is so entangled in hypocrisy that it even cheats itself? Those, however, who boast in this pale image of faith should understand that they are not, in that respect, any better than the devil” (Jas 2:19).
The second example deals with true repentance. After referring to the publican’s confession, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk 18:13), Calvin goes on: “Someone may say, ‘Must not each sin be confessed? Is there no confession acceptable to God but that contained in these few words, I am a sinner?’ My answer is that we should strive, rather, to open our own heart to God as much as possible, and not only to confess that we are sinners but truly to think of ourselves as such; to recognise with all our mind how vast and varied is sin’s dark stain; to recognise our uncleanness, but also to judge it as it is, in all its depth and with its many parts; to recognise ourselves as debtors, but also to know how many are the debts which burden and oppress us; to recognise that we are wounded, but also to see how grievous and fatal are the injuries we bear.
“Nevertheless, even when a sinner opens his heart to God with full awareness of his sin, he must consider in truth and judge in all sincerity that he is left with many more feelings than he can number, and that his misery is so profound that he can neither take it in nor tell where it ends. Therefore let him cry with David: ‘Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me, O Lord, of my hidden faults!’ (Ps 19:12)”.
Many such examples could be given from what is a goldmine of wonderful instruction. The one slight irritant to be mentioned is that the quotations from Scripture do not always run as in the Authorised Version, although we would understand that this is because the translation is from French.
How important then is it for people to obtain a copy of this work? Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, it can be said, was the first textbook of systematic theology in the Reformed Churches and, while many other works have been produced since, it still ranks among the best. The reviewer, who has perused the more expanded versions of the Institutes over the years, has no hesitation in recommending the present translation as the most readable, helpful and user-friendly yet and has no hesitation in concluding that anyone who makes a careful and prayerful study of this volume should not fail to profit from it.
(Rev) W A Weale